Microsoft sinks standalone Hyper-V Server, wants you using Azure Stack HCI for VM-wrangling
(2021/08/31)
- Reference: 1630384208
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/08/31/hyper_v_server_discontinued/
- Source link:
Analysis Microsoft won't ship a new version of Hyper-V Server – the free tool it offers alongside Windows Server to build hybrid clouds and manage fleets of virtual machines – with Windows Server 2022.
News of the change emerged in a [1]TechCommunity thread . It spread quickly in a newsletter that backup vendor Veeam sends to its forum members, which sparked a thread on [2]Reddit .
In his responses to the TechCommunity thread, Elden Christensen, a principal product manager on Microsoft's Windows Server development team, did not deny that Hyper-V Server was no more.
[3]
"Azure Stack HCI is Microsoft's premier hypervisor offering for running virtual machines on-premises," he wrote in one post. A later missive added, "Our strategic direction for a hypervisor platform is with Azure Stack HCI, it is a purpose-built solution hybrid infrastructure for running virtual machines."
[4]
[5]
The Register asked Microsoft to clarify whether the posts signal the demise of standalone Hyper-V Server and that Christensen's observations are correct. The IT giant did not contend either proposition.
What does this mean?
Hyper-V Server is Microsoft's virtual machine management platform and works with Microsoft's hypervisor – which is, confusingly, named just Hyper-V. Microsoft [6]bills Hyper-V Server as offering "enterprise-class virtualization for your datacenter and hybrid cloud."
Hyper-V Server is free – a price Microsoft has used to contrast with the price of VMware's rival vSphere product. The gambit didn't work: VMware owns more than 75 per cent of the server virtualization market – and keeps growing – despite years of competitors' attempts to paint it as an expensive product.
The shift to Azure Stack HCI as Microsoft's preferred tool to manage private and hybrid clouds is therefore very significant.
[7]
Microsoft has for years integrated Windows Server more closely with Azure, but Azure Stack brings more of the Azure experience and Azure services on-prem. Discontinuing Hyper-V Server as a private cloud option therefore demonstrates, yet again, that Microsoft wants its customers in hybrid cloud environments that are more likely to lead to consumption of its cloud services.
Or, as a senior Veeam exec put it in the newsletter mentioned above:
I remember when Microsoft first introduced free Hyper-V, I thought to myself how it was a bold move that will help them to become the leading hypervisor by following Veeam’s model of giving away capable and feature-rich software. However, with Azure (and particularly IaaS) now being the main focus for Microsoft, I can see how helping small businesses to run their infrastructures on-prem in a cost-efficient manner is rather counterproductive for them.
Ouch.
Giving Azure Stack HCI the job also shows that Microsoft is all-in on software-defined data centres – which it needs to be because hybrid clouds are easier to build around software constructs than around a disaggregated stack of discrete servers, storage arrays, and networking kit.
Windows Server 2019 and Hyper-V Server 2019 will be supported until 2029, so this move isn't a moment in which to panic. It is, however, a moment in which would-be Windows Server 2022 users will need to have a good, hard, think because its deployment options diverge from the expected.
[8]Microsoft abandons semi-annual releases for Windows Server
[9]Hyper-V bug that could crash 'big portions of Azure cloud infrastructure': Code published
[10]Pakistan's tax office denies pirated software caused outage – admits it sometimes runs unsupported software
Users of all Windows Server versions therefore have a moment in which to consider how they manage VMs. They're not short of options: VMware tops the list, and the open-source world offers KVM, Xen, and XCP-NG. You can be sure that Nutanix won't miss the opportunity to remind all comers that its AHV is free. Red Hat and Oracle are players, too. All offer an on-ramp to the hybrid cloud – including Azure – without insisting that you view the world through a Microsoft lens.
One last thing: some have read this announcement as signalling strife for the Hyper-V hypervisor. There's no need for alarm on that front because Hyper-V and the hypervisor used in Azure are now very close relatives. Microsoft simply cannot do without a hypervisor for Azure and nor can Windows Server, which technically boots as a guest OS. ®
[11]
PS: As we understand it, the Hyper-V role will remain in Windows Server 2022. That's useful for spinning up some VMs, though if you want to build and manage a private or hybrid cloud, Microsoft has made its position clear: it really would rather you use Azure Stack HCI.
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-server-insiders/hyper-v-server-2022/m-p/2652790
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/HyperV/comments/pejok9/microsoft_is_discontinuing_the_free_hyperv_server/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-hyper-v-server-2019
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/28/windows_server_2022_sac/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/02/hyperv_bug_that_until_recently/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/26/pakistan_federal_board_of_revenue_software_licensing_snafus/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
News of the change emerged in a [1]TechCommunity thread . It spread quickly in a newsletter that backup vendor Veeam sends to its forum members, which sparked a thread on [2]Reddit .
In his responses to the TechCommunity thread, Elden Christensen, a principal product manager on Microsoft's Windows Server development team, did not deny that Hyper-V Server was no more.
[3]
"Azure Stack HCI is Microsoft's premier hypervisor offering for running virtual machines on-premises," he wrote in one post. A later missive added, "Our strategic direction for a hypervisor platform is with Azure Stack HCI, it is a purpose-built solution hybrid infrastructure for running virtual machines."
[4]
[5]
The Register asked Microsoft to clarify whether the posts signal the demise of standalone Hyper-V Server and that Christensen's observations are correct. The IT giant did not contend either proposition.
What does this mean?
Hyper-V Server is Microsoft's virtual machine management platform and works with Microsoft's hypervisor – which is, confusingly, named just Hyper-V. Microsoft [6]bills Hyper-V Server as offering "enterprise-class virtualization for your datacenter and hybrid cloud."
Hyper-V Server is free – a price Microsoft has used to contrast with the price of VMware's rival vSphere product. The gambit didn't work: VMware owns more than 75 per cent of the server virtualization market – and keeps growing – despite years of competitors' attempts to paint it as an expensive product.
The shift to Azure Stack HCI as Microsoft's preferred tool to manage private and hybrid clouds is therefore very significant.
[7]
Microsoft has for years integrated Windows Server more closely with Azure, but Azure Stack brings more of the Azure experience and Azure services on-prem. Discontinuing Hyper-V Server as a private cloud option therefore demonstrates, yet again, that Microsoft wants its customers in hybrid cloud environments that are more likely to lead to consumption of its cloud services.
Or, as a senior Veeam exec put it in the newsletter mentioned above:
I remember when Microsoft first introduced free Hyper-V, I thought to myself how it was a bold move that will help them to become the leading hypervisor by following Veeam’s model of giving away capable and feature-rich software. However, with Azure (and particularly IaaS) now being the main focus for Microsoft, I can see how helping small businesses to run their infrastructures on-prem in a cost-efficient manner is rather counterproductive for them.
Ouch.
Giving Azure Stack HCI the job also shows that Microsoft is all-in on software-defined data centres – which it needs to be because hybrid clouds are easier to build around software constructs than around a disaggregated stack of discrete servers, storage arrays, and networking kit.
Windows Server 2019 and Hyper-V Server 2019 will be supported until 2029, so this move isn't a moment in which to panic. It is, however, a moment in which would-be Windows Server 2022 users will need to have a good, hard, think because its deployment options diverge from the expected.
[8]Microsoft abandons semi-annual releases for Windows Server
[9]Hyper-V bug that could crash 'big portions of Azure cloud infrastructure': Code published
[10]Pakistan's tax office denies pirated software caused outage – admits it sometimes runs unsupported software
Users of all Windows Server versions therefore have a moment in which to consider how they manage VMs. They're not short of options: VMware tops the list, and the open-source world offers KVM, Xen, and XCP-NG. You can be sure that Nutanix won't miss the opportunity to remind all comers that its AHV is free. Red Hat and Oracle are players, too. All offer an on-ramp to the hybrid cloud – including Azure – without insisting that you view the world through a Microsoft lens.
One last thing: some have read this announcement as signalling strife for the Hyper-V hypervisor. There's no need for alarm on that front because Hyper-V and the hypervisor used in Azure are now very close relatives. Microsoft simply cannot do without a hypervisor for Azure and nor can Windows Server, which technically boots as a guest OS. ®
[11]
PS: As we understand it, the Hyper-V role will remain in Windows Server 2022. That's useful for spinning up some VMs, though if you want to build and manage a private or hybrid cloud, Microsoft has made its position clear: it really would rather you use Azure Stack HCI.
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-server-insiders/hyper-v-server-2022/m-p/2652790
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/HyperV/comments/pejok9/microsoft_is_discontinuing_the_free_hyperv_server/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-hyper-v-server-2019
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/28/windows_server_2022_sac/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/02/hyperv_bug_that_until_recently/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/26/pakistan_federal_board_of_revenue_software_licensing_snafus/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YS3955CeJW0mXzoPBVFiiQAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Hyper-V role
diodesign
Yeah, sure. If you can create and use the role, great: you can run some VMs on a Windows Server. That functionality's still there.
But as we understand it, Hyper-V Server might be useful to you if you want to manage and build a hybrid cloud. And Microsoft wants to steer people onto Azure Stack HCI instead for that.
As the Microsoft manager said in the linked thread, "Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 is that product's last version and will continue to be supported under its lifecycle policy until January 2029. This will give customers many years to plan and transition to Azure Stack HCI."
C.
Re: Hyper-V role
thondwe
Hyper-V server broke for me a couple of iterations ago (driver support for ancient "lab" hardware disappeared", so switched to Windows Server core. But since Windows server has a lot of Software Defined this/that/other functionality, I'm not surprised the freebee is going. Use case as a loss-leader isn't really relevant any more (Cloud first) and niche use for for home/lab/SMB isn't a big base either?
Working as intended
oldtaku
Any confusion in the naming and licensing is entirely deliberate. It's a standard technique for shitty enterprisey crap to confuse you to where you don't even know what you're buying or what you even need to buy and just sign something to make the problem go away.
It's something Oracle and IBM have used forever and it's sad to see Hyper-V go that way. But like the article said, not being assholes wasn't winning them enough market share. So now it's time to be enterprisey.
"Microsoft has made its position clear"
Pascal Monett
Microsoft's position has always been clear : it wants all your IT to be Microsoft.
Hyper-V role still available
You will still be able to install the Hyper-V role on Windows Server 2022. Free Hyper-V server was only completely free if you don't run Windows workloads. You still needed to license the server to run Windows VMs on Hyper-V server.
If you have licensed the server for Windows VMs, then you can run a Windows server with Hyper-V role on the metal for no extra cost. A Windows Server core install with the Hyper-V role is basically the same as Hyper-V server.