Microsoft’s virtualization technology is Hyper-V. Hyper-V is a virtual machine technology that allows multiple guest operating systems to run concurrently on one computer and provide separate applications and services
to client computers. When you deploy Hyper-V, the Windows hypervisor
acts as the virtual machine engine, providing the necessary layer of
software for installing guest operating systems.
Hyper-V can be installed only on computers with 64-bit processors
that implement hardware-assisted virtualization and hardware-enforced
data execution protection. Specifically, you must enable virtualization support in firmware and also enable either Intel XD bit (execute disable bit) or AMD NX bit (no execute bit) as appropriate.
Virtualization can offer performance improvements, reduce the number
of servers, and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO). Although you
can use both Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 to deploy virtualized
computers, Hyper-V for Windows Server is very different from Client Hyper-V for Windows 8. The focus in this section is on Hyper-V for Windows Server 2012.
Windows Server 2012 supports AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) and Intel
Virtualization Technology (Intel VT). AMD-V is included in
second-generation and later AMD Opteron processors as well as other AMD
processors. Third-generation AMD Opteron processors feature Rapid
Virtualization Indexing (RVI)
to accelerate the performance of virtualized applications. Intel VT is
included in most current Intel Xeon processors as well as Intel vPro and
some other Intel processors. Keep in mind that older processors with
virtualization might have different features from newer processors, and
these differences can present special challenges when you are migrating
from one hardware platform to another.
Important
Windows Server 2012 also supports second-level address translation (SLAT)
as implemented by Intel and AMD processors. SLAT adds a second level of
paging below the architectural paging tables in the server’s
processors. This improves performance by providing an indirection layer
from virtual machine memory access to physical memory access. On
Intel-based processors, this feature is called extended page tables (EPTs), and on AMD-based processors, this feature is called nested page tables (NPTs).
Windows Server 2012 supports many virtualization features, including live migration and dynamic
virtual machine storage. You can use live migration to transparently
move running virtual machines either from one node of a cluster to
another or from one nonclustered server to another. You also can perform
multiple live migrations simultaneously. With dynamic virtual machine storage, you can add or remove virtual hard disks and physical disks while a virtual machine is running. You also can move the virtual disks of running virtual machines from one storage location to another without downtime.
Virtual machines also can be stored on SMB 3.0 file
shares. Typically, you use this feature by creating the virtual machine
and a virtual hard disk on the SMB 3.0 file share. Initially, the
virtual machine will think it is using local storage. You then change
the storage type by migrating the virtual machine storage from a local configuration to a file-share configuration. Hyper-V also supports connections to Fibre Channel storage using virtual Fibre Channel.
Virtual machines require virtual
networks to communicate with other computers. When you install Hyper-V,
you can create one virtual network for each adapter available. After
installing Hyper-V, you can create and manage virtual networks by using Virtual
Network Manager. Microsoft recommends that you reserve one network
adapter for remote access to the server. You do this by not designating
the adapter for use with a virtual network.
You can install Hyper-V on a server with a virtualization-enabled processor by completing these steps:
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In Server Manager, tap or click Manage and then tap or click Add
Roles And Features. If the wizard displays the Before You Begin page,
read the Welcome text and then tap or click Next. -
On the Installation Type page, Role-Based Or Feature-Based Installation is selected by default. Tap or click Next. -
On the Server Selection page, select the server on which you want to
install Hyper-V and then tap or click Next. Keep in mind that only
servers running Windows Server 2012 and that have been added for
management in Server Manager are listed. -
On the Server Roles page, select Hyper-V as the role to install. If
additional features are required to install a role, you’ll see an
additional dialog box. Tap or click Add Features to close the dialog
box, and add the required features to the server installation. When you
are ready to continue, tap or click Next three times, skipping the
Features page and the Hyper-V page. -
On the Create Virtual Switches page, shown in Figure 7,
select a network adapter on which to create a virtual switch. A virtual
switch is needed so that virtual machines can communicate with other
computers. The virtual switch allows virtual machines to connect to the
physical network. When you are ready to continue, tap or click Next. -
On the Virtual
Machine Migration page, you can enable live migrations of virtual
machines on this server by selecting the check box provided. You don’t
have to enable this feature now; instead, you can enable this feature
later by modifying the Hyper-V
settings. However, if you enable live migrations, you also must choose
the Credential Security Support Provider (CredSSP) protocol or Kerberos
for authentication. Kerberos is the most secure, but you also must
configure constrained delegation. CredSSP is less secure but doesn’t
require you to configure constrained delegation. When you are ready to
continue, tap or click Next. -
On the Default Stores page, you can accept the current default
locations for virtual hard disk files and virtual machine configuration
files or enter new default locations. Regardless of your choices, you
can modify the defaults later using the Hyper-V settings. When you are ready to continue, tap or click Next. -
On the Confirm page, tap or click the Export Configuration Settings
link to generate an installation report that can be displayed in
Internet Explorer. If the server on which you want to install Hyper-V
doesn’t have all the required binary source files, the server gets the
files via Windows Update by default or from a location specified in
Group Policy. You also can specify an alternate path for the required
source files. To do this, click the Specify An Alternate Source Path
link, type the alternate path in the box provided, and then tap or click
OK. -
Because a restart is required to complete the installation of
Hyper-V, you might want to select the Restart The Destination Server
check box. Tap or click Install to begin the installation process. The
Installation Progress page tracks the progress of the installation. If
you close the wizard, tap or click the Notifications icon in Server
Manager and then tap or click the link provided to re-open the wizard. -
When Setup finishes installing Hyper-V,
the Installation Progress page will be updated to reflect this. Review
the installation details to ensure that all phases of the installation
were completed successfully. If you didn’t restart the server, a restart
will be pending and required to complete the installation.
Creating virtual machines
Installing Hyper-V
on a server establishes the server as a virtualization server. Each
virtual machine you install on the server must be assigned resources to
use and then be configured. The number of virtual machines you can run
on any individual server depends on the server’s hardware configuration
and workload. During setup, you specify the amount of memory available
to a virtual machine. Although you can change that memory allocation, the amount of memory actively allocated to a virtual machine cannot be used in other ways.
You create and manage virtual machines using Hyper-V Manager, shown in Figure 8. Start Hyper-V Manager by selecting Hyper-V Manager on the Tools menu in Server Manager.
To install and configure a virtual machine, complete the following steps:
-
In Hyper-V
Manager, press and hold or right-click the server node in the left pane,
point to New, and then select Virtual Machine. This starts the New Virtual Machine Wizard. -
Tap or click Next to display the Specify Name And Location page, shown in Figure 9. In the Name text box, enter a name for the virtual machine, such as AppServer02. -
By default, the virtual machine data
is stored in the default location for the server. To select a different
location, select the Store The Virtual Machine In A Different Location
check box, tap or click Browse, and then use the Select Folder dialog
box to select a save location. -
Tap or click Next. On the Assign Memory page, specify the amount of
memory to allocate to the virtual machine. In most cases, you should
reserve at least the minimum amount of memory recommended for the
operating system you plan to install. You might also want to enable
dynamic memory allocation. -
Tap or click Next. On the Configure Networking page, use the Connection list to select a network
adapter to use. Each new virtual machine includes a network adapter,
and you can configure the adapter to use an available virtual switch for
communicating with other computers. -
Tap or click Next. On the Connect Virtual Hard Disk page, use the options provided to name and set the location of a virtual hard disk for the virtual
machine. Each virtual machine requires a virtual hard disk so that you
can install an operating system and required applications. -
Tap or click Next. On the Installation Options page, select Install
An Operating System From A Boot CD/DVD-ROM. If you have physical
distribution media, insert the distribution media, and then specify the
CD/DVD drive to use. If you want to install from an .iso image, select
Image File, tap or click Browse, and then use the Open dialog box to select the image file to use. -
Tap or click Next, and then tap or click Finish. -
In Hyper-V Manager, press and hold or right-click the name of the virtual machine and then tap or click Connect. -
In the Virtual Machine Connection window, tap or click Start. After
the virtual machine is initialized, the operating system installation
should start automatically. Continue with the operating system
installation as you normally would.
When the installation is complete, log on to the virtual machine and
configure it as you would any other server. From then on, you manage the
virtual machine much as you would any other computer, except that you
can externally control its state, available resources, and hardware
devices using Hyper-V Manager. Additionally, when it comes to backups,
several approaches are available:
-
Back up the host server and all virtual machine data. -
Back up the host server and only the configuration data for virtual machines. -
Log on to virtual machines and perform normal backups as you would with any other server. -
Use Hyper-V manager to create point-in-time snapshots of virtual machines.
Ideally, you should use a combination of these approaches to ensure
that your host server and virtual machines are protected. In some cases,
you might want to back up the host server and configuration data and
then log on to each virtual machine and use normal backups. Other times,
you might want to back up the host machine and all virtual machine
data. You will likely want to supplement your backup strategy by creating point-in-time snapshots of virtual machines.
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