There is a good chance that if your company has a need for a multiple amount of servers, that virtualization will become part of your organization. There are two major players for virtualization, Microsoft Hyper-V and VM Ware ESXi server. This guide will step you through the installation process for Hyper-V Server on Windows Server 2012 R2.
Hyper-V Role Installation
1. Log onto your Windows Server as an Administrator
2. Open the Server Manager Console 
and Navigate to the Dashboard
3. In the Configure this local server section, click Add roles and features. The Add Roles Wizard will pop up. Click Next to skip the Before You Begin page.
4. On the Installation Type page, leave the default Role-based or feature-based installation option checked. Click Next.
5. Make sure the server that you would like to install the Hyper-V role on is selected, and click Next.
Note: If you are installing a group of Hyper-V Servers, it is possible to initiate the installation on multiple servers from this window. Be sure to select the pool that contains all of your servers.
6. Locate and select the Hyper-V role.
7. In the features box that pops up, leave the default options and click Add Features. This will install the management tools to manage a Hyper-V server as well. If you intend to only manage the server from either another server or a workstation using the Hyper-V management tools, then you can opt to not install these features.
8. On the Features page, you can click Next to continue. I normally take this opportunity to install the Telnet Client for use down the road as well.
9. On the Hyper-V page, click Next
10. For the Virtual Switches and Migration pages, do not change anything and click Next. We will change these values later.
11. On the Default Stores page, specify the location that you would like to store virtual machines and their data. The defaults will work just fine, however I like to use C:\Hyper-V\ for my virtual machines for easy access. Click Next.
12. On the Confirmation page, Click Install to start the installation. You can also check Restart the destination server automatically if required box as well if you would like to walk away while Hyper-V is installed. The installation of Hyper-V does require a reboot.
13. The installation will begin and if the automatic restart box was checked, the server will reboot when needed to finish the installation.
14. After the server has rebooted, you will be greeted with the Results page. Click Close to finish the installation.
Post Installation Configuration of Hyper-V
Now that the Hyper-V Role is installed, we will need to go through and configure the virtual switch that virtual machines will use to communicate with the rest of the network.
1. Click on Start and type virtmgmt.msc, or type Hyper-V and click the Hyper-V Manager
2. In the Hyper-V Management Console, select your virtual host in the left most pane, then click Virtual Switch Manager in the Actions Pane (right)
3. In most cases, you will be creating an External virtual switch. This option allows virtual machines connected to this virtual switch to use a physical network adapter to communicate with the rest of the network. Select your switch type, then click Create Virtual Switch.
4. On the Virtual Switch Properties page, Add a name for the virtual switch. You can also add some notes for reference later if desired.
5. Under Connection type, select the type of connection you want to create. In most cases, you will choose External Network, then choose either a physical network adapter or a team of network adapters to use for communication. In my case, I am using a second network team for virtual machine communication.
6. Uncheck the box for Allow management operating system to share this network adapter.
Note: If you only have one network adapter in the server (not recommended), then you will want to leave this box checked. Otherwise, you will not have access to the server for management nor will it be able to communicate with the rest of the network for updates or monitoring.
7. Click Apply and OK to finish the wizard.
8. If you unchecked the Allow management operating system.. box in the previous section, then you will be prompted about remote access. Click Yes to close the prompt and continue.
Changing Hyper-V Settings
If you want to make changes to the settings that we configured (or chose not to configure) during the installation of the Hyper-V Role, you can change them now.
1. Click on Start and type virtmgmt.msc, or type Hyper-V and click the Hyper-V Manager
2. In the Hyper-V Management Console, select your virtual host in the left most pane, then click Hyper-V Settings in the Actions Pane (right)
3. In the Hyper-V Settings window, you will see options to enable Live Migrations, change NUMA Spanning options, change the location of virtual machines and virtual hard disks, as well as other options.
You now have a working Hyper-V Server that is ready for virtual machines to be added.
