@DustinB3403 said in What would your recommendation be for a Type 1 Hypervisor - including backup and restoration options:
So the issue with "Windows on the hardware" is that is it creates licensing restrictions that make moving your VM's around difficult among other issues.
So Windows should never be on the hardware. Just install Hyper-V and create your VM's with your licensing.
The question here is about SMBs, where you don't always have a say in what they've got, you simply have to deal with the existing stuff, under a very tight budget. If you have the option to plan and do things right, then of course there's plenty of best practice out there to follow.
And for Hyper-V to be an option, you do need Windows on the hardware. There is no such thing as "baremetal hypervisor" - every hypervisor needs an OS to be able to work, even if it's a small stripped down OS like the Xen kernel.
The benefit of "added licensing" is universal, regardless of what hypervisor you use. With Server Standard X you always get the right to create 2 Virtual Machines. Always.
Last time I checked with an MS licensing specialist, that was the case for the DC edition, and even then MS weren't too happy to activate your machines unless you also got a site license, a VLK or a select-6 pack. For SMBs, even if you do technically have the option to activate windows servers on non-MS virtual hardware, the procedure of doing that will hurt.
My information is a bit dated though, they might have improved things since 2010-2012-ish.
If you have the option to actually do things right and you are able to activate your windows vms without problems, KVM is a great choice, especially since if you have to scale, you can deploy oVirt