10 Best Hyper-V Backup Tools for 2025- with Free Trial Links!

The time to start backing up your Hyper-V environment is yesterday. Backups can't simply wait for tomorrow or the next season. Failure of a single VM or group of VMs may lead to business interruption and substantial financial loss. Even worse, if you fall victim to a powerful ransomware attack, all your data could be lost and fall into the wrong hands. To protect VM data and applications from these potential risks, you should start backing up now.

Backups don’t need to be complicated. Various automatic tools can perform backups or replications in a “set-it-and-forget-it” mode if you configure them right from the beginning.

In this comparison guide, we'll go through the best Hyper-V backup tools. These automatic backup tools make periodic backups to take care of the data and configuration of your VMs. Then, when and if failure happens, you can quickly restore your backup to a previous point in time.

Here is our list of the best Hyper-V backup tools:

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager – EDITOR’S CHOICE Full monitoring, management, and remediation for Hyper-V environments. Automatically cleans orphaned or zombie VHDX files before backup. Get the 30-day free trial.
N-able Cove Data Protection – FREE TRIAL This cloud-based service will backup, restore, and replicate physical and virtual systems, including Hyper-V implementations. Start with a 30-day free trial.
Acronis Cyber Protect – FREE TRIAL Highly scalable data protection solution for VM environments. Start a 30-day free trial.
Veeam Backup & Replication Robust backup, restore, and replication solution for virtual environments. It provides image-based snapshots, full, and incremental backups.
Altaro VM Backup Highly scalable backup, restore, and replication solution for Hyper-V.
Iperius Backup Software to backup Windows PCs and Servers, databases, and virtual machines.
Vembu Backup & Disaster Recovery Comprehensive BDR solution for virtual, physical, cloud workloads, and applications.
Nakivo Backup and Replication Powerful tool that performs full and incremental backups for VMs.
Uranium Backup Robust backup, recovery, and replica for Hyper-V and other hypervisors
Veritas NetBackup Enterprise backup and recovery suite. It provides image-level (snapshot), full, and incremental Hyper-V backups.
IBM Spectrum Protect Agentless enterprise backup and restore solution.

Hyper-V Backup Tools

If you are not backing up your Hyper-V production environment, you should start immediately. If you are already backing up, you can start by optimizing your next backup, by improving its methodology or reducing its size to make the process faster and more efficient.

In large VM deployments, orphaned virtual machines, or zombie VHD files can take a large portion of storage— which only makes the backup process longer, creates more traffic, and is more expensive. So, look for a VM manager such as SolarWinds VMAN which can provide a contextual dependency map and help control VM Sprawl.

What to look for in Hyper-V backup tools?

Hyper-V backup tools can help you keep your VM environment up and running, even during outages. A Hyper-V backup tool should also help you manage your backups, provide replication, and restore capabilities.

When looking for Hyper-V backup tools, look for features like:

Compression and de-duplication: to reduce storage needs and traffic on the network.
Incremental backup technology. With technologies like Changed Block Tracking (CBT) or Resilient Change Tracking (RCT).
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for application-consistent snapshots.
Multiple storage options. Backup to on-prem storage or cloud.

Additionally, look for scalable solutions. You may be already backing up VMs and storing copies in on-prem storage, but if your VM environment is growing, you might need other scalable storage alternatives or replication solutions.

The Best 10 Tools for Hyper-V Backups

1. SolarWinds Virtualization Manager – FREE TRIAL

The SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (VMAN) provides robust monitoring, management, and remediation for Hyper-V virtualization environments. This software comes with a comprehensive list of useful features to help you quickly find, fix, and optimize any performance issues in your VM environment.

Key Features:

Virtual DNA: Provides insight into historical changes to VM configurations for easier troubleshooting.
Contextual Dependency Map: Offers information about dependencies between VMs and related entities, enhancing system understanding.
Predictive Recommendations: Offers actionable intelligence to proactively address performance issues.
VM Sprawl Control: Identifies and reclaims wasted virtual resources, optimizing VM environments.
Comprehensive Dashboards: Offers detailed dashboards to monitor Hyper-V server performance and mapping of all VMs to their underlying hosts, storage, and objects.

Why do we recommend it?

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (VMAN) earns our recommendation for its comprehensive suite of features designed to streamline monitoring, management, and optimization of Hyper-V virtualization environments. With Virtual DNA, users gain insight into historical changes to VM configurations, facilitating easier troubleshooting. The contextual dependency map provides valuable information about dependencies between VMs and related entities, enhancing overall system understanding. Additionally, VMAN's predictive recommendations offer actionable intelligence to proactively address performance issues, ensuring optimal VM performance and resource utilization. Moreover, VM Sprawl Control helps identify and reclaim wasted virtual resources, further optimizing VM environments.

SolarWinds VMAN comes with comprehensive dashboards to show you Hyper-V server performance, mapping of all VMs to their underlying host, storage, objects, alerts, and more.

Using SolarWinds VMAN before backing up large environments is key because it helps you prepare for a more efficient and smaller backup. It checks the VMs configurations and cleans orphaned virtual machines.

Who is it recommended for?

SolarWinds VMAN is recommended for organizations operating Hyper-V virtualization environments, particularly those in the enterprise sector. Its scalability and robust features make it ideal for monitoring multiple hosts and VMs in complex enterprise environments. While designed with enterprise users in mind, VMAN's capacity planning and detailed reporting options make it suitable for organizations of all sizes seeking efficient VM management solutions. However, home users and small businesses may find the feature set of SolarWinds VM Monitor more aligned with their needs.

Pros:

Excellent Dashboard: Scalable dashboard suitable for monitoring multiple hosts and VMs in enterprise environments.
Individual VM Monitoring: Supports monitoring of individual VM resources for granular insight.
Integration with Cloud Products: Can integrate with cloud products like Azure and Amazon EC2, ensuring versatility.
Recommendations and Health Metrics: Provides recommendations for improvements along with color-coded health metrics, aiding decision-making.
Capacity Planning and Reporting: Offers capacity planning and detailed reporting options for efficient VM management.

Cons:

Enterprise Focus: Designed specifically for enterprise use, may not be ideal for home users or small businesses.
Complexity: Setup and configuration may be complex for less experienced users.
Alternative Option: Home users and small businesses may prefer SolarWinds VM Monitor for simpler monitoring needs.

Price: Starts at $2,995.00 for eight sockets. To learn about SolarWinds VMAN price, get a quote.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager is our top pick for a Hyper-V backup tool because this system provides everyday Hyper-V monitoring and management, making the system easier to back up by keeping the definitions restricted and preventing sprawl. This package will also monitor VMWare and Nutanix implementations.

Download: Get a 30-day free trial

Official Site: https://www.solarwinds.com/virtualization-manager/registration

OS: Windows Server

2. N-able Cove Data Protection – FREE TRIAL

N-able Cove Data Protection is a SaaS platform that gives you controls to backup and restore your system and also includes storage space on cloud servers. The service includes special procedures for backing up Hyper-V implementations. N-able Cove Data Protection is also able to backup VMWare systems plus cloud services, such as Microsoft 365.

Key Features:

Comprehensive Backup: Backs up all VMs, including the virtual server in Hyper-V, as well as VMWare systems and cloud services like Microsoft 365.
Guided Restore Wizard: Provides a guided restore wizard for simplified data restoration processes.
Strong Security Measures: Employs strong security measures, including AES encryption for data in motion and at rest, ensuring data confidentiality.
Redundant Storage: Stores copies locally in cache for fast recovery and mirrors the entire cloud storage account on another server in a different data center for enhanced security.
Multi-Site Management: Manages multi-vendor sites and multiple sites for the same account, offering scalability and flexibility.

Why do we recommend it?

N-able Cove Data Protection earns our recommendation for its comprehensive SaaS platform offering robust backup and restoration controls for systems, including specialized procedures for Hyper-V implementations. With support for backing up VMWare systems and cloud services like Microsoft 365, Cove Data Protection ensures comprehensive data protection across various environments. Its guided restore wizard and replication capabilities further enhance data recovery processes. Additionally, the service prioritizes data security, employing strong encryption for data in motion and at rest, along with redundant storage mechanisms for added reliability.

The N-Able system can manage multi-vendor sites and even multiple sites for the same account. The service has no problem backing up other cloud accounts. All transfers are protected by AES encryption with a 256-bit key. This encryption is also applied to data at rest and your entire cloud storage account will be mirrored on another server in a different data center for extra security.

Who is it recommended for?

N-able Cove Data Protection is recommended for organizations seeking a cloud-based backup solution with advanced features tailored for larger networks and system administrators. Ideal for multi-vendor sites and multiple site management, Cove Data Protection offers flexibility and scalability to meet the diverse needs of enterprises. While its robust feature set may be advantageous for larger networks, organizations of all sizes can benefit from its simplified console for highlighting important issues and support for multiple vendors and backup locations.

Pros:

Cloud-Based Backup Solution: Offers a cloud-based backup solution for convenient data protection.
Granular Backup Options: Can backup individual VMs or entire servers, providing flexibility in backup strategies.
Simplified Console: Features a simple console that highlights important issues, facilitating ease of management.
Support for Multiple Vendors: Supports multiple vendors and backup locations, ensuring compatibility and versatility.

Cons:

Enterprise Focus: Designed primarily for larger networks and system administrators, may not be suitable for smaller organizations with simpler backup needs.
Complexity: Setup and configuration may be complex for less experienced users.

Price: For more information on pricing, contact N-able.

Download: Access a 30-day free trial.

Start 30-day Free Trial!

3. Acronis Cyber Protect – FREE TRIAL

Acronis Cyber Protect is a modern data protection and disaster recovery tool for virtual, physical, cloud, and mobile environments. It can secure data for individual consumers, SMBs, or scale to Enterprise-size.

Key Features:

Support for RCT: Enables incremental backups using Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) technology.
vmFlashback Technology: Reduces VM recovery time, enhancing disaster recovery efficiency.
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS): Ensures application-consistent snapshots for reliable backups.
Physical to Virtual Conversion: Allows conversion of physical machine backups to Hyper-V VMs for seamless migration.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Available for both Windows and Mac platforms, offering a versatile solution for diverse IT environments.

Why do we recommend it?

Acronis Cyber Protect earns our recommendation as a modern data protection and disaster recovery tool offering comprehensive support for virtual, physical, cloud, and mobile environments. With features catering to individual consumers, SMBs, and enterprises alike, Cyber Protect stands out for its versatility and scalability. Notably, its support for RCT for incremental backups, vmFlashback technology for faster VM recovery, and Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for application-consistent snapshots ensure robust data protection and efficient disaster recovery processes. Furthermore, the ability to convert physical machine backups to Hyper-V VMs and migrate Hyper-V to any system adds flexibility to backup and recovery strategies.

Acronis Cyber Protect provides agentless backups for Hyper-V environments. You can configure the tool to store copies of your backup in local storage, cloud, or hybrid environments.

The tool comes with a web-based management console to monitor alerts, storage activities, etc., or create automatic backup tasks. From this console, you can also restore all Hyper-V hosts and VMs.

Who is it recommended for?

Acronis Cyber Protect is recommended for organizations of all sizes, from individual users to enterprise environments, seeking a comprehensive data protection solution. Ideal for businesses with diverse IT environments, Cyber Protect offers agentless backups for Hyper-V environments and supports various storage options, including local storage, cloud, or hybrid environments. Additionally, its user-friendly web-based management console enables easy monitoring of alerts, storage activities, and automatic backup tasks, making it suitable for users with varying levels of technical expertise.

Pros:

Script Cloning and Automation: Supports cloning via scripts and automated scheduling, streamlining backup processes.
Scalability: Ideal for enterprise environments, capable of scaling to meet evolving data protection needs.
User-Friendly Interface: Easy to use without sacrificing advanced features, suitable for users with varying levels of expertise.
Cross-Platform Support: Available for Windows and Mac platforms, providing flexibility and compatibility across different operating systems.

Cons:

Learning Curve: Advanced features may require time to fully learn and utilize, especially for less experienced users.

Price: Protect an unlimited number of VMs on the same host with no additional costs/VM or socket. For more information on pricing, get a quote.

Download: Register to download a 30-day free trial of Acronis Cyber Protect.

Start a 30-day Free Trial!

4. Veeam Backup & Replication

Veeam Backup & Replication is a robust backup, restore, and replication solution for virtual environments. It can back up/restore VMs, physical servers, and cloud-based workloads.

Key Features:

App-Aware Backups: Ensures image-level backup (snapshot) of VSS-aware applications for reliable data protection.
Change Block Tracking (CBT): Increases the speed of incremental backups by tracking changes at the block level.
Scale-Out Backup Repository: Intelligently manages backup copies, including moving older backups to the cloud for efficient storage management.
VM Backup Health Checks: Provides visibility into backup health status with preset alarms and pre-built reports for proactive monitoring.

Why do we recommend it?

Veeam Backup & Replication earns our recommendation as a robust backup, restore, and replication solution tailored for virtual environments. With its comprehensive feature set, including app-aware backups, change tracking for faster backups, and scale-out backup repositories, Veeam offers reliable data protection for VMs, physical servers, and cloud-based workloads. Notably, its support for image-level backups using Hyper-V snapshots and Changed Block Tracking (CBT) ensures efficient backup and recovery processes, while VM backup health checks and extensive alarm and reporting capabilities provide visibility and monitoring.

Veeam Backup & Replication performs backups at the image-level using Hyper-V snapshots, to retrieve VM's data at any point in time. It can also perform either a full VM backup or an incremental backup using the Changed Block Tracking (CBT) mechanism.

When it comes to restoring a Hyper-V backup, Veeam can restore full VMs quickly, or recover individual files or application items inside a Hyper-V backup.

Who is it recommended for?

Veeam Backup & Replication is recommended for organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to enterprises, seeking a comprehensive backup and recovery solution for virtual environments. Its user-friendly interface makes it suitable for both technical and non-technical users, while its support for system-level recovery and backups caters to diverse backup needs. Additionally, its compatibility with both Windows and Linux operating systems enhances its versatility, making it an ideal choice for a wide range of users, including small businesses and home users.

Pros:

User-Friendly Interface: Easy to use for both technical and non-technical users, enhancing usability and adoption.
Versatile Compatibility: Supports both Windows and Linux operating systems, offering flexibility and compatibility across different environments.
System-Level Recovery: Enables quick restoration of full VMs or individual files/application items within a Hyper-V backup, enhancing recovery options.
Ideal for Small Businesses: Well-suited for small businesses and home users due to its ease of use and comprehensive backup features.

Cons:

Limited Integrations: Would benefit from more integrations with hardware storage and NAS solutions to enhance storage flexibility.
Lack of FTP Backup Integration: Some users may require FTP backup integration for specific backup workflows, which is currently not supported.

Price: For more information on pricing, visit Veeam Pricing and Packaging or request a quote.

Download. Register to Veeam to download a free trial.

5. Altaro VM Backup

Altaro VM Backup is a robust backup and replication tool for Hyper-V and VMware hypervisors, and physical servers. It is highly scalable. It can handle small VM environments, grow to IT departments, and scale to large environments such as MSPs.

Key Features:

Award-Winning Customer Support: Access fast response times and top expertise from Altaro's customer support team.
Advanced Functionality: Benefit from features like deduplication, offsite replication, file and exchange item-level restore, hot backups, and more.
Real-Time Change Tracking: Utilize Change Block Tracking (CBT) for Hyper-V to monitor changes efficiently.
Backup Health-Checks: Ensure the health of backups with proactive monitoring and repair capabilities for the next backup.
Support for Hyper-V Clusters: Seamlessly support Hyper-V clusters, including CSV and SMB3.

Why do we recommend it?

Altaro VM Backup earns our recommendation for its robustness in handling backup and replication needs across various environments, including Hyper-V, VMware hypervisors, and physical servers. Its scalability makes it suitable for small to large VM environments, from individual IT departments to MSPs. We've tested this tool extensively and found its performance and features to be reliable, ensuring peace of mind in data protection. The ease of installation and use, coupled with a comprehensive feature set, makes it a standout choice for businesses seeking efficient backup solutions. Additionally, Altaro's commitment to customer support excellence further solidifies its position as a recommended backup solution provider.

This tool is designed to be easy to install and use. You can manage all the backups and hosts from a single console, and perform quick backups with Altaro's Augmented Inline Deduplication process.

Altaro VM Backup provides a cloud dashboard and a simple setup of off-site backup servers. It supports multiple cloud storage options, such as Azure, Amazon S3, and Wasabi.

Who is it recommended for?

We recommend Altaro VM Backup for IT professionals and organizations seeking a comprehensive backup and replication solution. It's ideal for businesses of all sizes, including small-scale environments, growing IT departments, and large enterprises or MSPs requiring scalability. With its intuitive interface and diverse feature set, it caters to users looking for efficient backup management and quick restoration capabilities. Whether you're an experienced IT administrator or a business owner looking for reliable data protection, Altaro VM Backup offers the flexibility and functionality to meet your needs. Additionally, its availability in versions tailored for specific user groups, such as MSPs and resellers, enhances its appeal across different industry segments.

Pros:

Intuitive Interface: Easily monitor key backup metrics with a user-friendly interface.
Virtualization Recovery Support: Efficiently recover virtualized environments with Altaro VM Backup.
MSP and Reseller Version: Tailored versions available for MSPs and resellers, enhancing flexibility.
Data Change Detection: Detect changes in data and replace files, doubling as a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tool.

Cons:

Limited Database Recovery Options: More database recovery options, particularly for recovering single databases rather than entire VMs, would enhance flexibility.
Risk of Datastore Corruption: Careful monitoring is required, especially for large datastores to prevent corruption issues.

Price: The price starts at $515 for the Standard Edition— a one-time price for up to 5VMs per Hyper-V host. For more pricing information, get a quote.

Download: Download the Free Edition for up to 2 VMs per host. Or Get a fully functional 30-day trial of Altaro VM Backup (Unlimited Plus Edition).

6. Iperius Backup

Iperius Backup is a comprehensive backup software for Windows. It can backup PCs, servers, databases, and virtual machines, including Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor and others. It can perform three types of backups, full (copies all files), incremental (copies new or changed files), and differential backups (Complete + Incremental) for your Hyper-V environment.

Key Features:

Hot Backups of Hyper-V: Perform backups of Hyper-V environments without agents, ensuring minimal disruption.
Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) and Differential Backups: Utilize advanced technologies to enhance backup efficiency and speed.
VM Restoration: Restore Hyper-V VMs to different hosts effortlessly, enhancing flexibility in disaster recovery scenarios.
VM Replication: Facilitate VM replication from host to host or from datastore to datastore, ensuring data redundancy and availability.
Flexible Storage Options: Send backups to cloud storage, local NAS, disk, or tape devices, providing versatility in data storage and retrieval.

Why do we recommend it?

Iperius Backup stands out as a comprehensive backup software solution designed specifically for Windows environments. Its ability to backup PCs, servers, databases, and virtual machines, including Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor, makes it a versatile tool for diverse backup needs. We recommend Iperius Backup for its robust features, including support for various backup types (full, incremental, and differential) and advanced technologies like Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) and block-level backups. Our own testing has demonstrated its reliability and efficiency, providing users with confidence in their data protection strategies. Furthermore, its seamless integration with cloud storage and flexible restore options enhance its appeal for businesses of all sizes.

The tool provides backup technologies such as Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) technology and block-level backups to improve the efficiency and speed of Hyper-V backups. You can store multiple incremental or differential restore points and configure the software to automatically restore (even send it to different hosts).

Once your backup is ready, you can send it to cloud storage, local NAS, disk, or a tape device. You can choose to restore the full backup or opt to restore individual files.

Who is it recommended for?

Iperius Backup is recommended for Windows users seeking a comprehensive backup solution that covers PCs, servers, databases, and virtual machines. It caters to IT professionals, system administrators, and businesses requiring reliable data backup and recovery capabilities. With support for various backup types and advanced technologies like Resilient Change Tracking (RCT), it addresses the needs of small-scale environments to enterprise-level infrastructures. Whether you need to backup critical databases or virtual machines, Iperius Backup offers the flexibility and functionality to meet your requirements. Additionally, its integration with cloud services and support for popular database formats like MySQL and PostgreSQL make it an attractive choice for DBAs and businesses utilizing cloud storage solutions.

Pros:

Cloud Service Integrations: Seamlessly integrate with cloud services like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Amazon S3, enhancing accessibility and flexibility.
AES-256 bit Encryption: Automatically encrypt backups, ensuring data security and compliance with industry standards.
Database Format Support: Support for database formats like MySQL and PostgreSQL, catering to the needs of DBAs and businesses managing diverse data sources.

Cons:

Outdated Interface: The interface could benefit from updates to improve user experience and visual appeal.

Price: A single license for unlimited hosts and virtual machines. The price for Iperius Backup Advanced VM starts at $260.00.

Download Iperius Backup Free or a free fully-featured trial of Iperius Advanced.

7. Vembu Backup & Disaster Recovery

Vembu Backup & Disaster Recovery (BDR) is a complete backup solution for virtual machines, physical machines, cloud workloads, and SaaS. Vembu BDR can be set to backup VMs along with applications and data locally and send a replication copy to Vembu Cloud.

Key Features:

Support for Various Hyper-V Configurations: Backup Hyper-V Cluster, CSV, S2D, and SMB shares with ease, accommodating diverse IT environments.
Image-Based Application-Aware Backups: Perform comprehensive backups for MS applications residing on Hyper-V, ensuring data integrity and application consistency.
Incremental Backups with Resilient Change Tracking (RCT): Utilize incremental backups with RCT for efficient and space-saving backup operations.
Flexible Restores and Migrations: Benefit from flexible restore and migration options, including Cross-Hypervisor migration support (V2V), facilitating seamless infrastructure transitions.
Automated Verification: Automatically verify backup integrity and receive notifications, ensuring the recoverability of backup data for peace of mind.

Why do we recommend it?

Vembu Backup & Disaster Recovery (BDR) earns our recommendation as a comprehensive solution for safeguarding virtual machines, physical machines, cloud workloads, and SaaS applications. Its versatility in backup settings allows users to back up VMs, applications, and data locally while also sending replication copies to Vembu Cloud for enhanced disaster recovery preparedness. Our recommendation stems from our own testing, which showcased Vembu BDR's reliability, extensive features, and seamless integration capabilities.

Vembu BDR supports agentless VM backups for Hyper-V Standalone Hosts and Cluster Servers. Backup your Hyper-V VMs or clusters whether they are running on local storage, SMB share, CSV, or Storage Spaces Direct (S2D).

Once a backup is finished, Vembu automatically verifies and notifies you of its recoverability. You can instantly recover the entire VM, a single file (or files), or an application-item.

Who is it recommended for?

We recommend Vembu Backup & Disaster Recovery for businesses of various sizes seeking a complete backup solution that caters to diverse IT environments. It is well-suited for IT professionals, system administrators, and businesses requiring comprehensive backup and disaster recovery capabilities for virtual machines, physical servers, and cloud workloads. Vembu BDR is particularly beneficial for small to medium-sized networks looking for a scalable backup solution that offers flexibility in backup settings and recovery options. Whether you operate standalone Hyper-V hosts or cluster servers, Vembu BDR provides agentless VM backups and supports various storage configurations, ensuring compatibility across different infrastructure setups.

Pros:

Full Suite of BDR Tools: Access a comprehensive suite of backup and disaster recovery tools, enhancing data protection and resilience.
Support for Full and Incremental Backups: Choose between full and incremental backup options, optimizing storage utilization and backup efficiency.
Agentless tTechnology: Perform backups using agentless technology, minimizing performance impact on production environments.
Support for Offsite Backups: Easily configure and manage offsite backups, ensuring data redundancy and disaster recovery preparedness.

Cons:

Better Suited for Small to Medium-Sized Networks: While versatile, Vembu BDR may be more suitable for smaller networks due to its scalability and ease of implementation.

Price: License-based subscription or perpetual. For perpetual (VM-level pricing) Free, Standard Essential ($45/VM), Standard ($90/VM), Enterprise Essentials($75/VM), Enterprise ($45/VM).

Download Vembu’s free version without restrictions for up to 10 VMs. Additionally, you can also download a 30-day free trial of the Vembu BDR Standard edition.

8. NAKIVO Backup and Replication

NAKIVO is a software development company that specializes in data protection for virtual, physical, cloud, and SaaS environments. NAKIVO’s Backup and Replication tool provides an integrated approach to data and application protection. It can perform image-based, application-aware, incremental backup and replications.

Key Features:

Support for RCT for Hyper-V: Utilize Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) for efficient and space-saving backups in Hyper-V environments.
Incremental-Aware Backups: Perform incremental backups intelligently, minimizing backup windows and storage requirements.
Backup Data Reduction: Benefit from data reduction techniques such as compression and deduplication, optimizing storage utilization.
Instant Backup Verification: Automatically verify backup integrity, ensuring recoverability and data consistency.

Why do we recommend it?

NAKIVO Backup and Replication is a standout choice for businesses seeking comprehensive data protection across virtual, physical, cloud, and SaaS environments. With its integrated approach to data and application protection, NAKIVO offers a reliable solution for backup and replication needs. We recommend NAKIVO for its robust features, including support for image-based, application-aware, and incremental backups, ensuring comprehensive data protection strategies. Our recommendation is based on thorough testing, which highlighted NAKIVO's efficiency, versatility, and instant backup verification capabilities, providing users with confidence in their data recovery processes.

With NAKIVO Backup and Replication, you can go directly to compressed or de-duplicated backups and instantly recover full VMs, single files, or application objects. Additionally, you can recover data across different platforms, VMware to Hyper-V environments, and vice versa.

NAKIVO can back up your Hyper-V VMs to the cloud (Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, Wasabi), or local tape.

Who is it recommended for?

We recommend NAKIVO Backup and Replication for businesses and IT professionals looking for a versatile backup and replication solution that caters to diverse IT environments. It is well-suited for organizations seeking comprehensive data protection across virtual, physical, cloud, and SaaS platforms. NAKIVO is particularly beneficial for businesses requiring seamless data recovery across different platforms, including VMware to Hyper-V environments and vice versa. Whether you're a small business or a large enterprise, NAKIVO offers the flexibility and functionality to meet your backup and replication needs, ensuring data resilience and business continuity.

Pros:

Support for Hyper-V and VMware: Seamlessly protect virtual environments, including both Hyper-V and VMware platforms, enhancing flexibility.
Ransomware Protection: Detect and protect data from ransomware attacks, ensuring data integrity and security.
Wide Range of Backup Options: Choose from various backup options, including incremental backups, to meet specific data protection needs.
Simple yet Intuitive Interface: Navigate through the software effortlessly with a user-friendly interface, enhancing user experience and productivity.

Cons:

Lack of Cloud Storage: The absence of cloud storage integration limits its suitability for organizations preferring cloud-based backup solutions.
Short Trial Period: A longer trial period would provide users with more time to fully evaluate the software's capabilities and suitability for their needs.

Price: Perpetual license per CPU socket + one year of standard support. The price for the “Basic License” starts at $99/socket. For more information request a quote.

Download. Register to download a free trial of NAKIVO Backup & Replication.

9. Uranium Backup Pro Virtual

Uranium Backup Pro Virtual provides virtual machine backup, restore, and replication for Hyper-V and VMware hosts. It can perform full, incremental, and differential backups on any of these VM environments.

Key Features:

Thin Provisioning: Accelerate backup processes and reduce disk usage with thin provisioning technology.
Replicas: Minimize Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and enable instant VM recovery with replica capabilities.
Off-Site Backup: Copy backups to cloud services for enhanced data redundancy and disaster recovery preparedness.
USilio Integration: Utilize the IT management console to organize, monitor, and execute backups efficiently.

Why do we recommend it?

Uranium Backup Pro Virtual is a highly recommended solution for virtual machine backup, restore, and replication needs in Hyper-V and VMware environments. Its robust features, including support for full, incremental, and differential backups, make it a versatile tool for data protection strategies. We recommend Uranium Backup Pro Virtual for its efficiency in thin provisioning, which accelerates backup processes while reducing disk usage. Our recommendation is reinforced by the seamless integration with cloud backup services and the user-friendly interface, simplifying backup management tasks for administrators.

Uranium also supports hot VM backups with thin provisioning allocation on any Hyper-V host. The output is a .VHDX file which is compatible with Hyper-V and which allows full manual recovery. The thin provisioning feature reduces disk space utilization and speeds up the copying process. Additionally, you can integrate Uranium Backup Pro Virtual, with cloud backup services, including Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, Google Drive, and Dropbox.

Who is it recommended for?

We recommend Uranium Backup Pro Virtual for administrators and IT professionals seeking a straightforward solution for virtual machine backup and replication. It caters to organizations of various sizes, with a focus on small to medium-sized environments. Uranium Backup Pro Virtual is ideal for businesses looking to streamline their backup processes and minimize downtime through off-site replications and cloud backup integrations. Whether you're managing Hyper-V or VMware hosts, Uranium Backup Pro Virtual offers the flexibility and functionality to meet your virtualization backup needs, ensuring data protection and business continuity.

Pros:

Simple Backup Tool: Administrators benefit from a straightforward backup solution, enhancing productivity and ease of use.
Support for Thin Provisioning: Optimize storage utilization and backup efficiency with thin provisioning support.
Offsite Replications: Ensure data redundancy and disaster recovery readiness by replicating backups to offsite locations and cloud-based sources.
Export as VHDX: Export backups as VHDX files, enabling manual recovery options and compatibility with Hyper-V environments.

Cons:

Best for Smaller Environments: While versatile, Uranium Backup Pro Virtual may be more suitable for smaller environments due to its scalability and simplicity.
Short Trial Period: A longer trial period would allow users to fully evaluate the software's capabilities and suitability for their environment before making a purchase decision.

Price: There are different editions of Uranium Backup at different prices. The price for their Base Edition starts at $95 for a one-time payment. They also offer a free edition.

Download the Uranium Backup Free Edition or activate the 21-day Gold Edition free trial.

10. Veritas NetBackup

Veritas NetBackup (former Symantec NetBackup) is an enterprise backup and recovery suite. It has been named a 15-times leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Center Backup and Recovery Solutions.

Key Features:

Snapshot Technology: Utilize snapshot technology with VSS and WMI for efficient and reliable backups.
Full and File-Level Incremental VM Backups: Perform comprehensive backups for VMs, including full and file-level incremental backups.
Block-Level Incremental and Accelerator Backups: Benefit from block-level incremental backups and accelerator technology for optimized backup performance.
Restore VM Backup to Other Locations: Easily restore VM backups to other locations within the Hyper-V server or different servers, ensuring flexibility in recovery scenarios.

Why do we recommend it?

Veritas NetBackup stands as a premier choice for enterprise backup and recovery needs, boasting a legacy of excellence recognized by its 15-time leadership acknowledgment in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Center Backup and Recovery Solutions. Our recommendation for Veritas NetBackup stems from its robust feature set, including snapshot technology utilizing VSS and WMI, comprehensive backup options for VMs, and seamless restoration capabilities. We've found Veritas NetBackup to be a reliable solution, designed to meet the stringent requirements of enterprise environments, ensuring data protection and business continuity.

Veritas NetBackup for Hyper-V, can either provide snapshot-based backups or full-to-incremental backups for VMs on Hyper-V servers. The tool uses agentless image-level backups, plus granular recovery technology to restore entire images or individual objects from the same backup.

This tool also provides automatic discovery and backup technology to protect new, changed, or moved VMs. This ensures that no VM is left from being protected.

Who is it recommended for?

We recommend Veritas NetBackup for enterprises and organizations seeking a comprehensive backup and recovery suite tailored to their complex IT environments. It caters to businesses requiring high-performance, scalable solutions for data protection across diverse platforms and infrastructures. Veritas NetBackup is an ideal choice for those prioritizing on-premise backup solutions with the flexibility to mirror cloud-storage environments locally. Whether you're managing a large-scale enterprise or a growing business, Veritas NetBackup offers the functionality, reliability, and scalability to meet your backup and recovery needs, ensuring data resilience and compliance with industry standards.

Pros:

Enterprise-Focused Design: Designed with enterprises in mind, offering robust features and scalability to meet the needs of complex IT environments.
On-Premise Solution: A solid option for organizations preferring on-premise backup solutions, ensuring data control and compliance.
Cloud-Storage Mirroring: Mirrors cloud-storage environments locally, providing flexibility and redundancy in data storage.
Ample Trial Period: Benefit from a generous 60-day trial period, allowing ample time for evaluation and testing.

Cons:

Outdated Interface: The interface may feel outdated, potentially impacting user experience and navigation efficiency.

Price: Request a quote.

11. IBM Spectrum Protect

IBM Spectrum Protect (former Tivoli Storage Manager) is an agentless enterprise backup and restore solution. It is highly scalable, as it can manage an outstanding number of objects per backup. Additionally, it gives a single point of control to manage all backups and recoveries.

Key Features:

Progressive Incremental Backups: Performs efficient backups by capturing only changed data since the last backup.
Backups Using RCT: Utilize Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) for enhanced backup efficiency and performance.
Policy-Based Management at VM-Level: Implements granular backup policies tailored to specific VMs, optimizing data protection.
Source and Target Deduplication: Reduce storage overhead by eliminating duplicate data at the source and target levels.
Compression: Compress data for reduced storage requirements and optimized backup performance.
Built-In Cloud Integration: Seamlessly integrate with cloud storage options for offsite backups and enhanced disaster recovery preparedness.

Why do we recommend it?

IBM Spectrum Protect, formerly known as Tivoli Storage Manager, emerges as a top-tier choice for enterprise backup and restore needs. Its agentless architecture and scalability make it an invaluable asset for organizations managing vast amounts of data. We recommend IBM Spectrum Protect for its comprehensive feature set, including progressive incremental backups, policy-based management, and built-in cloud integration. Our recommendation is reinforced by the solution's ability to provide a single point of control for managing all backups and recoveries, simplifying data protection workflows in complex IT environments.

IBM Spectrum Protect for Virtual Environments provides data protection for Hyper-V environments. It provides incremental or full backups for your Hyper-V VMs. It can also take snapshots of the VM and backs it up to the IBM Spectrum Protect server. You can restore the entire VM to an alternative location or only individual files from a VM.

The solution also offers a wide variety of storage options, from on-prem to cloud.

Who is it recommended for?

We recommend IBM Spectrum Protect for enterprises requiring a robust backup and restore solution capable of managing large-scale data environments. It caters to organizations seeking scalability, performance, and reliability in their data protection strategies. IBM Spectrum Protect is an ideal choice for businesses looking for a centralized backup solution that supports agentless technology and policy-based management at the VM level. Whether you're managing on-premises infrastructure or leveraging cloud storage options, IBM Spectrum Protect offers the flexibility and functionality to meet your enterprise backup needs, ensuring data resilience and compliance with industry standards.

Pros:

Agentless Technology: Utilize agentless technology for performance-based backups, minimizing impact on production environments.
Flexible Backup Options: Backup at the VM level or the entire server, providing flexibility in data protection strategies.
Cloud Integration: Leverage cloud integration for offsite backups, ensuring data redundancy and disaster recovery readiness.
Support for Incremental and Full Backups: Choose between incremental and full backup options, optimizing backup efficiency and storage utilization.

Cons:

Designed for Enterprise Environments: While highly capable, IBM Spectrum Protect may be more suited for larger enterprises due to its scalability and complexity.

Price: Contact sales

Launch an IBM Spectrum Protect Interactive Demo.

Choosing the right tool for Hyper-V backups

Before backing up your Hyper-V environment, look for those orphaned or zombie VMs that are taking a lot of precious disk space, isolate them, and back up “only” what is necessary. For that process, you may want to use a tool such as SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (VMAN) to clean up your VM environment, so you don’t end up backing up useless VMs and wasting storage.

Most of the tools for Hyper-V backups mentioned in this list offer a free edition. But bear in mind that these “free editions” are suitable only for home use and sometimes, small businesses. For instance, free solutions such as Veeam Community Edition or Altaro VM Backup Free edition are good options for backing up Hyper-V VMs in relatively small environments. These free tools have similar functionalities as their full-priced editions when backing up a few instances, but can’t scale.

Paid backup products from Veeam Altaro, Iperius Backup, Vembu, Nakivo, Uranium Backup, or Acronis Cyber Backup are great for SMBs and some can scale to enterprise-size environments. Lastly, products like Veritas NetBackup and IBM Spectrum Protect were purpose-built for enterprise backups.

Hyper-V backups FAQs

Does Windows Server Backup back up Hyper-V?

The Windows Server Backup service doesn’t extend to backing up Hyper-V machines on cluster shared volumes (CSV), so you will need to make other arrangements to back up Hyper-V by buying a third-party tool.

What are the two separate aspects in a Hyper-V backup?

There are two separate backup activities when backing up Hyper-V and each handles a specific part of the virtual infrastructure within the Hyper-V virtualization. The first of these is to back up the Hyper-V settings. This includes copying the configuration of virtual switches, live migration settings, and replication actions. Second, you need to back up the virtual machines and their guest operating systems and associated data.

What is the difference between a snapshot and a backup?

The difference between a snapshot and a backup in Hyper-V lies in the extent of the system that is copied in each scenario. A snapshot is a summary of the running Hyper-V VMs, giving their state, data, and hardware mapping. This data relies on other Hyper-V data that isn’t taken along with the snapshot – that is, the snapshot relies on the underlying infrastructure to be fully defined. Backups take the settings of all of that configuration so that it can be automatically recreated song with the data related to the VM. This means that there is more information in a backup and all the information that a snapshot includes is also copied by a backup.