# Planning

## General information&#x20;

Using **Xopero ONE**, you can protect **Hyper-V** environments with native support for virtual machine backups, as well as file-level and image-level backups of the physical **Hyper-V** host.

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You can protect virtual machines using the **Hyper-V** backup type, while the **Hyper-V** host itself can be secured with file-level or image-level backups.
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## Backup overview

The performance of the Hyper-V host is a key factor, as it determines how many virtual machines can be secured simultaneously.

You can create backup for all machines on the host and automatically include any new machines created in the future. In the backup plan, under **Advanced settings** in the **Task balancing** tab, you can specify how many virtual machines should be backed up simultaneously. Alternatively, you can back them up individually with breaks in between.

When protecting virtual machines, **Xopero ONE** uses the **RCT** (**Replica Change Tracking**) function to detect changes in virtual machine disk blocks, enabling much faster backups. Alternatively, you can choose to use the classic, slower method.

You can configure the backup to bypass virtual machine disks that cannot be included in the system snapshot. This ensures the backup proceeds without those disks when snapshot inclusion isn't possible.

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## Application-aware snapshots

Backup of **Hyper-V** virtual machines is based on system snapshots. Different levels of support are available, but the goal is always to create **application-aware snapshots**, as they provide the highest consistency.

With the **application-aware** option, **Hyper-V** also creates file-system consistent snapshots. For this reason, it is recommended to keep the **application-aware** option enabled, especially when protecting various **Linux** distributions.

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## Useful links and items

{% embed url="<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/supported-linux-and-freebsd-virtual-machines-for-hyper-v-on-windows>" %}

{% embed url="<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/supported-windows-guest-operating-systems-for-hyper-v-on-windows>" %}
