Windows Server 2008 RC1 - Hyper-V Beta review

updated 10/26/07

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Purpose:

Microsoft released Server 2008 RC1 in late November. This release added group policy changes as well as some other performance related changes. The virtualization component in this version needed to be installed after OS install (see RC0 review) and didn't change too much from the CTP (community technology preview). The December re-release of RC1 provided integrated Hyper-V so that the the virtualization components are installed during the OS installation. The new version of Hyper-V provides some additional features such as being able to import/export VMs and also supports multiple network cards per VM. More information can be found here. You can read my RC0 review here.

Technical Information

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition RC1 was installed in a Dell SC1430 Dual Quad Core server

Specs on server

Upgrade Installation of Windows Server 2008 RC1 (November Release)

1. Removed the Hyper-V role.
2. Deinstalled Hyper-V components in Add/Remove Programs System updates.
3. Rebooted computer and logged in as administrator
4. Clicked setup on the Server 2008 install DVD and selected Upgrade when asked which install method to do.
5. Upgrade install went smoothly and completed.
6. Add the Hyper-V components (ref)
7. Add the Hyper-V role.

Once the system was up and running, I went to the Hyper-V management window to see if the import/export was there. Unfortunately it was not. I wanted to avoid having to re-install all my device drivers and re-do my settings, but alas it was not in the cards.

The December re-release had the additional features I wanted to test and unfortunately I found that I had to do a clean install in order for the Hyper-V install to go smoothly,

Installation of Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V components

1. Launched setup fro within the OS and selected complete install.
2. Install went smoothly and completed.
3. Added the Hyper-V role.

On accessing the Hyper-V Manager, there are new actions that weren't in RC0::

1. Import Virtual machine
2. Hyper-V settings menu with more keyboard related hot-key and action configuration.
3. Virtual Network manager for adding multiple virtual network adapters.

Importing VM from RC0:

In RC0 I had Hyper-V save the virtual machine files on a separate internal hard-drive so that I can import into the next version. Unfortunately the way that Import/Export works is you had to Export the VM initially for re import (read in a blog). Since RC0 lacked this, I had to find a different way to do this. The RC1 release didn't have an VM Export feature that I could find.

In order to import a VM from RC0, you'll need to have saved the VM in a location that was not wiped during re-install of the OS and have the Install Key available (or network connection to re-verify key).

1. Launch the New Virtual Machine wizard.
2. Give the VM the same name as your original VM.
3. Click 'Store Virtual Machine in a different location' and select the folder where your import VM is.
4. Enter the memory allocation.
5. Don't select a network adapter since you will do this later.
6. In the 'Connect Virtual Hard Disk', select 'Use existing virtual hard disk' and browse to the .VHD file. Have it use current IDs.
7. Do not have it start the VM automatically.

Virtual Network Manager Configuration

The Virtual Network Manager allows you to set which network adapter you want to virtualize. You can have multiple virtual network adapters pointing to physical network adapters.

1. Select New Virtual Network and 'External' so that you can access Internet and intranet resources. Click 'Add'.
2. Select the network adapter you want to use for the virtual network and provide it a new name.

Adding Network Resources to your VM

1. Go back to the settings for your imported VM.
2. Select 'Add Hardware' and Legacy Network Adapter. Since I was using a VM for Vista64 and XP64 I had to use the Legacy Adapter. If you are using Windows Server 2008 guest or Windows 2003, use the 'Network Adapter' setting since the Integration Services are available currently for these OS's.

Starting the VM

Since this VM was imported, Widows will think that the computer has changed and will ask you to authenticate Windows. If your Network connection is active, you can now authenticate and be on your way.

Impressions of Windows Server 2008 RC1:

I found the RC1 release to be more responsive than RC0. I did have some issues with the dual network cards being assigned as local only. I was able to get one adapter to change to Intranet and one to Internet, but when I added the virtual network adapter, both changed back to local with no Internet access. This may not be the best way to handle this, but for testing sake I went ahead and bridged the two network connections. This allowed the VM to have internet access and got around the connection issues.

The new beta release of Hyper-V added some nice features, but also took away some abilities:

Good:

1. Import of Virtual machines.
2. Enhanced performance.
3. Ability to add multiple virtual network adapters.

Bad:

1. Cannot import (without extra work) the VM from RC0.
2. The number of processors is limited to 4 processors per VM in this release (1, 2, 4 cores). In RC0 I was able to select up to 8 cores since my machine is a dual quad-core box.
3. Weird behavior for the network adapters when adding a virtual adapter. I also couldn't remove the network bridge. Windows would give an error that removal was unsuccessful. This most likely is a configuration issue on my part, but I will need to verify.

Conclusion:

I still have more testing to do on RC1 and Hyper-V, but so far everything seems to work fine and the performance improvement is great. I would have liked to be able to add the full score of 8 cores for a VM to compare to my Vista64 RC0 VM.

Updates:

12/27/07:

Visual Studio.net 2008 fails installation if you don't reboot when prompted during the 'Microsoft Visual Studio Web Authoring Components' installation step. If you do restart, the setup then tries to continue Web Components install and then prompts for a restart again and thus never completes installation due to this vicious cycle. If you cancel the computer restart when prompted, VS2008 will complete installation. This was not the case for Windows Server 2008 RC0 with Hyper-V CTP. Hopefully this issue will be resolved properly.

12/28/07:

A newly created XP x64 virtual machine in RC1 wasn't able to recognize the legacy network adapter. This worked fine in RC0. The OS installed fine in the RC1 VM, but had no network connectivity.

01/01/08:

The export VM selection is under the tools for the VM. The export was fairly quick. I will have to try and reimport the VM to see if all data is intact.

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