14 guides
VHD vs VHDX for Hyper-V: size limits, corruption resistance, performance, and when each format matters. Plus how to convert VHD to VHDX with PowerShell.
Configure Windows Defender Firewall rules on Windows Server with the GUI and PowerShell New-NetFirewallRule: profiles, inbound/outbound rules, scoping, and testing.
Set up Hyper-V Replica the right way: configure the Replica server, enable replication, run test and planned failover, and fix the errors that trip people up.
Install Windows Server on Proxmox VE: upload the ISO, create the VM with VirtIO disk and network, load drivers during setup, and finish with the guest agent.
Lock down Remote Desktop on Windows Server: enforce NLA, use TLS and a real certificate, restrict access, and stop exposing RDP directly to the internet.
Move Hyper-V VMs between hosts with Export and Import. Learn the GUI steps, Export-VM and Import-VM in PowerShell, the three import types, and how to avoid ID conflicts.
Install the DHCP role on Windows Server, authorize it in Active Directory, create a scope, set options, add reservations and exclusions, and configure DHCP failover.
Pillar Guide
A practical Windows Server hardening checklist for AD environments: patching, disabling SMBv1, RDP/NLA, account lockout, tiering, audit logging, and firewall rules.
Hyper-V asks you to pick Generation 1 or Generation 2 when you create a VM, and you can't change it later. Here's how the two differ and which to choose.
Understand how NTFS and share permissions combine on Windows file servers, why the most restrictive wins, inheritance, and the best-practice setup admins actually use.
Clients stuck on 169.254 addresses? Work through DHCP scope state, AD authorization, pool exhaustion, conflicts, relay/IP helper, and firewall to fix it fast.
Hyper-V checkpoint failed? Fix it by checking disk space, VHDX permissions, VSS writers, and production vs standard checkpoints — with the AVHDX chain explained.
How to configure DNS on domain controllers the right way: partner-first then loopback, AD-integrated zones, forwarders, and how to avoid the DC islanding problem.
Create an external virtual switch in Hyper-V the right way. Switch types compared, Hyper-V Manager and New-VMSwitch steps, and how to avoid losing host network.