Overview of networking in Hyper-V

Question

Can someone explain how networking works in Hyper-V? Specifically, how does Hyper-V handle network connectivity for virtual machines and allow communication between the host and other VMs? Also, what are the different types of virtual networks that can be created in Hyper-V, and how do they differ from one another? Finally, what are the best practices or considerations for configuring networking in Hyper-V, particularly in a multi-tenant or enterprise environment?

Any insights or guidance on Hyper-V networking would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hello,

 

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

To answer your question, we need to start with the switches:

Hyper-V offers three types of virtual switches:

External: Connects VMs to the external network (e.g., the internet) via the host’s network adapter.

Internal: Creates an isolated segment accessible by VMs and the Hyper-V host but not directly connected to the external network.

Private: Provides complete isolation, allowing communication only between VMs within the same private virtual network.

Different switches determine if VM can communicate with host other VMs.

REF1: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/sdn/technologies/hyper-v-network-virtualization/hyperv-network-virtualization-overview-windows-server

REF2: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/quick-start/connect-to-network

 

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know.

 

Best regards，

Jill Zhou

 

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