The Hyper-V virtual switch

Hyper-V provides a virtual switch as an available resource for its virtual machines. As shipped, it provides some smart layer-2 capabilities. It is also possible for third parties to create software solutions that add capabilities with the extensibility feature of the switch.

A Hyper-V switch can be created in one of the following modes:

• Private

• Internal

• External

A private virtual switch allows communications between guests on a single Hyper-V host. The management operating system cannot participate and there is no direct functionality that allows traffic on this switch to interact with any other network, including a physical wired network. An internal virtual switch is much like the private virtual switch with the sole exception of allowing the management operating system to participate. It also does not provide any capability to communicate with any other network. An external virtual switch is tied to a physical adapter on the host and provides a communication path...