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Archive for category Microsoft Hyper-V

Free Microsoft Learning Course on Hyper-V

Jan 4

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

The Microsoft eLearning web site includes a wide variety of different online training courses.  I have used many of these to keep up-to-date with new releases and product features.  Best of all, there are many courses that are available for free.  One such course is Clinic 5935: Introducing Server Virtualization in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (RC0). 

While the naming and terminology of the Hyper-V feature uses some outdated terms, all of the major technical information should still be accurate.  This is a good place to start with Microsoft’s E-Learning and to lean about Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization products.  Thanks’s to virtualization.info for the link.

Understanding Hyper-V Drivers

Jan 3

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

One of the more challenging aspects of getting up to speed about Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology is that of understanding enlightenments and integration components (ICs).  The terms are new, as is the underlying technology.  A recent blog post from the MSDN Blogs site helps explain the concepts.  The post is titled Hyper-V: Integration Components and Enlightenments and does what it promises.  A few block diagrams and images would be helpful. 

Hyper-V is currently available in beta form and will be supported on Windows Server 2008 later this year, but it’s never too early to start learning about its architecture.  You can expect more information to become available as the product gets closer to its final stages.

The Hyper-V Beta is Now Available

Dec 13

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

  • Update (03/27/2019): Though I generally don’t update old posts, I recently found a useful guide for those that might be interested in more up-to-date information on Windows Server and Hyper-V.  Please see Stephen Coopers, “Ultimate Guide to Windows Server” as an alternate resource.

The Windows Server Division Blog announces the availability of a beta version of Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology.  Hyper-V was formerly known as “Viridian” and later “Windows Server Virtualization (WSv)”.  Previous releases were known as Consumer Technology Preview (CTP) versions.  Generally, beta products have a higher level of quality.  To get the preview version, you’ll need to download the appropriate version of Windows Server 2008 RC1 from the Windows Server Evaluation site.  Note that you can only install the product on Windows Server 2008 Enterprise running on an x64 hardware platform.  Here are some useful links:

Overall, you can expect to see a lot more information on the product (some from me) in the near future.

Understanding Microsoft’s Hyper-V Architecture

Dec 12

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

This article was first published on SearchServerVirtualization.com. 

I recently wrote an introductory article focusing on the architecture of Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology.  From the article’s introduction:

Many IT people like to live on the cutting edge, even if it means we might need to purchase some bandages for the datacenter. Advanced is virtualization are commonplace, and it’s generally worthwhile to find out what’s coming out in the not-too-distant future. Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization product – now called Hyper-V – features a completely new virtualization architecture. Hyper-V (formerly known as “Viridian” and Windows Server Virtualization (WSv)), will be made available as a component of the Windows Server 2008 platform.

You can access the entire article on SearchServerVirtualization.com. 

Note: Some of this content has been superceded with the release of Microsoft’s Hyper-V Beta (see more recent postings in the Hyper-V category for details).

Microsoft Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) Guides Available

Nov 13

Posted by Anil Desai in Best Practices, Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Virtual Server | 1 Comment

I recently worked with Microsoft’s Solution Accelerator team to develop a guide to designing an infrastructure to support Microsoft’s virtualization solutions.  Unlike much of the other technical information that is available online, this series focuses on the design aspect of managing technology, rather than on implementation details.  From the web site:

Infrastructure Planning and Design guides share a common structure, including:

  • Definition of the technical decision flow through the planning process.
  • Listing of decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
  • Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
  • Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

These guides complement product documentation by focusing on infrastructure design options.

Each guide leads the reader through critical infrastructure design decisions, in the appropriate order, evaluating the available options for each decision against its impact on critical characteristics of the infrastructure. The IPD Series highlights when service and infrastructure goals should be validated with the organization and provides additional questions that should be asked of service stakeholders and decision makers.

You can download the files from the Infrastructure Planning and Design page (registration is optional).  The content includes the following downloads:

  • IPD Series Introduction: A brief introduction to the series and its approach.
  • Select the Right Virtualization Solution: This guide includes an overview of Microsoft’s virtualization products and technologies.  The package includes a flowchart that can be helpful in deciding how to select from among Microsoft Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft Virtual PC, Microsoft Terminal Services, Microsoft SoftGrid, and the newly-announced Hyper-V (available with Windows Server 2008).
  • Windows Server Virtualization: This guide covers details on Windows Server Virtualization (WSv, now officially "Hyper-V") and Microsoft Virtual Server.  It includes a document and slides that cover the process of selecting which workloads to virtualize.  The guide then walks through the process of translating virtual machine requirements to host infrastructure requirements.
  • SoftGrid Application Virtualization: This guide focuses on SoftGrid – recently renamed to Microsoft Application Virtualization.  It covers best practices for designing an infrastructure for simplified application deployment and maintenance.

All downloads include files in Office 2003 and Office 2007 formats and are ready for use in your own presentations or proposals.  More guides will be available in the near future, and you should be able to access beta versions of upcoming guides at Microsoft Connect.  I hope you find the content to be useful!

Hyper-V for Windows Server 2008 Announced

Nov 13

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V | 1 Comment

It looks like the official, final name of the server technology previously known as Viridian and Windows Server Virtualization (WSv) has been announced.  See Microsoft Outlines Pricing, Packaging and Licensing for Windows Server 2008… for details.  As few techies like to read Press Releases, I’ll give you the short version.  The name of the technology/feature that will be available in 64-bit editions of Windows Server 2008 is Hyper-V.  In addition, Microsoft is providing a Hyper-V Server version of the product for use by OEMs.  The technical requirements seem to remain the same.  I’ll soon be writing some articles about the architecture of Hyper-V and will post the details here.

Personally, I like the new name somewhat more than the WSv title.  Hyper-V has fewer syllables, which is always a plus.  It’s a departure from Microsoft’s usually long-winded product names that can rarely be completed in a single breath. 

On that note: In keeping with descriptive product names, SoftGrid has also been renamed.  It is now called Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5.  A list of new features is listed in Brian Madden’s blog entry, Microsoft announces Application Virtualization 4.5.  While I have mixed feelings on long, descriptive product names, I really do think this will help clear up some confusion over virtualization approaches.  I’ll post more information as it becomes available.