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+--- Thread: How can you create a differencing disk in Hyper-V? (/showthread.php?tid=870)
How can you create a differencing disk in Hyper-V? - savas - 10-09-2018
Creating a differencing disk in Hyper-V is a pretty straightforward process once you get the hang of it, and it’s a great way to save space and manage your virtual machines more efficiently.
First off, you want to have a parent virtual disk in place. This is usually your base operating system or application environment that you want to work with. If you haven’t already set up your parent disk, just make a virtual machine and install your OS then shut it down. Now, you’re ready to move forward.
Open up the Hyper-V Manager on your machine. You’ll need to navigate through the console to find your existing virtual disks, which will be listed under the "Virtual Machines" section. It’s all user-friendly, so you should be able to spot what you need without much hassle.
Once you’ve located your parent virtual disk, right-click on the virtual machine and choose the option to create a new virtual machine. Follow the wizard until you reach the section for configuring the hard disk. Here, you’ll see an option that says something along the lines of creating a new virtual hard disk. This is where you’ll choose to create a differencing disk.
You’ll want to select the option for a differencing disk and then specify the location for that new disk file. The cool part about differencing disks is that they’re linked to the parent disk, so any changes you make in the differencing disk don’t affect the original. It’s like taking a snapshot of the original, but you’re essentially working on a separate layer where all your modifications stay.
Hyper-V will prompt you to specify the parent disk as part of the step. Just point it to the base virtual disk you created earlier. This is super important because it allows your new differencing disk to pull its information from the parent. Also, keep in mind that the differencing disk will only store the changes you make going forward, which helps keep your environment neat and saves space.
Once you finish the wizard, it’ll create your virtual machine with the new differencing disk linked to the parent. The next step is straightforward: power up the virtual machine and you can start using it. You can make changes, install software, or do whatever tests you need without affecting the base setup.
One thing to remember is to keep an eye on your storage. Since the differencing disk can grow as you make changes, you’ll want to ensure that your host system has ample disk space to avoid any disruptions.
And if there ever comes a time when you need to revert back to that fresh state of the parent disk or if you want to get rid of the differencing disk, it’s just a matter of shutting down the VM and managing your disks accordingly through the Hyper-V settings.
Creating a differencing disk is a powerful way to experiment, test, or develop in a virtualized environment without worrying about messing up your primary setup. Plus, it just adds a whole new layer of flexibility to how you manage virtual machines!
I hope my post was useful. Are you new to Hyper-V and do you have a good Hyper-V backup solution? See my other post