Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Amazon WorkSpaces VS Hyper-V

Compare Amazon WorkSpaces VS Hyper-V and see what are their differences

Amazon WorkSpaces logo Amazon WorkSpaces

Amazon WorkSpaces is a managed desktop computing service in the cloud.

Hyper-V logo Hyper-V

Install Hyper-V on Windows 10
  • Amazon WorkSpaces Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-24
  • Hyper-V Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-25

Amazon WorkSpaces features and specs

  • Scalability
    Amazon WorkSpaces can easily scale up or down depending on the number of users and computing requirements, allowing businesses to adjust resources dynamically and manage costs effectively.
  • Security
    Amazon WorkSpaces provides robust security features, including data encryption, advanced firewalls, and secure access controls, ensuring that sensitive information is safeguarded.
  • Ease of Management
    With centralized management tools, administrators can easily deploy, manage, and monitor virtual desktops, simplifying IT administration and maintenance tasks.
  • Anywhere Access
    Users can securely access their desktop from any device with an internet connection, offering flexibility and support for remote work.
  • Cost Efficiency
    With a pay-as-you-go pricing model, businesses can avoid hefty upfront hardware investments and only pay for the resources they use, potentially lowering operational costs.
  • Seamless Integration
    Amazon WorkSpaces integrates smoothly with other AWS services, enabling a cohesive cloud ecosystem and facilitating additional capabilities such as file storage, backups, and disaster recovery.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon WorkSpaces

  • Network Dependency
    Performance is highly dependent on internet connectivity and bandwidth. Poor network quality can result in latency issues, disrupting user experience.
  • Cost Implications with Scaling
    While WorkSpaces can be cost-effective, costs can escalate with extensive usage and high-performance requirements, making it expensive for large-scale deployments if not managed properly.
  • Learning Curve
    Implementing and managing Amazon WorkSpaces can require some level of expertise and training, which might be a barrier for organizations not familiar with AWS services.
  • Limited Hardware Control
    As a fully managed service, users have limited control over the underlying hardware, potentially leading to compatibility issues with specific software or peripherals.

Hyper-V features and specs

  • Integration with Windows
    Hyper-V is deeply integrated into the Windows OS, providing a seamless and consistent user experience, as well as better performance and easy management through familiar Windows tools.
  • Cost
    Hyper-V is included with Windows Server and certain editions of Windows 10 and 11 at no additional cost, making it a cost-effective virtualization solution for businesses already using these Microsoft products.
  • Live Migration
    Hyper-V supports live migration, allowing virtual machines to be moved between hosts without downtime, which is essential for load balancing, maintenance, and failover scenarios.
  • Scalability
    Hyper-V supports large-scale virtualization environments and can handle large numbers of virtual machines, making it suitable for enterprise environments.
  • Security Features
    Hyper-V includes robust security features like Secure Boot, Shielded VMs, and integration with Windows Defender, providing enhanced protection for virtualized workloads.

Possible disadvantages of Hyper-V

  • Limited Cross-platform Support
    Hyper-V primarily supports Windows environments, which may limit its effectiveness and integration in heterogeneous or non-Windows-centric environments.
  • Hardware Requirements
    Running Hyper-V requires a 64-bit processor with Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), which may not be available on older or less powerful hardware.
  • Complex Initial Setup
    Setting up Hyper-V can be complex and may require a steep learning curve for administrators unfamiliar with virtualization concepts or Windows Server management.
  • Resource Overhead
    While lightweight, running Hyper-V introduces some resource overhead, which could impact the performance of both the host and guest operating systems, especially on less powerful hardware.
  • Less Feature-Rich Compared to Competitors
    Some Hyper-V competitors like VMware vSphere and ESXi offer more advanced features, broader OS support, and better performance tuning options, which may be critical for certain enterprise applications.

Analysis of Amazon WorkSpaces

Overall verdict

  • Amazon WorkSpaces is a solid choice for businesses looking for a reliable and scalable virtual desktop infrastructure. Its flexibility and integration capabilities make it suitable for a wide range of use cases.

Why this product is good

  • Amazon WorkSpaces is considered a good option for virtual desktops due to its scalability, security, and ease of use. It allows organizations to provision Windows or Linux desktops quickly, supports a pay-as-you-go pricing model, and integrates seamlessly with other AWS services, providing robust security and compliance controls.

Recommended for

  • Organizations with a remote or distributed workforce
  • Companies needing secure, compliant desktop environments
  • Businesses seeking to simplify desktop management and reduce IT overhead
  • Startups and small to medium enterprises looking for cost-effective virtual desktop solutions

Analysis of Hyper-V

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Hyper-V is considered a good choice for many users, especially those who are already invested in Microsoft technologies. It provides a solid balance of performance, features, and cost-effectiveness. However, the best choice of hypervisor may depend on your specific needs and existing infrastructure.

Why this product is good

  • Hyper-V is Microsoft's hypervisor technology, which allows users to create and manage virtual machines. It's integrated into Windows Server and Windows 10, making it an accessible virtualization solution for users within the Microsoft ecosystem. It offers features like live migration, storage migration, dynamic memory, and support for various operating systems, all of which contribute to its robustness and flexibility. Additionally, Hyper-V can provide cost savings by reducing the need for physical hardware and enabling server consolidation.

Recommended for

  • Organizations using Windows Server environments
  • Users looking for cost-effective virtualization solutions
  • IT departments seeking seamless integration with Microsoft products
  • Companies needing enterprise-level scalability and reliability
  • Developers and testers who need a convenient option for creating virtual environments on Windows desktops

Amazon WorkSpaces videos

Introduction to Amazon WorkSpaces Virtual Desktop Running on the Samsung Galaxy S8 with DeX Station

More videos:

  • Review - How I use Amazon workspaces for day trading
  • Review - Dive into Amazon WorkSpaces with Jeff Barr

Hyper-V videos

What Exactly is Hyper-V?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Amazon WorkSpaces and Hyper-V)
Cloud Computing
46 46%
54% 54
Office & Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
Virtualization
0 0%
100% 100
Group Chat & Notifications

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Amazon WorkSpaces and Hyper-V

Amazon WorkSpaces Reviews

Top 5 Alternatives to Citrix: Workspace Management Software for Secure Access to Applications and Desktops
Last but not least, Amazon WorkSpaces offers a virtual desktop feature for all. One of its notable features is that it is easy to set up, with customers having a full suite of customization options for their apps from the company's marketplace. All of that works under the e-commerce company's cloud-based server, Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Hyper-V Reviews

10 Best VMware Alternatives and Similar Software
Each virtual machine in Hyper-V is operated in its own isolated environment, allowing you to run several virtual machines on the same hardware. You could do this to prevent issues like a crash that affects other tasks, or to grant access to various systems to different users.
Best Free Virtual Machine Software in 2022 โ€“ Start Your New Career
The virtual PC for Windows is another freeware program for virtualization by Microsoft. The program doesnโ€™t work for the versions of the Operating Systems earlier than Windows 7. Also, you do not need this on the latest Windows Operating Systems since you can install free Hyper-V. Also, the Virtual PC doesnโ€™t support MS-DOS either. Therefore, it is a program that runs at the...
Best Server Virtualization Software for 2021
Hyper-V scores only a little behind VMware on user ratings, but is less expensive and more tightly integrated to the entire Microsoft ecosystem. But VMware may be a better option for more environments. However, check compatibility carefully as Hyper-V has a wider range of supported hardware, and offers certain advanced features without requiring additional license fees.
12 Best FREE Virtual Machine (VM) Software in 2020
Hyper-V, earlier known as Windows Server Virtualization. It is a hypervisor designed to create virtual machines on x86-64 systems. A server computer that runs on Hyper-V can be configured to expose individual virtual machines to one or more networks.
Source: www.guru99.com
Best Server Virtualization Software
The server virtualization software capabilities Microsoft Hyper-V delivers are tightly integrated with the wider Windows suite of products. This tool gets high marks from most users and provides plenty of critical virtualization tools at a lower cost than VMware vSphere. Users can also take advantage of its Linux support, although Hyper-V is more popular with IT...

Social recommendations and mentions

Hyper-V might be a bit more popular than Amazon WorkSpaces. We know about 21 links to it since March 2021 and only 21 links to Amazon WorkSpaces. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Amazon WorkSpaces mentions (21)

  • Find Unknown Table
    You need to provide more info. Is it this? Which tier? https://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Accessing a powerful windows desktop
    Looking for a powerful windows desktop that will compile faster than my laptop, ideally a virtual desktop like Fully Managed VDI โ€“ Amazon WorkSpaces Family โ€“ Amazon Web Services. The machine needs to run windows and be able to install Quartus Intelยฎ Quartusยฎ Prime Lite Edition Design Software Version 20.1.1 for Windows. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Delivery delays with laptops for new hires. What are my options?
    I was thinking this.. a VDI should tide them over, or an AWS workspace perhaps? https://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Best Solutions to Reducing E-Waste
    Virtualization has continued to improve with technology and the speed of the internet.  You can enhance your device by merely leveraging the high-performance computers in the cloud without having to worry about how good your computer is.  Upgrades are as simple as a click of a button.  Try services like Shells or Amazon Workspaces. Source: over 3 years ago
  • How can I run Firefox from AWS?
    Yes, that should be possible. https://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/ might be easier. But either is going to be expensive to run with a usable amount of RAM. Why are you trying to do this? Source: almost 4 years ago
View more

Hyper-V mentions (21)

  • My PC blue-screens after enabling Hyper-v: system_thread_exception_not_handled
    I ran the following command based on this guide: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Questions about kvm performance
    Also, you can enable Hyper-V on windows under KVM then all but the most paranoid games (e.g. Valorant) will run. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Today I switched my Insteon Hub 2245-222 to work with Home Assistant & Home Assistant Cloud
    Hyper-V needs to be enabled - link Note, Hyper-V is not available on Home Edition. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Can I move easily between image backups?
    VMware Workstation Player is a good free option, there's also Hyper-V which is built into Windows. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Disable Hyper-V on Z690M AORUS ELITE AX DDR4 (rev. 1.x)
    Hyper-V is more a Windows feature https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/quick-start/enable-hyper-v and can be uninstalled from optional features. Source: over 4 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Amazon WorkSpaces and Hyper-V, you can also consider the following products

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops - Virtual desktop infrastructure for application delivery

vSphere - Get started with VMware vSphere editions, the worldโ€™s leading server virtualization platform and the best foundation for your apps, your cloud, and your business.

Inuvika OVD Enterprise - A cost-effective alternative to Citrix or alternative to Omnissa/VMware Horizon. OVD Enterprise deliver Windows and Linux apps and desktops on a Linux platform. Requires less infrastructure and fewer Microsoft licenses. Lower your TCO by up to 60%.

Proxmox VE - Proxmox is an open-source server virtualization management solution that offers the ability to manage virtual server technology with the Linux OpenVZ and KVM technology.

Evolve IP Virtual Desktop - Evolve IP has been enabling businesses to deploy both cloud computing and cloud communications services on a single, unified platform.

VirtualBox - VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as...