Virtual hard disk new features

The Microsoft virtual hard disk file format (. vhd) is a common format specification that specifies a virtual hard disk that is encapsulated in a single file, capable of hosting native file systems and supporting standard disk operations. Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft Virtual Server, and Microsoft virtual PC use the VHD file as a virtual disk to connect to the virtual machine. The VHD is a very useful container, and the. vhd file format is also available for Microsoft Data Protection Manager, Windows Server Backup, and many other Microsoft and non-Microsoft solutions.

What are the new features of the
virtual hard disk?


in Windows (R) 7, a virtual hard disk can be used as a running operating system on a specified hardware, without any other parent operating system, virtual machine, or virtual machine monitor program. The Windows 7 Disk Management tool, the DiskPart command-line tool, and the Disk Management Microsoft Management console can all be used to create VHD files. A Windows 7 image (. wim format) file can be deployed to a VHD, and the. VHD file can be replicated to multiple systems. You can configure the Windows 7 Startup manager for native or physical startup of a Windows image that is contained in a VHD. The. vhd file can also be connected to a virtual machine and used with the Hyper-V role in WindowsServer (R) 2008 R2. The native boot VHD file is not intended to replace a full image deployment on all client or server systems. Previous versions of Windows do not support booting from a VHD native and require virtual machine monitors and virtual machines to start from a VHD file.


virtual hard disk for which people?


enterprise environments that have been managed and used for virtual machine deployments with. vhd files will derive maximum benefit from Disk Management support for VHD files and the native Boot VHD feature. Many of our data center customers are transitioning to hyper-V virtual machines (VMS) to achieve server consolidation and lower energy costs. The Disk Management utility and native VHD support in the core storage system simplify creation and image management in the VHD text.


Although more and more applications are migrating to virtual machines, the enterprise environment still runs most of the data centers on physical computers. IT administrators need to maintain two sets of images: a set of images is based on the. wim format on the physical computer, and the other group is based on the. vhd format on the virtual machine. The common image format that supports both physical and virtual machines provides flexibility in image deployment while simplifying the image management process. (material)


developers and testers will use virtual machines to test new system and application software. Virtual machines can provide a convenient, independent test environment and reduce the need for dedicated test hardware. However, sometimes you need to run tests on a physical computer to access specific hardware devices, such as graphics cards, or to obtain accurate profiling. The common image format that runs on both virtual machines and physical computers can also help developers and testers. Native boot from the VHD supports booting a Windows7 image from a file without having to create a separate physical partition to install Windows.


What are the advantages of new and changed features?


native support for VHD can simplify image management processes and reduce the number of images that need to be cataloged and maintained. To create a VHD on Windows Server 2008, you need the Hyper-V server role and create a VHD file using Hyper-V Manager, and then start the virtual machine to install the version of Windows on the CD/DVD to the partition of the VHD. In Windows 7, native support for VHD format means that the VHD file can be created and modified without the Hyper-V server role installed. You can use the Disk Management tool to attach a VHD file, and you can use the Windows image in the VHD to provide services. Using the Windows Deployment Tool in the Windows Automatic Installation Kit (Windows AIK), you can apply a Windows image to the VHD, and you can apply updates to the system image in the VHD file.


a Windows image that is applied to a VHD file can be started in a Hyper-V virtual machine, or it can be started on a physical computer without the use of a virtual machine monitor. In order to start a Windows system in a virtual machine or a physical computer, the startup environment must be properly initialized for each case.

What are the dependencies of
?


The steps to deploy a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 image to a VHD file depend on the Windows Deployment tools, including ImageX.exe. Imagex.exe is used to capture Windows operating system partitions to a Windows image (. wim) file format and to apply a. wim file to a file system partition, which may be located in a VHD file.

The
ImageX.exe Deployment tool is one of the tools available in the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK). Windows 7 Trial version of Windows AIK must be installed to obtain the deployment tool, which can be downloaded from the Windows Automated Installation Toolkit for the Windows 7 Beta version.

The
Windows AIK download file is an ISO image that you can burn to a DVD and then install into the system. After installing Windowsaik, the ImageX command line tool is located in the Windows aik/pe tools directory.


Starting Windows 7 from the VHD file native also requires the Windows 7 startup environment. The WINDOWS7 boot environment is initialized during the full operating system installation, which includes Windows boot Manager and Boot configuration data (BCD) and other supporting files.

What are the effects of these changes on the
virtual hard disk?


support for objects that use VHD as native format is a key scenario in this enterprise: IT staff in these enterprises are proficient in various imaging technologies and tools for managing clients and servers. In addition to the deployed VHD images, the managed enterprise environment manages user data with technologies such as Folder redirection and roaming profiles.