Free virtual NT 4 server??

Hello, all..

I'm sorry if this should be in the Virtual Server section, but it seemed more of a "is this possible?!?!" type question :)

Our school is still running AutoCAD R14 (stop sniggering at the back!), and the licence manager only runs on NT server 4. Which presents a problem since our 2 servers are 2008 64 bit.

I've tried running the licence manager on one of them, and it essentially told me to naff off even after some fairly judicious tweaking and other pockling.

I've got round it so far by having it running on a VERY old bit of kit donated by our network team which I'm pretty certain is going to pop at some stage.


So I'm looking at the next option - a virtual server running on one of our 64 bit beasts.

I can't use EsXI since the boxes are already up and running with a "normal" Windows setup.

MS appear to want money for Virtual server - and in tried and tested Education fashion, the school would ideally not want to pay anything at all :)

So is there a way I can run Virtual PC (or similar?) as a service?

The emulated PC doesn't have to do anything remotely clever. Heck, it doesn't even need to join the domain - just have a static IP and a couple of WINS/DNS settings.

Any advice gratefully appreciated!!

Regards,
Gerard

if they are 2008 servers they have hyper v built in just needs turning on and with any luck you could use disk 2 vhd on the old nt4 box to copy it to a vhd file and boot it up in hyperv (havnt tried nt4 as a guest os i think it works but the mouse intergration etc dosent (but once its running just put vnc/rdp on it to manage it))

Microsoft Virtual Server, and its successor Hyper-V, are both included with the price of Windows. In 2008, Hyper-V should just be a role you install from the Server Manager. The only cost involved would be the NT4 licence.

Can NT 4 licenses still be bought ?? that went along timeeeeee ago didnt it ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cpjitservices

Can NT 4 licenses still be bought ?? that went along timeeeeee ago didnt it ?

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If you have Server 2008 / R2 on standard edition you can have 1 and Enterprise 4 virtual machines free of any Window Server edition.

Gentlemen (and ladies if applicable) - you are all absolute stars.
I've earmarked investigating Hyper-V on my "to-do" list.
Let's hope I can find ye olde NT4 server CD, eh? :)

Regards,
Gerard

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cpjitservices

Can NT 4 licenses still be bought ?? that went along timeeeeee ago didnt it ?

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Surely downgrade rights would still apply!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gerardsweeney

Gentlemen (and ladies if applicable) - you are all absolute stars.
I've earmarked investigating Hyper-V on my "to-do" list.
Let's hope I can find ye olde NT4 server CD, eh? :)

Regards,
Gerard

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just try disk to vhd on the the existing nt4 box and clone it to a virtual pc its at least worth a go saves you having to reinstall stuff if it works

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/ee656415

Downgrading rights apply to this...if you have 2008r2 licensing you can use any of the prior server products

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gerardsweeney

Gentlemen (and ladies if applicable) - you are all absolute stars.
I've earmarked investigating Hyper-V on my "to-do" list.
Let's hope I can find ye olde NT4 server CD, eh? :)

Regards,
Gerard

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Pretty sure you can still grab the image via TechNet...

You can grab it by technet or msdnaa, but they can only be used in test environments, not live ones.

Downgrade rights for Windows Server 2008 R2 only go back as far as Windows 2000 Server. :confused:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv...de-rights.aspx

Odd, MS say otherwise on the phone...however you can pick it up from technet as said above for "testing"

@gerardsweeney:

Do be aware that although it will be an exact clone of your NT server it will not have the same Mac address and you will have to get in contact with your reseller for them to reset the code on your license server.

How do I know you ask? Well we have done the same here with our Solidworks (virtualised our License server) and this is the only problem we had to solve. :D

You might be able to spoof the MAC address in the advanced settings of the nic driver!