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Citrix XenServer vs Hyper-V comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.9
Citrix XenServer offered significant ROI with user satisfaction, virtualization benefits, and cost savings despite significant initial expenses.
Sentiment score
6.8
Users find Hyper-V cost-effective, with savings on hardware, maintenance, and positive returns compared to other virtualization solutions.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.5
Citrix XenServer's support is inconsistent, with mixed reviews on response times and effectiveness, benefiting from paid options.
Sentiment score
6.5
Hyper-V customer service is usually rated positively, with varied support experiences and helpful documentation, though regional support varies.
They do not provide adequate support for midsize businesses.
The technical support is very good
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Citrix XenServer excels in scalable deployments, effective for varying business sizes, but needs more features, especially in storage.
Sentiment score
6.3
Hyper-V is scalable and flexible but may face limitations compared to VMware, especially without proper architecture and planning.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Citrix XenServer is a reliable, stable system with minimal issues, appreciated for uptime and dependability despite minor glitches.
Sentiment score
7.5
Hyper-V is praised for stability and uptime but may face issues due to external factors like IT infrastructure.
 

Room For Improvement

Citrix XenServer needs improved backup, flexibility, and support, addressing concerns over cost, interface, Linux support, and community assistance.
Hyper-V is resource-intensive with limited features, complex networking, and integration issues, making it less efficient than competitors.
Although the product is technically competitive, it is not widely known or used due to poor marketing.
I suggest improvements in platform support and performance considerations for Hyper-V.
 

Setup Cost

Citrix XenServer offers free and paid versions; customers find it cost-effective but note licensing can be confusing.
Hyper-V is cost-effective with flexible licensing, centralized management, and competitive pricing, though initial setup can be costly.
The pricing and licensing policy of Citrix XenServer is not transparent and quite confusing.
Until 2019, Hyper-V was a cost-effective solution because it was available as a free product.
 

Valuable Features

Citrix XenServer provides cost-effective, high-performance virtualization with seamless integration, intuitive management, and robust features enhancing user satisfaction.
Hyper-V offers cost-effective virtualization with scalability, high availability, live migration, easy management, and seamless Microsoft integration.
It provides secure access to applications and resources, which is crucial for us and our clients.
The most valuable features of Hyper-V include high availability and management for virtual machine management.
 

Categories and Ranking

Citrix XenServer
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Hyper-V
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
139
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix XenServer is 5.1%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hyper-V is 15.1%, down from 17.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Siva Kuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows us to allocate CPU, memory, storage, and network resources across VMs and minimizes downtime in case of hardware failure or maintenance
It is a scalable product and provides great benefits for virtualization needs. However, there are a few considerations: * Cost: Citrix Hypervisor can be fairly expensive. * Complexity: There's a learning curve, especially for those coming from a Microsoft background. Setting it up and managing it can introduce some complexity. * Hardware Support: Not all major hardware vendors fully support Citrix Hypervisor. * Third-party Integration: Integrating Hypervisor with other technologies within a large ecosystem can sometimes be challenging. * Community Support: Compared to solutions like Microsoft Hyper-V, the community support for Citrix Hypervisor is somewhat less extensive. It is not vast. If there are any issues or errors, the community support is not that good. Those are definitely important disadvantages.
Ramon Ruiz - PeerSpot reviewer
A cost-effective solution with easy configuration and integration with Azure
Scaling was a major issue with Hyper-V—it wasn't scalable and didn't work well. The only way to get it functioning was to manage everything manually, starting with the installation. Now, it's much more scalable, but the key is to plan the architecture based on the workloads you want to offer. You need to design an architecture that can handle the demands of heavy workloads. If the customer has different types of workloads, each requires a tailored architecture. Using the same setup for all workloads will lead to inefficiencies and wasted time and resources. To ensure scalability, it's crucial to build the infrastructure correctly, especially regarding storage, networking, CPU, and RAM resources. When done properly, Hyper-V scales very well.
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Comparison Review

VL
Jan 13, 2015
vSphere vs. RHEV vs. Hyper-V vs. XenServer
We have used the following functions: 1. Hypervisor: to ensure that the virtual server provide web and email services to the company, thus providing a stable operation a with single sign-on integration of an AD server and vCenter. 2. Network and Storage: centralized data server…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
53%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Educational Organization
37%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Hypervisor?
The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Hypervisor?
I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with one being very inexpensive and ten being very expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix Hypervisor?
It would be very helpful if I could browse the data store directly in the GUI, similar to VMware and Hyper-V. This feature would be particularly useful when something goes wrong with a virtual mach...
How does KVM compare with Hyper-V?
KVM is better. But let's just look at the software instead of judging. Hyper-V was a free solution from Microsoft to virtualize Server or Client OS as it is a feature on Windows Server since 2008 a...
How does Proxmox VE compare with Hyper-V?
One of the best things about Proxmox VE is that it is open-source and very inexpensive. You get all of the same features as with the more well-known products. Proxmox VE is very easy to deploy - it...
What do you like most about Hyper-V?
The initial setup is not difficult at all. It is very easy.
 

Also Known As

Hypervisor
No data available
 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

U.S. Army Shared Services Center, SoftLayer, Educational Services of America, Independent Bank, and SK Telecom.
Large customer base from all industries, all over the world. Two major Hyper-V customers are Telefonica and EmpireCLS.
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix XenServer vs. Hyper-V and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.