At-A-Glance

Virtualization Using Cisco Data Center Solutions

Running Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V
Overview
To help organizations looking for ways to get the most
business value from their data centers, Cisco offers
innovative approaches to virtualization by uniting
applications, networking, storage, and virtualization
into a cohesive system through a partnership
with Microsoft.

Transformational Solution
for Virtualization
Data centers have grown at such a rate that companies
must consolidate applications and servers and rely
on virtualization to improve manageability and control
capital and operating costs while retaining application
service levels. With help from Cisco and Microsoft,
you can reduce your costs, increase organizational
agility, and achieve tangible business results. The Cisco
Unified Computing System server platform combines
applications, networking, storage, and virtualization into a
cohesive system, while Cisco United Network Services
offers integrated application delivery, network security,
and network analysis for virtualized data centers and
cloud computing environments. Together with Microsoft
Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V technology,
these Cisco solutions offer a tightly coupled platform
for server, network, and virtualized machine deployment.
The Cisco Unified Computing System, Cisco Unified
Network Services, and Windows Server 2008 R2
with Hyper-V together provide cohesive computing,
networking, storage access, virtualization, security, and
application networking services, helping you operate
your virtualized data center efficiently. Transform your
data center by relying on a single system to manage
the various components of the data center architecture.

Virtualization Using Cisco Data Center

Solutions Running Microsoft Windows
Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V
Cisco Unified Computing System and Cisco Unified
Network Services data center solutions running
Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V are designed
to help you resolve virtualization challenges in the data
center. In addition, the server platform from Cisco
enhances the portability of both physical and virtual
machines, with server identity, LAN and SAN addressing,
I/O configurations, firmware, and network connectivity
profiles dynamically provisioning and integrating server
and network resources. Defining hardware properties
and deploying systems with service profiles creates
a dynamic and stateless environment that you can
adapt to meet rapidly changing business requirements.
This solution includes just-in-time deployment of new
computing resources and simplified, reliable movement
of traditional and virtual workloads supported by the
following solutions:
Cisco VN-Link virtualization support and
virtualization adapter: Virtual machines get virtual
links that allow virtual machines to be managed in
the same way as physical links. Now virtual links can
be centrally configured and managed without the
complexity of traditional systems, which interpose
multiple switching layers in virtualized environments.
I/O configurations and network profiles move along
with virtual machines, helping increase security and
efficiency while reducing complexity. The adapter
also helps improve performance and reduces network
interface card (NIC) infrastructure.

Cisco Unified Network Services: Now there is

a better way to deliver security and application
networking services in a contemporary data center
with extensive virtualization. Cisco Unified Network
Services enables organizations to consistently
deliver services across both physical and virtual
infrastructures and to flexibly enable services to be
delivered as either physical or virtual instances.
Windows Server 2008 R2: Microsoft designed this
operating system to improve the performance of
virtual networking to support Hyper-Vbased virtual
machines. Features of this design include:
-- Enhanced networking support through support
for jumbo frames: This feature enables virtual
machines to use jumbo frames of up to 9014
bytes if the underlying physical network supports
this feature. Support for jumbo frames reduces
the network stack overhead incurred per byte
and increases throughput. In addition, CPU use is
significantly reduced because there are fewer calls
from the network stack to the network driver.
-- TCP chimney, which allows the offloading of
TCP/IP processing to the network hardware:
This feature has been extended to the virtual
environment. It improves virtual machine
performance by allowing the virtual machine to
offload network processing to hardware, especially
on networks with more than 1 GB of bandwidth.
This feature is especially beneficial for roles
involving large amounts of data transfer, such as
the file server role.
-- Virtual machine queue feature: This feature
allows physical computer NICs to use direct
memory access to place the contents of packets
directly into virtual machine memory, increasing
I/O performance.

2011 Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Cisco and the Cisco Logo are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Ciscos trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party
trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1007R)
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At-A-Glance

Benefits
By uniting applications, networking, storage, and
virtualization into a cohesive system, data center
solutions consisting of the Cisco Unified Computing
System, Cisco Unified Network Services, and Windows
Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V help you transform your
data center, reduce overall costs, and improve energy
efficiency through:
Flexibility to match business needs and scale
accordingly: By using Cisco UCS C-Series RackMount Servers, you can deploy systems incrementally
by using as many or as few servers as needed on
a schedule that best meets your organizations
timing and budget. The servers can be deployed as
stand-alone servers or as part of the Cisco Unified
Computing System.
Integrated, unified, virtualized, and optimized
infrastructure that supports rapid application
workload deployment and reduced deployment
and migration risk: Unified management across
computing, networking, storage access, and
virtualization resources helps simplify and lower the
cost of management.
Dramatic reduction in network adapters, blade
server switches, and cabling: With Cisco Unified
Fabric, all network and storage traffic passes over
one cable to the parent fabric interconnects, where it
can be processed and managed centrally, improving
performance and reducing the number of devices that
need to be powered, cooled, secured, and managed.

Embedded multirole management: Management is

embedded in the fabric interconnects, handling all
attached systems as a single, redundant management
domain. Cisco UCS Manager controls all aspects of
system configuration and operation, eliminating the
need to use multiple, separate element managers
for each system component. The result is a massive
reduction in management modules and consoles
while harmonizing data center roles for high
productivity.
Less deployment complexity and lower cost of
ownership: With Cisco Validated Designs, you can
further reduce deployment complexity and total cost
of ownership (TCO) by taking advantage of validated
platforms, which provide prescriptive guidance on
architecture and deployment needs. These designs
can be found on the Cisco Developer Network.

Why Cisco?
We recognize that the intersection of networking and
software is at the center of a new era of innovation.
The Microsoft and Cisco alliance extends the value of
the Cisco Unified Computing System by integrating
the operating system, application, and management
stacks into manageable and scalable solutions. Today
and in the future, innovative approaches to virtualization
from Cisco and Microsoft can help companies achieve
the technology advantage they need to increase
organizational agility, adopt new business models,
increase profits, rapidly introduce new capabilities,
and enter new markets.

For More Information

Learn more about Microsoft solutions from Cisco at
www.cisco.com/go/microsoft.

Advantages for consolidation and virtualization, and

lower capital expense: With virtualization becoming
more mature and widely used, enterprises are now
wanting to virtualize and consolidate core applications
in the data center while maintaining service levels.
Common Microsoft applications such as Microsoft
Exchange Server and Microsoft SharePoint Server are
among the prime candidates for such consolidation
and virtualization. The Cisco Unified Computing
System, together with Windows Server 2008 R2
with Hyper-V and Cisco high-bandwidth, lowlatency, virtualization-aware unified network fabric,
expedites and simplifies virtualization deployment,
management, and operation, with reduced cost,
power consumption, and cooling requirements.

2011 Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Cisco and the Cisco Logo are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Ciscos trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party
trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1007R)
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