Forum Discussion
Hyper-V Server 2022
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
Azure local is pretty awesome! $10/core is deal breaker 😟 my cpu is not even that good. Core doesnt mean anything my budget for microserver is $10 a month at most.
I've not read the documentation in any detail, but isn't Azure Local just Azure Stack HCI with a new name? That was what I assumed from the news items.
I am not sure if Linux as a base OS for the platform is released, is it? As of today it requires Azure Local PAYG for active cores per month or Windows Server Datacenter with SA (Enterprise Agreement only!) or CSP Subscription (MCA).
Azure Local and Azure Stack HCI is the same product but it adds more capabilities now and in the future and so the name didn't fit any longer.
More information on Azure Local
On the topic yes it uses Hyper-V as virtualization platform, just like Azure itself does - with exception of dedicated HW in Azure with VMware or Azure VMware solution offering.
I don’t think Azure Local and Azure Stack HCI are the same thing. Azure Stack HCI is an operating system, while Azure Local is a service that allows you to connect your local server and remotely access it through the Azure portal. With Azure Local, you also have the option to install Linux instead of Azure Stack HCI.
