New Changes to Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V [Updates]

What are the Changes to Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V

Since the first release of Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has been committed to Hyper-V innovation, and there are a number of significant Hyper-V changes in the latest Windows Server 2025, including

- NVMe over Fabric (NVMe-oF) support.

- VM can support up to 2,048 virtual CPUs (vCPUs).

- Hyper-V host has a maximum of 4 PB of RAM.

- Thin provisioned storage.

- Extended cluster support for Storage Space Direct (S2D).

- Certificate-based real-time VM migration for AD-less clusters.

- Cluster-aware update enhancements for greater resiliency.

- GPU-P support for Hyper-V, including support for live migration.

- NetworkATC support for Windows Server.

- New ReFS native deduplication and compression optimized for hot data such as VMs.

Microsoft Hyper-V Updates in Windows Server 2025 [Details]

Next, we'll take a closer look at the Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V updates.

Windows Server 2025 Updates GPU partitioning for Hyper-V

GPU partitioning allows you to share physical GPU devices with multiple virtual machines (VMs). instead of assigning the entire GPU to a single VM, GPU partitioning assigns a dedicated portion of the GPU to each VM. with Hyper-V GPU-P High Availability, in the event of an unplanned outage, the GPU-P VM is automatically enabled on another cluster node. GPU-P Live Migration provides a solution to move VMs with GPU-P (for planned downtime or load balancing) to another node, either standalone or cluster. GPU-P Live Migration provides a solution to move VMs with GPU-P for planned downtime or load balancing to another node, whether it is a standalone node or a cluster node.

Windows Server 2025 Update Workgroup Clusters

Hyper-V Workgroup clusters are a special type of Windows Server failover cluster.

In Windows Server 2016, Microsoft introduced workgroup clusters in to enable smaller businesses to establish failover clusters, mainly for Microsoft SQL Server, without an AD domain. Microsoft recommended avoiding it because of the unsupported migration, even if it was feasible with Hyper-V.

However, the Windows server 2025 Hyper-V cluster enable live migration of Hyper-V VMs utilizing certificates, without an AD domain. Businesses using Hyper-V failover clusters in remote edge settings can now benefit from this upgrade without having to pay for the deployment of an AD domain.

MicrosoftRevises Dynamic Processor Compatibility

In order to utilize new processor features in a clustered environment, the Dynamic Processor Compatibility mode was modified. Dynamic processor compatibility makes advantage of all the processor functionalities that the cluster's servers can access. Performance is better in this mode than in the prior processor compatibility version. You can also preserve state between virtualized hosts with various processor generations thanks to dynamic processor compatibility. On processors that implement Secondary Address Translation (SLAT), Processor Compatibility mode now offers improved dynamic functionality.

Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V’s NetworkATC

Network ATC simplifies Windows Server 2025 cluster network setup deployment and administration. With the intent-based method used by Network ATC, users define the intended intents—such as management, computation, or storage for a network adapter—and the deployment is carried out automatically in accordance with the configuration. This method minimizes configuration drift, guarantees configuration consistency throughout the cluster, and cuts down on the time, complexity, and problems related to host networking setup.

Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V Manager

When you create a new VM through the Hyper-V Manager, Generation 2 is now set as the default option in the New Virtual Machine Wizard.

Scalability of Server 2025

With Windows Server 2025, Hyper-V now supports up to 4 petabytes of memory and 2,048 logical processors per host. This increase allows for greater scalability and performance for virtualized workloads.

Windows Server 2025 also supports up to 240 TB of memory and 2,048 virtual processors for generation 2 VMs, providing increased flexibility for running large workloads.

NVMe

NVMe is a new standard for fast solid-state drives (SSDs). NVMe storage performance has been optimized in Windows Server 2025 with improved performance, resulting in an increase in IOPS and decrease in CPU utilization.

ReFS native storage deduplication and compression

ReFS native storage deduplication and compression are techniques used to optimize storage efficiency for both static and active workloads such as file servers or virtual desktops

Thin provisioned volumes

Thin provisioned volumes with Storage Spaces Direct are a way to allocate storage resources more efficiently and avoid costly overallocation by allocating from the pool only when needed in a cluster. You can also convert fixed to thin provisioned volumes. Converting from fixed to thin provisioned volumes returns any unused storage back to the pool for other volumes to use.

Simplified Azure Arc setup

Unlike the Windows Server 2022 release, it has a lot of new features - enhancements in Azure that are gradually trickling down to Server (especially Hyper-V) and Azure Stack HCI.

By default, the Azure Arc setup Feature-on-Demand is installed, which offers a user-friendly wizard interface and a system tray icon in the taskbar to facilitate the process of adding servers to Azure Arc. Azure Arc extends the capabilities of the Azure platform, allowing for the creation of applications and services that can operate in diverse environments. These environments include data centers, the edge, multicloud environments, and provide increased flexibility.

✍With the Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V revolution, maintaining reliable backups has become even more important. Advances in Hyper-V have enabled organizations to deploy and manage complex workloads, but without a robust Hyper-V backup solution, the risk of data loss, corruption, or cyberattacks can damage profits.

How to Update to Windows Server 2025

Microsoft's Windows Server 2025 became available on November 1, 2024. Server users can upgrade in one of two ways: from source media or Windows Update.

* Windows Update feature is available for Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022 appliances.

When you upgrade using Windows Update from the Settings dialog, you can perform the installation directly from:

• Using the desktop: From Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update.
• Use SConfig for Server Core: Type SConfig and press Enter to launch the Server Configuration Tool.

Efficient Hyper-V Backup Solution for Windows Server 2025

AOMEI Cyber Backup is a professional tool for managing Hyper-V backups, providing organizations with a powerful way to protect Hyper-V virtual environments and guard business data alongside Windows Server 2025.

🟠Agentless Backup for Hyper-V VMs

Agentless Hyper-V VM backups eliminate the need to install additional software within each VM. This reduces overhead, preserves VM performance, and simplifies deployment.

🟡Automated Backup Scheduling

Automatically backup Hyper-V VMs at regular intervals, minimizing manual intervention.

🟣Fast Recovery

With one-click VM recovery, AOMEI Cyber Backup reduces downtime, ensuring a quick return to operations in case of data loss or system failure.

🔵Multi-Hypervisor Support

Beyond Hyper-V, the tool supports VMware backups, offering versatility for organizations using mixed environments.

Steps to create a powerful Hyper-V backup task with the free tool

1. Navigate to Source Device > Hyper-V > + Add Hyper-V to add a host, and fill in the information.

2. Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, and specify the Task Name, Backup Type as Hyper-V Backup.

3. Configure the Hyper-V backup settings such as Device, Target, Archive, Schedule, Backup Cleanup on a simple page.

• Device: Select Hyper-V virtual machines you want to back up.
• Target: Choose to backup Hyper-V to network share or a local storage.
• Archive: Backup Hyper-V versions to Amazon S3.
• Schedule: Schedule backup flexibly, automatically performing full or incremental backups on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
• Backup cleanup: Specify a retention policy, and the old backups that exceed the limit will be automatically deleted.

4. Click Start Backup: you can select to Add the schedule only, or Add the schedule and start backup now.

For organizations upgrading to Server 2025 Hyper-V, AOMEI Cyber Backup provides efficient, free Hyper-V VM backup that easily scales to accommodate growth.

Conclusion

Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V represents a giant leap in virtualization technology. Whether you're focused on AI workloads, edge computing, or hybrid cloud, addresses the most pressing demands of today’s IT landscape.