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Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Network Virtualization Survival Guide

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Windows Server 2012 enables you to create an agile, multi-tenant cloud on top of your existing infrastructure by virtualizing the network. Network virtualization decouples server configuration from network configuration to provide a virtual dedicated network to each tenant. This allows seamless migration of workloads while continuing to provide security isolation between tenants. Partners have the opportunity to become multi-tenancy aware and provide the next generation of services, devices, appliances, both physical and virtual, to augment and complete the Windows offering to build secure, scalable, multi-tenant public and private clouds.

For more information, see the technical articles, 2012 //build/ conference presentations, and sample Windows PowerShell scripts below.

Technical Articles

The following technical articles provide overview information about Hyper-V Network Virtualization.

Hyper-V Network Virtualization Overview

With the success of virtualized data centers, IT organizations and hosting providers (providers who offer colocation or physical server rentals) are offering flexible virtualized infrastructures that make it easier to offer on-demand server instances to their customers. This new class of service is referred to as infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Windows Server 2012 provides all the required platform capabilities to enable enterprise customers to build private clouds and transition to an IaaS operational model, and also to enable hosting providers to build public clouds and offer IaaS solutions to their customers.

Network virtualization in Windows Server 2012 provides policy-based, software-controlled network virtualization, which reduces the management overhead that is faced by enterprises when they are expanding dedicated IaaS clouds. Network virtualization also provides better flexibility for cloud hosting providers, scalability for managing virtual machines, and higher resource utilization.

For more information, see Hyper-V Network Virtualization Overview.

Introducing Windows Server “8” Hyper-V Network Virtualization: Enabling Rapid Migration and Workload Isolation in the Cloud

This Windows Server blog post by Jeffrey Snover provides a great introduction to Hyper-V Network Virtualization.

For more information, see Enabling Rapid Migration and Workload Isolation in the Cloud.

Network Virtualization using Generic Routing Encapsulation

Learn from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Internet Draft on Network Virtualization using Generic Routing Encapsulation (NVGRE).

For more information, see NVGRE: Network Virtualization using Generic Routing Encapsulation.

Hyper-V Network Virtualization Packet Flow

This presentation provides motivation for Hyper-V Network Virtualization, provides example NVGRE packet flows, and shows how Hyper-V Network Virtualization can route packets between virtual subnets.

For more information, see Hyper-V Network Virtualization Packet Flow.

Network Virtualization in Windows Server 2012 and System Center VMM 2012 SP1

A blog post by Marc van Eijk from the Dutch Hyper-V Community (www.hyper-v.nu) on the inner workings of NVGRE and System Center VMM 2012 SP1.

For more information, see Hyper-V Network Virtualization in Windows Server 2012

Windows Server Gateway

Learn more about Windows Server Gateway (WSG), which is a new feature in Windows Server 2012 R2. WSG is a  virtual machine (VM)-based software router that allows Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and Enterprises to enable datacenter and cloud network traffic routing between virtual and physical networks, including the Internet.

For more information, see Windows Server Gateway.

Test Lab Guide: Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Network Virtualization with System Center 2012 R2 VMM

This test lab guide provides instructions to create the Windows Server 2012 R2 Network Virtualization with System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) test lab, using computers running Windows Server 2012 R2.

To download this guide from the Microsoft Download Center, see Test Lab Guide: Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Network Virtualization with System Center 2012 R2 VMM.

2012 Conference Presentations

TechEd 2012

Hyper-V Network Virtualization for Scalable Multi-Tenancy in Windows

This presentation by Sandeep K. Singhal discusses the benefits of Hyper-V Network Virtualization and provides a few deployment examples.

For more information, see Hyper-V Network Virtualization for Scalable Multi-Tenancy in Windows

Build Conference

Building Secure, Scalable Multi-Tenant Clouds Using Hyper-V Network Virtualization

This presentation by Yu-Shun Wang and developer Murari Sridharan provides a great introduction to Hyper-V Network Virtualization.

For more information, see Building secure, scalable multi-tenant clouds using Hyper-V Network Virtualization.

Windows Server 2012

This presentation about Windows Server 2012, previously named Windows Server “8” Beta, provides overviews of multiple technologies in the operating system, including Hyper-V Network Virtualization. The demo of Hyper-V Virtualization starts approximately 14 minutes into the video recording of the presentation.

For more information, see Windows Server 8.

Sample Windows PowerShell Scripts

The following Windows PowerShell scripts and demos can help you get started with scripting Hyper-V Network Virtualization in Windows Server 2012.

Simple Hyper-V Network Virtualization Script with Gateway

Hyper-V Network Virtualization provides “virtual networks” to virtual machines similar to how server virtualization (hypervisor) provides “virtual machines” to the operating system. Network virtualization decouples virtual networks from the physical network infrastructure.

For more information, see Simple Hyper-V Network Virtualization Script with Gateway.

Simple Hyper-V Network Virtualization Demo

Hyper-V Network Virtualization in Windows Server 8 provides a scalable, multi-tenant cloud solution by virtualizing the IP addresses used by Virtual Machines (VMs). Multiple customer networks can run on top of the same physical network.

For more information, see Simple Hyper-V Network Virtualization Demo.

System Center and Hyper-V Network Virtualization

System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 has support for Windows Server 2012 and Hyper-V Network Virtualization.

For more information, see System Center 2012 SP1 or download an evaluation here.

Hyper-V Network Virtualization related blog posts from the System Center: Virtual Machine Manager Engineering Blog 

Networking in Virtual Machine Manager Poster!

Networking in VMM 2012 SP1 – Logical Networks (Part I)

RRAS Multitenant Gateway in Windows Server 2012 R2

In Windows Server® 2012 R2, the Remote Access server role includes the DirectAccess and Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) server roles. If you are using Hyper-V Network Virtualization, you can deploy RRAS as a virtual machine (VM)-based software gateway and router that allows Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and Enterprises to enable datacenter and cloud network traffic routing between virtual and physical networks, including the Internet.

With the RRAS Multitenant Gateway, tenants can VPN to their VM network resources in the data center from anywhere. You can also provide tenants with site-to-site VPN connections between their remote sites and your datacenter. In addition, you can configure the RRAS Multitenant Gateway with Border Gateway Protocol for dynamic routing, and you can enable Network Address Translation (NAT) to provide Internet access for VMs on VM networks. Following are links to information about the RRAS Multitenant Gateway.

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