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Hyper-V Server 2022
Anyone know whether there will be a Hyper-V Server 2022? i.e. the free version which is just for running VMs and has no GUI? I've seen mentions on forums that this SKU is being dropped, but not ...
Free 'Microsoft Hyper-V Server' product update
Since its introduction over a decade ago in Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V technology has been, and continues to be, the foundation of Microsoft’s hypervisor platform. Hyper-V is a strategic technology for Microsoft. Microsoft continues to invest heavily in Hyper-V for a variety of scenarios such as virtualization, security, containers, gaming, and more. Hyper-V is used in Azure, Azure Local, Windows Server, Windows Client, and Xbox among others.
Starting with Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019, the free ‘Microsoft Hyper-V Server’ product has been deprecated and is the final version of that product. Hyper-V Server 2019 is a free product available for download from the Microsoft Evaluation Center: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-hyper-v-server-2019
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 will continue to be supported under its lifecycle policy until January 2029, see this link for additional information: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/hyperv-server-2019.
While Microsoft has made a business decision to no longer offer the free 'Microsoft Hyper-V Server' product, this has no impact to the many other products which include the Hyper-V feature and capabilities. This change has no impact to any customers who use Windows Server or Azure Local.
For customers looking to do test or evaluation of the Hyper-V feature, Azure Local includes a 60-day free trial and can be downloaded here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/ . Windows Server offers a free 180-day evaluation which can be downloaded from the Evaluation Center here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter
Microsoft remains committed to meeting customers where they are and delivering innovation for on-premises virtualization and bringing unique hybrid capabilities like no other can combined with the power of Azure Arc. We are announcing that Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 was the last version of the free download product and that customers begin transitioning to one of the several other products which include Hyper-V or consider Azure.
Thank you,
Elden Christensen
Principal Group PM Manager
Windows Server Development Team
Anyone considering deploying XCP-ng or Proxmox in place of Hyper-V Server is probably going to want to be aware that you probably won't be eligible for support from Microsoft for any Windows Server guest VMs that you run on those platforms.
Microsoft's Support policy for Microsoft software that runs on non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software states that 'Microsoft does not test or support Microsoft software that's run in conjunction with non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software.' unless you have Premier-level support (an annual paid contract), the vendor has established a support relationship with Microsoft that covers virtualization solutions, or the vendor is part of the Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/virtualization/software-runs-on-non-microsoft-virtualization-software)
The list of support partners for non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software currently includes the following:
- Canonical, Ltd
- Citrix Systems, Inc.
- Nutanix, Inc.
- Red Hat, Inc.
- SUSE Linux Products GmbH
- Virtuozzo International GmbH
- VMware, Inc
And the Server Virtualization Validation Program includes a number of products, but Proxmox and XCP-ng are not yet on the list
https://www.windowsservercatalog.com/svvp.aspx?svvppage=svvp.htm
As far as I can tell there's nothing to stop them from joining - 'SVVP is open to any vendor that delivers a machine virtualization solution that runs currently supported versions of Windows Server.' and they can do the testing themselves - 'All testing for this program is done by the virtualization product vendors, with the results of that testing submitted to Microsoft for review and approval.' but if the product isn't on the programme you won't be able to access normal Windows Server technical support.
That's the purpose of the programme:
'The program enables vendors to validate various machine virtualization products so that Microsoft customers running copies of Windows Server they have acquired and licensed from Microsoft directly can receive technical support for Windows Server in virtualized environments.'
Worth considering the risks of this when proposing solutions like these to any clients.
Yes, this is important in the consultancy space where business strategy conversations around business continuity planning (or BCP - of which ICT is just one part) carry significant weight.
Arguably, the feedback solicited from us in this forum was supposed to be purely technical, so I don't want to waste my time or anybody else's deep-diving on the commercial aspect, but support comes up frequently in at least two components of BCP: risk (cyber insurance) and staff contingency planning (knowledge transfer and intellectual property capture and retention), both of which can be reduced - through estimation - into a discussion about dollars and cents in the context of risk versus reward.
For many businesses, it doesn't matter which channel is leveraged (Premier Support, pay-per-incident, etc.), just that there is a formal escalation process so they are not left carrying the hot potato when things go wrong - particularly for something as important as their virtualisation platform (which can most definitely influence your cyber insurance).
Stepping back out to avoid that rabbit hole, and linking it back to what losing the free Hyper-V Server means, it's simple: the value (tangible and perceived) to the customer of the Microsoft ecosystem (not just this specific product).
