Microsoft Hyper-V Server icon

Microsoft Hyper-V Server

Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a free, standalone product that provides a hypervisor-based virtualization platform for running virtual machines on x64 Windows servers. It has a small footprint and basic management tools.

What is Microsoft Hyper-V Server?

Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a free, standalone product from Microsoft that provides a hypervisor-based virtualization platform for running virtual machines on x64 Windows servers. It has a small footprint and requires limited system resources while providing a simple and reliable virtualization solution.

As a hypervisor, Hyper-V creates and runs virtual machines that function like physical computers, each running their own operating systems and applications in isolation from each other. This allows you to consolidate workloads onto fewer servers in order to utilize hardware more efficiently.

Key features of Hyper-V Server include:

  • Hypervisor-based virtualization for hardware consolidation and workload isolation
  • Support for x64 Windows guest operating systems
  • Virtual networking and storage for virtual machines
  • Live migration of running virtual machines between hosts
  • Basic performance monitoring and reporting tools
  • Scripted automation of management tasks
  • Free stand-alone product with small footprint

Hyper-V Server is best suited for small to medium organizations that want a reliable platform for consolidating servers using hardware virtualization. It provides core virtualization capabilities without requiring licensing or features found in the paid Windows Server versions with Hyper-V role.

The Best Microsoft Hyper-V Server Alternatives

Top Apps like Microsoft Hyper-V Server

Proxmox Virtual Environment, Limbo PC Emulator, Virtualizor, AQEMU, Deis, Danube Cloud, XCP-ng, oVirt, JavaQemu, Apache Mesos, QtEmu, JPCSIM, bhyve, OpenNode Cloud Platform, Nebula Container Orchestrator, SmartOS, VMware Server, ZeroStack, Parallels Workstation, Panamax, Karesansui, PetiteCloud are some alternatives to Microsoft Hyper-V Server.

Proxmox Virtual Environment

Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is an open-source server virtualization management solution based on QEMU/KVM virtualization and LXC containers. It allows you to manage virtual machines and containers using a web-based GUI. Key features include:Hypervisor built on Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology for virtualizationLinux Containers (LXC) for...

Limbo PC Emulator

Limbo PC Emulator is an open-source emulator that allows you to run Windows software on Linux, macOS, and other platforms. It uses Wine and QEMU virtualization to provide compatibility with Windows applications.Some key features of Limbo include:Full compatibility with most Windows software without needing an actual Windows license...

Virtualizor

Virtualizor is an open-source web-based virtualization management system designed specifically for web hosting providers and data centers to manage virtual private servers (VPS) and cloud servers. It works by creating an abstraction layer on top of virtualization platforms such as KVM, Xen, Virtuozzo and OpenVZ to provide a feature-rich web...

AQEMU

AQEMU is an open-source machine emulator and virtualizer. It can emulate a variety of guest hardware platforms and allows you to run operating systems and software within virtual machines on your existing host operating system.Some key features of AQEMU include:Processor emulation including x86, ARM, SPARC and PowerPC architecturesVirtualized...

Deis

Deis is an open source platform as a service (PaaS) built on top of Kubernetes that allows developers to easily deploy, manage, and scale applications. Some key features of Deis include:Simple Git push deployments - Developers can deploy apps simply by pushing code to a Git repository.Buildpacks -...

Danube Cloud

Danube Cloud is an open source, multi-cloud platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solution developed by EuroLDAP and designed to make life easier for developers. With Danube Cloud, developers can quickly build, deploy and efficiently scale applications without having to manage the underlying infrastructure.Some key features and benefits of Danube Cloud include:Supports...

XCP-ng

XCP-ng is an open-source hypervisor platform based on the Xen Project Hypervisor. It originated as a community-driven fork of Citrix XenServer and allows users to manage virtual machines and storage resources for compute provisioning.Some key features of XCP-ng include:Provides an enterprise-grade hypervisor and tools for virtual machine management...

OVirt

oVirt is an open-source virtualization management platform that provides a graphical user interface and REST API for managing virtual machines, storage, and networking in an enterprise data center. It is designed to enable administrators to easily create and manage virtualized infrastructure components like hosts, VMs, storage, and networks.Some key...

JavaQemu

JavaQemu is an open-source Java emulator that provides a virtual machine environment to run Java bytecode and Java applications without needing to install a Java runtime. It emulates Java hardware like the processor and memory to execute Java binaries compiled to bytecode format.Some key features of JavaQemu include:Full...

Apache Mesos

Apache Mesos is an open source cluster manager that provides efficient resource isolation and sharing across distributed applications or frameworks. It sits between the application layer and the operating system on a distributed system, and makes it easier to deploy and manage applications in large-scale clustered environments.Some key features...

QtEmu

QtEmu is an open-source, cross-platform emulator that can emulate a variety of older computer systems and classic games consoles. It provides a user-friendly graphical interface to emulate systems like DOS, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and more.Some key features of QtEmu...

JPCSIM

JPCSIM is an open-source, Java-based, discrete event simulation software designed specifically for modeling manufacturing systems like production lines, assembly operations, supply chains, and more. It provides a graphical modeling interface that allows users to quickly build simulations by adding and connecting functional blocks that represent individual processes or operations.Some...

Bhyve

Bhyve is an open-source Type 2 hypervisor that runs on FreeBSD. It allows users to run multiple guest operating systems (called virtual machines or VMs) simultaneously on a single FreeBSD host system. Bhyve supports hardware virtualization features like Intel VT-x and AMD-V to improve the performance of guest VMs.Some key...

OpenNode Cloud Platform

OpenNode Cloud Platform is an open source platform optimized for building and running serverless applications and microservices in the cloud. It allows developers to focus on writing code without worrying about managing underlying infrastructure.Some key features of OpenNode include:Fully managed containers - OpenNode handles provisioning, scaling, load balancing...

Nebula Container Orchestrator

Nebula Container Orchestrator (Nebula) is an open-source container orchestration and management platform. It allows users to easily deploy, manage and scale containerized applications across clusters of hosts.Some key features of Nebula include:Deployment automation - Nebula can deploy application stacks with a single command across a clusterAuto-scaling - It...

SmartOS

SmartOS is an open-source server operating system based on the Illumos kernel, a derivative of Solaris. It was originally developed by Joyent and focuses on security, virtualization, and cloud computing features.Some key features of SmartOS include:Built-in hypervisor for virtualization using KVM or zonesZFS file system for storage with...

VMware Server

VMware Server is a type 2 bare-metal hypervisor developed by VMware that runs directly on top of the host operating system. It allows users to create and run multiple virtual machines on a single physical server, providing a cost-effective way to utilize hardware resources more efficiently.Some key features of VMware...

ZeroStack

ZeroStack is an open source platform that allows developers to build, run and scale applications without having to manage servers or infrastructure. It provides a serverless architecture and completely abstracts away the underlying infrastructure.Some key features of ZeroStack include:Auto-scaling based on demandBuilt-in monitoring, logging and analyticsGlobal deployment across...

Parallels Workstation

Parallels Workstation is a desktop virtualization software that enables users to run multiple operating systems on a single physical computer. It utilizes hypervisor technology to create isolated virtual machines where different operating systems can be installed and used simultaneously.Some key features of Parallels Workstation include:Ability to run Windows...

Panamax

Panamax is an open-source container management platform built on Docker and CoreOS. It allows users to easily deploy, monitor, manage, and scale Docker containers through a simple graphical user interface.Some key features of Panamax include:Graphical container management - Easily create, run,and link Docker containers without touching the...

Karesansui

Karesansui is an open source web-based interface for managing virtualization infrastructure and resources. It provides a simple yet powerful way to administer virtual machines, compute nodes, storage, networks and more through a web browser.Some key features of Karesansui include:Intuitive dashboard to view the status of hosts and virtual...

PetiteCloud

PetiteCloud is an open source platform-as-a-service (PaaS) designed for hosting web applications and services. It provides developers with on-demand infrastructure to deploy, scale, and manage their apps without managing servers.Key features of PetiteCloud include:Supports popular languages like Node.js, Python, PHP, Ruby, JavaBuilt-in support for databases like MySQL...