If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:
There are several configuration tabs available on the property page of a Hyper-V host in VMM. In the first part of this article series, we explained the items that are available on the Status and General Tabs. We also explained a few items that are available on the Hardware tab such as processor details, whether the processor supports SLAT or not, and configuring NUMA for a Hyper-V host. In the second part, we explained items available on the Storage tab.
As stated earlier, when adding Hyper-V hosts under VMM management, the VMM agent collects all the configuration settings from the Hyper-V host. This also includes physical network adapters that are attached to the Hyper-V host as shown in the figure 1.0 below.
Figure 1.0: Network Card Property on Hardware Tab – Network Adapter Details
When you click on any of the physical network adapters, you will see the status of the physical network adapter, MAC Address, whether the network adapter is configured to receive TCP/IP settings from a DHCP server or not, and IP addresses assigned to the network adapters.
Configuring “Available for Placement” and “Used by Management” Options
There are two settings you can configure for each network adapter; “Available for Placement” and “Used by Management” as shown in the red square of the screenshot above. “Available for Placement” option, when checked, indicates that this network adapter is available for placement and can be used by VMM when implementing a Hyper-V cluster via VMM. “Used by Management” option, when checked, allows Hyper-V to use the network adapter for management traffic.
As part of Hyper-V deployment best practices, it is always recommended to keep management traffic separate from the virtual machine traffic. Considering this best practice item, each Hyper-V host should have at least two physical network adapters. One network adapter can be used for virtual machine traffic and the other network adapter can be used for management traffic. When configuring network adapters for destination Hyper-V host via VMM, ensure that you uncheck “Used by Management” option for the network adapter that you want to make available only for virtual machine communications. For the second network adapter that you want to make available for virtual machine management traffic, you must check “Used by Management” option.
Tip:
It is recommended that you enter the descriptive text in the description box for each network adapter. It helps you identify the role of a network adapter. For example, you can type “Management traffic” or “Virtual Machine traffic” in the description box.
For each network adapter, you can also configure Logical Network Connectivity and Switch Ports as shown in the figure 1.1 below.
Figure 1.1: Network Card Property on Hardware Tab – Logical Network Connectivity
In Logical Network Connectivity, you will see the list of logical switches that this network adapter is connected to. Note that when you add Hyper-V hosts under VMM management, all Hyper-V external switches that are created on the destination Hyper-V host will be linked to the corresponding physical network adapter. As you can see in the above list, VMSwitchA is an external Hyper-V switch that was added and linked to the first physical network adapter.
Disabling Automatic Creation of Logical Networks
In case the network adapter is not associated with a logical network, a new one will be created by VMM. The automatic creation and association of Hyper-V virtual switches can be disabled by configuring the Global Network Settings in VMM. In case you do not want VMM to create logical networks automatically when you add a Hyper-V host under VMM management, uncheck “Create logical networks automatically” option as shown in the red square of the figure 1.2 below.
Figure 1.2: Disabling Automatic Logical Network Creation
As shown in the figure 1.1 above, the first network adapter is configured to use logical switch by name VMSwitchA. This is the logical switch that I have created for virtual machine communications. There is another logical switch named WirelessAP that is not associated with the current network adapter. This is because the WirelessAP logical switch is used solely for Hyper-V management traffic.
Configuring Baseboard Management Controller Settings
In the network adapter advanced section, you can configure the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) settings for the Hyper-V host as shown in the figure 1.3 below.
Figure 1.3: BMC Settings for Hyper-V Host
BMC allows you to power the host on and off by using the VMM console. BMC settings are also used by the Power Optimization feature of VMM. Before you can configure BMC settings, Hyper-V host must have a BMC installed and supports one of the following out-of-band management protocols:
- Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) versions 1.5 or 2.0
- Data Center Management Interface (DCMI) version 1.0
- System Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) version 1.0 over WS-Management (WS-Man)
When configuring BMC settings for a Hyper-V host, specify the following settings:
- Check “This physical computer is configured for out of band (OOB) management”option.
- BMC Address: Specify the BMC IP Address.
- BMC Port: Specify the BMC port number. By default, VMM automatically populates the port number for the selected OOB management protocol. For “Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)” protocol, 623 is populated as the port number and for “System Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH)” protocol, port 443 is populated.
- RunAs Account: You must also create a RunAs account that has permissions to access BMC on destination Hyper-V host.
Summary
In the third part of this article series, we explained the use of “Available for Placement” and “Used by Management” options. We also explained the Baseboard Management Controller settings that help you power the host on and off manually using VMM Console or by using Power Optimization feature of VMM.
In the next part of this article series, we will continue to look at other tabs available on the property page of a Hyper-V host. We will explain items available on the Virtual Machine Paths and Host Access Tabs.
If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:
