Are you planning on using Hyper-V for web hosting as a host server or to offer Hyper-V host servers to your customers? I have been working with Hyper-V a little bit and I am not too impressed with it at the moment. I am a friend of streamlining my environment, to automate stuff, and to reduce any need for support as much as possible by being pro-active and cautious how and what I roll out.
While Hyper-V is a virtualization product that – once it is running and configured – seems to do a good job, I do see it as a potential problem, too. For one, if you are not experienced with Server 2008 Core, MS Clustering, and Hyper-V itself, the learning curve is quite challenging. The setup is fairly complex and I also see it from a maintenance and support perspective that this could draw resource away from your core web hosting business.
So, if you plan on using Hyper-V for Web hosting, make sure to put enough research into the project. Automate as much as possible and set clear expectations and a framework – especially if you are offering Hyper-V servers to customers.
Personally I do prefer VMWare ESX over Hyper-V. It is a little more expensive, but the ROI is definitely there + the software is mature and easier to setup and to maintain compared to Hyper-V. I see it as one of those “You get what you pay for” situations. Yes, Hyper-V allows you to do virtualization, but it is still way behind the offerings of VMWare.
PS: Check out ThePlanet.com for your dedicated server needs. Great prices and great support.
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- VMWare: My Experience with upgrading the Virtual Hardware in ESX 4
- Web Hosting Strategies for Virtualization