At customer events a few years ago, we started handing out one-page "Survival Guides" (printed both sides and laminated) with links to important resources. The wiki versions of the Survival Guides are meant to do the same things without killing trees or using laminating machines. This one is for a new feature available in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, in Beta at the time of this writing.

Things to know:

• You should read the Deployment Guide on TechNet
  • For more technical detail read the Dynamic Memory Technical Overview whitepaper
  • For an installation walk through read the Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Evaluation Guide
  • Read Ben Armstrong's blog post to learn how to manage dynamic memory from Windows 7
• Windows Server Standard and Web Editions are not supported by Dynamic Memory in the SP1 Beta
• You cannot use RSAT tools for Windows 7 to manage DM nor Remote FX in the SP 1 Beta. The RSAT tools have not been updated yet (during the Beta).
• Once you enable a VM with DM (using SP1 Beta) that VM will not work on Windows Server 2008 R2 servers. VMs without DM enabled will work on both R2 and SP1 Beta.
• Migration of VMs Dynamic Memory enabled to a node that does not have Dynamic Memory support will fail (for example, fo Windows Server Standard or Web Editions for the Beta).
• Migration of virtual machines that have RemoteFX enabled to a node that does not have RemoteFX enabled will fail. To live-migrate virtual machines that have RemoteFX enabled, all nodes must be capable of supporting RemoteFX, all nodes must use identical graphics processing units, and all nodes must have RemoteFX enabled. For details of the CPU requirements for RemoteFX, see see “Hardware Considerations for RemoteFX” at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=191918

How to Upgrade:

1.      Ensure Virtual Machines are ready for the update

2.      Update the Host to SP1 Beta

3.      Update the VM Integration Services

                  

1.      VMs running Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: Update the guest operating system with SP1 to upgrade the Integration Services

2.      VMs not running Windows 7 SP1/Server 2008 R2 SP1: (e.g. Windows XP/Vista/7 RTM/2000/2003/2008/2008 R2 RTM)

a.    Start the virtual machine

b.  Connect to the virtual machine, click the Action Menu

c.   Click Insert Integration Services Setup Disk. Click to run the Integration Services Setup.,then click Restart.

Resources:

Remote FX and Dynamic Memory in Action Demo

Dynamic Memory and Remote FX Demo

Dynamic Memory for Hyper-V Video

Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 TechNet Center 

Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 FAQ

Documentation for Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta

The product group has the definitive series of blog posts on Dynamic Memory, now available in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta

Part 1: Dynamic Memory announcement. This blog announces the new Hyper-V Dynamic Memory in Hyper-V R2 SP1, including requirements. http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2010/03/18/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v.aspx

Part 2: Capacity Planning from a Memory Standpoint. Details issues to consider for memory capacity planning and why. http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2010/03/25/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v-part-2.aspx

Part 3: Page Sharing. Detailed discussion about the TLB, large memory pages, how page sharing works, SuperFetch and more. http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2010/04/07/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v-part-3.aspx

Part 4: Page Sharing Follow-Up. Questions answered about Page Sharing and ASLR and other factors. http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualization/archive/2010/04/21/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v-part-4.aspx

Part 5: Second Level Paging. Details why should avoid this in a virtualized environment, including Performance impacts. http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualization/archive/2010/05/20/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v-part-5.aspx

TechEd Demo: Hyper-V and Dynamic Memory in Depth

See Also

• Wiki: List of Technologies and Related Topics
• Wiki: Survival Guides Portal