What is this course about?

In this course, you gain the skills to virtualise your organisation's infrastructure with Hyper-V. Through extensive hands-on exercises, you learn how to deploy and configure a highly available virtual infrastructure with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Virtualisation.

Who will benefit from this course?

Server and network administrators, infrastructure architects and anyone responsible for implementing or managing virtualisation solutions based on Hyper-V benefit from this course.

What background do I need?

Experience with Windows system administration and networking knowledge is assumed. Familiarity with storage technologies such as iSCSI and RAID are helpful. For example, you should know how to:

• Create and administer users, groups and shared network resources
• Configure networking resources, such as routers, switches and firewalls
• Specify hardware requirements for server operating systems and applications running on those servers
• Remotely access and administer computers in a network environment

Why should my organisation implement Hyper-V?

Hyper-V is a powerful Windows Server 2008 role that enables organisations to optimise and manage IT environments through virtualisation. Hyper-V, when effectively deployed, can:

• Increase hardware utilisation and reduce hardware costs
• Reduce the physical space required for your datacenter
• Decrease the power and cooling requirements of your datacenter
• Reduce labor costs by simplifying and automating IT operations
• Increase application availability to the datacenter customers
• Improve the responsiveness to business needs with rapid provisioning and dynamic optimisation of applications and environments

Does this course help me prepare for Microsoft certification?

Yes. While this Learning Tree course focuses on the practical implementation of Hyper-V, it also covers a significant amount of content required for Microsoft certification 70-652. Please check the Microsoft Web site for more information on their certification requirements.

Which operating systems are used in this course?

Hyper-V is a role within Windows Server 2008, and the majority of time in class is spent working with Windows Server 2008. However, the principals learned in this course for creating and managing virtual machines apply equally to other operating systems such as Linux and other versions of Windows.

Has this course been updated to the latest release of Windows Server 2008 R2?

Yes. The entire course has been revised to incorporate Windows Server 2008 R2 features and functionality.

Which management tools are used in this course?

In this course we use built-in management tools such as the Hyper-V Manager and Performance Monitor. In addition, we use the System Center Virtual Machine Manager, System Center Operations Manager and the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit Solution Accelerator as administration tools.

What type of setup is used for the hands-on exercises?

This course leverages a Windows Server 2008 Active Directory infrastructure with iSCSI SAN storage. Exercises take advantage of both the classroom network and private virtual networks created by participants.

How is this course different from Course 170?

Course 170, Virtualisation Technologies: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, is not product specific and covers the concepts of virtualisation in a general way. This course focuses on the installation, deployment, configuration and optimisation of Hyper-V. There is minimal overlap of content between the two courses and Course 170 may provide novice administrators with additional background information that may be useful during this course.

How much time is spent on each topic?

How much of this course is hands-on?

Approximately 45 percent of this course is spent in hands-on exercise which provide experience designing and deploying a highly available Hyper-V infrastructure. Exercises include:

• Planning and installing Hyper-V
• Building efficient virtual machines
• Constructing the virtual network topology
• Performing quick migrations and clustered hosts
• Leveraging SCVMM for P2V and V2V conversions
• Remotely interfacing with the Self Service Web Portal
• Applying PRO Tips for increased performance
• Configuring Hyper-V on Server Core

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

The following courses may be of interest:

• 170, Virtualisation Technologies: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction 
• 367, TCP/IP: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction 
• 289, Disaster Recovery Planning: Ensuring Business Continuity 
• 961, Windows Server® 2008 Administration: Hands-On 
• 964, Windows Server® 2008 Security Infrastructure: Hands-On 
• 468, System and Network Security: A Comprehensive Introduction 
• 296, Project Management: Skills for Success 
• 315, Developing User Requirements: The Key to Project Success