Mastering Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V

OTHER CAPABILITIES

One major new feature in Windows Server 2012 R2 is the inclusion of a network
virtualization gateway, which is critical to allowing different virtual networks to
communicate and also to be able to communicate with the physical network fabric.
Prior to 2012 R2, a hardware gateway was required, and there really were not many of
them.

In 2012 R2, it’s possible to export virtual machines and virtual machine checkpoints
while they are running, enabling a simple cloning process that can be useful,
especially in development and testing environments.

More capabilities were added for Linux virtual machines, including Dynamic Memory,
live backup offering file consistency, and Hyper-V Replica IP reconfiguration during
failover.

Activation can be a pain point in virtual environments. In Windows Server 2012 R2
Hyper-V, if the Hyper-V host is running Datacenter edition and is activated, then any
Windows Server 2012 R2 virtual machine (Essentials, Standard, or Datacenter) on the
server will automatically activate. No need for KMS (Key Management Service) or
Active Directory–Based Activation (ADBA). If the VM leaves the host, it will
deactivate. The only required action is to use the Automatic Virtual Machine
Activation key in the guest OS, which can be found at the following location:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn303421.aspx

Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2016 continues the evolution of Windows and Hyper-V with a key
theme of the cloud fabric that drives a number of innovations, including how
applications are hosted and security. Providing a platform that can host the latest
“born-in-the-cloud applications” while being used on premises, in Azure, and by
hosting partners is central to the Windows Server 2016 release.

Windows Server 2016 makes some major changes to the scalability of the hypervisor
host and the VMs as shown in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2: Windows Server 2016 Scalability Improvements

RESOURCE

MAXIMUM

WINDOWS SERVER

2012/2012 R2

WINDOWS SERVER

2016

Physical    (host)  Memory 4    TB 24   TB  (6x improvement)

Physical    (host)  Logical

Processor

320 512

VM  Memory 1    TB 12   TB  (12x    improvement)

VM  vCPUs 64    vCPUs 240   vCPUs   (3.75x

improvement)