The Bottom Line
Explain the types of storage available to a virtual machine. Windows
Server provides various types of storage to a virtual machine. VHDX files provide a
completely abstracted and self-contained virtual container for filesystems available
to virtual machines, and 2012 R2 and above allow a VHDX file connected to the
SCSI bus to be shared between multiple virtual machines, providing shared
storage. Additionally, storage can be exposed to virtual machines that are hosted in
SAN environments through the use of iSCSI running inside the guest operating
system or through the new virtual Fibre Channel capability.
Master It Why is MPIO required?
Identify when to use Virtual Fibre Channel and when to use VHD Sets
and the benefits of each. Virtual Fibre Channel allows virtual machines to be
directly connected to a Fibre Channel SAN without the host requiring zoning to the
storage, but it requires knowledge of the storage fabric. A VHD Set provides shared
storage to the virtual machine without requiring the users of the VHD Set to have
knowledge of the storage fabric, which is useful in hosting the type of scenarios
where all aspects of the physical fabric should be hidden from the users.
Articulate how SMB 3 can be used. SMB 3 went through a huge upgrade in
Windows Server 2012, providing an enterprise-level file-based protocol that can
now be used to store Hyper-V virtual machines. This includes additional storage
options for Hyper-V environments, including fronting existing SANs with a
Windows Server scale-out file server cluster to extend the SAN’s accessibility
beyond hosts with direct SAN connectivity.
Master It Which two SMB technologies enable virtual machines to move
between nodes in an SoFS without any interruption to processing?