Hyper-V is also designed to provide server virtualization for organizations that are implementing a private cloud, public cloud, or multicloud system. Hyper-V is available as a role in Windows Server and can also be installed as a stand-alone server, which is known as Hyper-V Server. Both versions ease the learning curve for administrators who have experience with Microsoft products. Hyper-V features include:
- Computing environment—A Hyper-V VM includes the same basic parts as a physical system, such as memory, processor, storage, and networking. All these parts have features and options that can be configured to meet different needs. Because of the many ways to configure them, storage and networking can be considered categories of their own.
- Disaster recovery and backup—For disaster recovery, Hyper-V Replica creates copies of VMs that are intended to be stored in another physical location so that the VM can be restored from the copy. For backup, Hyper-V offers two types—one type uses saved states, while the other uses Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to make application-consistent backups for programs that support VSS.
- Optimization—Each supported guest operating system has a customized set of services and drivers, called integration services. These services, while enhancing performance, make it easier to use the operating system in a Hyper-V VM.
- Portability—Features such as live migration, storage migration, and import/export make it easier to move or distribute a VM.
- Remote connectivity—Virtual Machine Connection is a remote connection tool for use with both Windows and Linux. Unlike Remote Desktop, this tool provides console access, so the administrator can see what is happening in the guest even when the operating system is not yet booted.
- Security—Secure boot and shielded VMs help protect against malware and other unauthorized access to a VM and its data.
