XenServer

[GaryH]

Since everyone seems to be talking about VMWare, I thought i'd talk a little about XenServer :)

Most of our machines run XenServer, and it's pretty damn good! You can get a free license for it, and the XenCenter management console for it works a treat. The only problem with it seems to be that OpenBSD doesn't seem to like it.

It has a load of good features such as 'Snapshotting' servers while they are running, and you can run backup scripts which take backups of servers while they are running, which makes backups up a treat :)

It fully supports vlan's, dynamic storage, creating server "pools", VNC access to the virtual servers console, Performance Logs, Creating Templates and you can manage all your servers from the one management console!

Here's a screen-shot of the management console:
http://community.citrix.com/download/attachments/29851808/xenserver.JPG

XenServer Downloads/Etc:
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/product.asp?contentID=683148

If you haven't tried it our, I would definitely give it a go :)

Let me know how you get on! ;)

[Rob T]

Agreed - XenServer is an excellent alternative to VMWare ESXi. We use it on many on our internal systems, and if you decide to purchase the premium version in order to take advantage of HA and many of the other great features it's much more cost effective than VMWare in most cases, and Citrix's license options are much more flexible. I'd give it a definite thumbs up.

[recklessop]

Both are great basic hyper visors... where vmware shines is all of the added features and 3rd party product following. In my opinion, which ive developed by helping my customers running one or the other, and i would say right now the state of ESXi is much farther along. The best time to determine which one you like better is when your in a situation where a server is down.... how hard are they to recover LOL.

[mike2011]

There isn’t must difference in price for XENServer and ESXi, if u start adding some other features then you will find the differences, because VMotion and HA/DRS capabilities are not free with XENServer.

[jackson]

Their isn’t must difference in price for XENServer and ESXi, if u start adding some other features then you will find the differences, because VMotion and HA/DRS capabilities are not free with XENServer.

I think your information is all about the price of XENServer and ESXi. What about the weakness of XENServer?
It’s HA/DRS capabilities is not robust as VMware and its potential just not as mature product as VMware. :D

[eilert]

XenServer is the best because it has number of benefits such as:
• consolidation
• increased utilization
• rapid provisioning
• dynamic fault tolerance against software failures
• hardware fault tolerance.

[eilert]

Actually here are the major advantages of using the XEN virtualization

1. Optimized uptime

With the automatic migration feature of Xen, your website will never have to be affected by physical problems of the server machine. If the virtual machine that your server encounters problems, the entire server will automatically be migrated onto another machine, assuring optimized uptime and no downtimes



2. Superior flexibility

Machines running on Xen provide power and performance like no other. You have the freedom to adjust the power of your server without having to interrupt your services or move to another machine. If your site grows to a point that one virtual machine is not enough, you can expand to another, duplicate and configure your machine in just a few clicks. You can even add or remove shares as you deem necessary.



3. Your choice of system

Xen technology allows you the freedom of installing an operating system of your choice. You can also have access to install any software you need that runs on your OS of choice.



4. Excellent server and data security

For a virtualization system, Xen provides you with an unmatched level of security. There will never be intrusions of other servers installed on your physical machine so you can be confident that your server and you data are secure 24/7.



5. Cost-efficiency

Xen virtual technology allows all these aforementioned benefits at a fraction of the cost you would typically pay with dedicated web hosting.

[rooney]

let me try Xen servers and see how that works.

[emad]

Yes, you will be delighted with the performance of the improved Xen.

Have a look at the link and see a comparison between Xen and Vmware http://http://itcomparison.com/Virtualization/Xenvsvi3/xenvsvmware3esx.htm (http://itcomparison.com/Virtualization/Xenvsvi3/xenvsvmware3esx.htm)

The CPU efficiency with the Xen is noteworthy. 8 processors are supported with a Xen server compared to only 4 with the VMware server.

Moreover, the Xen is cheaper than VMware.

[mike2011]

I cast my vote for Xen for performance reasons.Out of my experience the Citrix XenServer in particular. If you look for virtualizing both Linux and windows then Xen is definitely the best!
:)

[eilert]

VMware is generally used in large corporates and is more powerful than XEN.

[GaryH]

Okay, so it's been a while since I posted this, glad to see everyone's opinions. I've started using ESXi a bit more, to see what it's got to offer.

The HA/DRS point is a good one, and that's my next point to experiment with as right now, I tend to just use OpenBSD with it's 'carp' feature offering HA, but if there it a better way to do this, them i'm certainly interested :D

Does anyone know of any software that allows multiple ESXi machines to be connected too at the same time, instead of needing the application open a different time for each physical server?! :confused: