It’s a little earlier than expected, but the final, release to manufacturing (RTM) version of Microsoft’s long-awaited Hyper-V is now available.  There are several available download packages, listed below.  Links for the main download package (for the server side) is listed below.  For most of us, this should be a "clean" update (no special considerations) except for one: You will need to commit or discard saved state files for any VMs that are currently defined on existing Hyper-V servers.  On to the details and links (courtesy of Microsoft)….

Hyper-V RTM Packages: Windows Server 2008 x64 Hyper-V Parent Partition

This is the complete Hyper-V RTM package for Windows Server 2008 x64. This package must be installed on the Hyper-V Parent Partition. It includes the Hyper-V Server components for Full and Core installations. In addition, is contains the Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Management components for Full installations. Note This package is permanent.  Once installed, it cannot be uninstalled.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F3AB3D4B-63C8-4424-A738-BADED34D24ED

Hyper-V Management

This is the Windows Vista SP1 x64 Management package. This package provides the management tools for Windows Vista SP1 x64.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=88208468-0AD6-47DE-8580-085CBA42C0C2

This is the Windows Vista SP1 x86 Management package. This package provides the management tools for Windows Vista SP1 x86.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BF909242-2125-4D06-A968-C8A3D75FF2AA

This is the Windows Server 2008 x86 Management package. This package provides the management tools for Windows Server 2008 x86.  Note This package is permanent.  Once installed, it cannot be uninstalled. 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=6F69D661-5B91-4E5E-A6C0-210E629E1C42

UPGRADE CONSIDERATIONS

If upgrading from Hyper-V RC0, RC1 Escrow, RC1 or RTM Escrow, you will not need to recreate your virtual machines or network settings.  All virtual machine information will simply persist once the upgrade is complete. However, the following upgrade considerations need to be followed to ensure a successful upgrade to Hyper-V RTM.

· Saved-state files are not supported during the upgrade.  All virtual machine saved-states should be discarded before upgrading to Hyper-V RTM (or prior to resuming virtual machines after upgrading to Hyper-V RTM).

· Online snapshots contain virtual machine save-states and thus online snapshots are not supported when upgrading to Hyper-V RTM. Either apply any online snapshots and shut down the VM or discard the virtual machine save-state associated with the snapshot before or after the update to Hyper-V RTM.

· New Integration Components (ICs) must be installed for your supported guest operating systems. Integration Components are specific to the build of Hyper-V. Hyper-V RTM Integration Components for all supported Windows Operating Systems are provided using the ‘Action’ à ‘Insert Integration Services Setup Disk’ action.

o Hyper-V RTM Integration Components for ALL supported Windows Operating Systems are now part of the IC Setup Disk. This includes all of the new guest support being added at RTM such as Windows XP (x86), XP (x64), Vista (x64), Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Simply install the Hyper-V RTM Integration Components and you’re set. (‘Action’ à ‘Insert Integration Services Setup Disk’).
Note You need to close the found new hardware wizard before setup will begin on all Windows Operating Systems.

Clustering is a real requirement for many mission-critical applications.  Fortunately, most virtualization platforms (including Microsoft’s Hyper-V) support several options.  The main approaches involve either clustering within Guest OS’s (i.e., within a VM if the guest OS supports it), or by using shared storage at the host level.  But, clever systems administrators can often come up with some more creative options.

Jose Barreto has recently posted a very well-written and comprehensive article called Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Failover Custering Options.  The article outlines (and illustrates) several different approaches.  From the introduction:

There are many ways to implement Windows Server Failover Clustering with Hyper-V. I could actually find five unique methods to do it. Some of them will actually not give you a fully fault-tolerant solution, but most of them actually make sense in specific scenarios (even if only for demonstrations). In any case, just trying to understand and differentiate them will probably be a good exercise.

And here are the titles for your clustering options:

• Parent-based Failover Clustering with two physical servers
• Child-based Failover Clustering with two physical servers
• Mixed Physical/Virtual Failover Clustering
• Failover Clustering with two child partitions on one physical server
• Standalone demo laptop with Virtual iSCSI SAN

Jose has done a great job documenting them, and I think this post will serve as a good reference.

Microsoft recently made available the Release Candidate 1 (RC1) update for x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008.  To get the latest bits (in a Microsoft update installer package), go to Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB950049) at the Microsoft Download Center.  If you’re performing remote administration from a 32-bit edition of Windows Server 2008, you can also download the RC1 update for 32-bit machines (remember that Hyper-V itself runs only on x64 machines that have virtualization CPU extensions). 

To get more details on what is new and what has changed, see the Release Notes for the RC1 Release of Hyper-V document.  The associated Knowledge Base Article 950049 also describes issues for updating, including the incompatibility of snapshots made in previous beta/RC releases of the product.  You also want to upgrade VMs to the latest version of Integration Services (included with the update). 

I was recently asked to write an article that presents the case for Microsoft’s Hyper-V.  The article, Virtualization Face-Off: The Case for Hyper-V, includes some considerations that I believe will help the success of Hyper-V.  From the introduction:

It’s not always easy to defend an underdog, especially when they’re going up against the might of a large corporation that dominates its marketplace. And it’s not often that Microsoft is considered the underdog. Microsoft’s upcoming Hyper-V and associated management tools will take on VMware and the rest of the market and in doing so will very likely change users’ expectations for virtualization products.

Of course, this is bound to be a heated topic.  Feel free to voice your questions and comments here.

My recent SearchServerVirtualization.com article, Understanding Hyper-V partitions and device drivers, attempts to demystify some of the terminology related to Microsoft’s new virtualization platform.  From the article’s introduction:

As is the case with many other technologies, the virtualization space is filled with a mystifying array of terminology. Familiar definitions, such as guest, host, physical and virtual, interact within constellations of other, more product-specific terms. Microsoft’s Hyper-V has its own language that includes terms such as synthetic and emulated drivers; root, parent, and child partitions; and a smattering of others necessary for understanding and working with Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization platform. In this tip, I’ll explain the terms that are relevant to how device drivers work in Hyper-V, which should help with installation of the product, managing performance and troubleshooting any issues that might arise.

Be sure to check out the full article for all of the details.

I recently wrote a new article that helps explain the architecture of Hyper-V.   From the introduction:

As is the case with many other technologies, the virtualization space is filled with a mystifying array of terminology. Familiar definitions, such as guest, host, physical and virtual, interact within constellations of other, more product-specific terms. Microsoft’s Hyper-V has its own language that includes terms such as synthetic and emulated drivers; root, parent, and child partitions; and a smattering of others necessary for understanding and working with Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization platform. In this tip, I’ll explain the terms that are relevant to how device drivers work in Hyper-V, which should help with installation of the product, managing performance and troubleshooting any issues that might arise.

You can find the entire article at SearchServerVirtualization.com: Understanding Hyper-V partitions and device drivers.

One of the best ways to learn about any product is by using it and/or watching it in action.  For those of that are curious about Hyper-V, but don’t necessarily have the time or hardware to setup a test environment, a couple of free screencasts might be the next best thing.  Here are links to a couple of videos based on the pre-release versions of Hyper-V (each is around 10 minutes long).

Installing Hyper-V

The following screencast will talk you through the steps required to get up and running with Microsoft’s virtualization services in Hyper-V. The demonstration will use the release version of Windows Server 2008, which includes a beta of Hyper-V. You’ll learn about prerequisites, system requirements and using Server Manager to install and verify the Hyper-V server role.

You can view the screencast on SearchServerVirtualization.com: Installing Microsoft Hyper-V: A screencast

Creating and Managing VMs with Hyper-V

Once you have installed Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008, you’ll need to perform several steps to create, configure, and start your virtual machines. This screencast will walk through those steps, including Hyper-V server settings, virtual machine virtual hardware configuration settings and basic virtualization operations.

You can view the screencast on SearchServerVirtualization.com: Creating and managing virtual machines with Microsoft Hyper-V: Screencast.