Microsoft Dynamics GP Hyper-V Image Set

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In a previous blog, I talked about the move to a 64-bit Hyper-V image, and the reasons why.  Now, with the inevitable end to our 32-bit VPC image, I thought I would give you an update on where we are.

The image set (and I’ll discuss that more in a second) is designed to run on any machine that can run a Hyper-V (typically Windows 2008 R2 Server), and has at least 8GB of RAM, approx. 200GB of free hard disk space (or an external hard disk with appropriate space and a quick enough interface – preferably USB3), and at least a dual core processor. 

As most sales consultants don’t want to run Windows 2008 R2 Server as their primary operating system on a laptop, we will publish with the image a guide to help explain how you can take a Windows 7-based laptop and create a dual-boot-to-VHD (dual boot to a Windows 2008 R2 Server Hyper-V image) scenario.

We will deliver a few different things with this Hyper-V:

  • A guide on how to set up a dual-boot system to run the Microsoft Dynamics GP image set
  • A Windows 2008 R2 Server Hyper-V image to be used in the dual-boot system
  • Guides for the Microsoft Dynamics GP image set
  • A image set to be used for demonstration purposes – this set will at least initially come in three parts:

    • Image A – This image is our domain controller for the demo, and runs in 2GB of memory, and also contains:

      • Active Directory Services – Need that for Dynamics GP (domain controller)
      • Exchange 2010 SP1 – Mail Server
      • Office 2010 x64

    • Image B – This image is the Microsoft Dynamics GP image, and runs in 4GB of memory, and also contains:

      • Remote Desktop Services – Can help for multi-user scenarios/multi-instance
      • Lync Client 2010 – Gives you presence information when demoing Dynamics GP
      • SharePoint 2010 Foundation SP1
      • SQL 2008 R2 SP1
      • SSRS Report Builder
      • Office 2010 x86 SP1
      • PowerPivot 2010 – For deeper BI experience
      • Visual Studio 2010 SP1 – For developer experience
      • Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2
      • Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Analyzer
      • Management Reporter
      • Forecaster

    • Image C – This image is the Lync Server, and runs in 2GB of memory.  This image is only needed for demos where you want to use Lync and indicate presence.  Otherwise it does not need to be started.  If you want to run this part of the image, you’ll need at least 10GB of memory since the image set will use 8GB ram and the Windows Server Hyper-V image will require another 2GB ram.

 Very soon, the image set will ship.  We hope that it’ll bring many successful sales and deep demo experiences!