While many organizations now use virtual machines like Hyper-V as part of their core IT resources, many find it a challenge to back up or monitor those machines. Fortunately, there are many cost-effective Hyper-V backup tools on the market that companies can use to backup Hyper-V virtual machines.
Here is a list of the ten Best Hyper-V Backup Tools:
- SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (FREE TRIAL) Virtualization management software with Hyper-V monitoring, a customizable dashboard, alerts, and predictive recommendations. Get a 30-day free trial.
- Vembu BDR Suite (FREE TRIAL) This package provides backup and recovery for Hyper-V instances on a continuous or periodic basis. Host it on Windows Server or Linux, or access it as a SaaS package.Access the 30-day free trial.
- Acronis Cyber Protect (FREE TRIAL) Agentless backup tool for Hyper-V virtual machines with bare metal or dissimilar recovery, automated backup tasks, and more. Start a 30-day free trial.
- Iperius Backup Backup software that supports Hyper-V, VMware, ESXi, and vCenter virtual machines with incremental and differential backups for Hyper-V.
- Veeam Backup & Replication Backup software for Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines with incremental backups, alerts, instant recovery, and more.
- Altaro VM Backup Backup software for Hyper-V and VMware with 3-2-1 backup, AES 256-bit encryption, and more.
- Uranium Backup Pro Virtual A cloud-based backup storage solution that allows you to backup unlimited virtual machines to cloud services.
- NAKIVO Backup & Replication Hyper-V backup tool and virtual machine backup software that supports Hyper-V and VMware.
- Storware vProtect Agentless backup platform that supports Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines with complete backups, incremental backups, and more.
- UniTrends Free backup software that supports Hyper-V and VMware machines with scheduled backups, instant recovery, ransomware detection, and more.
This article will look at some of the best Hyper-V backup tools on the market for Windows, macOS, and Linux. As part of our comparison, we’re going to review everything from performance monitoring tools to monitor performance and backup tools you can use to create copies of existing VM’s.
The Best Hyper-V Backup Tools
1. SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (FREE TRIAL)
SolarWinds Virtualization Manager is a virtualization management tool that you can use to monitor the performance of Hyper-V virtual machines. With SolarWinds Virtualization Manager you can monitor the I/O performance, latency, and failure ofHyper-V VM’s through a customizable dashboard.
Key Features:
- Custom dashboard
- VM sprawl dashboard
- Alerts
- Predictive recommendations
The platform also provides a VM sprawl dashboard that generates predictive recommendations telling you which resources are over or under resourced for CPU and memory. This helps you to conduct presumptive maintenance and reduce the chance of poor performance.
Alerts keep you notified about changes to your virtual machines. Customize alerts at the cluster, host, and VM level to determine when there are performance issues in your environment. Alerts are also combined with recommended actions so that you can start to address the root cause of suboptimal performance.
SolarWinds Virtualization Manager is recommended for enterprises that want to monitor the performance of Hyper-V virtual machines. Prices start at $1,716 (£1,212).
You can try SolarWinds Virtualization Manager through a free and fully functional 30-day trial.
2. Vembu BDR Suite (FREE TRIAL)
Vembu BDR Suite offers backup and disaster recovery, migration, replication, or cross-virtualization translation for Hyper-V systems. The BDR Suite is packaged in plans for specific technologies and there is also a version available for VMWare. You can set this system to back up continuously or periodically.
Key Features:
- Host your BDR Suite or access a SaaS plan
- Choose your own backup repository location
- Customize a backup strategy
- Free plan available
Vembu offers a storage option but that isn’t bundled into the BDR Suite system. That keeps the price for BDR Suite very low but you have to factor in the costs of a backup server into your budget on top of that price. You can subscribe to the BDR Suite system, paying annually, or you can choose to buy the package on a perpetual license. Pricing is levied either per CPU socket, which has a price starting at $108 per year or per VM, with a starting price of $18 per year.
You can choose to opt instead for the BDR Suite system for servers – that’s physical servers. With that edition, you can back up an entire server, taking the Hyper-V settings with it, so you have a number of options over how you backup Hyper-V with Vembu BDR Suite.
You can get Vembu Cloud BDR Suite, which is a SaaS package or download the BDR Suite system onto Windows, Windows Server, or Linux. Try the on-premises version on a 30-day free trial.
3. Acronis Cyber Protect (FREE TRIAL)
Acronis Cyber Protect is an agentless backup tool that supports Hyper-V virtual machines. With Acronis Cyber Backup you can backup and restore Hyper-V servers to bare metal or dissimilar hardware. Managing backups is also easy as you can automated backup tasks through a web management console.
Key Features:
- Restore Hyper-V to bare metal or dissimilar hardware
- Automate backup tasks
- Schedule or on-demand conversion of backups
- Fast backup with vmFlashback technology
Recovery of virtual machines can be completed in a matter of seconds with vmFlashback technology. This technology identifies the difference between the state of a current VM and it’s backup state and only updates the gaps so that you can get up and running quickly after a system failure.
Acronis Cyber Backup is a solid option for enterprises that require a reliable backup solution with fast recovery options. Prices start at $929 (£656.51) per year. You can start the 30-day free trial.
4. Iperius Backup
Iperius Backup is a backup tool that can be used to backup Hyper-V, VMware ESXi, and vCenter virtual machines. With Iperius Backup you can conduct incremental and differential backups for Hyper-V VM’s. The software is agentless enabling the user to backup from the network local or network Hyper-V servers.
Key Features:
- Back up Hyper-V, VMware ESXi, and vCenter
- Incremental and differential backups of Hyper-V VM’s
- Restore individual files
Restoring virtual machines with Iperius Backup is easy, as you can use the software to restore virtual machines to different hosts and restore individual files. Through the user interface a user can open VHD and VHDX files, explore them, and then select the files or folders they want to restore.
Iperius Backup is suitable for enterprises that require a cost-efficient solution for backing up Hyper-V machines with incremental or differential backups. Prices start at $266 (£187). You can download the free trial through this link here.
5. Veeam Backup & Replication
Veeam Backup & Replication is a backup software that supports backups for Hyper-V and Vmware virtual machines. With Veeam Backup & Replication users can create image-level backups of virtual machine applications. The backup process is very efficient using incremental backups that only create copies of data that’s changed since the last backup.
Key Features:
- Hyper-V and VMware virtual machine backup.
- Incremental backup
- Alarms
- Instant recovery
Alerts notify you about changes to your backups so you can ensure that there’s no risk of your data being unavailable when you need it. The platform comes with over 340 out-of-the-box alarms and 150 pre-built reports to make sure that you don’t miss any important information.
The software also offers instant recovery so that you can instantly recover virtual machines with Veeam’s instant recovery engine. There is file-level recovery and recovery for multiple virtual machines so you can restore precisely the information you need to get back to work.
Veeam Backup & Replication is a great choice for organizations that require a Hyper-V backup tool that’s easy to use with efficient backups. To view pricing information for this product you need to contact the company directly to request a quote. You can download the free trial through this link here.
6. Altaro VM Backup
Altaro VM Backup is a backup tool for virtual machines that supports Hyper-V and VMware. With Altaro VM Backup you can schedule backups from every five minutes to daily and backup virtual machines in less than 14 minutes. You also have the option to back up live virtual machines by using Microsoft VSS.
Key Features:
- Back up Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines
- Automatic backup retention
- Integration with Azure, Amazon S3, and Wasabi
- AES 256-bit encryption
- Restore single files or entire virtual machines
- Backup Health Monitor
The platform comes with a range of security measures to ensure your information is protected. The first is 3-2-1 backup, where you can back up with two local copies and one offsite copy. The second is 256-bit encryption that encrypts your backups so they can’t be accessed by unauthorized users. You also have the option to encrypt local backups.
Users can choose to restore single filesorentire virtual machines. Other restoration options include restoring groups of virtual machines to different hosts, or restoring from multiple points in time. There is also a Backup Health Monitor that you can use to monitor the health of backups to verify that they’re ready in emergencies.
Altaro VM Backup is worth taking a look at if you’re looking for a robust backup solution with onboard security options. It is available as a subscription or perpetual license. Prices start at $369 (£260.77) per year for five virtual machines. There is also a free edition of the product with manual backup retention. You can download the 30-day free trial through this link here.
7. NAKIVO Backup & Replication
NAKIVO Backup & Replication is a Hyper-V backup tool and virtual machine backup solution that can back up Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines. With NAKIO Backup & Replication you can use incremental backups and Resilient Change Tracking to back up virtual machines more efficiently without wasting time or resources.
Key Features:
- Back up Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines
- Instant Verification of backups
- Back up individual files or entire virtual machines
- Instant recovery
The platform supports automated backup and replication with Hyper-V backup policies that enable you to back up virtual machines without spending lots of time on manual administration. You have the option to back up individual files or entire virtual machines. You can also verify the availability of these backups by using Instant Verification to ensure that the backups are recoverable.
Instant recovery allows you to instantly launch recovered virtual machines. This ensures you have complete transparency over your backups and the information that you’ve stored without wasting any time.
NAKIVO Backup & Replication is an option that’s suitable for enterprises looking for a low cost and effective backup tool. Pricing starts at $99 (£69.95) per socket with the basic version. You can download the free trial through this link here.
8. Uranium Backup Pro Virtual
Uranium Backup Pro Virtual is a virtual machine backup tool that supports Hyper-V, VMware, ESXi, and vSphere virtual machine backups. Creating backups is simple with the Uranium Backup Pro users interface which allows you to select the local virtual machines you want to back up through a list. You can also specify the IP of a Hyper-V server.
Key Features:
- Back up Hyper-V, VMware, ESXi, and vSphere virtual machines
- Cloud storage
- IT management console (USilio Premium users only)
With Uranium Backup Pro Virtual you can backup unlimited virtual machines to cloud services such as Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox. All of your backups can be run through the Usilio management console, where you can schedule and run backups or review notification reports. It’s important to note that the Usilio management console is only available for users with Usilio Premium.
Uranium Backup Pro Virtual is a great option for organizations looking for backup solutions for multiple virtual machines. Prices start at $278 (£197). You can start the free trial through this link here.
9. Storware vProtect
Storware vProtect is an agentless backup solution that supports all open and commercial virtual machines including Hyper-V and VMware systems. With Storware vProtect you can complete full and incremental backups of systems to local filesystems, cloud object storage, enterprise backup service or NFS/CIFS share.
Key Features:
- Supports Hyper-V and VMware
- Web-based user interface
- Automated virtual machine restore
- Verify backups
You can manage your backups through a web-based user interface and back up your virtual machines to services such as AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, Catalogic DPX, Ceph, Dell EMC DataDomain, Dell EMC NetWorker, ExaGrid, Google Cloud Storage, IBM Cloud Object Storage, IBM Spectrum Project, Nutanix Objects, OpenStack SWIFT, Veritas NetBackup, and more.
When it comes to restoring virtual machines, you can use the software to automatically restore multiple virtual machines. You can also use the platform to periodically monitor the viability of backups to ensure that they’re recoverable, enabling you to verify all backups will actually work.
Storware vProtect is recommended for users that want to back up multiple virtual machine types to multiple locations. It is available on RedHat Enterprise Linux and CentOS. A free version is available that supports up to 10 virtual machines. You need to request a quote from the company directly for pricing information. You can start the 60-day trail through this link here.
10. UniTrends
UniTrends is a free backup tool with support for Hyper-V and VMware machines. With UniTrends you can schedule backups and automatically back up virtual machines. You can monitor the status of backups through a user-friendly dashboard that details the amount of protected and unprotected machines in your network, and the status of your last backup.
Key Features:
- Hyper-V and VMware support
- Scheduled backups
- Dashboard
- Fast recovery
Instant recovery enables you to restore virtual machines quickly in a few clicks. This means you don’t have to waste time waiting for virtual machines to boot after a security incident. The software integrates with UniTrends disaster recovery-as-a-service so you can optimize the recovery process even further.
One particularly useful feature included with UniTrends is AI-based ransomware detection. The AI can detect the signs of a ransomware attack and notify your users so they can take action before anything happens to your backups.
UniTrends is recommended for enterprises that want a solid Hyper-V backup tool with an affordable price tag. The free version supports up to 1 TB of Hyper-V or VMware virtual machines. Paid versions start at $349 (£246) for the essentials version which supports up to 10 resources. You can start the 30-day free trial through this link here.
Best Hyper-V Backup Tools: Editor’s Choice
There are plenty of tools available for you to choose from to monitor and manage Hyper-V backups. If you want to monitor the performance of Hyper-V virtual machines, SolarWinds Virtualization Manager is the way to go, but if you want to manage backups then a cost-effective solution like Iperius Backup is a better fit.
Iperius Backup is competitively priced and easy to use,and offers support for incremental and differential backups so that you can back up your data however you see fit. However, we highly recommend researching multiple products and conducting your own research before committing to a purchase to ensure you get the best fit for your environment.
