What is included in Altaro VM Backup for Hyper-V Unlimited?

Hyper-V backup – Image-based backup of running Hyper-V virtual machines
Augmented deduplication – Shrinks the backup repository across all jobs
Boot from Backup – Start a failed VM directly from backup
Granular restore – Recover single files or Exchange mailbox items
Core Capacity – Unlimited VMs per licensed Hyper-V host
Important – Cloud backup, CDP and replication need Unlimited Plus

What are the main benefits of Altaro VM Backup for Hyper-V Unlimited?

Altaro VM Backup for Hyper-V Unlimited (now sold as Hornetsecurity VM Backup) is a host-licensed backup and recovery tool for Hyper-V virtual machines. The Unlimited edition removes the per-host VM cap and adds deduplication, Boot from Backup and Exchange-level recovery.

Storage savings – Inline deduplication cuts repository size significantly
Fast recovery – Boot virtual machines straight from stored backups
Cluster ready – Protects Hyper-V cluster shared volume workloads
Simple licensing – One host license covers unlimited CPU sockets
Offsite copies – Send backups to UNC shares or WAN servers
Quick deployment – First backup running in under fifteen minutes

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What does Altaro VM Backup for Hyper-V Unlimited do?

It makes image-based backups of Hyper-V virtual machines and restores them when a host, disk or VM fails. The software is installed on a Windows machine and licensed per Hyper-V host, with no limit on CPU sockets. The Unlimited edition lifts the five-VM-per-host ceiling of the Standard edition, so every guest on a host is protected under one license. Live VMs are captured through Microsoft VSS, keeping Exchange and SQL data application-consistent without shutting the machine down.

What is the difference between the Standard, Unlimited and Unlimited Plus editions?

The main split is VM count and recovery depth: Standard covers up to five VMs per host, while both Unlimited tiers remove that cap. Unlimited adds Augmented Inline Deduplication, Boot from Backup and Exchange item-level restore, none of which ship in Standard. Unlimited Plus goes further with Continuous Data Protection, WAN-Optimized Replication and cloud backup to Azure, Amazon S3 and Wasabi. If you back up only to local disks, UNC shares or an offsite Backup Server, the Unlimited column below usually covers it; pick Unlimited Plus only when you need cloud copies or near-continuous replication.

Does the Unlimited edition include cloud backup and immutable ransomware protection?

No. Cloud backup to Microsoft Azure, Amazon S3 and Wasabi, together with the Immutable Cloud Storage that underpins Altaro's ransomware protection, is reserved for the Unlimited Plus edition. The Unlimited edition still keeps offsite copies, but only to a local drive, a UNC network share or a separate WAN Backup Server, not to public cloud object storage. Continuous Data Protection and WAN-Optimized Replication are likewise Plus-only features. If immutable, air-gapped cloud retention is part of your ransomware plan, you need Unlimited Plus rather than Unlimited.

Who is Altaro VM Backup for Hyper-V Unlimited best suited for?

It fits IT teams running a Hyper-V host or cluster where the VM count keeps growing past the five-VM limit of a Standard license. Because licensing is per host with unlimited CPU sockets, a single license protects every VM on a busy hypervisor without per-socket calculations. Cluster Shared Volume support means clustered Hyper-V workloads are backed up correctly rather than as loose individual machines. Teams that keep all backup data on their own local and offsite storage benefit most, since this edition stops short of cloud backup.

Which Hyper-V workloads and guest systems can it protect?

It protects Windows and Linux guest VMs on Hyper-V, and can back up file-consistent Linux machines without shutting them down. Application-consistent backups of Exchange and SQL Server VMs are handled through Microsoft's VSS writer. The same product can also restore a backup taken on VMware to a Hyper-V host through Cross-Platform Restore, which helps when migrating between hypervisors. Backups run without installing agents inside the guest VMs, keeping each protected machine untouched.

Frequently asked questions about Altaro VM Backup for Hyper-V Unlimited

Can it back up physical servers as well as virtual machines?

No. Altaro VM Backup only protects virtual machines on Hyper-V and VMware; physical servers are covered by Hornetsecurity's separate Physical Server Backup product. If your environment mixes physical and virtual hosts, plan for two separate tools rather than one.

Can a backup be restored to a different Hyper-V host?

Yes. The Unlimited edition can restore a VM to a different host than the one it was backed up from, which is useful for hardware replacement or recovering onto standby hardware after a server failure. Both full VM restores and granular file-level restores are supported.

Does the Unlimited edition keep long-term backup archives?

Yes. It supports Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS) archiving and flexible retention policies, so you can keep daily, weekly and monthly restore points without storing every backup indefinitely. Augmented Inline Deduplication keeps the repository size down while those longer retention chains are maintained.