AZ-800 Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure Exam

Implement and Optimize Hyper-V Network Adapters

When configuring Hyper-V network adapters, you must choose the right options to support performance, security, and compatibility. This is especially true in hybrid Azure environments where you combine on-premises Hyper-V hosts with Azure network services. Key steps include selecting the proper adapter type, binding it to Azure-integrated virtual switches, and enabling offload features. A well-optimized adapter helps reduce latency and CPU overhead.

There are three main types of network adapters you can add to a VM:

• Synthetic network adapters: Offer high performance by using the Hyper-V VMBus.
• Legacy network adapters: Provide broad compatibility for older operating systems that lack Hyper-V integration.
• SR-IOV adapters: Use Single Root I/O Virtualization to let a VM interact directly with the physical NIC for maximum throughput. Each adapter type serves a specific purpose, so you should match the type to your workload and OS.

To further boost throughput and security, you can enable advanced offload features on supported physical network interface cards (NICs):

• Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ): Distributes network traffic across multiple processors to handle large data flows.
• Receive Side Scaling (RSS): Lets the NIC spread incoming packets across CPU cores for smoother processing.
• IPsec offload: Moves security processing to the adapter, reducing the CPU load for encrypted traffic. These features create a more efficient and secure data path from the VM to the network.

Accelerated Networking is another powerful feature that lowers latency and CPU usage by giving VMs a direct path to the network:

• It relies on SR-IOV and hardware support from the NIC.
• It reduces the number of network hops through the Hyper-V host.
• You can test it with PowerShell commands to verify that the virtual interface is using accelerated paths. Using accelerated networking is critical for applications requiring consistent, low-latency connections.

Finally, you must bind your Hyper-V adapters to the correct virtual switches to integrate with Azure services:

• Create or select an Azure-integrated virtual switch, such as one mapped to an Azure VNET.
• Use Azure CLI or PowerShell to connect the switch to the adapter and assign it to the VM.
• Verify network connectivity and configuration settings after binding. By following these steps, you ensure seamless connectivity between local Hyper-V hosts and Azure cloud networks.

Conclusion

In this section, we covered how to choose between synthetic, legacy, and SR-IOV adapters for different needs. We explored advanced features like VMQ, RSS, and IPsec offload to boost performance and security. We also discussed Accelerated Networking for low-latency workloads and the importance of binding adapters to Azure-integrated virtual switches. Mastering these concepts helps ensure high-throughput, secure, and reliable network connectivity in hybrid Hyper-V and Azure deployments.