Implementing Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008
When it comes to file and application servers, often
times the server hardware is grossly underutilized. In fact, many
servers only use about
ten percent of the hardware’s total capacity. For several years
now, Microsoft and
various third party companies have offered server virtualization
solutions that allow you
to run multiple server instances on a single physical computer.
When Microsoft released Windows Server 2008, they introduced a new
feature called
Hyper-V. Hyper-V is a server virtualization role that is designed
to be the successor to
Microsoft’s Virtual Server 2005. As you might expect though,
Hyper-V uses completely
different installation and configuration methods than its
predecessor did. In Part 1 of
this series on Windows Server 2008 Virtualization, I will show you
how to actually create
a virtual server that can run in a Hyper-V environment.
Perform a Clean Installation
The first thing that I recommend doing is to perform a clean
installation of Windows
Server 2008. Server virtualization is extremely resource
intensive, far more so than
most other server applications, so I recommend using a clean
Windows installation on a
dedicated server.
Installing the Hyper-V Role
Now, log in using an account with local administrative privileges,
and then open the Server
manager. In case you aren’t familiar with the Server Manager, it’s
the new tool that acts
as a centralized management utility for Windows Server 2008. You
can access it by
entering the ServerManager.msc command at the server’s Run
prompt.
When Server Manager opens, right click on the Roles container,
and then choose the Add
Roles command from the resulting shortcut menu. Windows will now
launch the Add Roles
Wizard.
Click Next to bypass the wizard’s welcome screen and then you
should see a screen
similar to the one shown in Figure A, asking you which
roles you would like to install.
Select the Hyper-V check box, and then click next.
You must choose the Hyper-V Role.
At this point, you will see the screen that’s shown in Figure B.
Basically, this screen just
tells you that you may end up needing to enable virtualization at
the BIOS level prior to
installing the Hyper-V roll. Some servers require this, and others
don’t. The screen also
tells you that after installation is complete, you can use the
Hyper-V Manager to create
and configure your virtual machines. The serene also contains a
few links that you can use
to access more information about the Hyper-V role.
This screen allows you to access more information about the role
that you are installing.
Click next, and you will be taken to a screen similar to
the one that’s shown in
As you can see in the figure, your virtual machines require
virtual networks in order for
them to be able to communicate with other network hosts.
Essentially, this screen allows
you to choose the physical network adapter that you want to bind
the virtual network
adapter to.
You must bind the virtual network adapter to at least one physical
network adapter.
You have the option of choosing multiple network adapters for load
balancing, but you also
have the option of using a single physical network adapter for all
of your virtual machines.
When you have made your selection, click next.
You should now see a screen confirming that you are about to
install the Hyper-V role,
and warning you that the server may require a reboot after
installing the role. Now, just
click the Install button to install the role. The actual
amount of time that it takes to
install the role varies depending on your server’s performance,
but the entire process
took about 20 seconds on my server.
When the installation process completes, click the Close button,
and then click yes when
you are prompted to reboot the server. When the server reboots,
log back into the
server and the Server Manager should automatically load and resume
the installation
process. After about a minute, you should see a message telling
you that Hyper-V has
installed
successfully.
Click Close to complete the wizard.
