I am currently designing a rollout of Windows 7 to a shop of approximately 80-100 desks. The office is a flat network without routing between servers and desktops. There are a few Windows Server 2008 R2 servers running a 2008 domain. Most of the workstations are newer machines that were installed with Vista or XP for program compatibility reasons. The compatibility issue has been resolved and the client is ready to move to Windows 7 Professional.
All of the workstations are compatible and capable of running Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 (Stand Alone). For my questions assume that each workstation will run their own copy of Hyper-V Server with virtualized Windows 7 as guest OS. Please also assume that the specs are adequate and there will be no large deployment of new desktops in the near future. The client has volume licensing for Windows clients and Microsoft Office.
The business's main concern is to minimize downtime of employee workstations. I would like to know:
- If Sysprep would work on the Hyper-V Server with the Win 7 virtual image host already in out of box mode Ready for first boot?
- If the Hyper-V server OS (the base on each workstation) would/should become domain members
- Are there enough tangible benefits to the client to outweigh the added complexity. It is very appealing to the client that if a machine is FUBAR, a new image can be deployed and running in an extremely short amount of time. (Client insists on local admin rights for all and they do mess up their machines.)