Knowledge Layer :: Hyper V FAQ

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Questions

1)What is Hyper-V?
2)What are the requirements to run Hyper-V?
3)Is Hyper-V available on any other versions of 2008?
4)Can I run Hyper-V on Windows 2003?
5)What Operating Systems can I install on a Virtual Machine
6)How many Virtual Machines can a server run?
7)Can I customize the amount of memory each Virtual Machine can use?
8)How much memory does my VM need?
9)Can I give a Virtual Machine access to more than 1 processor?
10)Can I change the size of a Virtual Hard Drive after I have created it?
11)Do I need to have a license for each Virtual Operating System?
12)Will the Virtual Machines have access to the private network?
13)What advantages are there to providing private network access to the Virtual Machines?
14)Can I use the secondary IP block that came with the server for my Virtual Machines?
15)What are Portable IP addresses?
16)How do I order Hyper-V?
17)I already have Windows 2008 Server Datacenter Edition; does that mean I have Hyper-V already?
18)Now that I have ordered Hyper-V, how do I install it?
19) VM will not start. “Could not initialize machine remoting system: Error:'Unspecified error'”

Answers

1)What is Hyper-V?
Hyper-V is a virtualization system for the Windows 2008 Server Datacenter Edition that allows a single physical server to host multiple virtual machines all running their own Operating System.

2)What are the requirements to run Hyper-V?
Hyper-V must be installed on Windows 2008 Server 64bit Datacenter Edition. All SoftLayer hardware meets the system requirements of Hyper-V. It is recommended by Microsoft that the server have at least 2GB or RAM.

3)Is Hyper-V available on any other versions of 2008?
Currently SoftLayer only offers Hyper-V on Datacenter Edition.

4)Can I run Hyper-V on Windows 2003?
Hyper-V was developed for Windows 2008 and will not run on windows 2003.

5)What Operating Systems can I install on a Virtual Machine
SoftLayer currently supports the following Operating Systems on Hyper-V

All versions on Windows 2003 and 2008 Server
CentOS, Fedora and Ubuntu Linux Distributions.

6)How many Virtual Machines can a server run?
This will vary depending upon the Processors, Ram and Hard Disk space on the server.

7)Can I customize the amount of memory each Virtual Machine can use?
Hyper-V support customizing the system resources provided to each VM including memory.

8)How much memory does my VM need?
This will vary based on your requirements for the Virtual Machine. We suggest checking the system requirements for your guest Operating System. The amount of memory provided to a Virtual Machine can also be changed at any time.

9)Can I give a Virtual Machine access to more than 1 processor?
Multiple processors can be provided to any Windows Virtual Machine; however Linux Virtual Machines are limited to a single processor.

10)Can I change the size of a Virtual Hard Drive after I have created it?
Yes. The size of the Virtual Hard Disk can be changed after the Virtual Machine has been created.

11)Do I need to have a license for each Virtual Operating System?
Windows 2003 and 2008 Virtual Machines are licensed through SoftLayer. Linux Virtual Machines are freely licensed and require no action on the part of the user.

12)Will the Virtual Machines have access to the private network?
Yes. Virtual Machines can be configured to connect to both our public and private network.

13)What advantages are there to providing private network access to the Virtual Machines?
Providing private network access to your Virtual Machines not only allows your Virtual Machines to communicate with each other, but also allows them to communicate with our other internal systems such as NAS and iSCSI as well as any other servers you have with SoftLayer.

14)Can I use the secondary IP block that came with the server for my Virtual Machines?
No. The secondary IP that was provided with your server is routed specifically to work on the physical server itself and not on a Virtual Machine. You will need to have Portable IP blocks to connect your Virtual Machine to the network.

16)How do I order Hyper-V?
If you have an existing server, you can have Hyper-V install on that server by initiating an OS Reload and changing the Operating System to “Windows 2008 Server Datacenter Edition with Hyper-V”.
If you would like to have a new server provisioned with Hyper-V, simply place an order for the new server and select “Windows 2008 Server Datacenter Edition with Hyper-V” as the Operating System.

17) I already have Windows 2008 Server Datacenter Edition; does that mean I have Hyper-V already?
Hyper-V is not installed on Windows 2008 servers by default. If you wish to have Hyper-V installed on your Windows 2008 server, you will need to issue an OS Reload and select “Windows 2008 Server Datacenter Edition with Hyper-V” as the Operating System.

18) The OS Reload for Hyper-V on my server is done. What do I do now?
http://knowledgelayer.softlayer.com/questions/371/Hyper+V+setup

19) VM will not start. “Could not initialize machine remoting system: Error:'Unspecified error'”
This can be corrected by stopping the hyper-V service and restarting it. This is generally caused by the hyper-v service actually starting while the server activation is occuring. Restarting the service brings it back up after the activation has been completed and the VM’s will start correctly.