There are currently two Microsoft HyperVisor products:
Hyper-V Server 2008 R2
http://www.microsoft.com/hyper-v-server/en/us/default.aspx
Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Role
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/hyperv-main.aspx
Question - Is there a functional difference between the two, regarding hypervisor performance or features?
If not, what possible reason is there to use the Hyper-V Role instead of the standalone hypervisor? There are clear advantages in having a smaller footprint and attack surface from the standalone hypervisor.
It seems like Hyper-V role gets much more media spotlight and documentation as opposed to the standalone hypervisor.
If you're using Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Role, can you share why you chose to do this rather than Hyper-V Server?