Windows Server

Virtualization Scenarios
And Features
Jeff Woolsey
Lead Program Manager
Windows Virtualization
Microsoft Corporation

Goals
You will leave with an understanding of:
The core Windows Server virtualization
scenarios
A high level overview of Windows Server
virtualization architecture
The features that support the scenarios

Windows Server Virtualization Scenarios

Production Server Consolidation
Business Continuity Management
Dynamic Datacenter
Test and Development

Production Server Consolidation

Physical consolidation
Improve and maximize hardware utilization
Consolidate workloads onto fewer highly scalable and reliable
enterprise class servers

Reduce TCO
Physical plant
Reduce electrical costs for cooling and server power consumption
Reduce datacenter physical footprint

Server Management
Ease management and reduce operational costs by moving to a
standardized platform.
Increase business agility by moving to dynamic platform.

Server consolidation is the fundamental driving force behind the

virtualization of servers.

Business Continuity Management

Business continuity is a comprehensive process that includes:
Disaster and business recovery

Business resumption and contingency planning

For a global organization, this is particularly difficult as they provide
follow the sun services.

Ensure continuity or uninterrupted provision of operations and

services
Reduce service interruptions
Provide scalable, high availability solutions
Improve disaster and business recovery
Provide robust enterprise management

Business Continuity Management is the ability to minimize

scheduled and unscheduled downtime.

Dynamic Datacenter
Reduce TCO
Ensure resources are appropriately sized and used
Support and enhance business processes
Maximize hardware utilization

Reduce IT complexity and management

Decouple workloads from hardware
Rapidly provision workloads
Provide dynamic scale up solutions
Ease scale out solutions
Simplify and automate the design, deployment, and operation of
complex systems

Taking advantage of the benefits of virtualization to create a more

agile infrastructure.

Test and Development

Physical consolidation
Improve and maximize hardware utilization

Consolidate workloads onto fewer servers

Reduce TCO
Physical plant
Reduce electrical costs for cooling and server power consumption

Reduce physical footprint

Lifecycle Management
Reduce time to migrate new software from Dev to Test to Production
Increase business agility by moving to a dynamic platform

Streamline test and development efforts

Reduce time provisioning test/development environments
Rapid duplication of a production environment

Maximizing test hardware, reducing costs, improving lifecycle

management and improving test coverage.

Goals
You will leave with an understanding of:
The core Windows Server virtualization
scenarios
A high level overview of Windows
virtualization architecture
The features that support the scenarios

Windows Server Virtualization: Architecture

Parent Partition

Child Partitions

Virtualization Stack

Microsoft
Virtualization

WMI Provider

VM
Service

Provided by:

Applications

VM Worker
Processes

ISV
OEM

User Mode

Virtualization
Server Core
Service
Windows
IHV Providers
Kernel Drivers
(VSPs)

Virtualization
Service
Clients
(VSCs)
VMBus

Windows
Kernel
Enlightenments

Windows hypervisor

Designed for Windows Server Hardware

Kernel Mode

Goals
You will leave with an understanding of:
The core Windows Server virtualization
scenarios
A high level overview of Windows
virtualization architecture
The features that support the scenarios

Server Consolidation Features

Virtualization
The ability to virtualize workloads with few or no limitations as to
what workloads can/may be virtualized.
64-bit (x64) and hardware virtualization required
AMD AMD-V or Intel Virtualization Technology

32-bit (x86) & 64-bit (x64) child partitions

Large memory support (>4GB) within VMs
Memory over-commit; Page sharing

SMP 2/4/8 way vms

Pass-through disk access for VMs
New hardware sharing architecture (VSP/VSC)
Disk, networking, input, video

Robust networking
VLAN support, NAT, Quarantine

Server Consolidation Features

Isolated partitions
Enabled by the hypervisor
A thin layer of software below all OSes to create partitions
and delegate hardware resources
Highly reliable
Minimal Trusted Computing Base (TCB)

No built-in driver model

Taking advantage of the large base of Windows drivers
Drivers run within the guest OSes

Well-defined, published interface

Enable others to create support for their OSes as guests

Server Consolidation Features

Virtual Server migration
Easily convert MS Virtual Server workloads
to Windows Server virtualization workloads

Windows Server Core

Support for a minimal parent OS

Security
Ability to provide flexible role-based security

Server Consolidation Features

Group policy integration
Ability to publish configuration changes to
Windows virtualization servers on a domain

Health monitoring
Ability for administrators to monitor the health
and performance of their Windows
virtualization servers

Utilization counters
Providing the ability to convert CPU/resource
usage to $$$

Server Consolidation Features

Authorization
Ability to control the deployment of Windows virtualization
servers

Non-Microsoft guest OS support

Ability to run and receive support for non-Microsoft guest
operating systems

Dynamic, secure storage

Ability for virtual workloads to dynamically (hot add) access any
storage

Dynamic, secure networking

Ability to dynamically add/remove virtual NICs and take
advantage of underlying VLAN security
Ability to NAT/Firewall/Quarantine VMs

Server Consolidation Features

Virtual machine snapshots
Ability to dynamically create multiple checkpoints and revert to
any previous checkpoint

Scripting interface
Support for a rich scripting interface which provides the ability
for a user to monitor and control the virtual machine
environment

Flexible resource control

Ability to dynamically set minimum and maximum thresholds for
CPU/Networking to guarantee resource availability

Offline virtual hard disk (.vhd) manipulation

Ability to securely access files within a virtual hard disk without
having to instantiate a virtual machine

Business Continuity Features

Virtualization stack high availability via
clustering

Virtual machine high availability via

clustering
Ability to failover cluster aware applications
across servers

Hot backup
Support for Volume Shadow Services to
provide hot, stateful virtual machine back up
without downtime

Business Continuity Features

Automatic failover of datacenter
operations to a recovery site
Ability to replicate, automatically fail over and
resume operations in a recovery site

Critical failure notification

Ability for Windows virtualization to recognize
and respond appropriately to critical
notifications

Dynamic Datacenter Features

Scale up (virtual)
Ability to hot add virtual resources to enable
an application to scale up
Number of CPUs, % of CPU resources

Amount of memory
Number of assigned devices

Live virtual machine migration

Ability to move virtual machines from one
Windows virtualization server to another

Test and Development Features

Client guest OS support
Support for client guest operating systems

Local failover clustering

Support for a virtual machine to failover to a
second virtual machine on the same physical
server

Call To Action
Download and start using Virtual Server
2005 R2 today from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/virtualserver

When considering new server hardware,

build servers with hardware assisted
virtualization support

Additional Resources
Microsoft Virtual Server Site
www.microsoft.com/virtualserver

Technical Communities
www.microsoft.com/communities/products/default.msp
x

Microsoft Public Newsgroups

www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.
mspx

Technical Chats and Webcasts

www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx

Microsoft Blogs
www.microsoft.com/communities/blogs

 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market
conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.