Hyper-V Containers are completely isolated virtual machines (VMs) that incorporate their own copy of the Windows kernel. One of two container models introduced in Windows Server 2016 (along with Windows Server Containers), Hyper-V Containers offer a lightweight alternative to traditional virtual machines and make it possible to handle nested virtualization within Hyper-V.
Hyper-V Containers can be managed using Docker or via new Windows PowerShell cmdlets. In the case of Docker management, containers can be administered from the Docker CLI (command-line interface) using the same commands currently used to create and run Docker containers on Linux.
Hyper-V Containers vs. Windows Containers
In terms of differences between the two types of container models in Windows Server 2016, while Hyper-V Containers isolate each container via a lightweight VM, Windows Containers offer isolation through namespace and process isolation.
Windows Containers share a kernel with the container host and all the containers running on the host. In Hyper-V Containers, the kernel of the container host is not shared with the Hyper-V Containers.
What this means is that Windows Containers are isolated from each other, but they run directly on Windows Server 2016. Hyper-V Containers on the other hand provide enhanced isolation by running the containers from a Hyper-V VM.
