Windows Server® 2008 Hyper-V™: Insiders Guide to Microsoft's Hypervisor

Chapter 1. Introduction to Hyper-V

With the release of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has included a built-in virtualization solution, Hyper-V. Hyper-V is a role of Windows Server 2008 that lets administrators create multiple virtual machines. A virtual machine is a separate, isolated environment that runs its own operating system and applications.

Virtual machine technology isn't new—it's been available from Microsoft in both Virtual PC and Virtual Server since late 2003 and from other vendors since the 1970s. By including it in the operating system, Microsoft has made an extremely feature-rich product available at no extra cost.

Hyper-V takes the concept of virtualization to the mainstream IT environment by including it in the operating system. ...