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Best Virtual Machine for Windows Server 2016 - 11 Flexible Tools
26 min. read
Updated onMay 28, 2024
updated onMay 28, 2024
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The best virtual machine for Windows Server 2016 lets you smoothly run multiple servers and sandboxed virtual desktops for IT, OT, and security operations.
I’ve tested over 30 Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors for Windows Server 2106 for a few days. After carefully considering various virtualization technologies, common use cases, functionalities, and costs, I singled out 11 apps.
These virtual machines cover high-level requirements for hypervisors in many niches, like software development, internet security research, cloud computing, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), and more. So, let’s get started!
11 Best Virtual Machines for Windows Server 2016
Check out my top recommendations:
VMware Workstation Pro– Best Premium VM Solution
VMware Workstation Pro is the best virtual machine for Windows Server 2016 formedium to large-scale businesses.It’s one of the most powerful premium solutions in the market. It stands out for its ultra-modern user interface, modular approach to VM configuration, and granular customization options.
Additionally, itcomes with out-of-the-box and preconfigured support for all Windows Server 2016 editions. So, as soon as you choose this server operating system, the VM engine automatically selects the best virtual hardware, software, and driver configurations.
It also allows you tocreate multiple files for a single VM.If you experience any issues in the guest OS, you can audit small and individual files to troubleshoot the issue. Moreover, if you’re copying a large VM from one drive to another, it’s easier with multiple files. The task also becomes less prone to data corruption.
Find below some major features of VMware Workstation Pro:
Pricing:You must contact sales toget a custom quote.Some resellers are offering subscriptions starting at $120 per year for one device.
Get VMware Workstation Pro
VMware ESXi– Best Bare Metal Hypervisor
VMware ESXiis abare-metal hypervisor (Type-1)that allows you to create and manage virtual machinesdirectly on the host hardware. It’s a free minimal version ofvSphere, VMware’s enterprise-grade virtualization platform.
With its efficient resource utilization, ESXi is a popular choice if your business project is looking for a reliable virtual machine solution for the long run.
Moreover, it offers next-generation VM features like vMotion, so you can migrate virtual machines between hosts without any downtime. You can also move a running Windows Server VM from one machine to the other while others are still using the server.
Here are the best features of VMware ESXi:
Pricing:VMware ESXi’s pricing is on a case-to-case basis. You cancontact its sales team for a personalized quote.
Get VMware ESXi
Parallels Desktop– Best for Windows Servers on Mac
If you need toset up a Windows Server 2016 guest VM on a Mac, check out Parallels Desktop right now. It has a super-easy user interface for setting up and managing Windows VMs on Mac with little to no effort.
Best of all, you can use the powerful CPU, GPU, and neural engine resources of the latestApple M1 and M2 Chipsto host a powerful Windows Server virtually. Such robust hardware will allow you to speed up your Windows development projects on Mac without any additional investments.
Here are some outstanding features of this VM solution:
Pricing:Its subscriptions start at$99.99/ yearfor one device with a30-day money-back guarantee.
Get Parallels Desktop
Microsoft Hyper-V– Best Built-In VM Solution
Microsoft Hyper-Vis the leading VM solution that’s included in the Windows Server 2016. Although theHyper-V management interface isn’t available out of the box,you can install the tool as a role once you’ve set up the primary server.
It operates as abare-metal hypervisor, allowing you to create and manage virtual machines directly on the host server. Therefore, you can utilize the complete hardware resources and experience maximum performance for VDIs or virtual servers.
Hyper-V is especially beneficial for your organizationif you heavily rely on Windows Server 2016 for integrations with other Microsoft productssuch asActive DirectoryandDomain Controller.
Here are some of the key features:
Pricing:Microsoft Hyper-V isfree for personal and commercial usage.Your Windows Server 2016 purchase price already includes its cost. Also, you don’t need to pay any monthly or yearly fee if you’ve bought the server OS once.
Get Microsoft Hyper-V
Oracle VM VirtualBox– Best Open-Source Solution
Oracle VM VirtualBoxis anopen-source projectintroducing cross-platform support in your Windows Server 2016 workstation. You can use it torun Oracle Solaris, Linux, macOS, Windows, Windows Server, and other operating systems on the host server hardware. It’s also actively developed by Oracle and is one of the most trusted hypervisors for personal and business needs.
Moreover, it’sprimarily a Type-2 hypervisor tool.It’ll need an existing host operating system on which you can install the VM solution. It’s also known as a hosted hypervisor.
Find below some major features of VirtualBox:
Furthermore, you can get thepublicly available source codeof Oracle VM VirtualBox andmodify its codebaseto add unique features and remove redundant functionalities. Then, you can package and market your VM as your own product with a GPLv3 license.
Pricing:It’s afree open-source VM solution. Both personal, educational, and commercial usage are allowed without any attribution.
Get Oracle VM VirtualBox
Azure Virtual Machines– Best for Microsoft Cloud-Based Projects
Azure Virtual Machines is acloud-based VM solutionoffered by Microsoft Azure. It allows you to create and manage virtual machines on the Azure cloud platform. It’s the best virtual machine for Windows Server 2016 if you’re looking for scalable and flexible virtualization options without investing in a computer hardware infrastructure.
With Azure VMs, you can easily deploy Windows Server 2016 virtual machines and run applications like SQL Servers, file servers, app servers, etc. It also providesa wide range of virtual machine sizes and configurationsto meet your specific personal or professional needs.
Here are the major features of Azure Virtual Machines:
Pricing:Its subscription starts from$6.1320/ monthfor aB2pts v2VM engine with2 vCPU(s)and1 GB of RAM. However, this package doesn’t include any cloud storage quota. You must buy storage from Azure separately.
Get Azure Virtual Machines
Amazon Lightsail– Best for AWS-Based Projects
If you’re alreadyheavily invested in AWS cloud resources, you can useAmazon Lightsailto launch and maintain Windows Server 2016 instances on Amazon Web Services.
AWS takes care of everything, from resourcing Windows Server images to hardware configuration. All you need to do is subscribe to AWS Lightsail, launch theLightsail console, and configure your Windows Server in less than 15 minutes.
You can alsochoose the CPU, Memory (RAM), SSD, and GPU capacities, depending on the project you’re planning to run on your server. Therefore, for low-resource incentive projects likeSQL database hostingand blog site hosting, you can choose an average AWS EC2 server instance to save on monthly costs.
Alternatively, if you want to run high-performance web apps usingMicrosoft Web Platformfor gaming, trading, image processing, and more, you can choose more CPU, GPU, and RAM.
Moreover, Amazon Lightsail comes with preactivated Windows Server operating systems. You don’t need to pay for the Windows activation costs.
Now, here’s what makes this service the best virtual machine for Windows Server 2016 and AWS projects:
Pricing:The pricing for a Windows Server instance on AWS Lightsail varies with the geography as well as the instance you choose. At the lowest, you’ll need to pay$0.064/ hourfor a64-bit Amazon Machine Imagewith thet2.mediumsubscription plan. The VM will include4 GB RAM,2 virtual CPU cores,EBS storage, andlow to moderate networking bandwidth.
Get Amazon Lightsail
Google Compute Engine VM– Best for GCP-Based Projects
Do youalready useGoogle Cloudfor web and mobile app development purposes? If so, this is the best virtual machine for Windows Server 2016. You can easily set up a VM on the cloud to host file servers, mobile apps, and web apps.
Moreover, the Windows Server VM instances of GCP are preconfigured for conventional and modern workloads. You can use this solution forAI/ML projects,containerized software development,e-commerce website hosting, mobile app database server hosting, and more.
These VM server instances also come withpreloaded tools and prebuilt project samples, or Jump Start Solutions. You’ll find professional templates for load-balanced VMs, dynamic websites, three-tier web apps, Java applications, e-commerce marketplaces, etc.
Here are some of its standout features:
Pricing:A single Google Compute Engine-based Windows Server 2016 VM would cost you a minimum of$132.00/ monthfor the following VM instance configurations:
Get Google Compute Engine VM
Proxmox Virtual Environment– Best for Affordable Premium VMs
Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE)is an open-source VM solution that allows you to manage virtual machines and containers on a single platform. Itsupports Windows Server 2016 exclusively.
Furthermore, it integratesKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)for desktop and server virtualization andLXC (Linux Containers)for container-based virtualization. Therefore, if your Windows Server VM is for software development and delivery purposes based on containers, you should check out Proxmox as well.
Proxmox VE also includes built-in tools and functionalities for high-availability clustering, software-defined storage, virtual networking, and disaster recovery. Its source code is free and released under theGNU Affero General Public License. That means you can use it for free, modify it, and contribute to the project.
Find below the best features of Proxmox VE:
Pricing:Its starter package will cost you€110or$120 (approx.)/ year/ CPU socket. However, this plan doesn’t include human-based technical and billing support.
Get Proxmox VE
Nutanix AHV– Best for Affordable Type-1 Virtualization
Nutanix AHV is abare metal VM solutionthat virtualizes servers/ desktops and containers. Also, it includes enterprise support features in an open-source environment. It’s the best virtual machine for Windows Server 2016 formedium to large business projects that need a robust Type-1 hypervisor.
Furthermore, it integrates all these features into a hyper-converged infrastructure framework to deliver all solutions under one super VM solution. It also includesNutanix native network and storage control systems.
Alongside the hardware hypervisor functionalities, you can also use your cloud-based VMs directly from the AHV VM management user interface, Prism.
Some of its best features are as outlined below:
Pricing:Itcomes for free with physical serversmeant for VM solutions.
Get Nutanix AHV
Virtuozzo Hypervisor– Best for Out-Of-the-Box KVM
Virtuozzo Hypervisoris an optimal choice for running Windows Server 2016 VMs on a physical server. It packs all the necessary tools for setting up ahigh-performance KVM, likenetwork assembly,storage control,hardware fine-tuning,security settings,VM high availability, and backups. Therefore, the physical server OS only consumes a tiny fraction of your entire hardware resources.
Furthermore, its management tools simplify the deployment, monitoring, and scaling of virtual machines. You can easily manage, enforce security policies, and approve new VMs in a large fleet.
It’s alsosuitable for mission-critical Windows Server-based VM projectsthanks to built-in disaster recovery and high availability functionalities.
Find below some of the top features of Virtuozzo:
Pricing:Partner and supported physical server manufacturerssell hardware along with Virtuozzo Hypervisor. So, you don’t need to buy the VM engine separately.
Get Virtuozzo Hypervisor
How I Chose the Best Virtual Machine for Windows Server 2016
I prioritized the following factors while doing my research:
I selected only those virtual machines that are fully compatible with Windows Server 2016. This also helps avoid any software conflicts or issues during usage.
I considered both the initial purchase price and the long-term operational costs of the hypervisor tools. By evaluating these expenses, I ensured that these solutions would be cost-effective and provide optimal value over time.
It’s essential that the VM works well with the host operating system, whether it’s Windows, Linux, or macOS. Multi-OS compatibility guarantees that the VM can integrate into your existing computing infrastructure.
I’ve chosen only those VM solutions that require minimal hardware resources for optimal performance.
I looked for advanced features such as live migration, automated backups, and high availability. They’re crucial for maintaining uptime and protecting data.
You can quickly get started with any of the above hypervisors provided you’ve already downloaded the ISO images of the respective OS or server you want to install. All the tools come with enough visual and document-based instructions to configure virtual desktops, servers, etc.
I’ve also listed a few low-code VM tools. You only need to run short and simple commands to set up hypervisors using a CLI.
All the hypervisors mentioned come with GUIs so you can follow on-screen instructions to manage the VMs. You won’t have to waste time understanding and remembering complex processes to operate them.
I considered the availability of reliable technical support and transparent billing options to avoid unexpected costs. Good support ensures you’ll get enough assistance in solving subscription and technical issues without facing any downtimes.
Strong security features, such as encryption, access controls, and regular updates, are crucial for protecting the server and its data. These measures help safeguard against threats and vulnerabilities.
The best virtual machine for Windows Server 2016 should offer flexible network configuration options to fit into any existing network setup.
I looked for virtual machines that supported multiple tenants to efficiently manage different users and their resources on the same server. This feature is essential for organizations with multiple departments or clients.
I evaluated the benefits of Type 1 hypervisors, which run directly on the hardware, and Type 2 ones, which run on an existing operating system. Choosing the right type depends on your specific needs and existing infrastructure.
Summary
So, now you can easily find the best virtual machine for Windows Server 2016 for your project. I’ve included comprehensive descriptions of 11 VM engines to help you with your search. Also, if you’re looking for aVPNor anantivirus for Windows Server 2016, I’ve got you covered.
If you’ve used any of the above hypervisor solutions or have a better suggestion, comment below about your experience!
More about the topics:virtual machine,windows server
Vlad Turiceanu
Windows Editor
Passionate about technology,Windows, and everything that has a power button, he spent most of his time developing new skills and learning more about the tech world.
Coming from a solid background in PC building and software development, with a complete expertise in touch-based devices, he is constantly keeping an eye out for the latest and greatest!
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Vlad Turiceanu
Windows Editor
Coming from a solid background in PC building and software development, he’s a Windows 11 Privacy & Security expert.
