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Andrea Andrea - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at BE.iT SA
Real User
Top 5
Has a tight integration with Azure
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup of Hyper-V is far easier than VMware."
  • "Hyper-V could benefit with improvements to their management interface."

What is our primary use case?

We are partners with Microsoft. We install 50% of VMware and 50% the solution from Hyper-V, depending on the customer's request.

Mid-level businesses who want to create their own data center, and they are using other Microsoft systems. 

What is most valuable?

Hyper-V and VMware are similar. However, Hyper-V is less expensive. Hyper-V also has a tight integration with Azure. This means that you can have some VM on Azure and some VM on premises, and you can move a VM from Microsoft data center to a local data center on the customer's side.

What needs improvement?

Hyper-V could benefit with improvements to their management interface. Also, there are some features that are better on other solutions. For example, VMware is easier to create 3D acceleration than on Hyper-V.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Hyper-V is quite stable. I do not have any issues.

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Hyper-V
December 2024
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The biggest cluster we have in the field is a node cluster.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Hyper-V is far easier than VMware. You can deploy the solution in a matter of hours.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Our customers consider other options, however for mid-level businesses who want to create their own data center, Hyper-V is easier and less expensive than using both VMware and Microsoft Windows server for VMware for Veeam.

VMware has some features that are better. It is easier to create 3D acceleration, however the licensing model is not good.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Hyper-V an 8 out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Soundar Rajan - PeerSpot reviewer
VMware Administrator at Ingram Micro Saudi Arabia
Real User
Top 5
Has an easy setup process, but the performance speed needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is easy."
  • "I encounter issues such as mouse cursor problems, dependencies, lagging, freezing, and unresponsiveness using Hyper-V."

What is our primary use case?

We use Hyper-V to test multiple virtual machines and servers to be deployed.

What needs improvement?

The product performs a bit slowly compared to VMware.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

At the end of the day, Hyper-V is a Microsoft product. Thus, it provides better stability and is convenient to use.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I prefer using VMware more than Hyper-V. It is a convenient-to-use tool. I encounter issues such as mouse cursor problems, dependencies, lagging, freezing, and unresponsiveness using Hyper-V. These challenges led to a decision to migrate to VMware for virtualization.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is an inbuilt tool included in Windows Server. There is no cost associated with it if customers are already using Microsoft products.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Hyper-V a five 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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Hyper-V
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Hyper-V. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
AANKITGUPTAA - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at Pi DATACENTERS
Real User
Issue-free, easy to set up, and allows for easy generation of virtual machines
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a stable product."
  • "We'd like a template feature to help deploy VMs quickly."

What is our primary use case?

Currently, we use the Windows Server 2022 Hyper-V server.

We started the virtualization and provide two virtualized environments or operating system environments in the Windows Server itself. We run in the virtualized environment under one single Windows Server license. We started our virtualization from one site on Hyper-V.

How has it helped my organization?

Most of the workload we usually have is in the Windows Server. We also leverage the Windows Server virtualization feature, allowing us to use the hardware efficiently and get multiple Windows installs based on the license. We use both Windows Server Standard and Data Center Editions. In the Data Center Edition, we can run unlimited virtual machines based on our hardware capabilities.

What is most valuable?

The generation feature is good. Hyper-V allows us to define generation one and generation two Hyper-Vs with some legacy boot features. I appreciate the easy  generation of virtual machines.

It is straightforward to set up the solution. 

It's a stable product.

We can scale the solution.

It's pretty much issue free, so we haven't needed technical support.

What needs improvement?

They need to make some improvements to compare to VMware on Nutanix. There should be a center manual console to manage all the Hyper-V servers and cross-host V-motion. There should be clustering, and the virtual data center should be created with that in mind. There should be similar offerings between different services available within the industry.

I'd like there to be a central management console and a central configuration tool to manage and configure multiple Hyper-V services. 

We'd like a template feature to help deploy VMs quickly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for more than seven years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It works well. It is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable only in terms of licensing.

If you have the Data Center Edition license, you can scale up.

We use this product for 50 or more servers.

We do not have plans to increase usage at this time. 

How are customer service and support?

We do not need to take general support from Microsoft. It's not a very complex product. We can troubleshoot ourselves.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've yet to use a different solution. 

How was the initial setup?

The solution is simple to set up. It's not overly complex. 

One Windows server administrator can handle the deployment and maintenance.

What about the implementation team?

We handled the deployment ourselves, in-house. We did not need any outside assistance. 

What was our ROI?

Initially, we started our journey with the Alpha virtualization with Hyper-V. We can leverage multiple virtual machines, and we can create them with the help of Hyper-V. On Windows Server, with Hyper-V, we can get two virtual machines of Windows Server. However, we can also create other virtual machines like Linux. We can create a very dense environment that is very valuable to our organization.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost of the product actually comes under the Windows server purchase. A Windows Server standard license comes with Hyper-V. A minimum of eight core license units need to be purchased. The costs depend completely on your CPU and core central server.

What other advice do I have?

Before committing to one solution, a new user needs to consider what they might do if, at some point, they need to migrate. Users need to consider sizing also before deployment, as well as disk format types. They should use Thin provisioning before the deployment of a VM, and not use Thick provisioning.

I'd rate the solution eight 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.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1827354 - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Easy to set up with good baseline pricing however can get expensive
Pros and Cons
  • "My understanding is it's easy to set up."
  • "The only negative thing I heard was that the baseline price is very, very attractive relative to VMware, however, the vCenter counterpart, the thing that brings it all together, is quite pricey."

What is most valuable?

What I understand from our people is that it's certainly better now than it was a few years ago. They keep improving. 

The pricing is pretty good. 

My understanding is it's easy to set up.

What needs improvement?

The only negative thing I heard was that the baseline price is very, very attractive relative to VMware, however, the vCenter counterpart, the thing that brings it all together, is quite pricey.

We could probably live without it since we are a relatively small operation, however, vCenter is very convenient. vMotion and so forth are nice to be able to do. However, in order to be able to do the counterpart to that in the HyperVision world, suddenly the cost differential diminishes dramatically. We're not considering a change anytime soon, yet things have changed even from the last two years ago when we last looked at this.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I don't have many insights on stability. I have read a few things, however, it's not really my space. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Across all of our clients, we probably have a few hundred in use, however, the number of instances of our application that are operating on those virtual servers, I don't know. 

How was the initial setup?

The only data point I have there in relation to the initial setup is a conversation with a guy who spends 90% of his time supporting VMware organizations. He's had some Hyper-V experience. He says, "It's straightforward and I see it growing." That's somebody who's in that who space telling me that just the last week.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is a function of how many cores you have or how many processors you have. Since we're a Microsoft partner and use tools to create and maintain the software that we sell subscriptions to, we get very attractive pricing. If whatever their counterpart to the vCenter licensing weren't an issue, it would probably be 20% of what we pay for VMware.

When you add the vCenter, counterpart back in, however, it comes to be probably 80%-85% of what you actually need. The last 10% or 15% is where it gets pricey. That's a lot to cover for us to do unless there's some other serious functional advantage - and our guys haven't seen that yet.

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate Hyper-V a five out of ten. I'm not a user of it, so I'm not sure I'm qualified to rate it, however, the part of it that I was most interested in was the pricing notion. Microsoft does all sorts of interesting pricing things. I'm sure they have a good reason for doing it, however, to say, "We'll give you 80% of what you need for almost nothing and if you want the last 20%, you got to give us your left kidney" seems a little unusual.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
MichaelHarvey - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reseller
Top 10
Despite offering exceptional visualization capabilities, the solution must take into account the lack of support from reputable vendors
Pros and Cons
  • "The virtualization aspect of the solution functions similar to VMware is one of its most valuable features…It is a stable product."
  • "Many vendors, such as Cisco and HPE, are discontinuing support for Hyper-V as they believe it does not have a significant market share."

What is our primary use case?

Mainly, I use Hyper-V to analyze whether it fits the customer's needs as a solutions architect. First, we determine whether the customer is a Microsoft user. Then, we consider pricing and compare it against the features of VMware or AHV to determine which solution would be most helpful.

How has it helped my organization?

In terms of how the solution has helped the organization, I would say that cost-wise, it is a cheaper solution than VMware.

What is most valuable?

The virtualization aspect of the solution functions similar to VMware is one of its most valuable features. Even though it costs significantly less than VMware, it has enough features to compete with it, especially in terms of virtualizing VMs, data stores, NICs, and VNX.

What needs improvement?

Many vendors, such as Cisco and HPE, are discontinuing support for Hyper-V as they believe it does not have a significant market share. This poses a significant problem for our Hyper-V customers since several major vendors will no longer provide support for it.

Hyper-V doesn't need additional features. They just needed to be well-defined. So, people aren't using it as much as before, and so they need to market it better. Everybody knows VMware, but not a lot of people know Hyper-V.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Hyper-V for at least five years. Also, I don't remember the version of the solution I am using.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Even though Hyper-V is not as scalable as VMware, it can be considered scalable in general.

We don't have any plans in our organization to increase the usage of the solution. On the contrary, I see a decrease in its usage. Nowadays, we work with customers who are going to migrate to VMware from Hyper-V, even though we don't want them to do that. But there is nothing else we can do to stop them from our end. This downfall of Hyper-V is related directly to the fact that other vendors are not supporting Hyper-V anymore.

How are customer service and support?

I rate the technical support an eight out of ten since it is embedded with Microsoft support. So, their support is okay.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup process for Hyper-V was not that hard. If one knows about Microsoft and virtualization, it's not a hard product to manage or install.

What was our ROI?

I have experienced an ROI using the solution, especially when considering SLED customers.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is one of the cheapest products in the market. So, even though Nutanix gives away AHV, one still has to pay for Nutanix home.

What other advice do I have?

My suggestion to those planning to use the solution is that they use it in a smaller or simpler environment, and it'll easily do the job for them while being cost-effective at the same time. Overall, I rate the product a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Engineer at SIP
Real User
Free to use, ideal for smaller setups, and offers okay performance
Pros and Cons
  • "There are some products that you can mount over Hyper-V that provide the features that, in today's Hyper-V, are not present."
  • "If you have a bigger implementation, you need more tools to coexist with many, many features that are not present in the base Hyper-V."

What is our primary use case?

I primarily use the solution for consolidation, and I try to do replication using the last version. However, I need some time to do this configuration.

What is most valuable?

The solution is free.

The performance is okay.

For some customers that have a smaller implementation and not so much data, it's a good solution.

There are some products that you can mount over Hyper-V that provide the features that, in today's Hyper-V, are not present.

What needs improvement?

I'd like the performance to be better. 

If you have a bigger implementation, you need more tools to coexist with many, many features that are not present in the base Hyper-V.

The interface needs more options and more refinement. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution since the first version. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. However, the performance could be better.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

If you have a bigger implementation, you need more tools and more people. You need to work more. That said, it's cheaper. Some enterprises, some companies, find it better since they may have no more money. Bigger enterprises have the money to spend and have the tools or buy the tools needed, or use they may use VMware implementations along with Hyper-V.

How are customer service and support?

The support is good, however, it is expensive. 

There's a lot of documentation and experience in the market. With some time and experience, you can manage alone. That said, for some problems, support is required. And the support is expensive.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I use VMware and Hyper-V.

If the customer has an implementation with so many virtual machines and multiple networks, maybe VMware is a better solution for the client.

How was the initial setup?

The solution can be complex to set up. If you have a bigger implementation, you need more tools. 

On average, two engineers can deploy the solution. 

What was our ROI?

I haven't taken the time to calculate ROI actively. That said, it might be there as it is a cheaper option. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

You do need to pay for support, which is expensive. The solution by itself is free. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm a reseller.

If the client is new to the solution, they likely will find the product to be complex. You need one or two engineers to handle the implementation, which is easy to manage. With some training, a company can handle it. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Reviewer1961 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
Real User
It helps migrate all of our servers and saves us a lot of time.
Pros and Cons
  • "We can perform maintenance on equipment during the day because we can live migrate all of the machines from one server to another."
  • "Microsoft increased the price for this solution when adding the Storage Spaces Direct feature."

What is our primary use case?

We use this product primarily for virtualization.

How has it helped my organization?

We can perform maintenance on equipment during the day because we can live migrate all of the machines from server A to server B, and then work on server A. This saves us a lot of time. It used to require working after hours for us to do this.

What needs improvement?

I think the management tools have room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I find that this solution is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very scalable. We used four staff members for deployment, and that was sufficient for our needs.

How is customer service and technical support?

We infrequently have a need for technical support help. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very straightforward for our organization. Once we understood it in the lab, it took maybe two weeks to completely understand it and document it. Then, we could send it out to our global branches.

What was our ROI?

We are a not-for-profit, so I do not see any ROI for us.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Microsoft should have not required a data center license for the new feature of Storage Spaces Direct. There is a new feature that comes with Hyper-V called "Storage Spaces Direct"  What that storage does, it allows you to use the storage in host A and use the storage in host B, and make them work together like they're one shared storage array. The computers don't know that they're putting data on server A or B. To them, it looks like one big pool of disks. Before, we used to have to buy a separate storage array, external to the servers, and tie the servers to that array. But this new feature that comes with Hyper-V let's us use the storage inside the servers, it saves money. But Microsoft tacked on a higher price for their software to use that feature, and that was just terrible. We would be using that feature more if it did not demand a data center license.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We do also use VMware vSphere. But, we use Hyper-V more. Some people have different desires. Some people want a Lexus, and other people are happy with a Honda. Both are great cars, but one is a lot more expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I would like to see deduplication and compression in a future roll-out of the product.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Chinnajee Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
Chinnajee RaoTechnical Learning HR Manager at Mphasis
Top 10Real User

Hi Team,
You GUY's discussed all real time problems.
could you also suggest about training solution as what are all the recommended training virtualization system admin could take as per current IT market?

Ibrahim Mashal - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at Al Abnaa
Real User
Top 10
Helps to make a replica server between two machines
Pros and Cons
  • "Hyper-V helps to make a replica server between two machines. It is very easy to learn."
  • "Hyper-V needs to improve its support."

What is our primary use case?

We use Hyper-V for virtualization. 

What is most valuable?

Hyper-V helps to make a replica server between two machines. It is very easy to learn. 

What needs improvement?

Hyper-V needs to improve its support. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for four years. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My company has three users for Hyper-V. 

How was the initial setup?

Hyper-V's deployment is easy. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The tool's pricing is cheap. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Hyper-V an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Hyper-V Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Hyper-V Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.