Microsoft Hyper-V
Microsoft Hyper-V is the virtualization layer built into Windows and Windows Server. It divides one physical computer into isolated virtual machines, each with its own operating system, virtual processors, memory, storage, and network connections.
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Intro
Microsoft Hyper-V
Microsoft Hyper-V is a type-1 hypervisor built into supported editions of Windows and Windows Server. It places a thin hypervisor between hardware and operating-system partitions. One physical host can then run multiple isolated virtual machines, or VMs. Each VM receives virtual processors, memory, storage, network adapters, and firmware while sharing the host's physical capacity.
Hyper-V serves two related environments. Client Hyper-V on Windows supports development, testing, and local labs. Hyper-V in Windows Server adds datacenter capabilities such as live migration, failover clustering, storage migration, and Hyper-V Replica. Those capabilities do not make one host highly available by themselves. Availability depends on the surrounding host, storage, network, cluster, backup, and recovery design.
Architecture and I/O flow
Enabling Hyper-V converts the installed Windows instance into the root partition. The root partition owns physical device access and hosts the virtualization management stack. Each VM runs in a child partition. The hypervisor schedules virtual processors and enforces partition isolation.
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Sources
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/overview
Supports
- Hyper-V purpose and Windows versus Windows Server scope
- Server consolidation, development, high availability, migration, and recovery uses
- Hyper-V integration with Failover Clustering, Windows Admin Center, Virtual Machine Manager, and Azure Local
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/architecture
Supports
- Hypervisor, root partition, and child partition architecture
- VMBus, Virtualization Service Provider, and Virtualization Service Client I/O path
- Synthetic and emulated device roles
- Quiz answers about root partition device ownership and synthetic I/O
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/features-terminology
Supports
- VM generations, virtual disks, memory, switches, checkpoints, migration, replication, and management tools
- External, internal, and private virtual switch reachability
- Generation as a creation-time choice
- Quiz answers about switches, generation, migration, and storage growth
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/replication-overview
Supports
- Asynchronous change replication and recovery copies
- Difference between failover clustering and Hyper-V Replica
- Recovery-point gap and lack of shared-storage requirement
- Quiz answer distinguishing clustering from replication
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/host-hardware-requirements
Supports
- Supported Windows editions and processor requirements
- SLAT, virtualization extensions, DEP, firmware, and memory requirements
- Feature-specific requirements for device assignment and shielded VMs
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/checkpoints
Supports
- Standard and production checkpoint behavior
- Production checkpoint use of VSS or Linux file-system freeze
- Checkpoint differencing files, storage growth, deletion, and merge behavior
- Quiz answer about production checkpoints
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/manage/manage-hyper-v-integration-services
Supports
- Host and guest Integration Services behavior
- Heartbeat, time synchronization, shutdown, backup, and data exchange functions
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/manage/use-live-migration-without-failover-clustering-to-move-a-virtual-machine
Supports
- Live migration purpose and prerequisites
- Compatibility and authentication considerations
- Reference-path rationale for an operational migration guide
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/hyper-v/
Supports
- Hyper-V PowerShell cmdlet reference and automation study path
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-R2-and-2012/hh831410(v=ws.11)
Supports
- Windows Server 2012 introduction of Client Hyper-V, the Hyper-V PowerShell module, Hyper-V Replica, storage migration, SMB storage, and VHDX
- Timeline events for Replica, VHDX, and storage migration
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-R2-and-2012/dn282278(v=ws.11)
Supports
- Generation 2 virtual machines and UEFI virtual firmware
- Extended replication and configurable replication frequency
- Timeline events for Generation 2 and extended replication
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/whats-new-in-windows-server-2016
Supports
- Production checkpoints, nested virtualization, and shielded VMs in Windows Server 2016
- Timeline events for guest consistency, nesting, and guarded fabrics
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/whats-new-in-windows-server-2022
Supports
- AMD processor support for nested virtualization
- Windows Server 2022 release context and timeline milestone
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2008
Supports
- Windows Server 2008 release context for the initial Hyper-V milestone
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-R2-and-2008/dd446679(v=ws.10)
Supports
- Windows Server 2008 R2 live migration milestone
- https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome
Supports
- Required awesome-list discovery starting point
- https://github.com/awesome-foss/awesome-sysadmin#virtualization
Supports
- Discovery of Packer and Vagrant as virtualization ecosystem projects
- https://developer.hashicorp.com/packer/integrations/hashicorp/hyperv
Supports
- Packer Hyper-V plugin purpose and installation
- Awesome Links rationale for repeatable Hyper-V image construction
- https://developer.hashicorp.com/vagrant/docs/providers/hyperv/usage
Supports
- Vagrant Hyper-V provider workflow and box selection
- Awesome Links rationale for disposable Hyper-V development VMs
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/local/
Supports
- Azure Local placement in the Hyper-V and Microsoft hybrid infrastructure market
- https://www.vmware.com/products/cloud-infrastructure/vsphere
Supports
- vSphere placement as an enterprise server virtualization platform
- https://www.nutanix.com/products/ahv
Supports
- AHV placement inside Nutanix infrastructure and its VM management role
- https://www.proxmox.com/en/products/proxmox-virtual-environment/overview
Supports
- Proxmox VE use of KVM VMs, Linux containers, clustering, storage, and web management
- https://docs.xcp-ng.org/
Supports
- XCP-ng as a Xen-based dedicated virtualization platform with API and management ecosystem
- https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift/virtualization
Supports
- OpenShift Virtualization placement for VM and container workloads under a Kubernetes control plane