We built a private cloud with it.
Systems Architect at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Live migration and SMB3 are very valuable.
Pros and Cons
- "Live migration, SMB3."
- "Storage via SMB3."
How has it helped my organization?
What is most valuable?
Live migration, SMB3.
What needs improvement?
Storage via SMB3.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Yes.
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Hyper-V
April 2025

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How are customer service and support?
6
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously used VMware. Switched due to cost.
How was the initial setup?
It was reasonably straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's cheap, but not the best.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Vmware was better, but it was more expensive.
What other advice do I have?
Don’t use it for mission critical clouds.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
CEO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Setup on a DAS can split functions to as many servers as needed improved backups and uptime.
What is most valuable?
- Quick boots
- Fast up time and install
How has it helped my organization?
Setup on a DAS can split functions to as many servers as needed improved backups and uptime.
What needs improvement?
- Cannot copy paste within the app
- Some bugs were not fixable and I had to reinstall core OS
For how long have I used the solution?
3 Years
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
No
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Good
Technical Support:Good
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
VMware
How was the initial setup?
Straightforward
What about the implementation team?
In-house
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Hyper-V
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about Hyper-V. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
848,989 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Windows 2012 Hyper V: Huge Improvements
Valuable Features:
Scalability Improvements:
Support for up to 4TB physical memory, up to 320 Logical Processors, up to 64 nodes cluster which can support 8000 VM's
Migrations:
Supports many types of migration scenarios such as live migration, live storage migration limited by only hardware capability.
Management and Integration:
Lots of management tools, integration with system center makes it a backbone of Microsoft's cloud infrastructure.
Room for Improvement:
Apart from windows and some flavors of Linux, it does not support any other virtual guests.
Other Advice:
If your infrastructure is based on MS products then this is a hypervisor to go for. Virtualization of some of the components such as domain controllers are supported by Microsoft only on Hyper- V.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
You said that there are lots of management tools. Can you give me some examples, please?
Manager of Data Center at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
Reduce the DataCenter overhead cost with Hyper-V
Valuable Features:
• The ROI on Hyper-V is enormous. It is cheaper than any other enterprises visualization tool.
• Hyper-V Replica can replace SAN, especially where SAN might be overloaded.
• It is dynamic and scalable.
Room for Improvement:
It lacks a built-in cloning function, you have to use the traditional export/import.
Other Advice:
Visualization technology brought succor to IT enterprises users. The cost of acquiring multiple servers and its general maintenance has been drastically reduced. One physical or hardware machine can host multiple visual servers
Windows Server Hyper-V is one of the best visualization servers in the market today. The new Hyper-V’s dynamic memory feature is a big plus. It can automatically expand the memory allocation to accommodate more workload from different virtual machines. Other attractive features, that the new Hyper-V includes are, Live storage migration, utilization of up to 4TB memory per host RAM, Virtual Machine converter, replica services, RemoteFX, etc.
I added the Hyper-V role in Windows Server 2008 R2 without any issue. Installation of the guest server was also smooth. Guest VM backup in Hyper-V is quite simple with great features such as, multiple destinations selection and Backup drive mirroring.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
COO at FA IT SERVICES PLC
Lacks flexibility and decent reporting; reasonably priced and stable
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is stable and the cost is reasonable."
- "The solution is lacking in numerous features and lacks flexibility."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for a UAT environment, for test purposes. We are users and I'm the COO.
What is most valuable?
The solution is stable and the cost is reasonable.
What needs improvement?
We're missing quite a lot of features on Hyper-V and I'd like to see more flexibility in terms of moving server automation. Unfortunately, the reporting mechanism is not there. They really need to move in the direction of Hyper-V, a hyper-convergence infrastructure kind of solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There are sometimes issues with the network but the solution is stable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was a little complex but not too bad. The deployment was carried out in-house. Along with our end users we have over two million customers who use this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We pay a one-off licensing fee. The cost is competitive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
In our search for an HCI solution, we have evaluated several solutions but haven't come to a decision yet. HCI offers much better flexibility, and integration between cloud and in-house sourcing, and is better from a management perspective. What we have now doesn't compare to what HCI offers.
What other advice do I have?
We are currently looking to move to an HCI solution.
I rate this product five out of 10.
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.
Technical Consultant at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
It can easily run multiple applications, but the price is steep.
Pros and Cons
- "It utilizes the hardware so there are multiple applications running on one hypervisor."
- "I think there is room for improvement in terms of the cloud solutions."
What is our primary use case?
The features I find most valuable are utilizing the hardware so there is multiple applications running on one hypervisor. This actually saves money for the user.
What needs improvement?
I think there is room for improvement in terms of the cloud solutions.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the product is fine. There is no problem. The only issues we have is with stability of the operating system.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was initially not easy, but Microsoft has made a lot of improvements and upgrades, and the integration is supposedly more simple.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think it is expensive. I think if they want it to be more competitive, they should lower the price.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Principal Consultant at CCE
A great advantage for any company that is using a Microsoft Windows server
Pros and Cons
- "It is a great advantage for any company that is using a Microsoft Windows server."
- "I think the console could use some improvement for the backups."
What is most valuable?
It is a great advantage for any company that is using a Microsoft Windows server.
What needs improvement?
I think the console could use some improvement for the backups. The features should be improved. I know a lot of people who are considering moving to Hyper-V, but are skittish to do so because you need a system center virtual manager or a specialist to integrate the solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I recommend this product due to its high stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is highly scalable. It is really easy to scale and implement.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is competitive, and a bit less than other options on the market.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technician at Computer Geeks
I find the ease of use the most valuable asset of the solution.
Pros and Cons
- "I find the ease of use the most valuable asset of the solution."
- "An improvement I suggest is having more guest operating systems."
What is our primary use case?
The reason we use this solution is because we can do a lot more with rate configurations, and large span networks. It's a lot easier doing that versus with some of the KVM based hypervisors.
How has it helped my organization?
We use it for testing new software. We especially use it for software updates because half of the time we're running an accounting program. It updates, and then breaks something else. This way we can run a couple of different VM's with a setup similar to what we use on all of the desktops. So, that way, you can test it without actually causing downtime.
Some of the things we run have to have a very specific Linux bistro, and you can't get it
all in Hyper-V.
What is most valuable?
I find the ease of use the most valuable asset of the solution.
What needs improvement?
An improvement I suggest is having more guest operating systems.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a very stable product.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used a Linux KVM based hypervisor called Proxmox.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing isn't too bad, because you can do the bare metal hyper-visor, and it is pretty fair. Other competitors are more expensive.
What other advice do I have?
Make sure to do your research before you choose a solution. Be sure it fits your needs.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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Learn More: Questions:
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hyper-v does allow storage on smb3
technet.microsoft.com.aspx
If cost is a factor, try looking at proxmox or xen server. They are great for lab setup and dev work,