Hyper-V Comparison – Windows Server 2008 R2 vs Windows Server 2012
Feature by feature comparisons of Hyper-V in both Windows Server 2008 R2 and 2012
I just went looking for a decent comparison of Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012. I obviously found this excellent document on download.microsoft.com – but couldn’t find these high-level bullets anywhere.
Hence this post:
Processor and Memory Support
Processor/Memory Feature |
Windows Server 2008 R2 |
Windows Server 2012 |
Logical processors on hardware |
64 |
320 |
Physical memory |
1 TB |
4 TB |
Virtual processors per host |
512 |
2,048 |
Virtual processors per virtual machine |
4 |
64 |
Memory per virtual machine |
64 GB |
1 TB |
Active virtual machines |
384 |
1,024 |
Maximum cluster nodes |
16 |
64 |
Maximum cluster virtual machines |
1,000 |
8,000 |
Network
Network Feature |
Windows Server 2008 R2 |
Windows Server 2012 |
NIC Teaming |
Yes, through partners |
Yes, Windows NIC Teaming in box |
VLAN Tagging |
Yes |
Yes |
MAC spoofing protection |
Yes, with R2 SP1 |
Yes |
ARP spoofing protection |
Yes, with R2 SP1 |
Yes |
SR-IOV networking |
No |
Yes |
Network QoS |
No |
Yes |
Network metering |
No |
Yes |
Network monitor modes |
No |
Yes |
IPsec task offload |
No |
Yes |
VM Trunk Mode |
No |
Yes |
Storage
Storage Feature |
Windows Server 2008 R2 |
Windows Server 2012 |
Live storage migration |
No, quick storage migration through System Center Virtual Machine Manager |
Yes, with no limits (as many as the hardware will allow) |
Virtual machines on file storage |
No |
Yes, Server Message Block 3.0 (SMB3) |
Guest Fibre Channel |
No |
Yes |
Virtual disk format |
VHD up to 2 TB |
VHD up to 2 TB VHDX up to 64 TB |
Virtual machine guest clustering |
Yes, through iSCSI |
Yes, through iSCSI, Fibre Channel, or Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) |
Native 4 KB disk support |
No |
Yes |
Live virtual hard disk merge |
No, offline |
Yes |
Live new parent |
No |
Yes |
Secure offloaded data transfer |
No |
Yes |
Manageability
Manageability Feature |
Windows Server 2008 R2 |
Windows Server 2012 |
Hyper-V PowerShell |
No |
Yes |
Network PowerShell |
No |
Yes |
Storage PowerShell |
No |
Yes |
REST APIs |
No |
Yes |
SCONFIG |
Yes |
Yes |
Enable/Disable shell |
No, server core at operating system setup |
Yes |
VMConnect support for RemoteFX |
No |
Yes |
Hyper-V is available as both the FREE Hyper-V Server 2012 and as a role in Windows Server 2012.
If you are virtualising Windows Server workloads (and have licensed them correctly), Hyper-V is completely “free” – so save yourself a lot of money by NOT purchasing an additional virtualisation solution.
Comments
Anonymous
January 01, 2003
InformativeAnonymous
November 12, 2013
can i downcreat windows server 2008 from 2012Anonymous
November 12, 2013
how to create windows server 2012 Active Directory.Anonymous
November 20, 2013
simple -->add roles active directory domain services-->and you will be notify that requir dc promo . go from thereAnonymous
November 21, 2013
The comment has been removedAnonymous
May 19, 2014
Pingback from » How to Install BackTrack 5 R3 on Hyper-V 3.0 ??? Windows Server 2012 and Window 8 Lu??s Rato's Techy ThoughtsAnonymous
May 28, 2014
Pingback from Windows 2012(R2), mindenek alapja | reczigaborAnonymous
September 30, 2014
you have mention basis thingsAnonymous
September 30, 2014
HI Everyone.
can anybody tell me how can we migrate Physical Servers on Hyper v-2013 R2..Anonymous
September 30, 2014
HI Everyone.
can anybody tell me how can we migrate Physical Servers on Hyper v-2013 R2..Anonymous
January 08, 2015
The procedure VI's quite accurateAnonymous
February 25, 2015
please let know if we try to install hyper-v on windows server 2008, it will install or notAnonymous
March 23, 2015
HI All, how we will migrate server 208r2 with DC and AD to windows server 2012 r2 ,,,,??Anonymous
June 15, 2015
Thank you very much for the informationAnonymous
August 23, 2015
Can you explain me what is SMB in server 2012.Anonymous
August 27, 2015
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831795.aspx
The Server Message Block (SMB) protocol is a network file sharing protocol that allows applications on a computer to read and write to files and to request services from server programs in a computer network. The SMB protocol can be used on top of its TCP/IP protocol or other network protocols. Using the SMB protocol, an application (or the user of an application) can access files or other resources at a remote server. This allows applications to read, create, and update files on the remote server. It can also communicate with any server program that is set up to receive an SMB client request. Windows Server 2012 introduces the new 3.0 version of the SMB protocol