4.1. Virtualization. Virtualization provides the following benefits:

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1 4.1. Virtualization Virtualization is using software to emulate one or more physical computers on a single platform. You should be familiar with the following types of virtualization: Server virtualization runs multiple instances of a server operating system on a single physical computer. With server virtualization you can migrate servers on older hardware to newer computers, or add virtual servers to computers with extra unused hardware resources. o The physical machine is called the host operating system. o The virtual machine is called the guest operating system. Network virtualization allows multiple virtual servers to communicate using networking protocols as if they were attached to a physical network. Storage virtualization partitions physical storage on one system for use by multiple virtual servers. You can also use virtual storage to create or imitate storage devices such as iscsi storage units. Virtualization provides the following benefits: A smaller footprint causes a reduction of space use and energy consumption. Not only are fewer servers present to consume power, but less air conditioning is needed to control the temperature in a datacenter or server room. Virtualization allows you to create a virtual machine to support legacy operating systems or legacy applications, allowing you to run these servers on newer hardware and decommission older hardware. Server consolidation through virtualization allows for more efficient use of hardware. Individual servers that host a specific role might not be taking full advantage of the hardware available on that server. Virtualizing these servers onto a single, consolidated server will help maximize hardware usage. Because servers are consolidated, administration is often simplified. Administrators manage all virtual servers from a single system. You can provide application isolation by creating separate virtual machines for each application. A failure in one application does not affect other virtual machines.

2 Virtualization provides multiple systems on one physical computer for testing, demonstrations, or learning applications. Virtualization improves availability because virtual machines can be activated or inactivated according to how often they need to be used. The ability to inactivate a virtual machine when it is not in use frees up resources and increases overall availability and performance. It should be noted, however, that redundancy methods should be implemented with Hyper V to avoid a single point of failure. High portability grants administrators the ability to move virtual servers from one environment to another without having to consider the underlying hardware involved. Because virtual machines can be backed up as files, the time and resources needed to restore a failed virtual machine has been greatly minimized. Note: Servers that monopolize a high amount of CPU resources and RAM are not good candidates for virtualization. As you implement virtual machines, keep in mind the following considerations for the host machine. Component Description Most virtualization products include special software that you install on the guest operating system to provide features that improve the manageability and performance of the virtual machine. Software With Hyper V, these components are called Integration Services. For previous virtualization products, these components are called Virtual Machine Additions. This software is always installed on the guest operating system, not the host. The software improves guest operating system performance, and provides better mouse integration, optimized video drivers, and time synchronization with the host operating system. Depending on the guest operating system version, the additional software might be installed automatically. For example, Integration Services with Windows Server 2008 and

3 higher is always installed and does not need to be manually added. CPU Newer processors include virtualization support in the processor hardware. Putting these features in the hardware, and not relying on software, improves performance. When purchasing CPUs for the host machine, look for processors that include hardware assisted virtualization support, labeled as follows: Intel VT (Virtualization Technology) AMD V (AMD Virtualization) Depending on the virtualization software you use, hardware assisted virtualization might be required or optional. For example, Hyper V requires hardware assisted virtualization. When you create a virtual machine, you allocate memory from the physical machine for use by the virtual machine. RAM Memory allocated to a virtual machine is not available to the host machine or other virtual machines. When allocating memory to virtual machines, be sure to reserve enough for use by the host operating system. To identify how much RAM is required by a virtual machine, you can monitor memory use over time. Using this information, you can increase or decrease the RAM reserved for that virtual machine. Virtual machines can use either physical or virtual hard disks. Disk A virtual hard disk is a file on a physical disk. If you have multiple virtual machines with virtual disks on the same physical hard disk, disk I/O can become a bottleneck. For best performance, keep virtual disks on a different physical drive from the host operating system. For even better performance, place each virtual disk on a separate physical disk, or configure physical disks for use by the virtual machine.

4 Virtual machines share the physical network adapter of the host machine. If each virtual machine generates a lot of network traffic, the network card can become a bottleneck. Network Microsoft recommends one NIC for the physical system and an additional NIC for every four virtual machines. If a virtual machine generates a lot of network traffic, you can install additional network cards for the exclusive use of the virtual machine. Configure adapter teaming to allow a virtual machine to use multiple physical NICs. Security considerations for a virtual machine should be the same as for physical machines. For both the host and all guest machines, be sure to: Security Reduce the number of services running. Apply patches and updates regularly. Install antivirus and other security software. Implement backups or other solutions for data protection. Sergey Gorokhod MCT/MCSE/MCITP/MCTS/MCSA/CCSE/CCSA/CCNA/A+ E mail: sergey@infosec.co.il Mob: (+972)

5 4.2. History of Virtualization Products Microsoft has the following virtualization products: Product Description Virtual PC lets you install multiple virtual computers on your Windows client system. Virtual PC Virtual PC runs only on Windows client operating systems (Windows XP Professional or Tablet PC, Vista Business/Enterprise/Ultimate). You can install the following operating systems as virtual computers: MS DOS 6.22, Windows 98/Me, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and OS/2 Warp 4. Virtual PC is available in both 32 and 64 bit versions. However, 64 bit guest operating systems are not supported. Virtual PC supports networking between virtual computers, but you cannot create virtual networks. Virtual PC does not support snapshots. Virtual Server 2005 is a similar solution to Virtual PC that allows you to create virtual computers on a host running a Windows server operating system. Because Virtual Server is designed for use on servers, it offers more features than Virtual PC. Virtual Server Virtual Server runs on Windows Server 2003, Small Business Server, and Windows XP Professional. You can install the following operating systems as virtual computers: Windows Server 2003, Small Business Server, Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 (not the Enterprise edition), Windows NT 4.0 Enterprise edition, Solaris, and Linux (Red Hat and SuSE). Virtual Server 2005 SP1 supports 64 bit architectures. Virtual Server supports creating virtual networks as well as support for other features common to servers such as support

6 for multiprocessors, increased RAM, SCSI disks, and two node clustering. Virtual Server requires IIS and uses a Web interface for administration. You can use the Virtual Machine Remote Control (VRMC) tool to manage virtual servers, delegate permissions, and convert a virtual machine to a physical machine. Virtual Server does not support snapshots. Hyper V is the virtualization solution for the Windows Server 2008 and later operating system. Like Virtual Server, Hyper V lets you run multiple virtual computers on a single physical system. The main differences between Hyper V and Virtual Server are: Hyper V Virtual Server runs as a service under the host operating system, while Hyper V is a hypervisor solution. The hypervisor is a thin layer of software that sits between the hardware and the host operating system. Hyper V can only be installed on a Windows Server 2008 or higher system. Hyper V requires an x64 based processor with hardwareassisted virtualization support. You can install the following operating systems as virtual machines with Hyper V (both 32 bit and 64 bit systems): o Microsoft Server 2003 and 2008; excluding the Web versions, or higher: 2012/2016 o Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server with SP4 or higher o Windows XP SP3 or higher o Windows Vista SP1 or higher (7/8/10) o SuSE, Red Hat Fedora 8, Fedora 9 alpha version Linux distributions Hyper V supports all features of Virtual Server plus the following: Multicore and multiprocessor systems, and multiple processors assigned to virtual machines.

7 Using the Volume Shadow Copy (VSC) Service for live backup of a virtual machine at the host level. Creating snapshots of virtual machines for saving virtual machine state and restoring the virtual machine to a previous state. Both Physical to Virtual (P2V) and Virtual to Physical (V2P) migration. Direct attached storage, SANs, and network attached storage. The Hyper V architecture uses the following components: Component Description A hypervisor is thin layer of software that resides between the operating system and the hardware. Hypervisor Without a hypervisor, virtual machine software has to pass through the operating system to interact with the hardware of the physical computer. A hypervisor allows virtual machines to interact with the hardware without going through the host operating system. Hyper V uses a microkernel style of hypervisor which moves device drivers from the hypervisor layer entirely and relocates them to the individual guest operating system partitions. This allows each driver to run independently on each VM to reduce: o Vulnerability to attacks. o Susceptibility to system instabilities that could be caused by applications on co existing VMs. Partition A partition is a logical way of separating operating systems running on the physical computer. When you add the Hyper V role, the Windows Server 2008 operating system runs in the parent partition. There is only one parent partition on each physical computer.

8 Each subsequent operating system installation runs in a child partition. o Child partitions access CPU and RAM through the hypervisor, not the operating system in the parent partition. o Child partitions can view virtual devices but do not have direct access to hardware resources such as NICs and drivers. VMBus Each partition is assigned a partition ID. The VMBus is a logical channel that enables communication between partitions. Child partition requests to virtual devices are redirected via the VMBus to the devices in the parent partition, which manages the requests. For this purpose it is important for all hardware resources to be compatible with Hyper V. The hyper stack (also called the virtualization stack) sits on top of the hypervisor in the parent partition. The hyper stack: Hyper stack Can access the system RAM and CPU directly. Performs all virtualization functionality that is not performed by the hypervisor itself. Sergey Gorokhod MCT/MCSE/MCITP/MCTS/MCSA/CCSE/CCSA/CCNA/A+ E mail: sergey@infosec.co.il Mob: (+972)

9 4.3. Hyper V Installation You should know the following about installing Hyper V: Hyper V can be installed on 64 bit versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 on all versions (Enterprise, Standard, and Datacenter editions, including their respective Server Core installations), or higher (2012/2016) Hyper V can be installed on 64 bit versions of Microsoft Windows 8/8.1/10 Hyper V can only be installed on 64 bit CPUs that support: o Hardware Assisted Virtualization Intel's Virtualization Technology (VT) AMD's AMD Virtualization (AMD V) o Data Execution Prevention (DEP) Intel's Execute Disable Bit (XD) AMD's No Execute age protection (NX) Bit Note: You may need to enable some of these features in the BIOS before they will be available to Hyper V. Hyper V can be installed onto a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008/2012/2016 in the following ways: o Use Hyper V Manager to remotely connect to the Server Core installation from a full installation of Server 2008/2012/2016 that has the Hyper V role installed. o Use the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) interface to manage the installation process. Hyper V can be installed by using a.iso, physical media, or a remote server image. In a production environment, the following hardware is recommended for the host machine that runs Hyper V: o A multicore processor or multiple processors o 8 GB of RAM or more o An iscsi attachment to network based storage devices, such as SAN o Disks formatted with NTFS o Multiple gigabit network cards o Redundant and uninterruptible power supplies

10 It is recommended to dedicate a server solely to the Hyper V role. With the Hyper V role installed, use the Hyper V Manager to create virtual machines. You can install the following operating systems as virtual machines with Hyper V: o Microsoft Server 2003/2008 (excluding the Web versions)/2012/2016 o Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server with SP4 or higher o Windows XP SP3 or higher o Windows Vista SP1 or higher o SuSE, Red Hat Fedora 8, Fedora 9 alpha version Linux distributions Hyper V provides a licensing model that allows you to install a limited number of virtual machines running Windows Server 2008 and later depending on the edition of the host operating system. o The Standard edition permits one physical instance and one virtual instance of the Standard edition. o The Enterprise edition permits four additional server instances (either Standard or Enterprise editions). o The Datacenter edition permits an unlimited number of server instances (Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter editions). You can install both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of each operating system as virtual machines. You can also run 32 bit and 64 bit virtual machines on the same physical server at the same time. When specifying the amount of RAM that will be allotted to a virtual machine, make sure to leave sufficient RAM for the host operating system. Servers that monopolize a high amount of CPU resources and RAM are not good candidates for virtualization. The number of processors you can assign to a virtual machine depends on the operating system running on the virtual machine. o Up to 4 processors can be assigned to each virtual machine running Windows Server 2008/2012/2016 o Up to 2 virtual processors can be assigned to Windows Server 2003 and Vista machines. o A single processor can be assigned to Windows 2000 Server and Windows XP machines.

11 Each virtual machine can have up to 64 GB of RAM (subject to guest operating system restrictions), 8 virtual NICs, and 4 virtual SCSI controllers. You can manage Hyper V remotely by adding the Hyper V Manager to Windows Server 2008/2012/2016 and Vista/7/8/10 computers. Sergey Gorokhod MCT/MCSE/MCITP/MCTS/MCSA/CCSE/CCSA/CCNA/A+ E mail: sergey@infosec.co.il Mob: (+972)

12 4.4. Virtual Machine Files Hyper V uses the following files for configuration and saving virtual machine state: File Virtual machine configuration file Description Virtual machine configuration files store the configuration settings of the virtual machine. Configuration files are in XML format and can be edited directly or through the management console. Each virtual machine is identified by a globally unique ID (GUID), and the virtual machine configuration file is the GUID with a.xml extension. A virtual hard disk (VHD) is a file that is created within the host operating system and that simulates a hard disk for the virtual machine. Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file The virtual machine accesses the virtual hard disk through the management operating system. When you create the virtual disk, you specify the disk and controller type (such as ATA/IDE or SCSI). The virtual disk type does not have to match the physical disk type. For example, you can create a virtual SCSI disk on a physical ATA disk. Do not create a virtual hard disk on a folder with encryption enabled. You can create a virtual hard disk on a volume with BitLocker enabled. The virtual hard disk file has a.vhd extension. Saved state files When a virtual machine is running, you can suspend or pause the virtual machine to prevent it from using system resources. Information about the saved state of the virtual machine is saved in a directory named the same as the GUID for the virtual machine. Inside the directory, files with.bin and.vsv extensions save the state information.

13 Snapshot / Checkpoints file A snapshot/checkpoints is a point in time capture of a virtual machine. When you take a snapshot, the current contents of memory are recorded, and a new virtual hard disk file is created. The new virtual hard disk has a.avhd extension. After taking a snapshot, hard disk changes are saved in the snapshot and not the parent. You can use snapshots/checkpoints to save and revert to a previous configuration. A symbolic link is a pointer file that identifies the location of the virtual machine configuration file. The Hyper V console uses the symbolic link to identify each virtual machine that is available on the system and to locate the configuration files that apply to that virtual machine. Symbolic link Symbolic links are saved in the <system>:/programdata/microsoft/windows/hyper V directory. By default, the ProgramData folder is a hidden folder. The name of the symbolic link matches the GUID for the virtual machine. You have the following options for configuring a hard disk for use by the virtual machine: Type Fixed Description A fixed disk is a virtual disk that occupies a set amount of hard disk space in the management operating system. The size of the virtual hard disk file is the total storage capacity of the virtual disk. This disk type takes longer to create than other disk types. The entire disk size, including empty space within the virtual hard disk, is reserved on the physical disk.

14 Performance is improved because the entire virtual disk is a contiguous block and because additional space does not need to be allocated to expand the size of the disk. For best performance, Microsoft recommends that you use fixed disks for all virtual machines. A dynamically expanding disk allocates physical disk space in the.vhd file as virtual disk storage is used by the virtual machine. Dynamically expanding Physical disk space is allocated only as it is used by the virtual machine. The size of the.vhd file grows as more disk space is used by the virtual machine. This disk type makes the most efficient use of hard disk space. It is possible for the physical disk to run out of space as the.vhd file size grows. A differencing disk creates a parent virtual hard disk, then saves changes to that disk in the differencing (or child) virtual hard disk. This allows multiple virtual machines to share a common virtual disk, reducing the overall disk space used by all virtual machines. To use differencing disks: Differencing 1. Create a parent virtual machine with a new virtual disk. Install the operating system, apply patches, make configuration changes, and add applications that the child virtual machines will have in common. 2. Turn off the parent virtual machine. Make the parent virtual hard disk read only. 3. Create new virtual machines with new virtual hard disks. Choose differencing disk as the disk type, and select the parent hard disk. Be aware of the following when using differencing disks: The parent virtual hard disk must be read only. If you change the parent disk, all child disks become unusable.

15 Differencing disks are dynamically expanding disks. You can configure a virtual machine to have exclusive use of a physical storage device that is attached to the physical computer. This configuration is sometimes called a pass through disk. Physical disk The physical hard disk is taken offline in the management operating system. The physical disk is attached directly to the virtual machine. Access to the disk does not go through the management operating system. The following features are not available when using physical disks: o The disk cannot be dynamically expanded o Physical disks cannot be used as differencing disks o You cannot take disk snapshots Each of these features are only available on virtual hard disks. You can configure the virtual machine to access iscsi disks by running the iscsi Initiator in the guest operating system and configuring a target. When using iscsi disks, you cannot boot a virtual machine from an iscsi device; you must have at least one physical or virtual hard disk for booting. In Virtual Server, access to physical disks was configured by creating a virtual hard disk linked to a physical disk (i.e. by creating a linked disk). In Hyper V, there are no linked disks; instead, Hyper V allows direct physical disk access.

16 4.5. Virtual File Management The table below lists the actions you can perform on virtual hard disks. Operation Description You can convert a fixed disk to a dynamically expanding disk, or a dynamically expanding disk to a fixed disk. Convert You cannot convert a differencing disk. Converting a fixed disk to a dynamically expanding disk makes the virtual hard disk file smaller, as long as the virtual disk has free space on the disk. Converting a dynamically expanding disk to a fixed disk makes it bigger; the resulting file consumes as much disk space as is allocated to the virtual hard disk. Compact With a dynamically expanding disk, additional space is added to the.vhd file as necessary. However, when files are deleted from the virtual hard disk, the.vhd file does not shrink. Compacting the virtual disk removes any blank space from the virtual hard disk file. You can only compact a dynamically expanding disk. By design, fixed disks are always the size of the virtual hard disk capacity. Use the merge function to merge a differencing disk with its parent. When you perform the merge, you can: Merge Save the merged disk as a new virtual disk. Merge the disks and save the changes back into the parent disk. You should only use this option if the parent does not have any more differencing disks. If you want to convert a differencing disk to another disk type, you could merge the differencing disk with the parent, then if desired convert the disk to a dynamically expanding disk.

17 Use the expand option to increase the storage capacity of a fixed or dynamically expanding disk. Expand Note: Microsoft does not provide any tools for shrinking a virtual disk (reducing the maximum size of a virtual disk). Compacting a dynamically expanding disk or converting a fixed disk to dynamically expanding will reduce the disk space used by the virtual disk, but does not reduce the maximum size of the virtual disk. When you take a snapshot of a disk, a differencing disk is automatically created for the disk. Changes made to the disk are subsequently written to the snapshot disk, not to the parent disk. Snapshot / Checkpoint When using snapshots, the total physical disk space used by the virtual disk will be the sum of the parent disk plus the snapshot disk size. If you take a snapshot of a fixed disk, the virtual disk might consume more physical disk than would be used if the disk were full. When you delete a snapshot, changes are merged back into the parent disk. Virtual machines and virtual disks are portable, meaning that they can be easily moved to different locations, both on the same physical system or a different physical system. To move an entire virtual machine along with the virtual hard disks, use one of the following methods:

18 Method Description Use the Export and Import features in Hyper V manager to simplify moving virtual machines. Use the following steps: Export/import 1. Select the virtual machine and export it. The export function: o Moves all files to the folder path you specify. Virtual files are saved inside a subfolder of the folder you choose. The folder name matches the virtual machine name as it appears in the Hyper V Manager console. o Renames the virtual machine configuration file with a.exp extension. 2. If necessary, copy the files to the new destination. 3. In the Hyper V Manager console on the target system, import the virtual machine. During the import, select the subfolder that corresponds to the server name that was created in step 1. Selecting the same folder, you selected in step 1 will cause the import to fail. The import function performs the following: o o o Information in the virtual machine configuration file is edited to point to the new locations for the virtual disk files. The virtual configuration file is renamed with a.xml extension. Symbolic links are created that point to the configuration file. Note: If you want to import the same set of files multiple times to create multiple virtual machines, you must make a copy of those files. Because the import function modifies the virtual machine files, once a set of files have been imported, the same files cannot be imported again.

19 To manually move a virtual machine, use the following steps: Manual 1. Delete the symbolic link pointing to the virtual machine. 2. Move the files. 3. Edit the virtual machine configuration file to point all virtual hard disks to their new locations on the host computer. If necessary, update the ISO path for virtual optical drives. 4. Create a symbolic link in the <system>:/programdata/microsoft/windows/hyper V folder pointing to the virtual machine configuration file. To create the link, use the mklink command followed by the virtual machine file name and the path and filename of the virtual machine file. Sergey Gorokhod MCT/MCSE/MCITP/MCTS/MCSA/CCSE/CCSA/CCNA/A+ E mail: sergey@infosec.co.il Mob: (+972)

20 4.6. Virtual Network In the Hyper V manager, use the Virtual Network Manager to define virtual networks. You should be familiar with the following options when configuring virtual networks: Network Type External Internal Private network No network Description In an external network, virtual machines bind to the physical NIC to have access to the physical network. Use this option to allow the virtual machine to communicate with the management operating system, other virtual machines running on the system, and other physical network devices. In an internal network, virtual machines can communicate with one another and with the management operating system, but cannot access the physical network. This configuration is typically used to build a test network where you connect to the virtual machines through the management operating system. In a private network, virtual machines can communicate with each other but cannot communicate with the management operating system or access the physical network. This is optimal when a virtual machine needs to have a degree of isolation. With no network, the virtual machine cannot communicate with any other physical or virtual machine. It may be best to not have any network set up for your virtual machine if it is used for testing or performing other tasks in which isolation is beneficial. Be aware of the following when configuring virtual networking with Hyper V: Microsoft recommends that the physical system have two network cards installed. One network adapter is used by all virtual machines to communicate on the physical network; the other is used by the management operating system to communicate on the physical network. Hyper V networking uses virtual switches which provide true isolation of layer 2 unicast traffic.

21 o The first switch is bound to the physical adapter to allow any virtual machine that is connected to it to access the physical network. o The second switch is connected to the management or parent partition to allow all virtual machines that are connected to it to communicate with each other as well as the management partition. o The third switch is purely virtual to allow the virtual machines that are connected to it to communicate without packets hitting the wire. In external and internal networks, a VLAN ID can be enabled. If a switch port on a server is configured to allow more than one VLAN to pass through it, multiple networks can be configured on different VLANs, thus allowing multiple virtual servers to use different VLANs on a single port. Hyper V requires integration services to use the regular virtual network adapter. This is installed by default when you add the Hyper V role. If integration services cannot be added, you must configure Hyper V to use a legacy network adapter. Configure Hyper V to use the legacy network adapter if the virtual machine needs to boot from the network. Hyper V does not support wireless networks. Sergey Gorokhod MCT/MCSE/MCITP/MCTS/MCSA/CCSE/CCSA/CCNA/A+ E mail: sergey@infosec.co.il Mob: (+972)

22 4.6. Virtual Machine Management Use the following process to create and customize virtual machines: 1. Create the virtual machine. o You can create virtual hard disks and networks before creating the virtual machine, then link the virtual machine to the existing objects. o You can create virtual hard disks during the new virtual machine wizard. Disks will be dynamically expanding disks. o You can create a virtual machine without a virtual hard disk or a network. 2. Edit the virtual machine properties to connect to a virtual hard disk or network, and to make any other changes to BIOS, processor, memory, disk, and network settings. o You can configure each virtual machine to use up to 4 processors (depending on the number of processors installed). o You can limit the amount of processor time (by percentage) used by the virtual machine. You can also restrict the CPU so that newer CPU features are not available to the virtual machine. Use this setting to support older operating systems (such as Windows NT). o Edit the BIOS settings to identify the boot order for the virtual machine. o To prepare for installing the operating system, configure the virtual o CD drive to use the physical CD drive or an ISO image. Configure the virtual machine to use the legacy network adapter if doing a network boot. Otherwise, use the regular network adapter. 3. Start the virtual machine and install the operating system. During installation, the mouse will be unavailable within the virtual machine. 4. Following installation, add integration services to the virtual machine for better performance and features. o o In the Hyper V console, select the Insert integration services disk option, then follow the prompts to complete the installation. Following installation, you can enable or disable specific integration services features by editing the virtual machine properties. Be aware that checking these features does not install integration services, it only controls which features are enabled after integration services have been added.

23 5. Customize the operating system and install any additional applications. 6. If you will be using the virtual machine as a parent to be used with differencing disks, take the following actions: 1. Turn off the parent virtual machine and delete it from the console. This prevents you from running the parent virtual machine, 2. Set the virtual hard disk to read only. 3. Create child machines with differencing disks using the parent virtual hard disk. Note: If you installed integration services on the parent, you will not need to install it on each child. Be aware of the following when managing virtual machines: While the virtual machine is running, most configuration options (processor, memory, or disk) cannot be edited. If you use an ISO image for the CD drive, you can dynamically change the virtual disc by pointing to a different ISO image file. Startup options control what happens to the virtual machines when the physical machine starts up. You can configure each virtual machine to start automatically when the physical system starts. Configure a delay time to prevent all virtual machines from starting up at the same time. Shutdown options control what happens to the virtual machines when the physical machine shuts down. o The Save option suspends or pauses the virtual machine. This option is like using hibernate or sleep in the virtual machine. o The Turn Off option closes the virtual machine without saving any information. This option is like cutting the power to the virtual machine and should be used with caution as it can make the operating system unstable. o The Shut Down option shuts down the virtual machine as if you had chosen Shut Down from the Start menu. To save the current state of a virtual machine, take a snapshot. o Snapshots can be taken when the system is running. o Apply a snapshot to revert to a previous state. o When you apply a snapshot, you have the option of taking a snapshot before applying.

24 4.7. SCVMM System Center is a set of tools that simplifies the enterprise management of computers and servers. You should be familiar with the following tools: Use System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) to deploy operating systems, applications, and software updates. With SCCM you can monitor software use, take hardware and software inventory, and remotely manage computers. Use System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) to monitor computers and servers. You can gather statistics about computer performance and get recommendations on suggested changes to improve performance. Use System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) to manage virtual machines and virtual machine components from a single console. With SCVMM you can rapidly deploy new virtual servers, and delegate permissions to other users to manage virtual servers. Be aware of the following when installing SCVMM: You install SCVMM on a server to manage virtual machines running on the local and remote servers. In addition to installing SCVMM, install the VMM Administration Console on the same or a different server. The administration console: o Runs on Windows Server 2008/2012/2016 or Windows Vista/7/8/10. o Requires.NET 3.0 and PowerShell 1.0. o Uses port Physical servers running Hyper V, Virtual Server, or VMware ESX Server are added in the management console as hosts. o When you identify the host, SCVMM agent software is installed on the host. The agent software allows SCVMM to communicate with the host. The agent is not added to an ESX Server. o After adding the host, you can view and manage all virtual machines that exist on that host. o If you select a server that is not running virtualization software, Hyper V will be installed on that server.

25 o You can organize multiple hosts into a host group. For example, you might create a host group based on virtualization software running on the host. o To allow remote connections to hosts, port 5900 must be opened. When you add the host, the necessary ports are typically opened automatically. For each action you perform in the management console, a PowerShell script is generated. You can save this script to easily execute the same action in the future. Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) helps you to dynamically respond to failure scenarios or poorly configured components and can even fix problems for you. One of the key features of SCVMM is the library. The library is a catalog of files and configuration objects that can be used for creating and configuring virtual machines. A library server is a server that stores the objects in the library. You can have one or multiple library servers. A library share is a shared folder on a library server. o Virtual machine files are stored in the library share. o When you create a library server, a default library share is created automatically. You cannot move this default library share. o You can have multiple library shares on one or more library servers. In addition to the library share, library servers hold configuration objects in a SQL database. o You can configure the library server to use an existing SQL server, or you can add SQL Server 2005 Express Edition on the library server for this purpose. o Microsoft recommends using the Standard or Enterprise edition of SQL Server 2005 if you will manage more than 150 virtual servers. The library organizes the following objects:

26 Object Virtual hard disk file Hardware profile Operating system profile Template Description You can save virtual hard disk files in the library, then use those files when creating new virtual machines. Virtual hard disk files in the library cannot be attached to a virtual machine. A hardware profile is the collection of settings that is contained in the virtual machine configuration files. The profile includes settings for the BIOS, processor, memory, drives, and networks. Using profiles, you can define a common virtual machine configuration, then use that saved configuration when creating new virtual machines. An operating system profile contains settings for the deployment of an operating system on a virtual machine. Settings in the profile are applied during operating system installation, and include the computer name, admin password, product key, time zone, operating system version, and networking settings (domain or workgroup membership). In addition, you can save an automated installation answer file in the operating system profile. A template is a set of configuration options for creating a virtual machine. The template can contain a hardware and an operating system profile as well as a virtual hard disk. You can create a template manually, or create a template from an existing virtual machine. You can store virtual machines in the library, then create new virtual machines using the virtual machine saved in the library. Virtual machine o o Virtual machines in the library are not active; they must be deployed to a host before they can be started. You can create new virtual machines from an existing virtual machine, from a template, or by using objects stored in the library. Use the Convert virtual machine option to take a virtual machine and place it in the library.

27 o If you create a new virtual machine from an existing machine or a virtual hard disk, you can modify the hardware settings but not the operating system settings. Create a machine from a template if you want to modify both hardware and operating system settings. The library can also contain the following additional objects: Additional objects o o o ISO images PowerShell scripts Answer files The library server uses port 80 to communicate with hosts and agents, and port 443 for transferring files to the library share. One of the major advantages to using SCVMM is the ease of moving and migrating virtual machines between servers. The following table describes three actions you can take to manage virtual servers. Method Description Migration is moving a virtual server from one physical server to another physical server. With SCVMM, you can perform the following migration types: Migration Hyper V to Hyper V (move a virtual server running in Hyper V to another server running Hyper V) Virtual Server to Virtual Server Virtual Server to Hyper V VMware ESX Server to VMware ESX Server Virtual to Virtual (V2V) conversion With a virtual to virtual conversion, you convert one type of virtual server into another type of virtual server. Use V2V conversion to convert a virtual machine running on VMware ESX Server to a virtual machine in Hyper V or Virtual Server.

28 With a physical to virtual conversion, you convert a physical machine into a virtual machine. You can perform a P2V conversion on source computers running the following operating systems: Windows Server 2008 or higher Windows Server 2003 SP1 Windows 2000 Server SP4 Windows XP SP2 Windows Vista SP1 or higher Physical to Virtual (P2V) conversion To perform the migration, the source computer must be a member of a workgroup, the same domain, or a trusted domain. There are two methods of performing a P2V conversion: An online conversion migrates the physical machine as it is running. It uses VSS to copy the hard disk to the virtual machine. An offline conversion shuts down the physical machine, then reboots it using Windows PE to copy the physical hard disk. This makes the physical server unavailable during the conversion. Note: Windows 2000 Server migration can only be performed offline because Windows 2000 does not support VSS. With SCVMM, you can define administrative roles and delegate permissions to users to manage virtual machines. There are three options for delegating permissions:

29 Role Administrator Delegated Administrator Description The administrator role has all permissions with SCVMM and can manage all virtual servers. A delegated administrator is an administrator with permissions over a specific realm of responsibility. You can delegate administration to selected host groups or library servers. Delegated administrators can define new delegated administrators or self service users. The self service role identifies actions that users can take on their own virtual machines. Users manage virtual machines through a Web based tool, the Virtual Machine Manager Self Service Portal. When you define the self service role: Self Service You identify the host groups that users have permissions to. Users can create virtual machines on the host group. SCVMM automatically decides which physical machine is used for the virtual machine. You can define a quota that limits the number of virtual machines a user can create. Self service users cannot designate other self service users. Sergey Gorokhod MCT/MCSE/MCITP/MCTS/MCSA/CCSE/CCSA/CCNA/A+ E mail: sergey@infosec.co.il Mob: (+972)