Windows Server 2008 R2
Hyper-V FAQ
Contents
New Functionality in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V ...... 3 Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Questions ...... 4 Clustering and Live Migration ...... 6 Supported Guests ...... 7 Hyper-V Upgrade Guidance ...... 8 Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP2 Hyper-V Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V ...... 8 Parent Partition ...... 8 Child Partitions ...... 8 Networking Guidance ...... 9 System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) Support ...... 10 Remote Management ...... 10
New Functionality in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V
Q: What is new in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V (including Service Pack 1) ?
A: Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V includes the following new and improved functionality.
Support for Live Migration Support for up to 64 host logical processors by hypervisor New in SP1: Dynamic Memory New in SP1: Microsoft RemoteFX Up to 384 VMs on the host, limited by physical resources New “Processor Compatibility” option for VMs used in Live and Quick Migration Jumbo Frame Support Hot Add/Remove of storage (VHDs and Pass Through Disks) Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) processor support for both Intel (EPT) and AMD (RVI) Core Parking Improved VHD performance for dynamic and difference disks Improved network performance via VMQ (specific hardware NICs required)
Q: When was Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V publicly released?
A: Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V was released in October 2009. Service Pack1 will be available in the first half of 2011.
Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Questions
Q: What does WS08 R2 Hyper-V contain?
A: With WS08 R2 Hyper-V, customers get a compelling solution for core virtualization scenarios – Production server consolidation, dynamic datacenter, test & development and business continuity. With the initial version of Hyper-V, we have seen massive customer interest and adoption for Hyper-V with over 1 million downloads of the RTM and the latest IDC report showing that Microsoft has 24% market share in virtualization. Windows Server 2008 R2 provides customers better flexibility with features like live migration and cluster shared volumes for storage flexibility; greater scalability with support for up to 64 logical processors and improved performance with support for enhanced networking support (VMQ support for virtual machines) and support for second level address translation.
Q: What’s new in R2?
A: The major technology investment areas for WS08R2 are Virtualization, Web, and Management these along with several features that improve Scalability & Reliability and deliver a strong value proposition along with WIN7 Clients. These features include:
Live Migration – Allows customers to move virtual machines from one host to another in seconds with no loss of performance. This facilitates hardware maintenance and upgrades, manual failover, and the consolidation of workloads on fewer servers. Automation in the datacenter also helps trim IT spending on labor and maintenance. DirectAccess – Allows remote workers to securely and seamlessly connect to their work environment as if they are on the corporate network and lets IT administrators continually manage the remote workers' personal computers without the use of a VPN. This results in greater flexibility for the remote workers and reduced administration costs for the organization. Branch Cache – Customers can greatly reduce Wide Area Network (WAN) bandwidth consumption between the datacenter and branch offices. The result is a significant reduction in networking costs because most organizations pay for bandwidth by the byte. New in SP1: Dynamic Memory – Enables organizations to make the most efficient use of available physical memory by pooling memory on a host machine and dynamically distributing it to virtual machines as needed. Memory is dynamically added or removed to VMs based on current workloads without service interruption.
RemoteFX – Introduces a new set of remote user experience capabilities that enable a media-rich user environment for virtual desktops, session-based desktops, and remote applications. It can be deployed to a range of thick and thin client devices, enabling cost-effective, local-like access to graphics-intensive applications, and a broad array of user peripherals to improve the productivity of remote users
Q: What is Dynamic Memory, and what are its benefits ?
A: Dynamic Memory is a new feature of Hyper-V™ introduced in Service Pack 1 for Windows Server® 2008 R2 that enables Hyper-V hosts to dynamically adjust the amount of memory available to virtual machines in response to changing workloads. The benefits of Dynamic Memory include higher virtual machine consolidation ratios and increased flexibility for managing virtualized workloads.
Q: What is the number of logical processors that will be supported by Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2?
A: Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 will support up to 64 logical processors in the physical machine.
Q: Why is there a difference between the number of logical processors supported in Windows Server 2008 R2 and the number of logical processors supported by Hyper-V?
A: The Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system (OS) is designed to run on the widest range of HW from single processor servers to the largest scale-up servers. Hyper-V is designed for the most common hardware configurations that customers will deploy for virtualization. The vast majority of servers that will be deployed for virtualization will be 2 and 4 socket servers. Hyper- V will support up to 64 logical processors in Windows Server 2008 R2 and we will continue to work with our partners to provide solutions to help customers take advantage of future hardware innovations to meet their current and future business needs.
Q: How many guest OSes can I run?
A: The actual number of guest OSes will depend on the physical hardware and the characteristics of the different virtualized workloads, the supported limit per physical server is 384 virtual machines, up to 1000 VMs per cluster. Clustering and Live Migration
Q: Up to how many nodes on a cluster does Live Migration support?
A: Live Migration is supported on up to 16 node failover clusters.
Q: What is the maximum number of supported VMs per node?
A: For production deployment, up to 384 VMs per node / up to 1000 VMs per cluster are supported. Customers must plan for adequate capacity when a failover occurs and VMs from the failed host are brought online on different nodes of the cluster.
Q: Will Live Migration work on with a cluster of mixed AMD and Intel host nodes?
A: For Live Migration or Quick Migration to work, all cluster nodes must have processors from the same processor vendor, for example Intel or AMD.
Q: Assuming host nodes have a virtualization capable processor from the same manufacturer, can I migrate a VM from a host using an older processor to a host with a newer processor?
A: It is highly recommended to use identical processors on all nodes of a cluster using Quick or Live Migration.
A new functionality introduced in Hyper-V R2 is the “Processor Compatibility Mode” option. This functionality can be enabled for VMs to allow both Live Migration and Quick Migration from newer to older processors from the same manufacturer.
The setting is under VM settings > Processor > “Migrate to a physical computer with a different processor version”.
Q: Are there any new tools included with Windows Server R2 Server Core to help manage the Hyper-V?
A: A new server configuration script is available in the Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V. Type sconfig at the command line to start the server configuration utility. Supported Guests
Q: What operating systems are supported as guests on Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V?
A: A list of operating systems that are supported as guests with integration services with Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V is available at http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/library/cc794868(WS.10).aspx
Q: What Linux guests are supported in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V?
A: The following distributions are officially supported:
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 / 5.3 / 5.4 For updated information please see http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/library/cc794868(WS.10).aspx
Q: What do the Hyper-V Integration Services for Linux include?
A: Optimized networking, storage, and fastpath boot drivers for linux. The latest Linux Integration Services 2.1 release also adds:
• Timesync: The clock inside the virtual machine will remain synchronized with the clock on the host.
• Integrated Shutdown: Virtual machines running Linux can be shut down from either Hyper-V Manager or System Center Virtual Machine Manager, using the “Shut Down” command.
• Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP) Support: Supported Linux distributions can use up to 4 virtual processors (VP) per virtual machine.
• Heartbeat: Allows the host to detect whether the guest is running and responsive.
• Pluggable Time Source: A pluggable clock source module is included to provide a more accurate time source to the guest.
The Hyper-V Linux Integration Services are available from this link.
Q: Do the Linux Integration Services enable multiprocessor support in supported Linux VMs?
A: With version 2.1 of the Linux Integration Services up to 4 virtual processors are supported in Linux VMs.
Hyper-V Upgrade Guidance
Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP2 Hyper-V Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V
Parent Partition Q: Can I upgrade my existing Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP2 Hyper-V host to Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V?
A: Yes. Upgrade of Hyper-V installations from WS2008 Hyper-V RTM to WS2008 R2 Hyper-V is supported. You can perform an in-place upgrade of your machine from Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2008 R2 and still have the Hyper-V role enabled on the system.
Child Partitions Q: I have a number of virtual machines that I created using Windows Server 2008 Hyper- V. Can I move these virtual machines to Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V?
A: The following methods of moving a VM from WS2008 Hyper-V to WS2008 R2 Hyper-V are supported:
1. In-place upgrade of the host from WS2008 Hyper-V to WS2008 R2 Hyper-V. 2. Exporting a VM from a machine running WS2008 Hyper-V and importing to a machine running WS2008 R2 Hyper-V. 3. Backing up a VM from WS2008 Hyper-V and restoring it on WS2008 R2 Hyper-V
At the end of each operation above, the VM configurations that were created in WS2008 Hyper-V will still be registered in WS2008 R2 Hyper-V.
Unsupported features when upgrading to Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V:
1. Saved states a. If you keep a VM in saved state through the upgrade/export to a Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V host, the VM will be registered and will appear to be in the saved state. However, the VM will not be able to restore from the saved state. You will need to discard the saved state and then cold start the virtual machine.
2. Online Snapshots a. You will be able to apply the snapshot and thus get the configuration and storage data associated with that snapshot. However, you will not be able to restore from the associated saved state. You will need to discard the saved state and restart the VM.
Although all guest synthetic devices with continue to function with the older RTM drivers on R2, updating the guest integration services to the latest R2 version is highly recommended to access the optimal performance of the R2 drivers and integration services.
Networking Guidance
Q: What is the VMQ feature?
A: Windows Server 2008 R2 is being delivered with an new optional optimization to enhance the networking performance of virtual machines. The networking optimization feature is Virtual Machine Queues (VMQ). Depending on the NICs available to you and the traffic types you encounter, this technology may produce substantial improvements in your networking performance, either through greater bandwidth utilization or, in slower NICs, lower CPU utilization to process the same load.
VMQ requires hardware support. These features are only available when using specific hardware NICs (please refer to the section below for supported NICs).
NICs:
For Windows Server 2008 R2,
VMQ capable drivers are available on the media: o Intel Kawela (E1Q) 1 Gb/s NICs (also known as Pro/1000 ET NICs) o Intel Oplin NICs (IXE) 10Gb/s NICs (also known as 82598)
To determine which NIC(s) your system has, go to the Windows Device Manager and expand the Network Adapters entry. If one of the above mentioned Network Adapters is listed, then your host should be capable of using the associated networking optimization feature.
Drivers for additional NICs that support these features are expected to be available in the RTM timeframe. Some vendors may produce VMQ-capable drivers for their NICs and release them through other channels such as their own support web sites.
Feature interactions:
A connection will not be offloaded if it is part of an IPSec rule. Connections may not be available if the Windows Firewall or any other filter driver that requires packet inspection for that particular connection. Currently available NIC teaming drivers do not support the use of these features.
System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) Support
Q: Can I manage Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V hosts with SCVMM?
A: SCVMM 2008 R2 is required to manage Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V hosts with SCVMM. See www.microsoft.com/scvmm for details.
Remote Management
Q: Can I manage Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V hosts using the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT)?
A: Yes. All the Hyper-V R2 settings can be managed with RSAT for Win7 or the version of Hyper-V Manager included with Windows Server 2008 R2.
Ealier versions of the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) can only manage some of the basic settings of Hyper-V R2 hosts.