Users Guide

6 Solutions Overview Guide
For additional information after completing this document, see the following
documents available at www.dell.com/hyper-v:
• Dell Networking Solutions Guide for Microsoft Hyper-V
• Dell Storage Solutions Guide for Microsoft Hyper-V
• Dell High Availability Solutions Guide for Microsoft Hyper-V
Operating System Editions That Support Hyper-V
The following versions of the Windows Server 2008 x64 operating system
support Hyper-V as a role:
• Windows Server 2008 x64 Standard Edition
• Windows Server 2008 x64 Enterprise Edition
• Windows Server 2008 x64 Datacenter Edition
NOTE: Windows Server 2008 x64 Standard Edition does not support the Windows
Failover Clustering feature that enables support for Hyper-V High Availability. Use
Windows Server 2008 x64 Enterprise or Datacenter Edition for HA configurations.
Hyper-V Architecture Overview
The Hyper-V role in Windows Server 2008 is comprised of several
components, including the following:
•Hypervisor
• Parent and Child partitions
• Virtual Machines and Guest Operating Systems
• Synthetic and Emulated devices
• Integration Services
The Hyper-V hypervisor is the core component of Hyper-V and is responsible
for creating and managing isolated execution environments called partitions.
The hypervisor sits directly on the hardware and controls access from the
partitions to the physical processors.
When the Hyper-V role is enabled in Windows Server 2008, the Hyper-V
hypervisor uses the virtualization extensions in the processors (Intel
®
VT or
AMD-V™) to place itself under Windows Server 2008. When the Hyper-V
hypervisor loads for the first time, it creates a partition called the root