If you've spent any time with Windows Server 2008 R2, you may have encountered (and used) its Best Practices Analyzer--a tool that helps administrators reduce best-practice violations by scanning one or more installed roles.

Well, the BPA just got an update, one that's specifically focused on virtualization. The new Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer scans a server that's running the Hyper-V role, then identifies configurations that don't comply with Microsoft best practices.

Here's the actual description of what the tool does:

BPA scans the configuration of the physical computer, the virtual machines, and other resources such as virtual networking and virtual storage. Scan results are displayed as a list of issues that you can sort by severity, and include recommendations for fixing issues and links to instructions. No configuration changes are made by running the scan.

The virtualization goodness just keeps coming from Microsoft! This sounds like a killer tool for any organization that's making use of Hyper-V for the first time (and/or striving to make their servers run as efficiently as possible).

The Hyper-V BPA is free, of course. It requires Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition, and it's available from Microsoft's Download Center.

(Image via 4sysops.)