Just to be able to efficiently utilize our power hardware. Gone are the days of one pizza box for a two-core CPU. You've got dozens of cores in one box, and you can't use them all if you just run one thing on one server, so you've got to virtualize it.
Technology Systems Analyst with 1-10 employees
Simplicity and intuitiveness of the platform are attractive, it grows on you with time
Pros and Cons
- "The simplicity and intuitiveness of the platform. It was a very simple adaptation, if you have any experience in virtualization."
- "The simplicity and intuitiveness of the platform. It was a very simple adaptation, if you have any experience in virtualization."
- "The simplicity and intuitiveness of the platform. It was a very simple adaptation, if you have any experience in virtualization."
- "There is a hard limitation of 20 gigs per file with Dropbox, so you've got to overcome that by chunking the zip files into something smaller and manageable."
- "There is a hard limitation of 20 gigs per file with Dropbox, so you've got to overcome that by chunking the zip files into something smaller and manageable."
- "There is a hard limitation of 20 gigs per file with Dropbox, so you've got to overcome that by chunking the zip files into something smaller and manageable."
How has it helped my organization?
What is most valuable?
The simplicity and intuitiveness of the platform. It was a very simple adaptation, if you have any experience in virtualization.
What needs improvement?
There is a hard limitation of 20 gigs per file with Dropbox, so you've got to overcome that by chunking the zip files into something smaller and manageable. But that's going to depend on the bandwidth. You can have an adverse effect as well, if somebody is just using a real small data pipe. Then, they could choke you with Dropbox. They've got to calculate it out.
I didn't give it a 10 out of 10 because sometimes remotely managing it isn't as simple as it could be. Basically, it just involves having to log directly into a box rather than doing something via remote command.
And there's also still a little bit of a learning curve, and as I'm learning additional things with some of the maintenance stuff - then scripting that and automating it - then I won't have to deal with it anymore.
In a way, it's still easier, in my mind, in comparison to when you do have to dig in deep on a VMware box.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Not as of yet. But what's being done is completely unsupported by Dropbox. The way that they view it is just "a file is a file." That's it. So, you synchronize files that are the actual backups - and it's just a file. But using them for a backup solution, they don't support anything other than it being a client application for a user; not as a service or anything else.
Buyer's Guide
Hyper-V
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Hyper-V. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Not really, except for when they push out enough data that it requires additional dependencies that they didn't know about. Broke it on a Linux server, but that was just one time.
How are customer service and support?
It's the luck of the draw. It's been as low as a three and as high as an eight out of 10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
VMware - the cost. Because Hyper-V is free, and you get a lot of the solutions that you've got to pay tens of thousands of dollars for with VMware. It's free under Microsoft. And they've really polished it in the past two years. It's pretty good.
How was the initial setup?
It's very simple.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I was dropped into it, so I inherited a mostly completed environment, and then I finished it.
They had problems with the VMware running on their servers because they were using unsupported. It was before Dell released firmware for the controllers for the servers to stop complaining. Even though the drives were working fine, the controller was throwing a bunch of errors.
Plus, that version of VMware, at that time, didn't support TRIM, so then it had problems reclaiming space and stuff like that. Then it had to go over to Windows, which under Hyper-V supported TRIM. Now, VMware does support it, so it wouldn't be an issue, but it's already converted over. It's rock solid.
What other advice do I have?
Don't knock Hyper-V until you actually try it.
I get a lot of people from the tech community, saying things like, "Hahaha, you're on Hyper-V?" And I reply, "Yeah. At first, I opposed it, but it's grown on me and I love it." I still run VMware at home, just because I already have it running on in my lab, but if I were to rebuild, I'd do it under Hyper-V. Why not?
You get more features for free.
You've got to actually really try it for a good six months to a year, and then it grows on you. It's like, "Wow! You can do all that?" Yeah. And more.
Hyper-V's gotten a lot better since 2012 and 2012 R2, and now the 2016 is light years again.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Founder at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
Robust, but lacking implementation management tools
Pros and Cons
- "The ease of use of Hyper-V is the most valuable feature."
- "Hyper-V could improve the management tools."
What is our primary use case?
We are mainly using Hyper-V in the financial sector.
What is most valuable?
The ease of use of Hyper-V is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
Hyper-V could improve the management tools.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Hyper-V for approximately ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
All the newer versions of Hyper-V are stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution could improve scalability.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Microsoft is very slow.
How was the initial setup?
The initial implementation was difficult because there are not enough management tools. The time it took was approximately three days.
We installed the Hyper-V on bare-metal hardware, created the VMs, and attached the storage, et cetera.
What about the implementation team?
We have four to five staff members for the implementation of Hyper-V. The maintenance includes server management, creating VMs, and backups.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others implementing this solution is there are no implementation management tools available, they will have to do it all themselves.
I rate Hyper-V a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Hyper-V
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Hyper-V. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior System Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Is easy to install, but the stability and scalability need improvement
Pros and Cons
- "It is very easy to install. It can be done in a day."
- "Hyper-V systems need a lot of admin effort because security updates and monthly updates require rebooting after the update."
What is most valuable?
It is very easy to install. It can be done in a day.
What needs improvement?
Hyper-V systems need a lot of admin effort because security updates and monthly updates require rebooting after the update. For example, if you use Hyper-V, you should restart once a month. It is very hard to operate.
Also, it is very slow.
The stability and scalability could be improved. It could be more user friendly as well.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using it for, maybe, three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is not stable. There are problems with backup as well.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is not scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
I am satisfied with technical support.
How was the initial setup?
It is very easy to install, and it can be done in a day.
What about the implementation team?
I installed it myself.
What other advice do I have?
I don't recommend Hyper-V and would rate it at six on a scale from one to ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT & Security Team Leader at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Stable solution but has a lot of room for improvements
Pros and Cons
- "It is stable."
- "In general, based on my little experience with Hyper-V, I see a lot of obstacles. I think it falls behind the other competitors."
What needs improvement?
In general, based on my little experience with Hyper-V, I see a lot of obstacles. I think it falls behind the other competitors.
There are several areas that can be improved. The network configuration, for example, can be improved. The storage as well, can be improved. I find it very dependent on the active directory as a service, overall. I think they have to review that. I understand that active directory is an integral part of that infrastructure for authentication and logging, etc..., but it can be an obstacle. I think they should review that mechanism.
They have to review the overall architecture of that solution. It is a Type-2 virtualization, which means it is not bare metal. That is one problem or one issue that has to be reviewed. In my view as an engineer, the best solutions in this domain are those which are bare metal. Those that are deployed directly on the hardware get the most out of the hardware. But in Microsoft, this is not the case, it is implemented on Windows. If something goes wrong with the Windows machine, all the VMs on it are in trouble. And we all know that Windows has always been a target for viruses and bugs. So in my opinion, they have to review that, to remove that design.
For how long have I used the solution?
I don't personally have strong experience with Hyper-V, but as a company we are reselling it.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Based on my experience, it is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is not that scalable or flexible.
On a scale from one to 5, I would rate the scalability a three.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think Microsoft is a little better in pricing. But as I said, I'm not a pricing person, and I can't speak with great confidence on that. But in general, Microsoft is a little lower than BMI.
What other advice do I have?
I do not highly recommend Hyper-V.
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Hyper-V a six.
In terms of advice to people looking to implement Hyper-V, I would tell them not to rely much on the Hyper-V solution in terms of flexibility and scalability. It is a stable solution, but overall, considering the backup, the replication, and the whole range of features that VMR offers, I think that it's better if they look at VMR or other contenders, in this technology.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Founder at a retailer with 1-10 employees
Easy to set up and deploy, but the virtual network manager could be improved
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup was straightforward. It was easy to install."
- "I think the setup for the Virtual Network Manager could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We are just exploring the possibilities to see if it was a better alternative to VirtualBox, for running on a Windows host.
What needs improvement?
I think the setup for the Virtual Network Manager could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have only just started using this solution. It's been one to two weeks.
I am using the version with Windows 10 Pro.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's too early to tell at the moment. We are still new to using Hyper-V.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have not yet explored this area. At the moment, I am the only user.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not contacted technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I am currently using VirtualBox and Hyper-V on different VMs.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. It was easy to install.
It took an hour to get the on-premises system running.
What about the implementation team?
I completed the setup and implementation.
What other advice do I have?
It's still too early to know if I would recommend it or not.
I am still in the processing phase, so depending on how it goes, we may continue to use this solution. At this point, we intend to use it.
With what I know so far, I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Oficial de comunicaciones at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Helps illustrate the infrastructure easily
Pros and Cons
- "It is a stable product."
- "There are bugs, and this should be resolved by Microsoft."
What is our primary use case?
We can illustrate all of the infrastructure very easily.
What needs improvement?
There are bugs, and this should be resolved by Microsoft. In the future, I would like to see how the hyper-converged infrastructure works with the technology.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable product.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy. It took approximately 25 minutes to deploy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing and licensing is fine.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
System and Network Administrator at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Has a fair price and is a good solution
Pros and Cons
- "Using cluster with Hyper-V had a major impact on our protection environment. So all applications were virtualized using Hyper-V."
- "Improvements could be made to the configuration of the solution."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use it for server virtualization and protection services.
How has it helped my organization?
Using cluster with Hyper-V had a major impact on our protection environment. So all applications were virtualized using Hyper-V.
What needs improvement?
Perhaps improvement should be made when you want to change some configuration on VM's, and you have to shut down the VM in order to do so. A major improvement would be a configuration change. So, when you change the parameter of VM, the other one can still be running.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. We have had no problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is good. It is enough for our needs. We are 40 users in our organization. We used a team of five to maintain the solution.
How is customer service and technical support?
We have not needed technical support.
What was our ROI?
For our company it was a good investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is quite fair. It is not too expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We were looking at other options, such as Azure. But, we decided to stay with the Microsoft Hyper-V.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise other people that this is a good solution.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Microsoft System Engineer at Summit Technology Solution
You can move from server to server without downtime with Live Migration in a VM.
Valuable Features:
1. Improved Windows stability
2. Hyper-V stability
3. Live migration
4. Enhanced session mode
5. Clustering
Improvements to My Organization:
Enhanced Session Mode is a feature thats allow you to copy and past inside the virtual machine.
Live Migration in a virtual machine where you can move across your Hyper-V physical servers with or without user interaction, and in a virtual machine you can move from server to server without downtime.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: My company integrates Microsoft solutions for our customers.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Hyper-V Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
Product Categories
Server Virtualization SoftwarePopular Comparisons
Proxmox VE
VMware vSphere
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Oracle VM
Nutanix AHV Virtualization
Citrix XenServer
RHEV
IBM PowerVM
OpenVZ
XCP-ng virtualization platform
Odin Virtuozzo Containers
ISPsystem VMmanager
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Hyper-V Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- Do you think there is a minimum critical threshold that justifies the deployment of the System Center suite?
- How does Hyper-V compare to alternative Virtualization solutions?
- What Is The Biggest Difference Between Hyper-V And KVM?
- How does KVM compare with Hyper-V?
- How does Proxmox VE compare with Hyper-V?
- When evaluating Server Virtualization Software, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- VMware ESXi or VMware Workstation?
- How does VMware ESXi compare to alternative virtualization solutions?
- VMware has been positioned in the Leaders Quadrant of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for four years. Agree/Disagree? Why?
- Which hypervisor provides the best network performance at 10gb or higher?