I’ve designed a PowerShell script to help you with network team and virtual switch management in Hyper-V Server 2012. It will also work for Windows Server 2012.

(more…)

In Part 3 of this post series, we learned how to install and configure Hyper-V Replica in a production environment. In this part we are going to learn why it is not a replacement for virtual machine backup products. (more…)

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this blog post series, we focused on the basics of Hyper-V Replica including overview and benefits it provides for SMBs.

In this part of the series, we will learn how to enable and use Hyper-V Replica. (more…)

The good news is that there is now a lot of fantastic information out there on Hyper-V. The bad news is that there’s so much, it can be hard to know where to start. So, we’re going to help you out a bit with a simple list of the things that you must know and that you have to get right — not just from a technological standpoint, but also so you can effectively communicate with others in the Hyper-V community.
(more…)

While the Hyper-V management console is cozy and can certainly get the job done, I think there are a handful of PowerShell cmdlets that can make your life easier. At least in terms of managing Hyper-V. These are commands that have a graphical counterpart, although sometimes it takes a little work to get to it. These are my top 10 cmdlets every Hyper-V pro should know, but in no particular order. All of these commands have help files so be sure to check them out as well. All references are to Hyper-V cmdlets that run on PowerShell 3.0. (more…)

Here’s our monthly commentary and link round-up for April 2013.

(more…)

Hyper-V Server 2012 actually doesn’t need much in the way of hardware in order to operate. You’re going to need more than that to make it really work.

(more…)

Teaming and MPIO for connecting to iSCSI storage has been a confusing issue for a very long time. With native operating system support for teaming and the introduction of SMB 3.0 shares in Windows/Hyper-V Server 2012, it all got murkier. In this article, I’ll do what I can to clear it up.

(more…)

So that load you thought would be fine on a hypervisor just didn’t work out, eh? Maybe it was just too intensive, or maybe your software vendor bumped you off support. Whatever the reason, the need for V2P happens. It’s not the easiest thing in the world, but it can be done. This article is written with Hyper-V Server in mind, but most of its guidance should be applicable regardless of hypervisor.

(more…)

For IT Pros who run Hyper-V servers, I’d like to think that efficiency is core principal. By nature I’d argue that virtualization is a technology centered on efficiency. I think this principal should extend to provisioning new virtual machines as well. If you are in a larger environment or enjoy a healthy budget, you may be using a product like System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM). One of this product’s key features is the ability to spin up a new virtual machine based on a hardware profile or template. (more…)

Hopefully, every single technology professional in the entire Windows world knows that a VHD (or VHDX) file is what Hyper-V uses as a virtual hard drive for Hyper-V guests. But, what else can be done with them? Well, I’m so glad you asked, or else I would have had to find something else to write this post about.

(more…)

In part 1 of this series I introduced you to  Hyper-V Replica and what the benefits are of using it in a production environment as a disaster recovery technology. In part 2, we will be covering the following topics on Hyper-V Replica:

• Hyper-V Replica Requirements
• Hyper-V Replica Facts (more…)

The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is tightly integrated with Windows XP and later versions of the Windows Operating Systems. Microsoft developers put together the efforts to design a centralized component which allows Windows applications (Windows Server Backup) and third party applications to initiate backup or restore requests for Hyper-V Virtual Machines with the help of Volume Shadow Copy Service. (more…)

Here’s my monthly round-up and commentary for March 2013.

(more…)

It is probably a safe bet that the VHD and VHDX files in a Hyper-V environment are incredibly important. If the file isn’t where you expect it to be or if there is a problem with it, Hyper-V won’t be very happy. Typically when a virtual machine is running if there is a problem with a disk file you’ll know right away. But perhaps you have a library of virtual machines that aren’t always online. It would be better to know ahead of time if there is a problem by testing your VHD and VHDX files.

Here are some techniques using the PowerShell cmdlets in the Hyper-V 3.0 module. (more…)