With the introduction of Hyper-V in Windows 2008, Microsoft has changed the way virtual machines interact with the host operating system and other network resources. Unlike the Microsoft virtualization capabilities offered by Virtual Server and Virtual PC, Hyper-V's virtualization technology is integrated into the Windows Server 2008 x64 operating system. This change greatly improves performance and increases integration of the virtualization layer (hypervisor) with other Windows components.

This solutions guide details the four available networking configurations, and the advantages and disadvantages of each with an emphasis on typical Dell system configuration and the hardware offerings.