Fact: most workloads run on virtual servers. Spiceworks’ 2020 State of Virtualization Technology report states that 92 percent of businesses have transitioned to virtual servers. Microsoft’s Hyper-V is a popular choice for virtualizing workloads, but VMWare is the overall leader in the hypervisor space. Based on total market-share, many backup and disaster recovery (BDR) service providers built offerings to back up virtual machines and provide services for VMWare customers only.
Still, Hyper-V’s advantages continue to drive strong loyalty among its users. This is likely to continue through its end of life when it seems Microsoft will point users to Azure Stack HCI OS (hyper-converged infrastructure). Hyper-V Server 2019, the last version, will be supported until January 2029 under Microsoft’s lifecycle policy, and, like VMWare users, Hyper-V users will continue to need supported backup and disaster recovery services.
The Benefits of Using Hyper-V
Hyper-V, which is included with Windows Server, is easy to learn and use. This hypervisor gives businesses a cost-effective way to virtualize their workflows – and to scale. Businesses with applications tied to a single physical server need to plan and deploy infrastructure for peak capacity. Unfortunately, this means that a large portion of a hardware investment is underutilized. With Hyper-V, users can consolidate more workloads onto one server and use the hardware to its fullest capacity.
Hyper-V also gives businesses more flexibility when processes or client demands change. It allows users to move workloads to a different server without disruption since virtual machines aren’t tied to a specific host. They can move without having to install everything on a new machine. An additional perk is the large Microsoft user community! Information and support are readily available on the internet.
Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of Hyper-V is that it is provided with Windows Server at no extra charge. Moreover, VMWare users who also leverage the Windows OS must run their hypervisor on Windows, in effect, paying for two hypervisors.
Backing Up Virtual Machines and Disaster Recovery (DR)
Virtual workloads — like any workload – must be backed up to protect data and ensure it’s always accessible. Building a DR environment that your business can fail over to in the event of a hardware failure, human error, or natural disaster is critical to business continuity.
Hyper-V allows users to easily replicate their virtual machines to their DR site using a third-party solution, such as those from Veeam. Veeam software creates bootable copies of VMs that can restore data when needed, even after a ransomware attack so that the business can avoid paying a ransom.
A solution based on Hyper-V and Veeam Backup & Replication is proven to be effective for our clients. In fact, it helped one client comply with SOC2 Type 2 requirements for highly secure backups.
We Have Your Backup
If you’re one of the Hyper-V users who is sold on the hypervisor’s benefits and cost-effectiveness, you may have realized it’s difficult to find a Backup as a Service (BaaS) or a Disaster Recovery as a Services (DRaaS) provider. Their offerings may be focused on backing up and ensuring they can restore data for VMWare users.
Although Virtual Systems supports VMWare, we also offer and will continue to build solutions for Hyper-V environments for our clients. Contact us to learn more about how we can backup your virtual machines and ensure you can restore your data whenever you need it.
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