This brings us to the end of the first chapter, so let's revisit what we have discussed so far. We saw how virtualization was first perceived and developed, and its evolution in recent times. It is now a building block of cloud computing. We also discussed different forms of virtualization based on resource layering. Thereafter, we looked at the characteristics and models of cloud computing.

In the section after that, we saw how well Windows 2012 was adopted, with the entire new arsenal it had to offer, from the OS and virtualization perspective. Windows 2012 R2 raised the bar further, with remarkable improvements to the original version.

We then took delved into the component architecture of Hyper-V, and discussed how the underlying entities communicate. This gave a little insight into OS protection rings and the place where the hypervisor (aka Hyper-V) gets stacked in the circles of trust (Ring 1). After that, we looked at the new features and improvements delivered with Windows Hyper-V 2012 R2, and how it is going to benefit modern data centers.

Further, we looked a bit into licensing considerations of Windows 2012 R2, from both operating system and Hyper-V standpoints. We closed the chapter with a showdown between Windows Hyper-V 2012 R2, VMware ESXi 5.5, and Citrix XenServer 6.2, and depicted the major areas of comparison. Now it is evident how well Hyper-V is placed in terms of its features and why it is gradually taking over market shares.

In the next chapter, we will delve further into the technical side of things, discussing how to identify virtualization needs and how to plan, design, and deploy Hyper-V in an environment.