10 Hyper-V Interview Questions (With Example Answers)

Updated 3 March 2023

Hyper-V is Microsoft's hardware virtualisation product, allowing users to create and manage a virtual machine (VM) on a physical host. When interviewing for a position involving Hyper-V, you can expect technical questions. Reviewing frequently asked questions about Hyper-V can help you appear confident and may increase your chances of receiving a job offer. In this article, we list 10 Hyper-V interview questions with their sample answers to help you prepare for an interview.

Please note that none of the companies, institutions or organisations mentioned in this article are associated with Indeed.

Hyper-V Interview Questions With Sample Answers

Here are 10 Hyper-V interview questions and sample answers you can review to help you prepare for your next interview:

1. What is Hyper-V?

Hyper-V is a key Windows Server platform allowing you to create and run VMs on Windows. Interviewers might ask this question to test your basic knowledge of Hyper-V. When answering, briefly describe what it means and outline some of its advantages.

Example: Hyper-V is a hypervisor-based technology that provides a reliable and scalable virtualisation platform. It allows users to create VMs and run them on a physical server. Hyper-V helps establish and expand a private virtual environment for software testing. It even makes software development and testing more efficient by duplicating computer environments. It even eliminates purchasing a fully separate hardware and network device. In addition, Hyper-V helps in faster disaster recovery and enhances software development.

2. In your previous job, what issues did you face when creating or managing VMs in Hyper-V?

When working with Hyper-V, you might encounter problems. Interviewers ask this question to understand what types of problems you faced and why they occurred. When answering, briefly explain the issues you faced when creating or managing VMs in Hyper-V.

Example: In my previous job, one major issue I faced was the lack of disk space. To avoid this issue, I ensured the availability of sufficient disk space on the host machine to accommodate the VMs. When a lack of space occurs, the VM might not start. Another issue I faced was incorrect network settings. The VM could not communicate with the outside world when I failed to configure network settings. I also dealt with incompatible hardware when the VM tried to use hardware that Hyper-V did not support.

3. How does Windows Server Core differ from Nano Server?

Microsoft offers two Windows Server deployment options, namely Server Core and Nano Server. Interviewers ask this question to evaluate your understanding of deploying Windows servers. When answering, briefly explain what these two terms mean and outline their differences.

Example: Microsoft launched Server Core with Windows Server 2008 as a headless deployment option. Server Core has no graphical user interface, and users can manage them with command-line utilities, and PowerShell. The stripped-down version of Windows Server is the Nano Server developed for running containers and cloud applications. Interestingly, Nano Server is a successor of Server Core but a much smaller and more secure headless deployment. Nano servers are useful for cloud applications, as they ensure a reduced attack surface compared to Server Core.

4. Can you outline the benefits that Hyper-V offers to users?

Though this question may seem straightforward, use this opportunity to show your knowledge. This is a more in-depth question because it tests how much you know about Windows Server. When answering, briefly describe the benefits Hyper-V provides to its users.

Example: Hyper-V provides a solution for key virtualisation situations, such as business continuity control, production server consolidation and improvement of the dynamic data centre. This virtualisation platform provides extensive scalability, reliability, flexibility and manageability. These features ensure quick migration of VMs from one host to another and integration with the System Centre Virtual Machine Manager. Hyper-V offers scalability and ensures high performance, as it supports features such as a 64-bit visitor and host aid and guest multi-processing support.

5. Why do you prefer Hyper-V over hypervisors?

In virtualisation platforms, you might come across different hypervisors other than Hyper-V. Interviewers ask this question to evaluate whether you know the benefits of using Hyper-V over other hypervisors. When answering, briefly explain some benefits of Hyper-V and the reasons you prefer it.

Example: One of the primary reasons for using Hyper-V is that it is a native hypervisor. This means you do not install additional software layers on the operating system. As a result, Hyper-V is more manageable and efficient. Because Hyper-V offers compartmentalisation, it increases stability. In addition, Hyper-V supports many operating systems, making it versatile. Hyper-V also includes features that are easier to use and manage, such as storage replication and live migration.

6. What do you mean by live migration?

Working with Hyper-V requires knowledge of various migration technologies. Interviewers ask this question to understand your knowledge of one such technology, namely live migration. When answering, briefly explain what it means and outline its benefits.

Example: Live migration is a Hyper-V feature in Windows Server. This feature enables you to move VMs between Hyper-V hosts with no downtime. It lets you migrate all VMs that require maintenance and migrate them back after completion. Live migration even allows you to respond to high resource utilisation periods by moving VMs to hosts with more capacity. This enables VMs to provide end-users with the highest level of performance even during busy periods.

7. What are checkpoints, and what are their disadvantages?

When working as a VM or information technology (IT) administrator, you are likely to encounter software configuration changes, as it brings new challenges to enterprising IT systems. The interviewer might ask this question to evaluate your knowledge of checkpoints. When answering, briefly explain what it means, its various types and its advantage.

Example: When making new software updates or changing the software configuration in Hyper-V, you can create a Hyper-V checkpoint. It works as a restore point and helps IT administrators save the existing VM state before making changes. This ensures that the VM can revert to the previous state when an issue occurs. The two types of checkpoints in Hyper-V are production and standard checkpoints. Alternatively, production checkpoints are more resource-intensive than standard checkpoints.

Also, you use the standard checkpoints for the development and testing environment, whereas the production checkpoint is ideal for the production environment. When you do not configure the checkpoint properly, it causes data loss.

8. What are the system requirements for Hyper-V?

When working as a VM or IT administrator, you might install Hyper-V. Knowing about the system requirements before installing the platform avoids potential problems. When answering, briefly explain the system requirements for installing Hyper-V.

Example: Hyper-V has specific hardware requirements, such as a 64-bit processor with a second-level address translation, VM monitor mode extension and at least 4GB of RAM space. Before installing Hyper-V, ensure it supports hardware-assisted virtualisation and hardware-enforced data execution prevention.

9. Explain the scenarios where you use Generation 1 and Generation 2 VMs

When creating a VM, your choice of generation can affect how the VM operates. Interviewers might ask this question to evaluate your knowledge of different generations of Hyper-V. When answering, briefly explain these two types of generations and scenarios where you might use them.

Example: Generation 1 VMs support most guest operating systems, whereas Generation 2 VMs support only 64-bit versions of Windows and current versions of Linux. In addition, if you plan to run an older operating system and one that Hyper-V does not officially support, you can use the Generation 1 VM. Generation 2 offers many advantages, such as support for a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and secure boot. Typically, generation 2 has a faster boot time compared to its predecessors. Some benefits of using Generation 2 VMs include maximum performance, UEFI support with GUID partition table, added reliability and privacy.

10. Can you explain a time when you used Hyper-V in real life?

Using Hyper-V in real life increases your understanding of this platform. Through this question, interviewers want to know about the previous projects you completed. When answering, give real-life scenarios where you used Hyper-V.

Example: In my previous job, I used Hyper-V to set up a virtual test environment and test new software before deploying it for production. I even worked on a project that involved creating a virtual private cloud to host sensitive data. In addition, I have experience creating a scalable platform by hosting various VMs on a single physical machine.