I want to earn the "Certified for Windows Server 2008 R2" Logo for my server applications. Is the Hyper-V environment compulsory or optional? i.e. Can my applications be tested on Windows Server 2008 R2 without Hyper-V running?
You can get versions with or without Hyper-V. Hyper-V is usually not installed by default even on versions with Hyper-V included. Hyper-V is only used for running Virtual machines, the only other service that interacts with it is Remote Desktop Services when you are running it in individual desktop mode where each TS user gets their own VM.