Microsoft Reveals More Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Details

Microsoft took the wraps off Windows Server 8 at their BUILD conference last month, and additional product details are continuing to trickle out from Redmond. Just a few days ago Windows Server & Cloud General Manager Mike Neil posted some additional details on the Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform Blog about what we can expect to see in the massively upgraded version of Hyper-V that will ship with Windows Server 2012 (formerly called Windows Server 8).

Microsoft Windows Server & Cloud General Manager Mike Neil

Neil used a good chunk of the post to outline improvements to Hyper-V in the areas of isolation, multi-tenancy, and quality of service (QoS). Hyper-V Extensible Switch is a virtual switch that provides security from rogue (what Neil calls "malicious") virtual machines, and it also provides network traffic control, multi-tenant security, and improved isolation options. Network virtualization is another new Hyper-V feature that will ship with Windows Server 8, and Neil pointed out one of the biggest benefits of the new feature:

Bandwidth management is another feature that should help IT pros manage QoS more effectively, while a resource metering feature can be used to provide more specific details about how VMs in a Hyper-V environment are being used and allocated.

We’ve already posted about how Hyper-V 3.0 has the potential to even the odds with vSphere with vast improvements on the performance and scalability front, and Neil listed a good portion of those new and upgraded features in a bit more detail, namely:

Windows Server 8 Hyper-V Scale and Performance Improvements

Neil ended his Hyper-V overview by stating that more Windows Server 8 details will be revealed in future blog posts. We've also covered Windows Server 8 from a variety of perspectives, which you can all find linked from our Windows Server 8 coverage page.