The previous versions of Hyper-V seemed to be lacking in certain areas compared to the likes of Citrix Xen and VMWARE, which were more advanced and offered a better solution. Until recently, that is, with Microsoft releasing a beefed up edition of Hyper-V. Hyper-V 2012 is now feature rich with great new additions on what previous editions offered. Let’s take a closer look at a few of these great new additions.
Shared Virtual Hard Disk
Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 R2 enables clustering virtual machines by using shared virtual hard disk (VHDX) files.What value does this change add?
This feature is used to build a high availability infrastructure, and it is especially important for private cloud deployments and cloud-hosted environments that manage large workloads. Shared virtual hard disks enable multiple virtual machines to access the same virtual hard disk (VHDX) file, which provides shared storage for use by Windows Failover Clustering. The shared virtual hard disk files can be hosted on Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) or on Server Message Block (SMB)-based Scale-Out File Server file shares.
Storage Quality of Service
Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 R2 includes storage Quality of Service (QoS). Storage QoS enables you to manage storage throughput for virtual hard disks that are accessed by your virtual machines.What value does this change add?
Storage QoS enables you to specify the maximum and minimum I/O loads in terms of I/O operations per second (IOPS) for each virtual disk in your virtual machines. Storage QoS ensures that the storage throughput of one virtual hard disk does not impact the performance of another virtual hard disk on the same host.
Virtual Machine Generation
Virtual machine generation determines the virtual hardware and functionality that is presented to the virtual machine.What value does this change add?
Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 R2 includes two supported virtual machine generations:
Provides the same virtual hardware to the virtual machine as in previous versions of Hyper-V.
Provides the following new functionality on a virtual machine:
- – Secure Boot (enabled by default)
- – Boot from a SCSI virtual hard disk
- – Boot from a SCSI virtual DVD
- – PXE boot by using a standard network adapter
- – UEFI firmware support
Enhanced Session Mode
Virtual Machine Connection in Hyper-V now allows redirection of local resources in a Virtual Machine Connection session.What value does this change add?
Virtual Machine Connection enhances the interactive session experience provided for Hyper-V administrators who want to connect to their virtual machines. It provides functionality that is similar to a remote desktop connection when you are interacting with a virtual machine.
In previous versions of Hyper-V, Virtual Machine Connection provided redirection of only the virtual machine screen, keyboard, and mouse with limited copy functionality. To get additional redirection abilities, a remote desktop connection to the virtual machine could be initiated, but this required a network path to the virtual machine.
The following local resources can be redirected when using Virtual Machine Connection:
The following local resources can be redirected when using Virtual Machine Connection:
- – Display configuration
- – Audio
- – Printers
- – Clipboard
- – Smart cards
- – Drives
- – USB devices
- – Supported Plug and Play devices
Automatic Virtual Machine Activation:
Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA) lets you install virtual machines on a computer where Windows Server 2012 R2 is properly activated without having to manage product keys for each individual virtual machine, even in disconnected environments. AVMA binds the virtual machine activation to the licensed virtualization server and activates the virtual machine when it starts. AVMA also provides real-time reporting on usage, and historical data on the license state of the virtual machine. Reporting and tracking data is available on the virtualization server.What value does this change add?
AVMA requires a virtualization server running Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter. The operating system on the guest virtual machine must be Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter, Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard, or Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials.
Datacenter managers can use AVMA to do the following:
Datacenter managers can use AVMA to do the following:
- – Activate virtual machines in remote locations
- – Activate virtual machines with or without an Internet connection
- – Track virtual machine usage and licenses from the virtualization server, without requiring any access rights on the virtual machines
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