- Hyper-v Server Free Edition Download
- Hyper-v Server Free Edition
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Since its introduction in Windows Server 2008, Microsoft's hypervisor, known as Hyper-V, has played catch-up with some of the more robust offerings from VMware and other competitors. Free Download Hyper-v Server 2016 ISO File. Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a free product that delivers enterprise-class virtualization for your datacenter and hybrid cloud. Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016 provides new and enhanced features that can help you deliver the scale and performance needs of your mission-critical workloads. The Microsoft Evaluation Center brings you full-featured Microsoft product evaluation software available for download or trial on Microsoft Azure. There are two different Hyper-V versions, the free Hyper-V Server and Windows Server Hyper-V role. Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a stand-alone light server that contains only the Windows Hypervisor; Windows Server with Hyper-V Role is a Windows Server Guest OS with Hyper-V Role enabled.
Microsoft’s Hyper-V hypervisor has come a long way since its inception in the early days. With Windows Server 2016 it is now a mature hypervisor with most of the enterprise features of the big names in the virtualization space. Microsoft has made tremendous strides in making the latest version of Hyper-V fully cloud integrated with the Azure ecosystem as well.
Microsoft has certainly won over many enterprise datacenter customers and is running their production workloads in Hyper-V.
For those that are looking to migrate over to Hyper-V from their current hypervisors, there can be confusion on the difference between the Hyper-V versions and which version should be used in various use cases.
Hyper-V exists in the Hyper-V 2016 variant as well as in the Hyper-V role that can be installed inside of Windows Server 2016 installations.
In this post, we will look at the different Hyper-V versions and the various use cases for each, pricing, workloads, etc.
Microsoft Hyper-V Versions Comparison
The first Hyper-V version we want to take a look at is Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016.
What is the purpose of the Hyper-V 2016 version of the hypervisor?
The Microsoft Hyper-V 2016 platform is a free version of the hypervisor offered by Microsoft.
For those more familiar with the VMware world, you can think about Hyper-V 2016 as the pseudo equivalent of the free version of the ESXi hypervisor. The free version of Hyper-V 2016 is available for download publicly here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-hyper-v-server-2016
Hyper-V 2016 is designated as “Unlimited” in the evaluation center
What use cases is the free version of Hyper-V 2016 well suited for?
One caveat with the Hyper-V 2016 platform is that you don’t get any Windows guest licensing included with the product since it is free. So, it is better suited for running Linux workloads that don’t incur guest OS licensing fees. Additionally, it can make sense for running VDI workloads as well.
When looking at the architecture of Hyper-V 2016, it is essentially Windows Server 2016 Core with the Hyper-V role already installed. So, once installed, this is basically where the server stands as far as configuration of roles.
As opposed to installing Windows Server 2016 and then configuring roles, you are already up and running with a hypervisor once the Hyper-V 2016 installation finishes.
As opposed to Hyper-V 2016, when you install Windows Server 2016 you still have to install the Hyper-V role.
Some may think that Windows Server 2016 with the Hyper-V role installed would be considered a type 2 hypervisor.
What is a type 2 hypervisor as opposed to a type 1 hypervisor?
A type 2 hypervisor is a hypervisor that runs as an application on top of an existing operating system. In contrast, a type 1 hypervisor is known as a bare-metal hypervisor that runs directly on top of the physical server hardware.
In what we described – installing the Windows Server 2016 operating system and then installing the Hyper-V role, would this not be type 2?
Microsoft does something very interesting here when you install the Hyper-V role. Once the role is installed, Hyper-V is instantiated first before Windows Server 2016. In fact, once the role is installed, Windows Server 2016 runs on top of the hypervisor. This qualifies Hyper-V as a type 1 hypervisor.
Advantages of Hyper-V 2016 Free
- The obvious one (its free)
- Lightweight – Server 2016 Core with Hyper-V role
- Minimal configuration required – After install Hypervisor is functional (basically)
Disadvantages of Hyper-V 2016 Free
- Doesn’t include guest operating system licenses
- This can add up if you desire to host many VMs
What about installing Windows Server 2016 and then installing the Hyper-V role?
Windows Server 2016 offers the ability to install the Hyper-V role. As mentioned in the comparison with the free Hyper-V 2016 install, the installation of Hyper-V via the Windows Server 2016 installation requires adding the Hyper-V role into the Windows Server 2016 installation via the Add Roles/Features functionality.
Adding the Hyper-V Role in Windows Server 2016
After adding the server role, the server reboots and Hyper-V is instantiated first, then booting the Windows Server 2016 operating system. One thing not to confuse with the Hyper-V 2016 free installation is Windows Server 2016 Server Core. You can install the full Windows Server 2016 operating system as Server Core (GUI-less) and then install the Hyper-V role. This is not the same (licensing wise) as Hyper-V 2016 Server.
Hyper-v Server Free Edition Download
Finishing the Hyper-V Server Role installation
The server will appear to configure Windows such as when updates are installed
After the Hyper-V role installation, there isn’t really a noticeable change in the appearance of the server booting, however, after the reboot, you now have access to the Hyper-V management tools to manage the configuration of the server role.
Hyper-V management tools are installed which allow managing either the local Hyper-V instance or a remote server
The Windows Server 2016 installation of the Hyper-V Role offers advantages when it comes to licensing as well as features (especially with Datacenter). Licensing for Windows Server 2016 in general is shown on the official Windows Server 2016 pricing page. The breakdown of guest operating system licensing received is as follows:
Hyper-v Server Free Edition
Windows Server 2016 Standard edition:
- Windows Server OSes and Containers with Hyper-V isolation – 2 instances
- Unlimited containers without Hyper-V isolation
Windows Server 2016 Datacenter edition:
- Unlimited Windows Server OSes and Containers with Hyper-V isolation
- Unlimited containers without Hyper-V isolation
- Storage Spaces Direct with storage replicas
- Shielded Virtual Machines
- Software Defined Networking stack
Windows Server 2016 Pricing and Licensing overview
Windows Server Standard vs Datacenter Feature comparison and Licensed Guest OSes/Containers
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Aside from the unlimited guest OSes and containers that are available with Hyper-V isolation, the Windows Server 2016 Datacenter edition with the Hyper-V role provides all the enterprise features and functionality that enterprise datacenters will no doubt want to take advantage of for most of their production workloads.
Storage Spaces Direct:
Storage Spaces Direct is Microsoft’s solution that competes with such SDS solutions as VMware vSAN. It allows using industry-standard servers with DAS storage to create software-defined storage arrays between nodes. Similar to VMware vSAN it contains features such as caching, storage tiers, and erasure coding for fault tolerance.
Shielded Virtual Machines:
Shielded Virtual Machines are encrypted virtual machines with BitLocker encryption to provide encrypted protection at rest on disk as well as when virtual machine data is moving across the network during a Live Migration.
Networking Stack:
Windows Server 2016 Datacenter edition provides access to the software-defined networking stack that allows virtualizing network resources and abstracting the network layer into the hypervisor. This brings about tremendous security and mobility advantages for production workloads.
Windows Server 2016 with Hyper-V Role Installed Advantages:
- Provides a much more powerful solution than Hyper-V 2016 (more features, etc)
- Provides built-in OS and container licensing for running with Hyper-V isolation
- Datacenter edition provides access to Storage Spaces Direct, Shielded Virtual Machines, and
Windows Server 2016 with Hyper-V Role Installed Disadvantages:
- Much more expensive than Hyper-V 2016, especially Datacenter Edition
- More involved installation and configuration
- May be overkill for some customers who only need to run Linux or VDI workloads
Takeaways
Microsoft’s hypervisor has certainly come a long way, especially in Windows Server 2016 trim. The newest version of Hyper-V has certainly included most of the functionality that enterprise customers look for in a hypervisor and expect when running production workloads.
However, the different versions can confuse many when trying to decide which version and installation to implement. As described, Hyper-V 2016 is the free version that is fine for running non-Windows operating systems as well as VDI workloads. However, for more heavy lifting enterprise environments that are looking for dense virtual machine provisioning of Windows Server operating systems, customers will benefit by purchasing the Standard or most likely Datacenter licensing for Windows Server 2016 as Datacenter includes unlimited OS and container licensing running with Hyper-V isolation.
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Like what you read? Rate usDo you want to consolidate Servers? In cases where no new Windows Server licenses are required or where the servers being consolidated are running an alternative OS, you may want to consider using Microsoft Hyper-V Server for free!
Is Microsoft Hyper-v Server 2019 Free
Hyper-V Server is a dedicated stand-alone product that contains the hypervisor, Windows Server driver model, virtualization capabilities, and supporting components such as failover clustering, but does not contain the robust set of features and roles as the Windows Server operating system. As a result Hyper-V Server produces a small footprint and requires minimal overhead.
One of the most common uses for Hyper-V Server is in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environments. VDI allows a Windows client operating system to run on server-based virtual machines in the datacenter, which the user can access from a PC, thin client, or other client device. A full client environment is virtualized within a server-based hypervisor, centralizing users’ desktops.
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By deploying VDI with Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012, users will have seamless access to a rich, full fidelity Windows environment running in the data center, from any device. Hyper-V Server also gives IT professionals a cost effective VDI solution with simplified administration, flexible storage options, and dynamic allocation of resources.