Computer Beginner Guide

Hyper-V uses a virtual service provider/virtual service consumer architecture to provide hypervisor services to the virtual machines it supports. The full Hyper-V architecture includes several core components: The hypervisor interacts directly with a hardware-enabled virtualization processor to provide resources to virtual machines. It is a thin layer of software (less than 1 KB) that provides and maintains separation between the various partitions that run on top of it. In Hyper-V, partitions are logical units of isolation in which operating systems execute. The hypervisor also serves to map real and virtual components such as processor, memory, storage, and network cards. In fact, the hypervisor acts as a redirector to control all access to processor resources. The hypervisor resides on Designed for Windows server hardware because of its integration into Windows Server 2008. A parent partition is a special system partition that is used to host the virtualiz...

Hyper-V is also available as a freely downloadable version through the Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008. This version is a self-contained, single-purpose version of Windows Server 2008 that has been customized to support the Hyper-V role. It is based on the Standard edition of Windows Server 2008 and therefore lacks support for high availability and is limited to 32 gigabytes (GB) of RAM. Each machine you deploy with Hyper-V Server will be a stand- alone host server and will not be able to provide service redundancy for the virtual machines you deploy on them. Hyper-V Server also relies on the Server Core interface and does not provide a graphical environment. Everything is run through a command line. Yet because Hyper-V Server is based on the core Windows Server code, it provides support for remote administration much the same way that Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V does when run in a Server Core installation. Because of the Hyper-V Server’s feature set, Microsoft recommends t...

There are several versions of Hyper-V, Microsoft’s Type 1 hypervisor. The most complete version is found in Windows Server 2008. Note, however, that Hyper-V is an x64-only function of Windows Server 2008. This means that it is only available as a role within the x64 editions of Windows Server 2008. Although Hyper-V components are also available in x86 or 32-bit editions of Windows Server 2008, only the administration function of Hyper-V can be run on these platforms; the hypervisor itself cannot run on a 32-bit platform. Also note that the Web edition of Windows Server 2008 does not include any version of the Hyper-V function, nor do the versions that specifically state “without Hyper-V.” In fact, the fully functional Hyper-V role can only be found in the following editions: Windows Server 2008 Standard x64 edition - Provides support for the Hyper-V role. License includes support for one physical server installation plus one guest operating system or virtual machine...

Hyper-V provides the engine, or hypervisor, required to support the operation of multiple virtual machines on top of standard server hardware. Hyper-V is Microsoft’s first foray into hardware-accelerated hypervisors. Hyper-V extends the reach of Microsoft’s initial guest operating system virtualization technologies—Virtual Server 2005 R2 and Virtual PC 2007—by providing a virtualization platform that is integrated into Windows Server 2008 as one of the 17 default server roles. As such, Hyper-V is available in the Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions of Windows Server 2008. Hyper-V is also available through the stand-alone Windows Hyper-V Server. Hyper-V is a Type 1 hypervisor—that is, a hypervisor that is considered a bare-metal hypervisor and runs directly on top of hardware. Type 1 hypervisors are often referred to as hardware virtualization engines. Microsoft’s previous hypervisor offerings were Type 2—hypervisors that operated as applications on top of existi...

Virtualization is the means by which you can isolate one computing resource from another. In a traditional software stack, each resource is linked with the other. For example, a traditional application usually runs on specific hardware, physically tying the application to the resources that make it operate. Network resources are tied to specific locations; storage is tied to specific containers; operating systems are assigned to specific hardware; network interfaces are bound to specific processes; and applications are installed on specific hardware and run on a specific operating system. When you virtualize various components in the datacenter, you release them from these traditional bindings. Because of this, virtualized components often result in more efficient resource utilization, provide greater flexibility of operation, and simplify change management: You can virtualize networks to localize dispersed resources. You can virtualize storage to bring together various...

Critical updates are crucial to keeping your computer secure and as bug-free as possible. But how do you know when new critical updates become available? Since the release of Windows 98, Microsoft included a utility within Windows that will periodically check to see if your computer is missing any available critical updates. This is the recommended way to keep your computer up-to-date from now on. To activate automatic notification of critical updates, follow the easy steps for your particular Windows system. For Windows 98 The Critical Update Notification feature for Windows 98 can only be enabled or disabled; no other options are available. To enable Critical Update Notification, just download it from the Windows Update web site. After you have downloaded and installed Critical Update Notification, it will check for updates every five minutes when your computer is connected to the Internet, and it will alert you when new critical updates are available. (If you later wa...

Today almost all communication takes place over Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) version 4, in which each computer has a 32-bit address that is commonly viewed as four numbers separated by decimals. For example, 10.10.10.5 is an IP address for a machine. Although it is possible to manually configure each machine with an IP address (known as static IP configuration because it doesn’t change), doing so is cumbersome in large environments and is hard to track if machines are reinstalled or replaced. The Windows Server platform provides the DHCP service, which allows clients, at startup, to send a request over the network for an IP address (a DHCP lease request). A DHCP server that has a database of IP addresses that can be given out, and leases that can be offered, services the request. The duration of this IP address lease is configurable, but is 8 days by default. At the midpoint of the lease duration, the client attempts to contact the DHCP server a...

At the end of 2007, Microsoft released Windows Server 2008. Some of the major new features include but are not limited to the following: Network Access Protection (NAP). This feature is also part of Windows Vista and available as an update for Windows XP SP2. It requests a statement of health (SoH) from each connecting machine, and checks the SoH against health policies for the network. If the connecting machine does not meet the network health level, Windows Server quarantines it and, optionally, sends updates to bring it up to required health levels. Internet Information Services (IIS) 7. IIS fully integrates with Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows SharePoint Services, and Web Services. IIS is highly componentized, allowing the installation of specific modules, and is managed via an IIS Manager interface. Initial Configuration Tasks (ICT). ICT shortens the time between installation and enterprise use by giving administrators a more intuitive ...

R2D2 At the end of 2005, Microsoft started a new tradition, releasing Windows 2003 R2 (short for Release 2). There are two important factors for this R2 release: Windows 2003 R2 is Windows 2003 with Service Pack 1 built in. It has no new kernel changes or modifications to the core OS. The R2 relates to a second supplied CD that contains new features originally slated for and built in to the Windows Server 2008 OS. R2 releases will be seen in other products in the Microsoft line. Windows 2003 R2 comprises two CDs: the first CD contains Windows 2003 with SP1, and the second contains the new content. After installation of the first disc, the installer prompts the user to insert the second CD. If a server is already running Windows 2003 SP1, only the second CD has to be inserted. The only actual change made to the core OS is that a new version of the MMC (3.0) is installed before the second CD is executed and new features are added. The new version of the MMC allows fo...

In 2003, Microsoft released Windows 2003 (WNT 5.2). This was the first server-only release, and there was no Windows 2003 Professional. Microsoft made up for that with a new server version, releasing four Windows Server 2003 products. The new Web edition was a much-scaled-back version of the Windows Server product and aimed at combating the trend of using free Linuxbased services for hosting web sites. You might run Windows 2000 servers today, so the following list covers the new features of Windows 2003. These features carried into Windows Server 2008, so they are still reasons to migrate to the latest server OS. The Microsoft .NET Framework became a core part of the OS. New Active Directory features provided prune and graft functionality, allowing you to move and rename domains within an Active Directory forest. Domain controllers were added via a system state backup of another domain controller, instead of copying all domain information over the network. Inte...

Windows 2000 was a long time in the making. Windows 2000 Professional (instead of Workstation) replaced all previous versions of Windows in a business environment, desktop or laptop. Windows 2000 Professional had plug-and-play support, an improved network for both wired and wireless networks, and full USB and infrared support, which was important for laptop users. Windows 2000 also included Internet Explorer 5.01. The server versions introduced Active Directory, which was Microsoft’s first true directory service offering. Until Windows 2000, centralized accounts and management were based around the domain concept, using the Security Accounts Manager (SAM), which was a flat structure consisting of users, computers, and groups, with relationships to other domains via manually maintained, nontransitive trusts. Active Directory was a true directory service that enabled Microsoft-centric networks to offer far more sophisticated solutions with a more granular management structu...

Games today range from harmless edutainment and board games to first-person shooter games that feature scenes of intense violence and even sexual content. How are parents supposed to be able to tell the difference? It's a big problem because most homes nowadays have a computer, and many have separate computers for the kids. To solve the problem, in 1994 the Entertainment Software Association established the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), an independent regulatory body that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy policies for computer and video games. The ESRB applies to each game one of the following ratings: Early Childhood (EC) - The game has no inappropriate content and is, therefore, suitable for ages 3 and older. Everyone (E) - The game has mildly inappropriate content (such as cartoon violence) but is still suitable for ages 6 and older. Everyone 10+ (E10+) - The game has some inappropriate content (such ...

In his 2005 book What the Dormouse Said , journalist John Markoff describes how the 1960s counterculture gave rise to and shaped the personal computer industry. At one point, he tells the story of how engineers at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) decided to create their own version of Spacewar, the world's first computer game (invented by MIT hacker Stephen Russell in 1962). SAIL used a time-sharing system in which a number of terminals competed for the resources of a single minicomputer, and this often caused the Spacewar screen to freeze while it waited for processor cycles. To fix this problem, the Stanford engineers invented a new operating system mode that doled out processor resources in sixtieth-of-a-second slices, which improved the performance not only of Spacewar, but also of many other applications. Markoff concludes the story: It was called "Spacewar mode" and was one of the earliest examples of how gaming advanced the st...

Previous versions of Windows could rip data from CDs and burn data to recordable CDs, but they had no support for ripping and burning DVDs. (The exception was XP Media Center Edition, which offered support for DVD burning through the Media Center program.) Windows Vista changes that by building DVD-burning capabilities into the following applications: Windows Photo Gallery Windows Media Player Media Center Windows Movie Maker But what about authoring actual DVD discs, complete with menus, chapters, and elements of a typical DVD disc interface? Until Vista, you needed to use a third-party program to author a DVD. Now, however, the Home, Premium, and Ultimate editions of Vista come with a new program called Windows DVD Maker, which you can use to author DVDs. The beta version I used had some rough edges but was clearly functional. As you'll see in the section, it's also very easy to use. (Windows DVD Maker is only available in the Home Premium and Ultimate e...

The reputation Windows has as an audio playback and editing platform has been, not to put too fine a point on it, abysmal. There have been some improvements over the years. For example, the early audio infrastructure (often called the audio stack) seen in Windows 3.1 (16-bit) and Windows 95 (32-bit) supported only one audio stream at a time, but Windows 98 enabled multiple playback streams using the Windows Driver Model architecture. However, Windows audio has always suffered from three major problems: A poor interface for controlling audio and for troubleshooting audio problems. Tools such as Volume Control, the Sound Recorder, and the Control Panel Sounds and Audio Devices icon had difficult interfaces and limited functionality, and clearly weren't geared for the day-to-day audio tasks that users face. Poor quality playback and recording. The Windows audio stack has always been merely "good enough." That is, audio in Windowsparticularly playbackwa...

Prior to Windows Vista, the Media Center program was available only as part of the Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE), which, in turn, was available only as a preinstalled OS on OEM computers. (XP MCE was also available to MSDN subscribers.) Why no retail version? Probably because the system requirements for XP MCE were quite high (particularly the GPU, which needed to come with hardware acceleration and support for DirectX 9). However, this separate Media Center Edition ends with Vista, which includes the Media Center application in its Home Premium and Ultimate editions The version of Media Center that ships with Windows Vista is not radically different from its predecessors. (Early prototypes of the program sported a drastically revisedand reviledinterface, but the protests from dedicated Media Center types forced Microsoft to back down and stick with more incremental changes.) The XP Media Center was widely praised for its simple, easy-on-the-eyes interface, and...