Hyper-V is just like a server core, with Hypervisor added
Ever since Microsoft joined VMware in handing out their introductory type-1 hypervisor solutions (without management software) out for FREE, there is a fair share of confusion in IT community regarding the standalone Hyper-V. Hyper-V is a standalone product that will run on a bare-metal box and will need to be managed via Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Management (feature). Hyper-V is built on Windows Server 2008 Server Core and Windows Admins will find it easy to adjust to managing it. Especially those who have had experience with Server Core.
I wrote a few posts earlier on managing Server Core, regarding the initial configuration, opening the needed ports thru firewall, network configuration etc. You will find that there is another layer of managment window on top of that CLI window you are used to seeing in Server Core. That window is there for you to manage the Hyper-V.
As you log in to Hyper-V both windows the CLI and Hyper-V Configuration pop up, with first one in the background. On Hyper-V configuration window, there is 16 options (sub-menu) that are pretty self explanatory and allow you to setup initial configurations such as adding the server to domain, configuring NIC, enabling RDP, and remote management (WinRM) and so forth.
Remember that with the substantial feedback from IT pros, this new version of Server Core (that Hyper-V is built upon) now has the limited .NET layer added which will make the server management easier but as expected it adds to its size to its previous versions. This is of course only part of recently released Hyper-V R2.
Here are some screenshots of Hyper-V R2.
