What are some considerations to take when programming a .NET framework application to run on a virtual machine (VMWare or Hyper-V)

Question

My question is somewhat general. I don't mind a general but practical answer. I am fishing here for something related to how to handle threads and thread synchronization, however, i am interested in the bigger picture of anything related to running a .NET application on a VM.

Should things be coded differently? Do we have to take extra precautions in certain areas?

Thanks

Answer 1

I think the entire point of virtual machines is that you don't have to worry about the fact that you're running on one, unless you literally need hardware access in your programs (which is unlikely for .NET).

The only time you would care is if you needed, say, to query SMART data for a drive, and you needed physical access, in which case you'd have to somehow ask for help from the VM or VMM.

Another example of when you might need hardware-level access is when you're writing a program that's meant to benchmark a device (which, again, is unlikely for .NET), and so you might need the raw power you can get (like how WinSAT doesn't run on a VHD). But these are unlikely scenarios and I doubt you'll run across them.