Yesterday I talked about what the names were for Hyper-V and Windows Server 2012 (WS2012). Today I’m going to talk Hyper-V terminology.
Why am I posting this stuff? I don’t call my car a motorbike when I talk to a mechanic. Ever get a request for help where someone pulling virtualisation terms out of thin air. For example, I’ve seen many people asking for help with their virtual servers. The more I read, the more I’m left wondering if they are talking about a host, a virtual machine, or a virtualisation product that Microsoft released back in September 2004. While a tiny bit of this is Hyper-V specific, most of it is industry terminology going back 10 or more years.
I think getting this stuff right is important. For example, I don’t like remotely helping people who can’t get the terminology right because it leaves me wondering if they are the sort of person who’ll take my help, get it very wrong, screw up royally, and then blame me for their lack of knowledge. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like that.
The Host
The physical machine is referred to as a host. It is not called a Hyper-V server. There is a product called Hyper-V Server that you can download and install on the host. It is absolutely not called a virtual server.
The operating system that is installed on the host and used to manage the hypervisor and host is referred to as the management OS. You will see some other terms floating about such as root partition and parent partition. Both are out-dated; yes there is new MSFT documentation that uses “root partition” and I was until recently (incorrectly) using “parent partition” but the correct term is management OS. The generic term of host operating system (Host OS) is acceptable in my opinion seeing as it could include to many hypervisor products.
The Virtual Machines
Guess what: in virtualisation we have virtual machines. The are not called Hyper-V servers. The are definitely not called virtual servers. It is simple: virtual machine or VM. A VM can also be referred to as a guest.
When you’re talking to a Microsoft licensing specialist they’ll talk to you about VOSEs. That’s a Virtual Operating System Environment or a guest operating system or guest OS. Guest OS = VOSE.
Summary
- The host = the tin you’re hosting VMs on
- The host OS or management OS is the OS that you enable Hyper-V in and use to manage the host
- You run virtual machines (VMs) or guests on the host
- A VM has a guest OS, that a licensing person calls a VOSE
Getting your terminology right will:
- Get you taken seriously as an engineer/consultant
- Help you get the help you’re asking for