Microsoft Hyper V Server

Microsoft Hyper V is an attempt get a toehold in the field of Virtualization. It is the exact equivalent of VMware ESXi which we had covered in the previous article. Microsoft is using all its might to push in Hyper V and slowly eating into the market share of VMware.

What is Virtualization

Virtualization is the ability to run one or many virtual computers on a physical computer. Hardware capabilities of the host computer limit the number of virtual computers that can run on it. There are two type of Virtualization products. One is virtualization for Desktop PCs. This category has products from Microsoft (Hyper V client) and VMware (WorkStation). This allows you to test virtual machines on a virtual network on powerful desktop computers or even laptops. Other is virtualization for Servers. VMware has the ESXi server. Microsoft has the Hyper V standalone server in direct competition.

Microsoft however has another ace up its sleeve. It has been bundling its Hyper V line of products along with its server OS, the Windows Server. This is touted as a seamless GUI based integration between the OS and Hyper V. Microsoft is aggressively promoting Windows Server 2016 bundled with Hyper V 2016.

Windows Server 2016 with Hyper V will provide an enterprise level data centre solution. Admins will be able to manage hundreds of virtual machines along with domain control of a Windows Server. The entire IT requirements of employees will be available on the cloud.

Components of Microsoft Hyper V

Virtualization by Microsoft is broadly divided in two parts, namely the server manager and configuration manager. Server manager deals with options like clustering and backup including live migration. This takes care of virtual machine failures. Configuration Manager on the other hand deals with the customers and their virtual machines. This takes care of virtualization at client or terminal level.

System Center Configuration Manager

System Center Configuration Manager is a console for managing the client virtual machines. Admin creates the virtual machine or virtual PC. The employee can now access the virtual desktop from any device. Data is always saved along with the desktop on the server.

Hyper V standalone server is free to download and use, while System Center Configuration Manager is a paid product. Hyper V standalone only helps in creating virtual machines, with play and pause feature. For migration, clustering, live backup we need to move to System Center Configuration Manager.

Here are a few important links to further experience Virtualization by Microsoft.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/cloud-platform/virtualization

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/system-center-configuration-manager

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/evalcenter/evaluate-hyper-v-server-technical-preview