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

Immutable Cloud Backup – Locks offsite copies against ransomware tampering
Continuous Data Protection – Captures VM changes for near-zero data loss
WAN-Optimized Replication – Keeps standby VMs ready for fast failover
Central Control Panel – Manages every Hyper-V host from one console
Core Capacity – Protects unlimited VMs on each licensed host
Important – Backs up Hyper-V hosts only, not VMware or Proxmox

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

Altaro VM Backup for Hyper-V Unlimited Plus (now sold as Hornetsecurity VM Backup) is the top perpetual edition for protecting Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines. On top of the local backup engine it adds cloud and immutable offsite backup, replication, Continuous Data Protection, and a central management console.

Ransomware Resilience – Immutable offsite copies survive encryption attacks
Faster Recovery – CDP and replication cut downtime to minutes
Lower Storage Cost – Inline deduplication shrinks the backup repository
Central Oversight – One console monitors every host and job
Flexible Offsite Targets – Send backups to Azure, S3, or Wasabi
Quick Deployment – First backup runs in under 15 minutes

Why backups protect against expensive data loss
For more background on backup planning, read our guide:

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

It backs up and replicates Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines, covering unlimited VMs on each licensed host. Unlimited Plus is the highest perpetual tier, adding cloud and immutable offsite backup, WAN-optimized replication, and Continuous Data Protection on top of standard local backup. Backups run while VMs stay live, and schedules can fire as frequently as every five minutes. A single installation protects both standalone hosts and Hyper-V CSV clusters from one console.

How is Unlimited Plus different from the Unlimited and Standard editions?

Unlimited Plus is the only edition with the central Control Panel, cloud and immutable offsite backup, WAN-optimized replication, and Continuous Data Protection. The Unlimited edition keeps Augmented Inline Deduplication, Boot from Backup, cluster support, and Exchange item-level restore, but drops the cloud, replication, and CDP features. Standard is the entry tier: it handles local and basic offsite backup but lacks deduplication, cluster support, and cross-platform restore, and encrypts offsite copies only. The table below summarizes the practical differences.

Does the Hyper-V license also back up VMware or Proxmox virtual machines?

No, a Hyper-V license covers Microsoft Hyper-V hosts only. To protect VMware vSphere or Proxmox, you need the matching VMware/Proxmox or Mixed Environments license, because each physical host or node requires its own license. The Cross-Platform Restoration feature is separate: it lets you restore a VMware backup onto a Hyper-V host for migration, but it does not let a Hyper-V license create VMware backups. Confirm your hypervisor mix before buying so you license the correct product.

How does it protect backups against ransomware?

It writes Immutable Cloud Backups to providers such as Amazon S3, Wasabi, Azure Blob, BackBlaze B2, and Impossible Cloud Storage. During the immutability window, those offsite copies cannot be altered or deleted by anyone, including an attacker with admin access, so a clean restore point survives an encryption attack. On this edition, backups are also secured with AES-256 encryption for both primary and offsite copies. Immutable Cloud Backup is exclusive to Unlimited Plus and is absent from the Unlimited and Standard editions.

What recovery options does it offer when a Hyper-V VM fails?

Recovery includes full VM restore, Boot from Backup for near-instant startup, file-level restore of individual files and folders from Windows VMs, and Exchange item-level restore of single mailboxes or emails. Sandbox Restore verifies a backup in an isolated test environment without touching production. Restore Clone and Cross-Platform Restoration can bring a VM back on a different host or even a different hypervisor. This range means you can recover one deleted file or a whole failed host from the same backup set.

What should you check before choosing this edition?

Check that your hosts run Hyper-V, since this license excludes VMware and Proxmox, and that you have a license for each physical node you want to protect. If you need the central Control Panel, immutable cloud backup, WAN-optimized replication, or CDP, those features exist only in Unlimited Plus, so a lower edition will not cover them. If you back up to local or LAN storage and do not need cloud or replication, the Unlimited edition may already be sufficient. Decide whether you also want the included physical server backup tool for non-virtual Windows servers.

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

Is Altaro VM Backup the same as Hornetsecurity VM Backup?

Yes. Altaro was acquired by Hornetsecurity, and the product is now sold as Hornetsecurity VM Backup, with Hornetsecurity itself now part of Proofpoint. Many retail listings still use the original Altaro name for the same Unlimited Plus software and feature set.

Does Unlimited Plus support Microsoft Azure Stack HCI?

Yes. Support for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI is included in the Unlimited Plus edition. This support is not part of the Unlimited or Standard tiers, so it is a reason to choose Unlimited Plus if you run an Azure Stack HCI cluster.