To use virtualization in Windows Server 2022, you need to consider the basic software requirements for Hyper- V. Hyper- V runs only on the following editions of the Windows Server 2022 operating system:

■          Windows Server 2022 Standard edition

■          Windows Server 2022 Datacenter edition

■         Microsoft Hyper- V Server 2022 edition

Hyper- V was first introduced by Microsoft in 2008 and with every version of Windows Server, Hyper- V has gotten better and better. The following Windows Server 2016/2019 servers will also run Hyper- V. Many administrators may run both Windows Server 2016 and Server 2019 together.

■          Windows Server 2016/2019 Standard edition

■           Windows Server 2016/2019 Datacenter edition

■         Microsoft Hyper- V Server 2016/2019 edition

Linux and FreeBSD Image Deployments

One of the features of Windows Server 2022 is the ability for Hyper-V  to support Linux and

FreeBSD virtual machines. Hyper- V now can support these new virtual machines because Hyper- V has the ability to emulate Linux and FreeBSD devices. Because Hyper-V  now has the ability to emulate these two devices, no additional software needs to be installed on Hyper- V.

Unfortunately, because Hyper- V has to emulate these devices, you lose some of the  Hyper- V functionality like high performance and full management of the virtual machines. So, it’s a trade- off— you get to run Linux and FreeBSD type Hyper-V  virtual machines, but you lose some of the benefits of Hyper- V.

But wait; there is a way to get your Hyper-V  functionality back. This issue can be resolved as long as you install Hyper- V on machines that can support Linux and FreeBSD operating systems. The drivers that are needed on Hyper-V  are called Linux Integration Services (LIS) and FreeBSD Integrated Services (FIS). By putting these drivers on a device that can handle Linux and FreeBSD, you can then have Hyper-V  with all of the features Microsoft offers.

To get these drivers and make Hyper- V work will all of its functionality, you must make sure that you install a newer release of Linux that includes LIS. To get the most out of FreeBSD, you must get a version after 10.0. For FreeBSD versions that are older than 10.0, Microsoft offers ports that work with BIS drivers that need to be installed. Hyper-V  will work with Linux and FreeBSD without the need of any additional drivers or equipment. By having drivers and equipment that supports Linux and FreeBSD, you just get all of the Hyper- V features that your organization may need.

Hyper-V  Installation and Configuration

This section explains how to install the Hyper-V  role using Server Manager in Windows

Server 2022 Full installation mode or the command- line mode in Windows Server 2022 Server Core. We will then take a look at Hyper-V  as part of Server Manager before discussing how to use the Hyper- V Manager. Finally, we will look at the Hyper-V  server settings and then cover two important areas for Hyper-V : virtual networks and virtual hard disks.

Hyper- V Requirements

The following subsections will describe the hardware and software requirements for installing the Hyper- V server role. It is important to understand these requirements for obtaining your software license as well as for planning for server hardware. When you understand the requirements, you can design and configure a Hyper-V  solution that will meet the needs of your applications.

Hardware Requirements

In addition to the basic hardware requirements for Windows Server 2022, there are requirements for running the Hyper- V server role on your Windows server. They are listed in Table 2.3.

TABLE 2.3 Hardware requirements for Hyper- V

Requirement area	Definition
CPU	x64- compatible processor with Intel VT or AMD-V  technology enabled. Hardware Data Execution Prevention (DEP), specifically Intel XD bit  (execute disable bit) or AMD NX bit (no execute bit), must be available and enabled. Minimum: 1.4 GHz. Recommended: 2 GHz or faster.
Memory	Minimum: 1 GB of RAM. Recommended: 4 GB of RAM or greater. (Additional RAM is required for each running guest operating system.) Maximum: 1 TB.
Hard disk	Minimum: 8 GB. Recommended: 20 GB or greater. (Additional disk space needed for each guest operating system.)

The Add Roles Wizard in Server Manager additionally verifies the hardware requirements. A good starting point is to check your hardware against the Microsoft hardware list to make sure that Windows Server 2022 supports your hardware. If you try to install the Hyper- V server role on a computer that does not meet the CPU requirements, you’ll get a warning window that looks like Figure 2.2.

FIGURE 2.2 Warning window that Hyper- V cannot be installed