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Citrix XenServer pros and cons

Vendor: Citrix

4.1 out of 5

48 reviews
81% willing to recommend

4,131 followers

Pros & Cons summary

Citrix XenServer offers excellent central maintenance and management capabilities with support for GPU graphics and VM live migration, enhancing virtualization. It is compatible with most cloud platforms and known for its quick setup process and affordability. However, it requires improvements in security features, user portal customization, networking stability, and technical support speed. High licensing costs push users towards open-source alternatives, highlighting the need for enhanced security patches and granular self-service options.

Buyer's Guide

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Citrix XenServer offers centralized maintenance and management panels, allowing end users to clone, start, stop, or control VMs remotely.

The support provided for Citrix XenServer is outstanding, with a strong community backing.

Compatibility is a standout feature, as Citrix XenServer works with almost every cloud.

The ability to migrate virtual machines while they are running provides significant operational advantages.

Citrix XenServer licensing is favorable, offering free availability with the purchase of a Citrix XenDesktop license, reducing costs significantly.

CONS

Citrix XenServer needs improvement in its security features and provides limited built-in networking options.

The self-service user portal requires more granularity and customization options.

Assigning the order of virtual server startup is complicated, suggesting room for improvement in manageability.

Citrix XenServer is viewed as expensive, and licensing costs are a concern, prompting users to explore open-source alternatives.

Technical support is seen as slow, and improvements in support services are desired, especially for users without the latest version.

Citrix XenServer Pros review quotes

MS

Michael Schwadorf

System Administrator at KREBS+KIEFER

Jul 14, 2023

Citrix Hypervisor is simple to use.

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AM

Anthony Musaluke

Chief Operating Officer at CENTRE FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH IN ZAMBIA

Apr 20, 2021

The ability to move a virtual machine while it is running is a big advantage.

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Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited

Apr 29, 2024

The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency.

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Citrix XenServer

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Learn what your peers think about Citrix XenServer . Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.

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Owner at A-H-S Computer

Sep 14, 2023

Citrix is easy to use and is stable.

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ME

Enterprise Server and Storage Administrator at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

Apr 20, 2021

It is quite flexible and rugged. It is also easy to understand and user-friendly. It is not as complicated as some of the other solutions. It has its technicalities, but it is easy to understand. You can easily pick up in a short period of time and understand how to manage the infrastructure.

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MR

Information Technology Specialist at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees

Oct 5, 2021

Citrix Hypervisor integrates easily and I can manage the infrastructure better. If I need to take a machine down to expand the hard drive, I do not have to physically be here. I do not need to order new equipment or new hard drives. I can shut it down, increase the drive space and bring it back up.

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WV

Works at a marketing services firm with 201-500 employees

Oct 15, 2019

The feature I find most valuable, is its performance

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IT Infrastructure Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees

Dec 13, 2022

The initial setup is easy.

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DS

Manager IT at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

Jun 28, 2020

The solution is extremely user friendly.

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Network Engineeer at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Oct 13, 2019

This is a dependable solution for virtualization with a good community for product support.

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Show 10 more reviews (out of 36)

Citrix XenServer Cons review quotes

MS

Michael Schwadorf

System Administrator at KREBS+KIEFER

Jul 14, 2023

The graphics user interface is pretty bad.

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AM

Anthony Musaluke

Chief Operating Officer at CENTRE FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH IN ZAMBIA

Apr 20, 2021

It needs to have a more robust backup solution.

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Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited

Apr 29, 2024

There's a learning curve, especially for those coming from a Microsoft background. Setting it up and managing it can introduce some complexity.

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Citrix XenServer

Free Report: Citrix XenServer Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about Citrix XenServer . Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.

831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Owner at A-H-S Computer

Sep 14, 2023

Citrix is not investing in the virtual surroundings.

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ME

Enterprise Server and Storage Administrator at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

Apr 20, 2021

I am not very sure about how flexible Citrix Hypervisor is with different types of infrastructures. I only know it is flexible with Nutanix, but I am not sure if it is also flexible with others. They can make its integration with other platforms or OEMs easy. They should also make it easy for users to manage their infrastructure. Citrix should make compatibility information related to a hypervisor easily available in a datasheet. Citrix isn't really recognized in this part of the world, and they need to expand their solution and make it more available. There are a lot of customers and companies that are looking for a solution like Citrix, and it should be available in this part of the world. They need to educate people more. Technically, it is good and flexible and has good ability, but it is not as much known as VMware or Microsoft. Their support should also be improved. Currently, if you don't have an updated version, they will not give you the attention.

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MR

Information Technology Specialist at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees

Oct 5, 2021

I find that the features in Citrix Hypervisor are not as rich as with VMware. It would be a benefit if they had some of the other features VMware has, such as the ability to expand a drive on the fly. You do not have to take down the machine to do it but in Citrix you do.

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WV

Works at a marketing services firm with 201-500 employees

Oct 15, 2019

I think the technical support could be better.

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IT Infrastructure Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees

Dec 13, 2022

The interface has to be updated.

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DS

Manager IT at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

Jun 28, 2020

The licensing costs are too high on the solution. They should work to make the costs more reasonable.

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Network Engineeer at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Oct 13, 2019

Assigning the order of virtual server startup is not very easy and this can be improved.

Read full review

Show 10 more reviews (out of 35)

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Product Categories

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Server Virtualization Software

Popular Comparisons

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Proxmox VE vs Citrix XenServer

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