Linux Integration Services 3.4
To attain maximum performance on Linux virtual machines on Hyper-V, install Microsoft’s Linux Integration Services (LIS) 3.4. LIS 3.4 can be downloaded from the Microsoft download center.
Microsoft release LIS 3.4 in September and when installed on a virtual machine that is running a supported Linux operating system, it provides a wide range of added functionality.
- Driver support: Linux Integration Services supports the network controller, and the IDE and SCSI storage controllers that were developed specifically for Hyper-V.
- Fastpath boot support for Hyper-V: Boot devices take advantage of the block Virtualization Service Client (VSC) to provide enhanced performance.
- Time Keeping: The clock inside the virtual machine will remain accurate by synchronizing to the clock on the virtualization server via Timesync service, and with the help of the pluggable time source device.
- Integrated shutdown: Virtual machines running Linux can be shut down from either Hyper-V Manager or System Center Virtual Machine Manager by using the “Shut down” command.
- Symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) support: Supported Linux distributions can use multiple virtual processors per virtual machine. The actual number of virtual processors that can be allocated to a virtual machine is only limited by the underlying hypervisor.
- Note – SMP support is not available for 32-bit Linux guest operating systems running on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V or Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008.
- Heartbeat: This feature allows the virtualization server to detect whether the virtual machine is running and responsive.
- KVP (Key-Value Pair) Exchange: Information about the running Linux virtual machine can be obtained by using the Key-Value Pair Exchange functionality on the Windows Server 2008 virtualization server.
- Integrated mouse support: Linux Integration Services provides full mouse support for Linux guest virtual machines.
- Live Migration: Linux virtual machines can undergo live migration for load balancing purposes.
- Jumbo Frames: Linux virtual machines can be configured to use Ethernet frames with more than 1500 bytes of payload.
- VLAN tagging and trunking: Administrators can attach single or multiple VLAN ids to synthetic network adapters.
A Linux Integration Services v3.4 Read Me.pdf is available in the Microsoft Download Center with installation instructions.
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