[German]Microsoft released its Windows Server 2022 last month without much notice (see Windows Server 2022 LTSC released). Because users have already asked whether there is also a Hyper-V Server 2022, I'll cover it in a separate article. The bad news is simple: Hyper-V as a separate server, which may be used free of charge, is dead. Microsoft is on the cloud trip.
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Hyper-V-Server
Hyper-V Server is a Windows server in Core Edition without a graphical user interface and with the Hyper-V role enabled. The advantaged was that Hyper-V Server was available for free and could be used for virtualization. This was probably Microsoft's attempt to counter vendors like VMware with its free ESXi product.
No Hyper-V Server 2022, this branch is dead
In Microsoft's announcement about Windows Server 2022 there was no hint about Hyper V Server 2022. German blog readers has asked my what about Hyper V Server. Long story short: There will be no Hyper-V Server 2020, and my suspicion was, that Microsoft will abandon Hyper-V server in future. Recently I stumbled over this tweet, addressing everything in a nutshell. Nathan McNulty points out that Windows Server 2022 was quietly released, but Hyper-V Server 2022 is dead. Some stupid product manager would think that Azure Stack HCI would make more money.
There is a Techcommunity user post Hyper-V Server 2022 from August 16, 2021, where somebody asked what's with Hyper-V Server 2022
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 found anything official.
On August 24, 2021, Microsoft employee Elden Christensen, Principal PM Manager in the Core OS Group, responsible for Windows Server, reports back from his vacation. He issued the following statement:
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Azure Stack HCI is Microsoft's premier hypervisor offering for running virtual machines on-premises. For testing and evaluation purposes Azure Stack HCI includes a 60-day free trial and can be downloaded here.
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 will continue to be supported under its lifecycle policy until January 2029, see this link for additional information.
This is the official answer from Microsoft. The Azure Stack HCI is seen as a solution for running virtual machines on-premises. There would even be a 60-day trial version. But as German blog reader Stefan notes within a private email, this solution costs $10 US per core per month. Those who believe they need Hyper-V can continue to use Hyper-V Server 2019 until 2029, which is the last version that is still free. I think that it now for Hyper-V server – smart administrators are looking around for alternatives in the meantime.
Note: The Hyper-V role in Windows 10 or Windows Server is still available and will be continued. The article above is focussed at Hyper-V Server as a free product.
