A Hyper-V host, whether independent or clustered, is like any other physical server, and the virtual machines hosted on the host are a collection of files; well, almost! The clause here is that VMs run OSEs (short for Operating System Environments), and when performing a backup, we need to ensure that the present state of the virtual machines is retained as well. Hence, in the event of a storage loss or an equipment failure, the last known good state of the VM can be recovered and restored. A turned-off VM will not pose such a challenge, but what good is a turned-off VM?

With VMs and virtualization, it is not just the standard backup methodology. There are alternative methods. They may be avoided in other Windows roles, but work fine in the Hyper-V space. These alternative methods include copying VHDs/VHDXs, exporting VMs, importing them later on, and capturing checkpoints (VM snapshots). The alternative methods are not recommended as prominent backup...