The Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server software is a stand-alone virtualization product that is available as a free download from Microsoft. It is based on the Microsoft Windows Server® 2008 Core, but has only the Hyper-V role. Although Hyper-V Server is free, it is still necessary to license the guest operating systems. This page has links and information about Hyper-V Server. Feel free to add your own tips and information about Hyper-V Server either to the page directly or as a discussion thread at the bottom.

Microsoft Hyper-V Server Official Home Page

Installation and Configuration Video Demo

This video shows the installation of Microsoft Hyper-V Server on a Dell™ PowerEdge™ R805 server. The installation was done through a Dell Remote Access Card (DRAC) using the Virtual CD-ROM and remote console features. This method enabled remote installation and allowed the entire install to be captured as video. There is some color distortion because of the use of DRAC and the remote desktop; most notable is the purple background for Hyper-V Server as it should be the standard green that Windows Server 2008 uses.

Download .WMV File ~ 4MB

Configuring iSCSI Initiator on Hyper-V Server

Microsoft Hyper-V Server does not have the GUI that Microsoft Windows Server 2008 has, so everything must be configured either from the command line or from another server with a GUI-based tool that supports remote connection. The Internet SCSI (iSCSI) Initiator does not support remote configuration, so a command-line tool—iscsicli.exe—must be used. The detailed instructions for how to use iscsicli.exe to configure a simple connection are documented here. There are also a couple of links to other resources.

Using iSCSI Initiator to Connect to PowerVault MD3000i and EqualLogic Arrays Detailed – Step-by-step instructions for getting a basic iSCSI connection using iscsicli.exe from a Hyper-V Server and also using diskpart.exe to partition, mount, and format the new storage.

Configuring iSCSI Initiator Using iscsicli.exe from Microsoft Technet Discussion Forum – This forum discussion includes a script that will create an MPIO connection to a PowerVault MD3000i array.