Hyper-V is very widely used because it is easy to set up, being integrated into Windows 10 and Windows Server versions. Once you have mastered the creation of a virtualization mapping through Hyper-V, you probably think it is time to relax about your virtual infrastructure. However, hold on a minute.

You have a lot of options when it comes to Hyper-V backup systems. Let’s try to focus on the best, most reliable, and easy-to-use backup systems.

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

  • N-able Cove Data Protection EDITOR’S CHOICE A backup service for entire systems, including Hyper-V implementations. This is a cloud-based service that includes off-site storage and is also available in a re-sellable package for MSPs. You can get started on a 30-day free trial.
  • Vembu BDR Suite (FREE TRIAL) This backup and recovery service is produced in an edition for Hyper-V that offers a range of strategies and repository locations. Installs on Windows or Linux and is also offered as a SaaS platform. Start 30-day free trial.
  • Acronis Cyber Protect (FREE TRIAL) This cloud platform offers a unified endpoint management package that provides anti-malware, patch management, and a backup service. Start a 30-day free trial.
  • ManageEngine RecoveryManager Plus A system backup and recovery package with particular stress on Active Directory management that also backs up Hyper-V. It installs on Windows and Windows Server.
  • Paragon Hard Disk Manager Back up and restore for a range of services, including Hyper-V (server only). It installs on Windows and Windows Server.
  • NovaBACKUP Server with Business Essentials A higher plan of the NovaBACKUP editions that performs backup and restore of physical and virtual servers. It installs on Windows Server.
  • Veeam Backup & Replication A comprehensive backup and restore service including, but not limited to Hyper-V. It is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, Solarix, and AIX.
  • Altaro VM Backup A backup service specifically for virtual machines in VMWare and Hyper-V flavors. It installs on Windows Server.
  • Iperius Backup Back up and restore Hyper-V and VMWare virtualizations. It installs on Windows and Windows Server.
  • Nakivo Backup and Replication A backup system that protects a long list of applications, not just hypervisors, and it includes Hyper-V. It installs on Windows and Windows Server.

Related post: Best Hyper-V Monitoring Tools

The best Hyper-V Backup Tools

Backup functions are integrated into a range of products. Some can provide failover service that will start up on an entire backup server, fully equipped with all of your system utilities, ready to continue driving your business’s operations. Other systems are very straightforward and just copy the settings of your Hyper-V implementation so that you can reload them if your setup gets accidentally wiped out.

Using this set of criteria, we looked for Hyper-V backup systems that can automate the backup process, saving time and money.

Our methodology for selecting a Hyper-V backup system

We reviewed the market for Hyper-V backup tools and analyzed the options based on the following criteria:

  • Options for use by managed service providers
  • Backup the entire virtual structure or just the hosts
  • Choice of full or incremental backup
  • Options for local and remote repositories
  • Migration and replication options
  • A free trial or a demo version for the opportunity to test the system before buying
  • Value for money, represented by a reliable backup system offered at a reasonable price

1. N-able Cove Data Protection (FREE TRIAL)

N-able Cove Data Protection is a cloud service formerly offered by the MSP division of SolarWinds. The tool backs up physical and virtual servers, workstations, and cloud services, such as Microsoft 365 Exchange Server, OneDrive, and SharePoint.

Key Features:

  • Suitable for use by MSPs
  • Choice to backup entire servers
  • VMWare as well as Hyper-V
  • Copies the entire hypervisor
  • Includes cloud storage

The virtualizations that N-able Cove Data Protection will handle include VMWare and Hyper-V hypervisors. In fact, it is able to back up both VMWare and Hyper-V instances through the same dashboard. This tool is suitable for backing up multi-vendor environments, multiple sites, and even multiple companies because it is marketed to managed service providers as a tool that they can use to serve the systems of their clients.

This virtualization backup system stores a copy of the entire hypervisor, which goes a lot further than many virtualization backup systems that only back up the server. The N-able system takes copies of the VMs as well.

The whole system gets uploaded to the N-able secure servers over an encrypted connection. Copies are stored locally in cache while they are motioned over the connection that is covered by 256-bit AES encryption. The storage space on the cloud server has the same category of encryption. When disaster arises and a restore is needed, the backup manager works out whether there is sufficient image remaining in the cache to replace the virtualization from there. If not, it gets replenished from cloud storage.

N-able Cove Data Protection is offered on a 30-day free trial.

Pros:

  • The interface is simple and easy to learn
  • Designed with MSPs in mind, with multi-tenant features and reporting capabilities
  • Scales well as a cloud-based application
  • Can back up data from other cloud providers like OneDrive

Cons:

  • N-able Cove Data Protection is a highly detailed tool designed for IT professionals and may take time to fully explore all features available

2. Vembu BDR Suite (FREE TRIAL)

EDITOR’S CHOICE

N-able Cove Data Protection is our top pick for a Hyper-V backup system because it takes a copy of the complete hypervisor structure, not just the server. The backup manager’s ability to quickly restore a system from the cache and the uncrackable encryption used for transfers and storage are other factors that were taken into consideration when rating this system as number one.

Get a 30-day free trial: n-able.com/products/cove-data-protection/trial

Operating system: Cloud-based

Vembu BDR Suite is a backup and disaster recovery package that can also be used for replication. The BDR Suite package is produced in editions for different platforms and there is a flavor for Hyper-V. This tool can be used to back up an entire virtual structure, just take the virtual server, or to backup files through the hypervisor.

  • Deployment options
  • Use for migration and replication
  • Cross-virtual movement possible

The Vembu BDR system is a very flexible tool that gives you lots of options. It is offered for on-premises installation or as a SaaS platform and you can choose to get a perpetual license of the software or pay for an annual subscription

You decide where your backups are held. You can store them on your own servers, on a cloud platform, and also on the Vembu servers. Backups can be implemented automatically on a cycle and the Vembu software will verify each extract before marking a cycle as complete.

The Hyper-V backup system can also be used to migrate or replicate systems. The service will even let you migrate to a different virtualization system, such as VMWare. The tool will encrypt, compress, and deduplicate data to enforce security and speed movement during data transfers and also apply the same treatment to data in storage.

The on-premises version of Vembu BDR Suite installs on Windows or Ubuntu Linux. The on-premises package is free to use for up to 10 Hyper-V VMs. Try out the system with a 30-day free trial.

  • Useful to re-install and clean up Hyper-V instances

  • Free version

  • Full verification for each transfer

  • Vembu BDR can backup many different platforms but with a separate edition for each

Vembu BDR Suite Start 30-day FREE Trial.

3. Acronis Cyber Protect (FREE TRIAL)

Acronis Cyber Protect is a cloud platform that servers business networks with security services. The package of tools includes a backup service that can operate on virtual systems as well as physical endpoints. The virtual server backup system is able to work with Hyper-V and VMWare vSphere hypervisors.

  • Hyper-V, VMware, Citrix Xen, RedHat, KVM, and Oracle VM
  • Cloud-based
  • Storage included

The Acronis system backs up virtual server data, taking vSwitch and VM information with it. This strategy makes Hyper-V implementations easy to recreate by restoring files from the backup. The service can control the security of virtualizations on multiple sites simultaneously. The cloud-based system can also backup physical endpoints on multiple sites, the computers of work-from-home employees, plus mobile devices.

The backup system for physical devices can be run at file level or it can copy entire disks. Devices covered by this service can be running Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.

Other services in the Acronis Cyber Protect are a patch manager and an extensive anti-malware suite. This system is also applied to files before they are uploaded to the backup repository to ensure that the storage isn’t infected. The restoration process also includes a malware sweep.

Acronis Cyber Protect is available in five editions and each license can be adopted to a specific technology. This includes the management and backup of visualizations. You can assess Acronis Cyber Protect with a 30-day free trial.

  • Covers all recovery scenarios including DBR, file-level recovery, and cloud-storage backup

  • Offers products for both home users as well as enterprise businesses

  • Supports virtual environment backups with bare metal recovery options

  • Would like to see an automated way to test virtual backup integrity

Acronis Cyber Protect Start 30-day FREE Trial

4. ManageEngine RecoveryManager Plus

ManageEngine RecoveryManager Plus is a backup system for Microsoft products. Hyper-V is on that list of systems secured by this ManageEngine tool. The services of the RecoveryManager Plus extend to the software to managing copying system into secondary storage and then copying them back to the primary system to get them running live again. It doesn’t include storage space for the backup copies.

  • Backup Hyper-V and other Microsoft systems
  • Point-and-click recovery
  • Scheduled backup
  • Local and cloud repository options

This system will back up with support on-premises services, such as Active Directory, Exchange Server, and also the cloud services of Azure and Microsoft 365. Alongside these products, RecoveryManager Plus can back up and restore Hyper-V implementations.

The dashboard allows the user to select which virtual servers and VMs to back up or all virtual infrastructure on demand. It also enables the entire Hyper-V system to be backed up regularly on a schedule.

The great advantage of the ManageEngine system is that it takes care of several products together, not just Hyper-V. In fact, the inclusion of Azure as well means that you can unify your backup strategy of all of your virtualizations, both on-premises and on the cloud.

ManageEngine RecoveryManager Plus installs on Windows Server and it is available for a 30-day free trial.

  • Detailed reporting, can generate compliance reports for all major standards (PCI, HIPAA, etc.)

  • Supports virtual and bare-metal environments

  • Supports delegation for NOC or helpdesk teams

  • Back settings are easy to understand and get started with

  • Not the best option for those not using Windows Server

5. Paragon Hard Disk Manager

Paragon Hard Disk Manager offers a range of services to back up, protect, and manage hard disks and virtual systems on Windows and Windows Server. This system itself operates as a proprietary hypervisor and can mediate between different virtualization vendor implementations.

  • Free for 100 sensors
  • Runs on Windows Server
  • Translates between Hyper-V and VMWare

The main purpose of Hard Disk Manager is to create and maintain partitions on disks. This is organized in the manner of a hypervisor, which is set up in a language that is proprietary to Paragon and managed through the Paragon console. This is similar to a locker concept.

Once the disk has been converted to the Paragon format, that container can be adjusted in size to occupy more or less of the physical disk. Sections of the contents, such as the OS or a hypervisor, can be extracted for duplication/storage.

The system interprets a hypervisor into its own format, so, if you are running a Hyper-V virtualization, you can extract it and then restore it onto another disk into the VMWare system if you wish.

Disk copies can either be stored on-site or in the cloud – the storage space for backup isn’t included with this plan. It is possible to lift off the contents of a disk, perform maintenance on the hardware, which might require wiping the whole disk, then restore all of the data, software, and settings back onto it in one operation through Paragon.

Paragon Hard Disk Manager installs on Windows and Windows Server. There are four editions for the software: Workstation, Server, Technician, and Enterprise. VM management isn’t included in the cheapest plan, which is Workstation. Paragon offers a 30-day free trial of Hard Disk Manager. Unfortunately, this gets you the Workstation edition, which doesn’t include VM functions.

  • The server version supports backup and recovery of virtual environments

  • Uses a simple wizard to create a recovery environment for future media recovery

  • Easy to use interface

  • Can backup numerous virtual environments – including Hyper-V

  • Features drive encryption to keep backups secure

  • Higher price point, more geared toward enterprise use

6. NovaBACKUP Server with Business Essentials

NovaBACKUP for Servers is a HIPAA-verified data protection system that backs up Windows Server systems. It includes specialist routines for backing up virtual servers managed with Hyper-V and VMWare.

  • Hyper-V and VMWare
  • HIPAA compliant
  • Combination of local and cloud storage strategies

NovaBACKUP Server is available in two editions. While the lower plan is called NovaBACKUP Server, the higher plan is called Business Essentials. Support for Hyper-V backups is only available in that higher plan. Other capabilities in the higher plan that aren’t offered in the base plan include the ability to back up Microsoft Exchange Server and SQL Server.

The Hyper-V backup function of the NovaBACKUP system focuses on storing the server functions of the hypervisor. However, it also takes a copy of the entire virtual management structure with it, which also backs up VM settings, enabling them to be restored as well. Backups can be stored locally or on the Cloud. Cloud storage space isn’t included in the price of NovaBACKUP Server but it can be added on for a fee.

A license for NovaBACKUP Server with Business Essentials lasts for one year. Buyers get a 30-day money-back guarantee, which means you get all of your money back if you change your mind and cancel within 30 days of purchase. There is also a 15-day free trial available. However, this is the NovaBACKUP Server plan and not the Business Essential edition.

  • Simple lightweight tool

  • Supports both physical and virtual backups

  • Offers compliance checking – great for HIPAA environments

  • Utilizes a combination of cloud and on-prem storage solutions

  • Could benefit from a slightly longer trial period

7. Veeam Backup & Replication

Veeam has been at the forefront of cloud services and virtualization management since its creation in 2006. The company has created a platform with service layers, similar to the protocol stack of networking technology and it fashioned its Backup & Replication service as one of those layers.

  • Backup and restore or replicate
  • Whole server or application-specific backup
  • Scheduled runs

The Backup & Replication service is able to support on-premises or cloud resources and it can be tuned to protect just applications, just operating systems, just virtual environments, or the whole lot. It has a targeted capability to back up, replicate, and restore Hyper-V implementation. This service gives the user the ability to choose whether to back up part (i.e. just one server or specific VMs) or all of the hypervisor at a time.

Once a hypervisor has been backed up, it can be quickly restored in the same location, or rolled out to a new device, meaning replication. That new location can be in a cloud environment, so this system can be used for cloud migration as well. It includes the options for always-on, background, incremental backups, and on-demand whole system backups.

Veeam Backup & Replication’s Hyper-V service installs on Windows Server and it is available for a 30-day free trial. There are also cloud-based service options available.

  • Easy to use for both technical and non-technical users

  • Supports system-level recovery and backups

  • Can run on Windows or Linux operating systems

  • Ideal for small businesses and home users

  • Would like more integrations into more hardware storage and NAS solutions

8. Altaro VM Backup

Altaro VM Backup is an easy-to-use system that aims to get backups up and running quickly without the user needing to have in-depth specialist knowledge. This is on-premises software that is self-installing and includes discovery routines that set up the console with all of the information the user needs in order to make decisions about how to implement a Hyper-V backup strategy.

  • Backup Hyper-V and VMWare
  • Restore, replicate, or migrate
  • Simultaneously backs up multiple locations

As well as backing up Hyper-V implementations, this tool can also handle VMWare. The capabilities of the system extend to multi-site operations and it operates continuously in the background, performing incremental backups. The service can also be used to replicate or migrate Hyper-V systems.

The background process for the backup system can work on live systems without blocking or freezing Hyper-V operations. Storage can be local or on the cloud and the Altaro system includes integrations for the major cloud storage providers. It is also possible to back up to multiple locations simultaneously.

Altaro VM Backup is offered on a 30-day free trial.

  • Supports a wide range of environments including Hyper-V

  • Great interface, easy to see key backup metrics

  • Supports virtualization recovery

  • Has a version for MSPs and resellers

  • Can detect changes in data and replace files, acting as a DLP tool

  • Would like to see more database recovery options, specifically recovering single databases rather than the entire VM

9. Iperius Backup

Iperius Backup is a very flexible tool. It can back up your Hyper-V implementations and it is also capable of backing up VMWare. The service gives the user options over how backup and restore functions operate. For example, hypervisors can be stored as an image of settings, a server backup, or a file-level operation.

  • Backup Hyper-V and VMWare
  • Automated incremental backup
  • Full backup on demand

The Iperius system operates incremental backups, which are faster and use less processor time than one-off full backups. However, those on-demand full backups are still possible through the Iperius console.

An interesting option with Iperius is the possibility of using this system to move physical infrastructure into a Hyper-V environment by using the backup mechanism to copy data into the hypervisor.

Backups can be stored locally, on the cloud, or both. Iperius integrates with all of the major cloud storage providers, so the system administrator can perform all backup and restore functions through the Iperius console.

Iperius Backup is implemented as on-premises software and you would install it on Windows Server to get your Hyper-V system protected. There is a Free edition but that doesn’t cover Hyper-V. The paid version, called Iperius Advanced, includes backup and restore functions for Hyper-V is available for a 21-day free trial.

  • Could use an updated interface

10. Nakivo Backup and Replication

Nakivo offers a per-application backup strategy. It has integrations for all of the major applications and that includes Hyper-V. This approach enables the backup process to adapt to the special needs of each service that is being backed up.

  • Backup Hyper-V, VMWare, and Nutanix
  • Ransomware scanning
  • Runs on Windows Server

Among the other systems that Nakivo can backup are SQL Server, Active Directory, Exchange Server, and Microsoft Office 365. It can also back up other virtualization brands, such as VMWare, and Nutanix and it can back up cloud-based services and data on Azure and AWS EC2. The service is capable of storing and restoring Windows, Windows Server, and Linux operating systems, entire file servers, and whole disks down to the bare metal. This is a flexible service that offers lots of options from full to incremental backups, on-demand, or background processing.

The Nakivo Backup service can be used to replicate Hyper-V implementations, implement a failover service, migrate hypervisors, and translate to the cloud. The software includes ransomware protection features and it can be integrated into any business continuity plan.

This is on-premises software and it doesn’t include any cloud storage, though you can set it up to work with your cloud service accounts. You would install this package on Windows Server in order to keep your Hyper-V systems backed up. Nakivo Backup and Replication is offered for a 15-day free trial.

  • Supports Hyper-V as well as VMWare

  • Can detect and protect data from ransomware attacks

  • Supports a wide range of backup options including incremental backups

  • Has a simple yet intuitive interface

  • Does not include cloud storage – better suited for on-prem backup solutions

  • Could use a longer trial period