Top 7 Hyper-V Features in Microsoft Windows Server 2016 You Must Know

Microsoft Windows Server2016 allows you to design a virtualized computing environment to create and manage virtual machines with Hyper-V efficiency. Virtual machines (VM) allow you to run multiple OS on a single physical computer. This improves the efficiency of computer configurations and available hardware resources.

Hyper-V Key Features in Microsoft Server 2016

  • Discrete Device Assignment (DDA): Discrete Device Assignment (DDA) is also referred to as PCI Passthrough. It is a performance enhancement feature added in Microsoft Windows Server 2016 and Hyper-V. DDA permits guests to directly control a specific physical PCIe device installed and configured on the host system. A device with this configuration allows faster access by bypassing the Hyper-V virtualization stack.
  • Host Resource Protection: Host resource protection prevents a VM from accessing and using more than its share of system resources. It is executed by addressing the excessive levels of activity. This feature is intended to help prevent a virtual machine's undue activity from degrading the host performance or other virtual machines. When a VM is detected with excessive activity in the monitoring phase, the VM is restricted to fewer resources. This monitoring remains off by default and can be turned on with the use of Windows PowerShell.
  • Network Adapters and VM Memory: This powerful feature of Windows Server 2016 provides the ability to add and remove memory from your Hyper-V Guests. It is officially referred to as ‘Runtime Memory Resize‘ and is intended to save you time.
  • Nested Virtualization: Nested virtualization is a type of virtualization created in an already existing virtualized environment. It provides the ability to run a hypervisor in a VM already running on a hypervisor. This allows you to implement development and test environments. To use this feature, you must:
  1. Run Windows Server 2016 or Windows 10 on both the physical Hyper-V host and virtualized host.
  2. Have a processor with Intel VT-x configured in the system.
  • Production VM Checkpoints: Checkpoints, known as Snapshots in Windows Server 2008, represent a mechanism to save on the current state of VM, which saves disk, memory, and devices. With this feature an administrator can roll back a VM to a previous state. Windows Server 2016 Microsoft promotes the use of Production Checkpoints as they are the "point in time" images of a VM. This can help restore the system later for all production workloads. Checkpoints use a backup technology inside the guest to create this checkpoint, instead of using saved state technology.
  • Virtual TPM and Shielded VMs: Shielded VMs refer to the security feature introduced in Windows Server 2016 for protecting Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs). It is intended to protect VMs from unauthorized access or tampering. Hyper-V Shielded VMs are comprehensively protected through the offered combination of Secure Boot, BitLocker encryption, Virtual Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and the Host Guardian Service.
  • PowerShell Direct: Managing VMs is quite easy with PowerShell instead of the Hyper-V Manager console. PowerShell Direct offers added advantages by permitting you to interact with VMs on the Hyper-V host without the need to access the network. With Windows Nano Server as a feature in Server 2016, PowerShell Direct becomes essential for remote management. It removes all network constraints to ease out VM management when it becomes too complicated. Management with PowerShell Direct is possible when virtual machines are located on the Hyper-V host. 
Conclusion

To understand and explore these features with expert skill, register for Windows Server certification and training courses at NetCom Learning. The certified professionals at NetCom Learning provide extensive 
training on Microsoft Windows Server and empower you with the hands-on knowledge to deploy, configure, administer, and support Windows Server systems efficiently.


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