Using Integration Services
Integration services are components that include OS drivers for all Hyper-V components, such as synthetic network adapters and with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, dynamic memory support. Integration services also support certain communication functionality between the VM and the Hyper-V host.
You install integration services after you complete the installation of the virtual machine by selecting the Insert Integration Services Setup Disk option from the Actions menu. Doing this mounts a virtual DVD-ROM that contains all of the necessary integration services files for all supported VM OSes. When these components are installed, you can enable or disable specific integration services functionality by selecting the Integration Services item on the virtual machine properties. The functionality of each integration service is covered over the next few pages.
Time Synchronization
The time synchronization service allows the virtual machine to synchronize time settings with the Hyper-V host. This ensures that VMs that use private or internal networks and are unable to synchronize with an external time source do not have their clocks drift. Clock drift can be a significant problem for VMs that spend a substantial amount of time shut down or paused. It also ensures that VMs that are reverted from a previous snapshot are brought up to the current time, rather than being stuck at the time the snapshot was taken.
Heartbeat
The heartbeat service allows the Hyper-V host to automatically detect whether a guest VM has become unresponsive. Heartbeat works by sending a heartbeat request to the VM on a periodic basis. In the event that a response is not received from the VM, an item is written to the event log. You can configure monitoring solutions, such as System Center Operations Manager 2012, to raise an alert when heartbeat events are issued to the event log.
Shutdown
The shutdown service allows you to initiate a clean shutdown of a VM through the Hyper-V console without having to log directly on to that VM and initiate shutdown manually. This functionality allows you to use products such as System Center Orchestrator 2012 to cleanly shut down VMs as a part of a scheduled maintenance process. If you have to manage several hundred VMs, being able to shut them down through the console, rather than having to log on directly, can save a substantial amount of time.
Data Exchange
The key/value pair exchange service allows a VM to share data with the Hyper-V host or to allow the host to forward that data to third-party management tools without having to install an agent directly on the VM.
Backup (volume snapshot)
The volume shadow copy services (VSS) integration services component allows the parent partition to request synchronization and quiescence of a VM, assuming that the VM supports VSS. If this functionality is supported, it is possible to back up VMs through products that support VSS snapshots, such as System Center Data Protection Manager 2012.
