Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Getting Started Guide

Microsoft Corporation

Published: July 2009

Abstract

This guide helps you get started with Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 by providing information about its features, hardware requirements, and how to set up and manage it.

For more information about Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, see the Microsoft Hyper-V Server Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=129170). This document is also available in an online format (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=158005).

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Contents

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Getting Started Guide              5

New Features              5

Virtualization Platform Comparison              6

Setting Up Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2              8

Review Prerequisites for Installation              8

Processor              8

Memory              9

Network adapters              9

Additional considerations              9

Install Hyper-V Server 2008 R2              9

Configure Hyper-V Server 2008 R2              10

Manage Hardware and Drivers              11

Adding hardware              11

Configure Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 for Remote Management              12

Manage Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Remotely              13

Configure Virtual Networks              15

Configure and Manage Failover Clustering              15

Additional References              16

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Getting Started Guide

Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 is the next generation of Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008, which is a hypervisor-based product that was first released in September 2008. Hyper-V Server provides a simplified, reliable, and optimized virtualization solution, which enables improved server utilization and reduced costs. Because Hyper-V Server is a dedicated stand-alone product that contains only the Windows® hypervisor, a Windows Server® driver model, and virtualization components, it provides a small footprint and minimal overhead. It can easily fit into customers’ existing IT environments, leveraging their existing provisioning, management, support tools, processes, and skills.

New Features

Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 contains the same virtualization feature set as the Hyper-V role in Windows Server 2008 R2. Some of the features included in Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 are: 

·              Live migration: Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 includes support for live migration. Live migration enables customers to move running virtual machines from one host to another without service interruptions.

·              Failover clustering: Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 includes host clustering technology to enable support for unplanned downtime. With live migration and failover clustering, customers receive high availability and dynamic migration capabilities for planned and unplanned downtimes.

·              Processor and memory support: Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 supports up to 8-socket physical systems and provides support for up to 64 cores. In addition, Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 supports up to 1 TB of RAM on a physical system. 

·              Updated Server Configuration tool: The Server Configuration tool is designed to simplify the most common configuration tasks. It helps you configure the initial settings without having to type command-line strings. In Hyper-V Server 2008, this utility is called Hyper-V Configuration Utility (HVConfig). In Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, this tool is called the Server Configuration tool (SConfig.cmd). It is included in Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and in the Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 R2. Two configuration options are available only when you run the Server Configuration tool on a server running Hyper-V Server 2008 R2:

·              An option to have the Server Configuration tool start automatically every time you log on to a computer running Hyper-V Server with the Administrator account

·              An option to configure failover clustering

For a detailed feature and support comparison between Hyper-V Server 2008, Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008 R2, see the Virtualization Platform Comparison section. 

Virtualization Platform Comparison

The following table provides an overview comparison of the features and support in the following products:

·              Hyper-V Server 2008

·              Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 

·              Windows Server 2008 R2 (Enterprise and Datacenter editions)