THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS DIVA : Virtualization

The business reason for a server - gardening style

bradley — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 06:29:00 GMT

So one of the questions that comes up about virtualization is why you should do it in the first place. What's the business reason for it?

I equate it to planning for a garden and planting a garden.

Last November I got my shipment of tulips and daffodils from Dutch Gardens. And the bulbs are only a few inches or so in size. If you planted them just under the soil, not only would they get too leggy, but they'd not get the needed nutrition from the leaves to flower again another year. You space them out and you dig a hole for them two times their size because you know they are going to grow.

Virtualization of a server - to me - is the same process. You plan ahead that some new thing you'll want to expand, some new server, some new virtualized desktop, some new deployment is going to come along and if you haven't planned your garden - or rather your server to handle the growth, you'll have to dig it all up (redeploy it) and start over again.

Not to mention moving a virtualize server from one platform to another (Server 2008 r2 to Server 2012) or from one physical server location to another is the equivalent of moving a planted pot in my garden versus something planted directly in the soil. To move a pot is easy, to move a plant in the soil, I have to make sure I dig around the root ball and replant it carefully and monitor for any shock to the plant.

When you move a virtualized server, you only need to set up the network card and then point to the vhds and off you go. You can also do an export and import but I've honestly found it just as easy to just reset up the server in it's new home.

P.S. in case anyone is wondering, yes that is my garden with my daffodils and tulips blooming this weekend and all that hard work is pretty much done in two weekends in November. As in just like with computers, it's ordering the right parts (bulbs), deploying the technology properly (digging them in, adding a bit of bone meal), planning for growth and you just sit back and watch your clients suddenly realize that they need another server or virtual machine or something and you go "no problem, we have some spare computing power right over here on that new server we bought for you a bit back".

Whether you pick HyperV or VMware is like picking your favorite of daffodils versus tulips. Each one will do the job.

There they go again

bradley — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 07:24:00 GMT

Gag me with a first server marketing plan. There they go again...

Microsoft | Windows Server 2012 Essentials | Windows Small Business Server Next Version:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server-essentials/default.aspx

Stressing that "first server" marketing plan again.

Show me a small business that doesn't have a server and I'll show you a micro sized firm that probably would be better suited with a Windows 2012 foundation server. Show me a firm that would really thrive with the benefits of Essentials, and I'll show you a firm that shouldn't be buying Essentials but should buy Windows 2012 standard instead.

Say what? You ask?

Bear with me, I'll explain. When you buy Windows 2012 standard you get the ability to install one copy as a HyperV parent. You then get the right to downgrade each of the child instances or keep them as 2012 versions - it's up to you. So if I wanted the parent as 2012 server and then I made one of the children a 2012 essentials virtualized, and a 2008r2 member server for say remote desktop.. or an on premises exchange or a 2012 member server or whatever you want that second instance to be you can.

This downgrade right gives you the ability to have a nicely/securely build virtualized solution. And while you are at it, don't buy via OEM, but via Volume licensing. Why? Because for sure I know you immediately get all of the downgrade right keys, I'm not 100% sure you'll get it if you buy a OEM server. Oh, I know that it's legal to get these downgrade rights, I just don't know the logistical way to get these licenses.

Don't get software assurance. I say this as a person who has Windows 2012 standard/Exchange 2013 as part of my "make good" rights from SA with SBS 2011 but I still say I'm one OS short and Microsoft should throw in an Essentials license. Not to mention if you are on SA you might want to review that you have a key still in your VLSC for SBS 2011 standard/Essentials (it's now a joint key) and for the Exchange server up there. I had to call the other week and get a situation fixed as they said I wasn't a SBS 2011 customer. Needless to say my SA patience has snapped and I no longer feel it of value in the SMB space. I'm sure many of you are questioning my sanity for ever thinking it was in the first place.

But bottom line instead of 'first server' think VIRTUALIZED server. As while it can't be a hyperv PARENT, for sure it can be virutalized and in fact if you buy Windows 2012 standard you get a 1+2 rights included.

Play box for HyperV

bradley — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 03:57:00 GMT

So want a play box for HyperV? You can actually load up 16gigs on that Microserver.

Loading Up Your HP N40L MicroServer With 16GB Of RAM | Wahl Network:
http://wahlnetwork.com/2012/09/24/loading-up-your-hp-n40l-microserver-with-16gb-of-ram/
Modified BIOS for Microserver N40L enables hidden features - HP Microserver - HomeServerShow Forums:
http://homeservershow.com/forums/index.php?/topic/3397-modified-bios-for-microserver-n40l-enables-hidden-features/

I just ordered the RAM.. haven't done the bios hack.

So do you take snapshots of productions machines?

bradley — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:37:00 GMT

A comment due to my prior post about "notes" in HyperV when I'm taking snapshots for patch testing needs a bit of fleshing out.

So.. do I take snapshots of machines in production when I'm doing patch testing?

Nope. Any box I do snapshots on are test boxes only. Meaning it's a copy of the real box or ... as in the case of the SBS 2003, SBS 2008 or SBS 2011 images I have on a single HyperV, they are all dry run tests of the real network migrations.

On a test HyperV I

Take snaps,
Let it do expanding drives,
See if it can overclock on the memory since sp1 (it can't SBS 2011, 2008, 2003 doesn't support it)
And all other things you should never do on a real production system.

On the real HyperV I

Never do snapshots.
Always use fixed drives

So when you see me blog about taking snapshots... it's on the test HyperV only.. the one that is the 'blow it up first before doing it on the real one' box.

So what do I monitor my HyperV with?

bradley — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 07:11:00 GMT

So what do I monitor my HyperV with?

Depends on how big you are. I'm little. I'm a standalone firm. My hyperV is not domain joined. So I don't use SCVMMwhatever thingy private cloud tool just doesn't fit. So what does?

I still recommend that on smaller HyperV deployments you use the full Win2k8 r2 gui. If that server needs remoting-into in the heat of the moment command line is going to be stressful. Yes that means another Win2k8r2 license, but again I think it builds in flexibility.

So whatever normal remote management tools you use now to monitor servers (www.eventsentry.com is one, GFIHounddog. another example, Kasaya, etc,) use that to monitor the parent.

So why virtualization?

bradley — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 06:16:00 GMT

So earlier I was asking if I could blog about why I think HyperV or virtualization makes sense for even a small firm.

Today was a good example of why virtualization helps a small firm to be nimble. Okay so we have various years of accounting software (Quickbooks) that we use for our clients. Sometimes it matters that we use the exact same year/version as what our clients have. Today we discovered that the 2010 version of Lacerte 'broke' the ability to open up Quickbooks 2007. Given that I have a server that is already in HyperV setup I didn't have to say ... man I need a XP workstation.. or man I need more hardware... I just needed to download my XP VL image and stand up a XP just to install Quickbooks 2007 on.

That's why I think HyperV is still a solid tool for small businesses. You decide in a moment that you need an extra 'something' for a project? Stand one up in HyperV. It builds in flexibility in these turbulent times.

Now what about the issue of the SBS box itself? Why is it in virtualization possibly better? Because you are no longer tied to physical hardware. You want to do a dry run test of Patch Tuesday on a client's server that is particularly sensitive to patching issues? Make a copy of a client's server and stand it up in your HyperV and test those updates. But spec the box right. This isn't your cheap OEM server. This is a solid (my fave is HP) server with plenty of RAM.

But bottom line it lets me be flexible, it lets me separate the server from the hardware.

Will it make sense to EVERY small business? No. I know of some small businesses that are not comfy with their SBS box being virtual. But they are doing a virtual server on the second server.

Third Thursday Webinar: Hyper-V 101 with Wayne Small

bradley — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:11:00 GMT

Blog :: Third Tier:
http://www.thirdtier.net/blog/

Wayne Small , Third Tier consultant and owner of SBSFAQ.com has been deploying Hyper-V based solutions to 80% of his clients. Hyper-V can be simple to deploy, yet powerful enough for high availability applications. It is also technology that your clients really don’t understand at all. So how does he sell it to them? Wayne will tell us how to get up and running, the impact this technology can have your business and how to sell the idea to your clients.

Heard all the hype about Hyper-V? Want to get your clients up and running on Hyper-V in an hour? Want to know the key things to look out for with Hyper-V and how to avoid the pitfalls? This session will run through all of the basics on Hyper-V as it relates to our SMB clients. It will cover the various flavours of Hyper-V available, what to use when and how to get your first Hyper-V client quoted, and installed. I’ll walk through a typical scenario that we’ve deployed in the past and how we’ve addressed the clients concerns and taken advantage of Hyper-V to save the customer money, and increase their uptime.

Join us on Thursday April 15th at 5:00pm.

Third Tier has invited you to attend an online meeting using Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/harborcomputerservices/join?id=WQFW5K&role=attend&pw=92X%2C%24Rs*t

Meeting time: Apr 15, 2010 5:00 PM (EDT)

Add to my Outlook Calendar:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/harborcomputerservices/meetingICS?id=WQFW5K&role=attend&pw=92X%2C%24Rs*t&i=i.ics

Virtualized eggs

bradley — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:20:00 GMT

Saw an interesting post...."Yes I use HyperV in production but not with sbs2008. I would think that you would be putting one too many eggs in the basket"

Which I don't quite get. First off we joke that SBS 2008 is a lot of eggs in one basket and if we put it on a piece of hardware, there's my basket. The reason that I personally virtualized it was that it gave me flexibility in hardware, and the ultimate in remote management.

If I need another server for any business reason I'm not scrambing for hardware to stand one up. If I want to make copies of the vhd's and move to the Home HyperV for testing I can. If, in the case of when I did this at the office, I want to use the box and a complete trial run of migration, it makes a perfect test platform. Bottom line, I prefer my basket of eggs virtualized these days.

Shrink it before you mount it

bradley — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:17:00 GMT

So I used the Disk2vhd tool to make a copy of an existing XP machine - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415.aspx

And I was thinking that because it was only 40 gigs in use that it would mount just fine. Silly me forgot the issue where the Virtual PC won't mount the drive if it's greater than 127GB. When you browse to have it set it up, it won't mount the disk. So what you do is go into your Windows 7 machine and just mount the vhd as an additional drive and shrink it down.

Note: Virtual PC supports a maximum virtual disk size of 127GB. If you create a VHD from a larger disk it will not be accessible from a Virtual PC VM.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/virtualmachinemgrp2vv2v/thread/972a011f-edcf-4405-b568-a2f3b08ce04b

So shrink down that machine drive before you move it to mount it in the virtual PC.

Time sync to an external source on a virtual platform

bradley — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:20:00 GMT

When you use HyperV or any virtualization, you want to remove the time syncronization that the child has to the parent. The reason is you want that child, especially if that's a domain controller to sync independently. In my case I also had to set up time sync on the parent as well as it was drifting. To the point of badly. So uncheck that box, and don't sync the time up to the parent and then that child server will independently sync to an external time source as it needs to.

>>>Hot Issue Nov-09 (Virtualization)<<<:

bradley — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:41:00 GMT

>>>Hot Issue Nov-09 (Virtualization)<<<:
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/partnervirtualserver/thread/fbca5f4a-e1c2-4f0a-8068-0e6c495fe18e

Virtualization

TOP SUPPORT ISSUES

[ISSUE 1]

Problem Description:
=============
Both Hyper-V instances report event id 1054 several times a day.

Resolution:
==========
Add the following keys to the server

Registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System

Value name: GroupPolicyMinTransferRate

Value type: DWORD

Value Data: 0

Registry subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System

Value name: GroupPolicyMinTransferRate

Value type: DWORD

Value Data: 0

[ISSUE 2]

Issue:

===========

Can I install the system and boot volume of a virtual machine direct to a physical hard disk from a DAS (direct attached storage)?

Solution:

===========

Look at table 2 of the following link, we can see guest can boot from VHD or passthrough disk when DAS/SAN on host.

http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2008/02/14/storage-options-for-windows-server-2008-s-hyper-v.aspx

Please note to attache the passthrough disk to IDE controller to successfully boot the VM.

Configuring Pass-through Disks in Hyper-V

http://blogs.technet.com/askcore/archive/2008/10/24/configuring-pass-through-disks-in-hyper-v.aspx

[ISSUE 3]

Problem

========

Hyper-V wbadmin error:

Creating a shadow copy of the volumes specified for backup...

The backup operation stopped before completing.

Summary of the backup operation:

------------------

The backup operation stopped before completing.

Detailed error: ERROR - A Volume Shadow Copy Service operation error has

occurred: (0x80042336)

The writer experienced a partial failure. Check the component level error state

for more information.

Solution

========

Please save the following commands as the .bat file

==========================

net stop "System Event Notification Service"

net stop "COM+ Event System"

net stop "Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider"

net stop "Volume Shadow Copy"

cd /d %windir%\system32

net stop vss

net stop swprv

regsvr32 /s ole32.dll

regsvr32 /s oleaut32.dll

regsvr32 /s vss_ps.dll

vssvc /register

regsvr32 /s /i swprv.dll

regsvr32 /s /i eventcls.dll

regsvr32 /s es.dll

regsvr32 /s stdprov.dll

regsvr32 /s vssui.dll

regsvr32 /s msxml3.dll

net start "System Event Notification Service"

net start "COM+ Event System"

net start "Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider"

net start "Volume Shadow Copy"

==========================

After run the .bat file and restart the server.

NEW KB articles

SCVMM: Adding a SCVMM 2008 host in a external trusted domain fails with error 2917

http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?id=2002404

How to upgrade Windows Server 2008 systems that have the Hyper-V role installed to Windows Server 2008 R2

http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?id=957256

NEW & TOP DOWNLOADS

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition x64 (Core Install) VHD

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=37264b32-c79f-4249-a5d4-b8696772a62a

Best regards,

Vicky Hu
Partner Online Technical Community
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We hope you get value from our new forums platform! Tell us what you think:
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Whoda thunk it's in security settings

bradley — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:26:00 GMT

Whoda thunk that enabling the 64bit VT chip to enable either a 64bit guest or Windows 7 XP mode would mean that you needed to go into the security settings of the bios.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=115&prodSeriesId=3429268&prodTypeId=12454&prodSeriesId=3429268&objectID=c01484896

www.grc.com/securable said it would support the HyperV technology, but it wasn't kicking in. I knew it was in the bios, but couldn't figure out where the VT ON switch was until I searched on the HP site.

Holy cow this really works but this is really unsupported

bradley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:15:00 GMT

Holy cow this really works! - THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA":
http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2009/11/05/holy-cow-this-really-works.aspx

Please keep in mind that in the next few days as I blog about the migration from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 test run that I'm doing that the SBS 2003 installed in HyperV is totally and utterly unsupported when it's in that HyperV like that. Exchange 2003 is not supported in HyperV, only in Virtual Server.

If you put SBS 2003 on a platform that virtualization is not supported, you will get push back from support where they will tell you you have to recreate the issue on a supported platform.

Support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/897615

Exchange is normally the one that sets the support line in the sand.

Summary Support Statement*
This configuration is Not Supported.

* Customers with Premier-level support agreements should contact their account manager for more information
* Additional information is available in the "Support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software" which can be viewed here

Support Statement Details

Product: Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 on Hyper-V with Windows Server 2003 SP2 (x86) Guest OS

More Information

For Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 only Virtual Server 2005 R2 and later is supported as hardware virtualization software. See here for specific configuration information.

http://www.windowsservercatalog.com/svvp.aspx?svvppage=svvpwizard.htm

For those asking about ESXi

Summary Support Statement*
This configuration is Supported.

Support Statement Details

Product: Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 on VMware ESXi with Windows Server 2008 (x64) Guest OS

Search the Knowledge Base for information related to this configuration

More Information

Exchange 2007 SP1 and later must be deployed on the Windows Server 2008 operating system. (Note: Windows Server 2008 R2 is not currently supported with Exchange Server 2007 on hardware virtualization). For more information about support and scaling see the Microsoft Support Policies and Recommendations for Exchange Servers in Hardware Virtualization Environments here .

Supported features: Anti-Virus, Back-up Software, Virtual Machine Management Software, Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR), Virtual Processors

Unsupported features: Unified Messaging, Dynamically Expanding Virtual Disks, Virtual disks that use differencing or delta mechanisms, Hyper-V Quick Migration combined with Exchange Clustering, Virtual Machine Snap Shots

Making sure you don't sync with the Parent

bradley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:41:00 GMT

I have eventsentry.com on my existing SBS 2003 which also means it's now on my HyperV clone. So I kept getting a time change alert..

DATE / TIME 11/5/2009 9:36:21 PM MESSAGE The system time was changed.
Process ID: 1368
Process Name: C:\WINDOWS\system32\vmicsvc.exe

I had forgotten to uncheck the box on the time sync setting on the HyperV. You still want the DC inside the HyperV to get and grab it's own time from the various ntp time sync portals and not try to sync up with the HyperV parent.

Uncheck the box in that settings window and all is well.

Hey AU... you don't even have to get up early for this one!

bradley — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:30:00 GMT

Event Title : WNS92PAL: Microsoft Hyper-V Server - Stand Alone Server Virtualization Product February 25, 2009 from 10-11am Australia/Sydney Time
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 provides a simplified, reliable, and optimized virtualization solution, enabling improved server utilization and reduced costs. This webcast provides an introduction and overview of Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008, and a comparison between Microsoft Hyper-V Server, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition with Hyper-V, and Data Center Edition with Hyper-V. Since Hyper-V Server is a dedicated stand-alone product, which contains only the Windows Hypervisor, Windows Server driver model and virtualization components, it provides a small footprint and minimal overhead. Microsoft Hyper-V Server easily plugs into customers’ existing IT environments, leveraging their existing patching, provisioning, management, support tools, processes, and skills.

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/details.aspx?publisher=12&delivery=260615

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Time Zone : (GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

The bios flip did the trick

bradley — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:55:00 GMT

http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2008/12/14/attempting-to-load-a-64-bit-application.aspx

And to answer that question, yes, virtualization was disabled in the bios and thus even the vmware workstation wouldn't support a 64bit guest loaded up on a 64bit host.

Rule of thumb... always check the bios first before starting a virtualization project.

Attempting to load a 64-bit application

bradley — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:38:00 GMT

Workstation running Vista 64bit (so you know the CPU is 64bit compatible) attempting to load up a VMware 64bit OS... what gives?

I'll be the bit isn't flipped in the registry to allow for virtualizatoin to work, whadday wanna bet?

Be right back after a reboot to let you know.

Hey check out Tim's videos on HyperV

bradley — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:04:00 GMT

YouTube - SBS 2008 on Hyper-V Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X71rOKEZtjk
YouTube - SBS 2008 on Hyper-V Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmdO_BYq9Hw

Cool!

Hotfixes for Hyper V

bradley — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:36:00 GMT

Jose Barreto's Blog : Apply these Windows Server 2008 hotfixes to avoid known Hyper-V issues:
http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2008/12/04/apply-these-windows-server-2008-hotfixes-to-avoid-known-hyper-v-issues.aspx

The SBSized version of Jose's Grid is as follows with my comments as to whether they are needed for virtualization in SMB in italics

Article Number	Description	Date Released	When it’s needed
950050	Hyper-V RTM	26-Jun-2008	Always, also in Windows Updates - Must have in order to have SBS 2008 be deployed in the Child of the HyperV parent
950182	Resolve issue with Hyper-V virtual machine running x86 version of Windows using fewer processors than expected if the number of cores on a socket is not a power of 2	11-Apr-2008	If Windows x86-based VM used with a 6-core processor, apply to child *Not needed as SBS 2008 is 64bit*
951308	Increased functionality and virtual machine control in the Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster Management console for the Hyper-V role	11-Sep-2008	If Failover Clustering is used Can't do clustering so not needed
951636	Hyper-V Language Pack Update for Windows Server 2008	11-Sep-2008	If using the additional languages offered Only needed if you plan to localize in your language
952627	Remote management of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V	11-Sep-2008	If managing Hyper-V remotely, apply to remote - *Need to plan for remote management if you don't use the full GUI of Windows*
953585	Resolve issue when you try to start a Hyper-V virtual machine on a Windows Server 2008 computer that uses the NUMA architecture	04-Sep-2008	If NUMA hosts are used NUMA what? :-) Not needed.
953828	Resolve issue with NLB host not working as expected on virtual machines	25-Jun-2008	If NLB is used, apply to child Network load balancing probably not used in a SBS setting
956589	Resolve potential issues when you manage Hyper-V with SCVMM	23-Sep-2008	If SCVMM is used You might use this
956697	Resolve issue in which the Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) does not back up virtual machines properly	08-Sep-2008	If VSS is used for backups You might need this?
956710	Increased number of logical processors to 24 and virtual machines to 192	23-Sep-2008	If more than 16 logical processors are used If you install a system with more than 16 processors, I want to hear from you and get a picture of that box :-)
956774	Resolve the scenario where a BITS client cannot handle files that have paths that contain the volume GUID in Windows Server 2008	23-Sep-2008	If volume GUIDs are used - *not needed*
957967	Resolve issue with Hyper-V memory management	08-Oct-2008	If issue described surfaces - *appears to only occur on clustering*
958065	Resolve issue with Hyper-V and Failover Clustering combined with a storage device managed by a third-party clustered file system or a third-party replication solution	03-Nov-2008	If third-party clustered file system or third-party replication solution used - *probably not needed*
958184	Resolve issue with virtual machine backup operations failing in Windows Server 2008 when Hyper-V virtual machine files are saved on a volume that is mounted on a failover cluster by using a volume GUID	05-Nov-2008	If backing up a volume mounted using a volume GUID - probably not needed

So how's that networking do-dads work in HyperV anyway?

bradley — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:59:00 GMT

Virtual PC Guy's WebLog : Understanding Networking with Hyper-V:
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2008/01/08/understanding-networking-with-hyper-v.aspx

So how does this networking stuff work in HyperV anyway?

I've found I will build a box with a legacy nic, the server will install and then after it's builtI will flip it to a "synthetic nic" as it's called.

My hyperV box has two physical network cards, one is connected to my duplicate router. As you can see once the HyperV role is enabled I now have four network connections. The reason is that I have two virtual networks setup to hold the network topologies I have set up.

I'll blog more on this later as well as I'm still getting a handle on this myself in the meantime read -- Hyper-V Getting Started Guide:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732470.aspx

After you install Hyper-V and create an external virtual network, your computer will operate differently. After installation, the parent partition uses a virtual network adapter to connect to the physical network. When you look at Network Connections on the parent partition, you will see the original network adapter and a new virtual network adapter. The original physical network adapter has nothing bound to it except the Microsoft Virtual Network Switch Protocol, and the virtual network adapter now has all of the standard protocols and services bound to it. The virtual network adapter that appears under Network Connections will have the same name as the virtual network switch with which it is associated. It is possible to create an internal virtual network, which will expose a virtual network adapter to the parent partition without the need to have a physical network adapter associated with it. Hyper-V only binds the virtual network service to a physical network adapter when an external virtual network is created. However, networking will get disrupted for a short period of time on the network adapter when a virtual network gets created or deleted.

The part I need to still understand and investigate more is how to have a single nic SBS box not be hooked to the physical network adapter. That's the part that I'm not quite gelling in my mind of how the magic works. Stay tuned.