What Is Hyper-V Technology?
What Does Hyper-V Do?
Microsoft Hyper-V allows for a flexible distribution of resources among your VMs. Guests (end-users) can then run whatever software they need via the resources available on VMs. Windows Hyper-V uses virtualization to create the conditions as if guests were running their software on physical hardware right there next to them. But, in actuality, it all happens thanks to the utilization of cloud resources.
The idea behind Windows Hyper-V, like any other hypervisor, is to exceed existing licensing and physical IT resources limitations. VMs enable you to run software otherwise incompatible with the hardware, OS, or such that you got on hand. For example, you can use Microsoft Hyper-V to run a macOS instance on your Windows PC and then run macOS-specific software. This would be impossible without virtualization.
There are multiple other reasons to use Microsoft Hyper-V. Your engineers may simply prefer working on Linux, so you pool your hardware and software resources into a virtualized environment that allows them to do that. Also, deleting stuff on Windows always leaves traces. With Hyper-V, you can create a VM, do all the necessary work in the desired software there and then delete the VM after you've finished.
What Is Hyper-V Server?
There are all sorts of terminology being thrown back-and-forth when it comes to virtualization. Put bluntly, Hyper-V server is the host (primary) bare-metal machine that runs your Microsoft Hyper-V, and any other physical servers that run Windows Hyper-V directly on them as hosts. Microsoft hypervisor is part of the Windows Server or Windows10 package, which you can decide to install and run if you want to.
Hyper-V server provides for all sorts of benefits. You can use it to create VMs specifically for testing purposes. Windows Hyper-V enables you to separate VMs from the rest of the system and run tests there, keeping the rest of your IT environment safe and without overloading. You can use Hyper-V Manager and create testing sites virtually: see how your software performs with different OS platforms, etc.
Hyper-V server allows you to scale IT infrastructure easily and conveniently. You can get your existing hardware resources to work more effectively via virtualization than you could in a hardware setup. Also, Windows Hyper-V provides for significantly easier IT environment management and monitoring thanks to Hyper-V Manager. You can backup, migrate, or recover in a way you wouldn't be able otherwise.
How to Install Hyper-V?
The installation of Microsoft Hyper-V isn't really that complicated. As it was mentioned, Hyper-V comes pre-installed with Windows 10 and it's a part of Windows Server OS. You will need to use Hyper-V Manager to help you out. There aren't that many steps and, after finishing them, Hyper-V Manager will be your guide regarding anything related to Hyper-V.
To begin with, you should open the control panel on your Windows and proceed to "Uninstall a program." Further, click on the "Turn Windows features on or off." In the list of folders, locate the Hyper-V and put the ticks on it. Afterward, confirm the action by pressing "OK." Your Windows will perform the necessary installations and will request a reboot, which you should confirm and that'll be it!
If you're using Windows Server or you're more comfortable with using a command-line interface (CLI), you can go with that option to activate Microsoft Hyper-V. Open your CLI in Administrator mode. Then, execute the command DISM /Online /Enable Feature /All /FeatureName:Microsoft-Hyper-V. You will need to reboot in this case, too. After the reboot is done, you're Windows Hyper-V will be activated.
How to Use Hyper-V?
Most of the time, Hyper-V Manager will be your go-to. Locate your Hyper-V manager and open it. To ensure that everything works fine, you have to be connected to Hyper-V server all the time. In Hyper-V Manager, proceed to "Connect to virtualization server" and then click on "Local computer." You will then be able to view your newly established virtualized environment resources in Hyper-V Manager.
At first, it may seem like very little is going on. However, after you migrate to operating your infrastructure on Windows Hyper-V, you will see how crowded your Hyper-V Manager's interface will get with: dozens of hosts, hundreds of guests, workload intensity, resources available, backups, and such. You will be able to perform most of the baseline tasks through command options on the right side of Hyper-V Manager.
Despite these first few steps looking not that complex, it will get more complicated as you grow more accustomed to Microsoft Hyper-V and other features in Windows Server, Azure, etc. You should get really comfortable with Microsoft Hyper-V at these initial stages. Later on, you will be able to switch to more sophisticated Hyper-V managers or entirely other software that'll help you run Hyper-V even better.
To get the most out of your Hyper-V though and achieve optimal use, opting for VSAN from StarWind is the ultimate choice. StarWind VSAN will allow you to pool, organize and distribute your hardware and software resources in the most efficient manner so that your Microsoft Hyper-V can realize its full potential as the upstanding hypervisor that it's meant to be.
