I have opened a case with MS Support and went back and forth for about 2 months trying to get them to answer this question and ultimately they said they could not and directed me to post here.
Here is the simple question:
In Windows Server 2008 R2, there was a pop-up that said basically not to make changes to a CSV through non-VMM tools. I interpreted this to mean, as did many others including OEMs like NetApp, do NOT make changes through Explorer or CMD line tools without bringing the CSV offline in maintenance mode. This is a real issue for uptime, because as you know, when deleting a VM in Hyper-V, the VM's directory and associated files are not deleted. This leaves orphaned files and takes up space on the CSV drives. We would like to delete these files, but in 2008 R2 we did not because we were warned by OEMs and the pop-up; so we had to open maintenance mode each time.
In Server 2012, is this issue still true? Can we open Explorer or a CMD line and create or delete files or directories on a CSV without bringing the CSV into maintenance mode? We need a response from the MS Product Group, as this is going to become our new standard.
Thank you,
DPR