When the Hyper-V host is a Windows Server 2008 R2 and the VM runs Windows Server 2012, the VM may be pulled into a saved state. This may be due to the following: The Hyper-V Integration Services version is not up-to-date in VM Backup (Volume Snapshot) Integration Service is disabled or not installed. The virtual […]
The Hyper-V backup error “…could not initiate a checkpoint operation: Element not found. (0x80070490)” is an old but still existing Hyper-V bug seen on Windows Server 2012 R2 when backing up Hyper-V virtual machines with Windows Server 2003 guest operating systems. Update 2018: A new bug in Hyper-V 2016 (on Windows Server 2016) corrupts […]
Deduplication of backup storage is especially important in the case of virtual machine backups. Whether you're using Hyper-V Server VMs or VMware, optimized storage usage is of paramount importance, since VHD and VMDK files tend to be huge. It's therefore ineffective to store them in full after each backup. Using BackupChain (see screenshot below) you […]
This How-to guide shows the quick and easy steps required to convert a physical machine to a virtual machine (P2V) using Disk2VHD and use it on a Hyper-V Server 2012 (or Hyper-V Server 2008). This example uses the newest Disk2VHD to create a VHDX virtual disk file containing a disk image of the partitions stored […]
The idea behind Hyper-V granular backups is to back up certain folders more often than the entire VM, for efficiency reasons. For example, you could back up a SQL database folder every hour via granular backup, and the entire VM each night as a full backup. Both types of backup together in one task would […]
Backing up Hyper-V to an external hard disk using eSATA or USB 3 is an efficient way to protect your Hyper-V infrastructure. As with all methods and strategies, there are advantages and disadvantages. USB drives have their own, too. Advantages Hyper-V backup to external disks connected to a Hyper-V host is incredibly fast. A typical […]
Below is a list of requirements and recommended hardware when you set up a Hyper-V host or system. Every “modern” PC bought within the last five years will satisfy the above requirement. Here are some real world Hyper-V requirements Use really fast hard drives, ideally SSD. RAID striping probably won’t help as much as a […]
Hyper-V checkpoints, formerly called Hyper-V snapshots, are a convenient way to place a virtual machine back to an earlier state. You can use them for development and testing, for example, when you need to have an exactly identical starting point for your tests. Because the checkpoint functionality acts like it’s restoring a VM, many beginners […]
Hyper-V Pass-through Disks may be the key for better performance; however, they come with their own disadvantages and limitations, too. First of all the speed gain of using Hyper-V pass-through disks is probably overrated when compared to a fixed-sized VHDX. Estimates are that a pass-through disk may be around 15% faster due to a reduction […]
