You will need to create two Physical or Virtual Host servers, and they need to run in the same Windows version - in this case (for this guide), Windows Server 2016 will be used - with Nested Virtualization.

So, how is Hyper-V replica configured? You must set up at least two Hyper-V hosts one would be the primary host, and the other would be the secondary host (where the data in the primary host would be replicated to).

However, this is simply the tip of the iceberg, the more detailed setup procedure is explained in the subsequent sub-heading in this article. Getting Started with Hyper-V Replicaįirst things first, here’s a comprehensive and detailed guide on how to carry out Hyper-V replica. However, this does not mean that Hyper-V replication replaces the need for regular backups even with Hyper-V Replica enabled, you still need to make backups from time to time - that remains the safest way to keep your files safe. So, in simple terms, Hyper-V replication refers to setting up virtual machines to “replicate” from a primary host to a secondary host to enable easy recovery in a case of drive failure or server crash. For example, if the primary host hardware fails, and there is a need to switch to a secondary host, if you had Hyper-V Replica enabled, you'd be able to launch your VMs on the secondary host.

So, in the case of a crash or fatal failure of the system, you can import the 'Replica' virtual machine and still have access to your files.

It is clear how this feature operates it just makes a replica of your virtual machine(s) and uploads it to a 'Hyper-V Replica' host. To assist in the recovery of virtual machines hosted on the Hyper-V environment, Hyper-V Replica is a free utility feature integrated into Hyper-V 3.0.

Hyper v vs virtualbox vs vcenter