Documentation in Networking

Hyper-V

Abstract
The next generation of Microsoft's hypervisor-based server virtualization technology
can be deployed in a corporate setting with the help of Microsoft Virtualization with
Hyper-V. Apply a Hyper-V virtualization solution. You will receive detailed instructions
on how to launch Hyper-V and then best practices for utilizing System Center Virtual
Machine Manager 2008 to construct a more comprehensive, fault-tolerant solution. You
will learn how to use System Center Operations Manager, protect, backup, and restore
your Hyper-V solution, as well as how to move physical systems to the virtual
environment in this practical guide. Prepare and carry out a Hyper-V installation;
Configure Hyper-V components; Install and configure System Center Virtual Machine
Manager 2008; Manage and create virtual machines; Monitor, back up, and restore
virtual machines; Understand the virtual desktop infrastructure; Use third-party
virtualization tools for Hyper-V Table of contents: 1 Overview of Virtualization; 2
Planning and Installation; 3 Configuring Hyper-V Components; 4 Planning and
Designing Systems Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008; 5 Installing and Configuring
Systems Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008; 6 Configuring Systems Center Virtual
Machine Manager 2008; 7 Creating and Managing Virtual Machines; 8 Managing Your
Virtual Machines; 9 Backing Up, Restoring, and Disaster Recovery for Your Virtual
Machines; 10 Monitoring Your Virtual Solution; 11 Hyper-V Security 12 Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure A Third Party Virtualization Tools for Hyper-V B Windows Server 2008
Hyper-V Command Line Reference.

Introduction
Hyper-V is a built-in component of all modern versions of Windows. So, to use
Hyper-V, you don’t need to purchase any additional software from Microsoft. If you own
a modern Microsoft operating system, you already own Hyper-V. Hyper-V is a versatile
virtualization platform that provides researchers with the tools and capabilities to create,
manage, and optimize virtualized environments for research purposes. By leveraging
Hyper-V's features, researchers can enhance collaboration, streamline experimentation,
and accelerate research projects in a secure and efficient manner. In the subsequent
sections, we will delve deeper into the installation, configuration, management, and best
practices of Hyper-V for research environments to maximize its potential for academic
and scientific research.

Server virtualization has been attracting attention as a means of reducing the costs
of introducing and operating business information and communications technology (ICT)
systems. Server virtualization is expected to reduce energy consumption, reduce
installation space, and enable efficient utilization of server resources. Against this
background, a number of vendors are entering the virtualization market with products
that incorporate proprietary server virtualization techniques.
Fujitsu has accumulated technological knowhow and troubleshooting expertise from its
experience in combining the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system (OS) with the
PRIMERGY PC server and in testing beta version of the Hyper-V server virtualization
function provided as a standard feature in the Windows Server OS. The knowhow
acquired from this experience is available on a website put up by Fujitsu, 1.2)
In this paper, we introduce the architecture and distinguishing features of Hyper-V and
its management functions. We also describe an advanced case study from Mitsui & Co.,
Ltd., where these functions were used in an attempt to implement a private cloud.

Hyper-V Architecture

Hyper-V uses a hypervisor type of virtualization architecture," which is provided as

an extremely small component called Windows Hypervisor. A virtualization platform
based on Hyper-V can be configured in a simple manner by adding the Hyper-V role
after Windows Server 2008 R2 OS has been installed in the usual manner.
Instead of using a monolithic hypervisor, it uses a microkernel-based hypervisor in
that the device driver (Windows driver stack) is embedded in the management OS
(parent partition) rather than in the hypervisor itself. This means that drivers that are
compatible with the management OS can be embedded easily in the virtualization
platform and that the drivers are prevented from affecting hypervisor quality.
We will now touch upon the I/O processing of the guest OS (child partition). From the
guest OS, 1/0 processing such as network and storage operations appear to be direct
operations on a physical device, but the actual I/O processing is done by
communications between the guest OS and the management OS to pass requests to
the device driver of the management OS, where the actual processing is done. In
addition, a communication path called a virtual machine bus (VMBus) is used for
communicating between the guest OS and the management OS. An I/O request from a
virtualization service client (VSC) on the guest OS is sent to the virtualization service
provider (VSP) of the management OS through the VMBus, and the VSP works with the
device driver of the management OS to execute the I/O process virtual disk formats:
fixed size VHD, dynamically expanding VHD, and differencing VHD. Among these
formats, the characteristic one is dynamically expanding VHD, where data blocks
expand to the size necessary for storage during a data write. This makes it possible to
minimize the initial size of the virtual disk. In addition, unused data blocks can be
deleted by optimizing the virtual disk from the management OS, even for areas that
have been temporarily expanded since the management OS can identify unused data
blocks in the NTFS file system within the virtual disk. By providing these functions,
Hyper-V supports a high level of physical disk utilization.
It is also possible to utilize a pass-through connection in the configuration to assign
physical disks to the VM. This provides an I/O capability that is substantially equivalent
to that of a physical disk and enables the provision of 2 TB or more of disk space.

Virtual Disk
With Hyper-V, a file embodied in the virtual hard disk format (a VHD file) can be used
as a disk on a virtual machine (VM). There are three virtual disk formats: fixed size
VHD, dynamically expanding VHD, and differencing VHD. Among these formats, the
characteristic one is dynamically expanding VHD, where data blocks expand to the size
necessary for storage during a data write. This makes it possible to minimize the initial
size of the virtual disk. In addition, unused data blocks can be deleted by optimizing the
virtual disk from the management OS, even for areas that have been temporarily
expanded since the management OS can identify unused data blocks in the NTFS file
system within the virtual disk. By providing these functions, Hyper-V supports a high
level of physical disk utilization.
It is also possible to utilize a pass-through connection in the configuration to assign
physical disks to the VM. This provides an I/O capability that is substantially equivalent
to that of a physical disk and enables the provision of 2 TB or more of disk space.

Virtual Network
A component that plays an important role in network communications for a VM is a
virtual switch. A VM communicates through a virtual switch connected to a virtual
network interface card (NIC). When the VM communicates with an external server, it
communicates through the virtual switch and a physical NIC in sequence (Figure 2).
The virtual switch provides standard L2 switch functions, such as switching functions
(MAC address learning), virtual local area network (VLAN) functions, and data buffering.
The virtual switch is mounted on the management OS as a protocol driver (Microsoft
Virtual Network Switch Protocol).
We will now describe the hardware assist function, which lightens the load on the
processor by offloading some of the functions performed by the virtual switch to the
physical NIC side. Hyper-V uses the virtual machine queue (VMQ) for the offloading.
When a packet is received from an external network in an environment in which
VMQ is not used, the virtual switch performs packet routing for each VM on the basis of
received packet stored in the buffer of the physical NIC. The MAC address and VLAN
ID of the virtual NIC are used in the routing, and the received packet in the buffer is
copied and stored in the buffer of each VM prepared by the virtual switch.
 When a packet is received from an external network in an environment in which
VMQ is used, a queue and buffer are established for each VM on the physical NIC, and
the physical NIC stores the packet directly in the buffer for each. VM. The MAC address
and VLAN ID are used to determine the routing by identifying which queue and which
buffer to use. Server processor utilization is thereby reduced, and overall system
throughput is improved by having the physical NIC itself execute these operations.

Hyper-V’s high availability and serviceability

Hyper-V uses the Microsoft failover cluster (MSFC) function, a standard Windows
Server 2008 R2 OS function, to provide high availability and serviceability.
If an abnormal stop occurs due to a hardware fault in the physical server or to an
abnormal termination or hang of the management OS (Windows OS), the VM can
continue operating through "failover" of the VM to another physical server. Hyper-V also
provides a live migration function that enables a transition to another physical server
without halting and restarting the VM, enabling dynamic physical server maintenance
and dynamic VM reallocation.
We now explain how live migration works. While the VM is running, the live migration
function creates another VM on the server at the transition destination and duplicates
the entire memory contents temporarily. Since the system is running, the memory
contents are still being updated even after the duplication. Nevertheless, Hyper-V
performs a sequential update on the differential data as well by tracking and managing
the modified portions. The operation of the VM is halted temporarily at a point at which
the difference becomes sufficiently small. Differential information on the various items of
context and memory that the VM retains are then transferred, and finally the transition is
completed by switching ownership of the shared disk to the server at the transition
destination. Note that live migration is done between single VMs on each server.

Conclusion
We have introduced the Hyper-V server virtualization function provided by Microsoft's
Windows Server 2008 R2 OS. Hyper-V is continuing to evolve as a core technology
supporting the next generation of the Windows server OS and Microsoft's private cloud.
At Fujitsu, we plan to forge closer links with Microsoft and to support our customers'
systems.