Mount / Create a VHD in Server 2008 R2

Yesterday I finished my class of Microsoft MOC 6421 @ IBM and I was trying to show students how to integrate .vhd into disk management for several purposes, but I realize that there was a Windows server 2008 Enterprise edition SP1 on my virtual machines and not R2 edition.

So, I could't show how integration works, then come home and wrote something to show them this feature and what is possible with it

There is a lot of VHD integration in Windows Server 2008 R2.

Open up Disk Management, you can Right-Click on Computer and choose Manage and then select Disk Management to do this...

Right-Click on Disk Management and choose Attach VHD.

Enter the path to the VHD. You can choose to mark it Read-Only as well. Click OK.

The drive will mount and display in Disk Management. You’ll notice the disk icon is also blue to help you distinguish it as a mounted VHD.

To dismount, Right-Click the disk and select Detatch VHD.

You will be given the option to delete the VHD as well, but it is not the default. Click OK to detatch.

As you can see , there is a lot of thing we can try with this feature, and always it's a step forward to virtualization.

Finally I like to say thanks to my class, to every member of that 6421, because it was a really an excellent experience to walk the training with you.

Regards

Marcelo Semino