We primarily use this solution as a hypervisor.
Sr. Programmer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
A good hypervisor but it lacks proper backup features
Pros and Cons
- "It is good for small installations."
- "It would be nice if it was turned into its own product because that's the problem with it. It doesn't have a single place where you can manage things. You have to go into all different screens to be able to configure it. And then you have no idea what the performance is. It's really just a feature added to Windows, and Microsoft does not really have anything that pulls it all together well. Compared to VMware, it does not have everything collaborate on one screen."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
They could turn it into a product because that's the problem with it. It doesn't have a single place where you can manage things. You have to go into all different screens to be able to configure it. It is hard to track what the performance is. It's really just a feature added to Windows, and Microsoft does not really have anything that pulls it all together well. Compared to VMware, it does not have everything collaborate on one screen.
In addition, the solution needs better ability to do backups.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Once it is setup, there is no problem.
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Hyper-V
January 2025
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a hypervisor, so if you had more servers, you get more scale.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not straightforward, it is a bunch of Microsoft parts that you have to arrange yourself. You have to set up the networking so that you have redundancy. You then have to go in, cluster two Windows servers, which is not so easy. The Hyper-V becomes simple, but it does not happen if the other things are not properly configured.
It takes roughly four hours to install.
What was our ROI?
There is no ROI for us, because it is a free product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is free for us so that was a prime factor for choosing this solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We are currently seriously considering migrating to VMware solutions.
What other advice do I have?
It is good for small installations. If you are looking to do anything fancy, this is is not a good choice.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Systems Architect at UST Global
Realized benefits in the smaller data center space, power, and cooling, in addition to the benefit from the virtualization layer
Pros and Cons
- "The organization has realized the benefits on smaller data center space, power, cooling, etc. apart from the benefit that the virtualization layer brings in."
- "SCVMM needs to be more user-friendly. Without SCVMM, automating is not easy to use and we look forward to the upcoming versions of SCVMM becoming simpler and more admin friendly."
What is our primary use case?
We had deployed multiple Hyper-V clusters for various projects and even have the confidence to run it for highly critical production loads.
How has it helped my organization?
Hyper-V has become a real matured virtualization platform with Windows Server 2012 R2. The organization that I work for was having a virtualization environment on Windows Server 2008 R2. Since it was not optimally used due to the limitations with Hyper-V with Windows Server 2008 R2, we evaluated the possibility to get an environment on Windows Server 2012 R2. We had more than 30 racks with the majority of them running on physical machines. By the end of 2014, the number of server racks came down to 10 and we could confidently run majority of the workloads on Hyper-V. The organization has realized the benefits on smaller data center space, power, cooling, etc. apart from the benefit that the virtualization layer brings in.
What is most valuable?
- Live migration
- P2V
- VM replica
- Snapshots
- VM export and import
- Dynamic memory, etc.
The advanced features, like Network Virtualization, have yet to be tested out, but I feel that they will be a game changer.
What needs improvement?
SCVMM needs to be more user-friendly. Without SCVMM, automating is not easy to use and we look forward to the upcoming versions of SCVMM becoming simpler and more admin friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Hyper-V
January 2025
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832,460 professionals have used our research since 2012.
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?
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.
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.
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 technical 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.
Datacenter & Security Manager at Binaria IT Services
User-friendly and has native integration with Azure
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is very user-friendly."
- "The solution should improve its native integration with other public cloud solutions."
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution for Jira visualization and Jira workload.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution is very user-friendly. Since we have an agreement with Microsoft, it is really easy to use and doesn't cost us much.
What is most valuable?
The feature of native integration with Azure is good.
What needs improvement?
The solution should improve its native integration with other public cloud solutions.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for the past 10-15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable. However, we do not have a big cluster. At the moment, we do not have any plans to increase the usage of the solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty straightforward. We did not have any issues at all.
What was our ROI?
We get ROI on the product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Since we have an agreement with Microsoft, the solution is not very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
If someone plans to implement Hyper-V, they should seek an agreement with Microsoft to get a better value for the product. I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Manager IT at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Easy to set up and scalable, but is quite expensive
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is very easy."
- "The operating system is very, very heavy."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the product for multiple servers and for Dynamics AX, for example, the routing server, the load balancer, the application server, and stuff like that.
What is most valuable?
The initial setup is very easy.
The scalability is okay.
What needs improvement?
The performance of VMware was better, which is why I've moved away from Hyper-V.
The operating system is very, very heavy. Sometimes the system is pretty slow. Basically, the iOS performance is very slow, as compared to VMware. They must make the OS as simple and as smooth as they can to make it more user-friendly and faster.
The product is quite expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for about one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The performance isn't that great. If can be slow.
The stability is okay. I'd describe it as between 50 to 60% stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is decent. I'd say that it can scale to 60 to 70%.
How are customer service and technical support?
We've had so many issues, however, we didn't really ask for help from Microsoft. We mostly did a lot of googling and worked to figure things out on our end.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've recently moved over to vSphere.
How was the initial setup?
The product is not difficult to set up. It's not overly complex. It's pretty straightforward. A company shouldn't have any problems with its implementation.
What about the implementation team?
The first time I did an implementation, I needed help from Microsoft. They assisted us originally.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is quite expensive when you compare it to other products. Microsoft solutions aren't cheap.
What other advice do I have?
I'm just a customer and an end-user.
I have used the Hyper-V for Dynamics AX for a while, however, recently I moved to a virtual machine, VM.
I'd rate the solution at a five out of ten. It's not the worst, however, it certainly is not the best either.
I would recommend Hyper-V to users, especially if they are dealing with a Microsoft OS.
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.
PreSales Manager at UC-Solutions
Stable with minimal downtime, and it has a good licensing model
Pros and Cons
- "There are two very good things about this product including licensing and stability."
- "It would be nice if they provided a free management console that we could use to manage all of the hosts for no additional fee."
What is our primary use case?
I am a solution provider and Hyper-V is one of the products that I implement for my customers.
What is most valuable?
There are two very good things about this product including licensing and stability.
What needs improvement?
If you have a lot of Hyper-V servers then you will need an additional product, which is the System Center Virtual Machine Manager, so that you can control the host environments of all of your virtual machines. It would be nice if they provided a free management console that we could use to manage all of the hosts for no additional fee.
There should be a way to restart the services and not the whole station, which would minimize downtime, especially when updating the operating system. This is a feature that everybody needs.
For how long have I used the solution?
I started working with Hyper-V in 2012, between eight and nine years ago.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is very stable, in particular with the most recent version of Windows Server. This is true even in a cluster environment, and I have never found an issue with stability.
Obviously, when you are using Windows Server update, it will restart the server occasionally and you will have downtime, but it will be minimal. If you don't want to have any downtime then you will need multiple hosts in a cluster environment. You can move your virtual machines from one host to another, which means that you can restart the server and not affect the service. This can be important because sometimes, the restart process takes too much time to complete.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very easy to scale Hyper-V. However, it depends on the version that you have because if you have the Standard Edition then you only have three hosts. If you want more than three hosts then you will need a Datacenter version.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have experience with VMware and one of the nice features is that you can restart a service after an update and everything goes live in seconds, rather than minutes.
These two technologies compete with each other, and in deciding which to use, I speak with users about their needs. I also speak with them about the knowledge of their technical team and the budget. These are all factors in the decision because I want to provide the best solution from both a technical and budget perspective.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very easy. All you have to do is watch a 10-minute YouTube video and you can deploy the hardware.
It can be deployed in different ways. If you need to have a virtual environment then it will be hosted on Microsoft Azure. If instead, you have your own private cloud then it will be hosted on-premises, on your physical servers.
The tricky part about this field is not the deployment. It's troubleshooting and finding solutions for issues. For just about any software, you can deploy anything. Even if you don't understand anything about the product, you can deploy anything from scratch and there is no issue with it. The problem is figuring how to solve issues and find solutions outside of the box. Almost all Microsoft issues are solved in this way. It's not about what you find online or in the documentation. Rather, you need to think outside the box. It's the hardest part about this field.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
If you have the standard edition of Windows server then with each copy of the operating system, you have two virtual machines for free.
If you have a Windows Datacenter license then you have unlimited virtual machines for free. This is much better compared to ESXi or VMware, where each virtual machine requires its own license. In the Windows Datacenter, you can have as many as you want.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Chief Technology Officer at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Low price for a hyper-virtualized environment
Pros and Cons
- "It allowed us to add on servers and fix things in an expedient manner."
- "Microsoft tech support is horrible."
What is our primary use case?
I use this solution for some of my virtual machines.
How has it helped my organization?
It allowed us to add on servers and fix things in an expedient manner.
What is most valuable?
I find the hardware and the cost reduction most valuable.
What needs improvement?
The backup has 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?
It is a pretty stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have not scaled it because I am not running it in a cluster environment anymore. I do know that the clusters work and that Hyper-V can easily scale for an organization's greater needs.
How is customer service and technical support?
Microsoft tech support is horrible.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. It took a day to deploy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The Hyper-V pricing and licensing are very good.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I looked at Hyper-V vs AHV, which is a Nutanix product. Nutanix Acropolis is a hyperconverged product that does a lot of next-level type of virtualization software.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Operations Manager at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
An advanced solution with good management and the capability to scale
Pros and Cons
- "I find that most of the competition is more or less the same. However, Hyper-V is, when you compare it to the older platforms like VMware, a little bit more advanced at this stage."
- "If a person has never implemented the solution before, they might find the process difficult."
What is our primary use case?
We mostly use Microsoft Hyper-V in our production environment.
What is most valuable?
I find that most of the competition is more or less the same. However, Hyper-V is, when you compare it to the older platforms like VMware, a little bit more advanced at this stage.
I like the System Center part of it, the System Center VMM, where you can manage all the stuff together in the orchestrator and those kinds of things. That was not really available when we looked at Proxmox and other options.
Microsoft's got the better deployment tools like MBT and conflict manager, which is not in the other platform.
For me, the initial setup was very easy.
The solution has been very stable.
The scalability on offer is good.
What needs improvement?
It's hard to compare it to other solutions. Everything has almost the same offering.
It's possible that more deployment tools might make it a bit better.
If a person has never implemented the solution before, they might find the process difficult.
The next generation should at least include most of the tools of the next operating system.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution from the start. I likely started using it around 2006. It's been well over a decade. I've used it for many, many years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very simple in my case. I've got a certification, so for me, it's almost like second nature. For someone with less experience, it's possible it may be a bit difficult.
What about the implementation team?
I am able to handle the implementation myself. I do not need an integrator or consultant.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did look at Proxmox and Citrix Hypervisor, among other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I'm just a customer and an end-user.
I'm using the 2012 and 2016 versions of the product.
I'm more familiar with Hyper-V and with Microsoft products. I've got certification in that as well. There are some management solutions out from Microsoft, which are not just for Hyper-V, but for a lot of things. With these, it's almost like an all-in-one product, which you don't really get when you look at your Linux-based virtualizers. For example, with Proxmox, there is not really management. You have these notes that you couple up and then you have a backup server, however, you don't really have something that you can orchestrate those things with. Citrix, I can't speak to as I didn't really work with Citrix that much.
If you run any kind of network solution, I would rather recommend Hyper-V over any other hypervisor at this moment - unless you are looking at it from a cost of ownership perspective.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. There's no such thing as a perfect product, however, I'm pretty happy with this.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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