4. Enabling Hyper-V
The Hyper-V hypervisor is included with Windows 8 but must be
enabled. This means it is a feature and can be added easily with
Windows. Before you enable this feature, make sure you have the right
configuration. The first configuration point is related to which
Windows 8 edition you have; only Windows 8 Pro supports Hyper-V. Next,
an x64 processor and a supported virtualization technology on the
processor are required. The mainstream virtualization technology that
will run Hyper-V on processors shipping around the release of Windows 8
is Second Level
Address Translation (SLAT). Last, the computer running Windows 8 might
need a virtualization technology enabled in the BIOS.
Note
MORE INFO TECHNET FORUMS
You can find more information on other hardware-specific
virtualization technologies for proper processor support for Hyper-V on
the TechNet forums online.
In addition to the SLAT virtualization technology for the processor described previously, Windows 8 needs at least 4 GB of memory for Hyper-V. Depending on which virtual machines will be used, more memory might be required.
No drive space in addition to the Windows 8 base amount is required;
however, each virtual machine will consume drive space and reduce
available disk resources as it grows.
To enable Hyper-V on Windows 8, complete the following steps:
-
Press the Windows logo key on your keyboard and then select Settings to open the Windows Features dialog box, as shown in Figure 2.
-
The Hyper-V feature is not turned on with a default installation of
Windows 8. To turn on this or any other feature, select the check box
next to the feature and click OK.
-
Restart your computer.
The restart is required after a feature is added to the Windows 8–based computer.
-
Open Hyper-V Manager, and then add in the computer name of the
server running Windows 8 with the Hyper-V feature enabled. The console
will populate with the virtual machines on that host (which should be
empty by default).
Note
WINDOWS 8 AS A SERVER
When Hyper-V is enabled, the Hyper-V Manager tool is
installed on the computer running Windows 8. To avoid confusion, refer
to the Windows 8–based computer as a server. Even though it is a client
operating system, in terms of the virtual machines it is providing, it
functions as a server. This is evident within Hyper-V Manager because
the first step in enabling Hyper-V is adding a server to the console.
