Microsoft Virtualization View

Microsoft Products

Vitualization

Sanjoy Sanyal: Tech for Non Geek

Virtualization: Topics

What it is?

How does it work?

Microsoft Products


Basics

Virtualization loosens the relationship between the following:Hardware Operating System Application

Type What it Means

Hardware Virtualization

Decouples the OS from the hardware it runs on

Presentation Virtualization

Decouples the application’s user interface from the machine the application runs on

Application Virtualization

Decouples the OS from the applications that run on it

Provides an abstracted view of computing resources



Hardware


Application

Operating System 1

Operating System 2

. . .

What is it?Software creates a virtual machine (VM) that emulates a physical computer. By providing multiple VMs at once, this approach allows running several OSs simultaneously on a single physical machine. What are the flavors?Desktop virtualization: when used on client machines.Server virtualization: when used on servers. What is the use?Desktop virtualization help in running applications in machines with incompatible operating systems. Server virtualization allows consolidating server workloads onto a smaller number of machines.

Physical Machine

Virtual Session


Presentation virtualization

Hardware

Operating System

Physical Machine

Virtual Session

Application


What is it?Virtual sessions are created which execute an application on a remote server and project their user interfaces remotely. What are the flavors?Each session might run only a single application, or it might a complete desktop with multiple applications. Several virtual sessions can use the same installed copy of an application. What is the use?Data can be centralized securely. Updates to application software can be centralized. Incompatibilities between an application and a desktop operating system can be resolved. ( like in desktop virtualization) Depending on network conditions, performance can be improved.



Physical Machine

Virtual Application

Hardware

Operating System


Application Logic

Application

What is it?Virtual applications create and use application-specific copies of all shared resources (DLLs, registry entries).

What is the Use?Makes deployments easier. Since applications no longer compete for DLL versions or other shared aspects of their environment, there’s no need to test new applications for conflicts with existing applications before they’re rolled out.


Microsoft Software

Microsoft Solution


Hyper-V: Part of Windows Server 2008. Provides hardware virtualization for servers.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI): Based on Hyper-V and Windows Vista, VDI defines a way to create virtual desktops.

Virtual PC 2007: A free download for Windows Vista and Windows XP, Virtual PC provides hardware virtualization for desktop systems.

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V): Allows an administrator to create Virtual PC-based VMs that include one or more applications, then distribute them to client machines.


Windows Terminal Services, part of Windows Server 2008


Microsoft Application Virtualization, called App-VSanjoy Sanyal: Tech for Non Geek

Hardware Virtualization: Server Virtualization: Hyper-V

Hyper-V

Windows 2000 Server . . .

Windows Server 2008

SUSE Linux

Parent Partition Child Partitions

Hardware

Physical Machine ApplicationVirtual Machine

A thin layer of software known as a hypervisor runs directly on the hardware. Hyper-V, part of Windows Server 2008, is Microsoft’s hypervisor. Each VM Hyper-V provides is completely isolated from its fellows, running its own guest operating system. VMs are referred to as partitions in the Hyper-V world. One of these, the parent partition, must run Windows Server 2008. Child partitions can run any other supported operating system.


Hardware Virtualization Virtual Desktop Virtualization: VDI

Hyper-V

Windows Vista . . .Windows

Server 2008Windows Vista

Parent Partition Child Partitions

Hardware

Physical Machine Application Virtual Machine

RDP RDP

Concept similar to Presentation virtualizationClient desktops are run on a server and shared with client machines using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)Vista has built in support for RDPBenefits:1.VDI gives users their own desktops without management overhead. 2.Servers used for VDI during the day might be re-deployed for some other purpose at night.


Hardware Virtualization: Virtual PC

Windows XP . . .

Windows Vista

OS/2 Warp

Hardware

Physical Machine

Application

Virtual Machine

Windows Vista, Windows XP

Virtual PC 2007

Virtual PC takes a different approach from Hyper-V: It doesn’t use a hypervisor. Instead, the virtualization software runs largely on top of the client machine’s operating system

Virtual PC runs on Windows Vista and Windows XP

Used to run guest operating systems on a desktop machine


Presentation Virtualization: Windows Terminal Services

Remote Desktop Connection

Windows Server 2008

Hardware

Physical Machine

ApplicationVirtual Session

Windows Terminal Services

RDP RDP

Desktop ApplicationEither complete desktop or just a single application is displayed to a remote user

The Remote Desktop Connection runs on a client machine and with Terminal Services using the Remote Desktop Protocol sending only key presses, mouse movements, and screen data.

RDP works over low-bandwidth connections RDP also encrypts traffic, allowing more secure access to applications.RDP traffic can also be encapsulated in HTTPS, giving users outside an organization’s firewall more secure access to internal applications.

Presentation virtualization moves work an application does from a user’s desktop to a shared server, allowing creation of server farms that spread the processing load across multiple machines


Application Virtualization: App-V

App-V Cache

System Center Application Virtualization Management

Server

Windows

Hardware

Windows

Hardware

Virtual ApplicationPhysical Machine

Application

App-V Cache

Virtual applications can be stored centrally.The server streams the application’s code to the user’s systemAfter this initial download, applications are stored in a local App-V cache on the machine. Future uses of the application rely on this cached code

A virtual application looks just like a local application. Yet all of the resources it uses that might conflict with other applications on this system have been made part of the virtual application itself.

Applications are packaged using a process called sequencing before they are downloaded. The Sequencer looks at how the application functions to see what shared configuration information it uses. It then packages the application into the App-V format, including application-specific copies of this information.


App-V Cache

Hardware

Hyper-V

Windows

Hardware

App-V Cache

WindowsLinux

Windows

Hardware

Windows Terminal Services

Virtual Application

System Center Configuration

Manager 2007 R2

Applying the Technologies

Uses Hardware Virtualization provided by Hyper V

Virtual applications usingWindows Terminal Services


Managing Virtualization

The risks of a centralized server failing are serious

Microsoft Product Function

System Center Operations Manager 2007

Monitors both the software running on physical machines and the physical machines

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2

Installing and managing configurations

System Center Essentials 2007

System for mid-size companies

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008

Choose workloads for virtualization, create the VMs that will run those workloads, and transfer applications to their new homes.


Management Products

System Center Operations Manager 2007Relies on management packs (MPs) which defines how to

manage a particular component. ( there are separate MPs for Microsoft, HP and Dell…)

Manages virtual as well as physical machines by relying on an agent that runs on each machine it manages.

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2Software can be installed on VM machine, updated as

needed, and appear as part of the asset inventory maintained by Configuration Manager.

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008Provides a central console, allowing many VMs to be

managed. Allows creation of new VMs (also provides templates of

deployment-ready versions )Allows intelligent placement Also connects with the tool used to monitor systems and

applicationsSanjoy Sanyal: Tech for Non Geek

Acknowledgements

MS Virtualization Overview: David ChappellMicrosoft Overview


Technology

Microsoft Virtualization View