This page intentionally left blank Download at 6 Managing, Administering, and Maintaining a Hyper-V Host Server Hyper-V host systems are the heart of an IT infrastructure that supports several other virtual guest sessions running on the hosts. These host servers need to be managed and maintained to keep businesses application running optimally. Hyper-V host server management and maintenance help maximize investment in infrastructure and productivity. It also keep the IT infrastructure running effectively and efficiently to boost availability and reliability of the guest sessions. Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V bring many new tools and features to help keep the servers managed and maintained | This page intentionally left blank Download at 6 Managing Administering and Maintaining a Hyper-V Host Server Hyper-V host systems are the heart of an IT infrastructure that supports several other virtual guest sessions running on the hosts. These host servers need to be managed and maintained to keep businesses application running optimally. Hyper-V host server management and maintenance help maximize investment in infrastructure and productivity. It also keep the IT infrastructure running effectively and efficiently to boost availability and reliability of the guest sessions. Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V bring many new tools and features to help keep the servers managed and maintained. These tools include the Hyper-V Administration console and Windows 2008 Server Manager that provide improved configuration and better auditing of servers through the isolation of roles and features. In addition they provide better remote management and a slew of other capabilities. Server management entails many different tasks including administering and supervising servers based on functional roles proactively monitoring the network environment keeping track of activity and implementing solid changecontrol practices. These management functions for Windows 2008 and Hyper-V can be performed both locally and remotely. As system workloads capacities and usage change in the environment Hyper-V host systems and guest sessions need to be maintained so that they operate as efficiently as possible. Without such maintenance the systems become more susceptible to causing slower response times and decreased IN THIS CHAPTER Becoming Familiar with the Hyper-V Administrative Console Managing Windows Server 2008 Remotely Managing Host Server Virtual Switch and Disk Settings Using Common Practices for Securing and Managing a Hyper-V Host Server Keeping Up with Service Packs and Updates Backing up the Hyper-V Host and Guests Managing Backups Using the Command-Line Utility .