hi hanccocka,  i am shocked.  

I also find that I have to turn off the virtual machine to add another network card.

I think VMware have got their solution spot on.

No one would buy a real server that wasn't capable of hot adding equipment.

Application consistent backup of windows guests is included with hyper-v.

I'm surprised VMware don't include such basic functionality.

/troll

Both are good Hypervisors. But there are still features missing from Hyper-V, but it will get there eventually.

this might also be of use

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd239204(v=ws.10).aspx

Creating an ISO can be tricky - create a virtual floppy and put the answer file on that.

Keep in mind, USB is RARELY used on most servers for anything other than the keyboard and mouse.  At least it is in my experience.  

I doubt you'll see USB support in Hyper-V for a while... AT LEAST another two years, and even then, probably longer.  Even VMWare's capability to use USB isn't exactly robust.  I haven't used it, but as I understand it, throughput is similar to USB 1.1, not 3 and no where near even 2.

taken from the VMware Virtual machine Administration guide

http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-50-virtual-machine-admin-guide.pdf

You can add two USB controllers to a virtual machine. The xHCI controller, available for Linux guest operating
systems only, supports USB 3.0 superspeed, 2.0, and 1.1 devices. The EHCI+UHCI controller supports USB 2.0

My experience with USB on VMware is very quick.  For example using veeam and USB passthrough.

@leew

Creating an iso difficult ?

On Windows I tend to use imgburn, no trouble at all to use

What tool do you use for putting data on a virtual floppy ?

@ArneLovius:- the original WinImage!

aah, of course :-)

isn't that shareware as opposed to freeware ?

In Hyper-V you create a floppy file then access "mount" it into a floppy drive on a VM.  It's roughly equivalent to "create file" and "open file".

From what I've heard from others including one guy I know who LOVES putting RDS servers on VMWare ESXi, he doesn't backup to disk directly from the OS because throughput is AWFUL.

what version is he using leew and does he have faulty hardware? my experience is completely different.

@ArneLovius, yes it is shareware, or trialware, register after X days, but still very good.

I've requested that this question be deleted for the following reason:

i caught myself on and reverted to vmware

Not sure this is a reason to delete the question. If the Answers have been Helpful please Assign points.

I would agree, hancocka said that the capability does not exist, although the answer might not be the one that was wanted, it is correct.

ok, fair point.