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.

Accepted Answer

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

If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

Answer

Hey,

Hyper-V creates Virtual Switch on top of physical adapter or without adapter for private networks (no physical NIC required). There are 3 types of connection:
External: Connects VMs to the physical network, allowing them access to the internet or other physical devices.

Internal: Allows communication between VMs and the Hyper-V host, but without access to the physical network.

Private: Allows VMs to communicate only with each other within the Hyper-V environment, isolating them from the host and the external network.

Virtual Machine needs vnic added to its hardware configuration, which is connected to the virtual switch on the host. Check for more info: https://www.starwindsoftware.com/blog/hyper-v-networking-101-nics-and-switches/

Cheers,

Alex Bykovskyi

StarWind Software

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