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Citrix XenServer vs Nutanix AHV Virtualization comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Citrix XenServer
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Nutanix AHV Virtualization
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2024, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix XenServer is 4.8%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nutanix AHV Virtualization is 7.9%, up from 4.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Siva Kuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 29, 2024
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.
Atif Najam - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 2, 2022
Lightweight, integrates well, and the technical support is responsive
Many backup solutions that we use today are available for purchase, be it IBM, VMware, Veritas, or anything else. They usually have very good vSphere and Hyper-V support. Because there isn't much AHV deployment in place, we typically have issues with the integrations that AHV has with backup solutions. We would like to see AHV's backup solution integration improved so that we can take VM-level backups directly from Nutanix. The issue is that it provides a higher VM level for VMware and other areas. When it comes to AHV, however, you must purchase a separate set of third-party software, which can then supplement that backup via your IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. One issue we frequently encounter when using AHV is that if you want to install specific software, you must first gain compatibility. If you want to install an operating system, or OS, on top of your AHV, only a few operating systems are supported. That is one area where I would like to see some progress. VMware typically supports almost all of our systems, as does Hyper-V, but when it comes to AHV, we must apply specific patches in order to run it on top of AHV. Operating system support must be improved out of the box. If you want to install software, you must first ensure that it is compatible with Nutanix AHV; not all software is compatible. It is not possible to integrate it with everything. There is limited compatibility with the software that can be installed on top of Nutanix AHV, for example. If you want to install a specific operating system, you must first check to see if it is listed in the compatibility list; only then will you be able to install it, and that is one issue for now.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The onboarding process is pretty straightforward."
"Scripting can automate procedures."
"There's no complexity in using the tool, especially with the VBI integration. It works very well and has proven to be a stable platform. I have experienced attacks, such as ransomware, but my Citrix Hypervisor virtual machines were protected. This is due to its hardened operating system and DNS, which successfully protected the virtual machines on that platform."
"This is a good product for virtualization and it is easy to use."
"We find there are good central maintenance and central management panels."
"The support for this solution is phenomenal."
"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."
"The solution integrates well with other solutions, which makes it really strong as a primary solution to deploy."
"The setup is efficient."
"This solution is very stable and it has been running for the last three months, with no issues."
"Integration is the most valuable feature of the product."
"Nutanix AHV Virtualization is a private cloud platform offering integration with various public cloud providers. This integration allows for a multi-cloud approach. In my opinion, Nutanix AHV Virtualization's strength is its storage. It innovates and excels in the hyper-converged storage segment, making it the number one choice in this area."
"With AHV, you can run micro-segmentation, which is, on the network security level, to have network virtualization across clouds."
"Nutanix AHV is very scalable. It can go to unlimited nodes."
"Nutanix AHV works really well. It's much easier to administer and manage than VMware. Since we're not a large IT department within the finance sector, our team is relatively small. We don't have a huge team of IT professionals to manage all the other systems."
"The feature that has had the most impact is data locality. That is a feature that makes Nutanix different from other hypervisors. It helps us to get application performance that is probably double what we got with the legacy, three-tier architecture."
 

Cons

"The built-in networking features are a little limited."
"Network management needs improvement because it is not very stable."
"The solution should be more flexible and allow for greater customization."
"The manageability of the solution needs improvement. It's an extremely bad product to handle."
"The USB support for the virtual server needs improvement."
"Citrix is not investing in the virtual surroundings."
"Citrix could provide more tools to help the client manage the solution because we need to build our own tools in some cases. Everything is available through PowerShell, but then you need to build your own scripts to do the more advanced work."
"I think the technical support could be better."
"VMware does tend to have more features than AHV. It's more of the leader in this space."
"The solution could improve the call logging system to HPE, it is a bit tedious."
"There are times when consultants, construction, or building firms need to use Beam but it can be difficult."
"Lacks integration with the cloud or other solutions."
"I would like to see better decompression or degrouping of the VMs so that we can use a single number of SQLs with two servers. We don't need a huge number of DXSPs."
"The product must provide geo clusters."
"I haven't come across any limitations. Nutanix doesn't support externally attached storage through Fibre Channel. However, Nutanix doesn't support Fibre Channel connectivity. This, in my opinion, is a weakness of Nutanix. For instance, it does not support Cyber Talent. To clarify, you cannot connect external Fibre Channel storage or NAS storage resources with Nutanix. However, VMware vSAN supports such solutions."
"Some companies do not support AHV."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"To subscribe to the paid version with support, it is approximately $6,000 per year."
"While it is free for small networks, the pricing is high if your network grows past a certain size."
"The licensing is straight forward based on usage and features."
"We used it only for some desktop licenses, so the pricing is great. We used the free licenses for server virtualization."
"Citrix Hypervisor is expensive."
"There are three editions available and I believe they are perpetual licenses."
"Citrix Hypervisor can be fairly expensive."
"Citrix Hypervisor is a licensed product, and customers who buy the Citrix XenDesktop get Citrix Hypervisor for free. If they don't buy the license for Citrix XenDesktop, they'll need to pay for Citrix Hypervisor and its price is high. Pricing is even higher than VMware. The licensing policy for Citrix Hypervisor is good. It's straightforward. The only issue is the price because it's an expensive product."
"Looking at the hardware and the software licenses, too, it might look expensive."
"The price of the solution is fair and if you want support there are additional fees."
"Nutanix AHV is low cost."
"I rate the product's price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is costly. I don't think there are any extra costs in addition to the standard licensing fees of the solution."
"Nutanix AHV Virtualization is expensive. I rate it a six out of ten."
"Nutanix AHV is free."
"The product is costly and comes with an annual subscription."
"The pricing depends upon the licenses, considering the number of devices."
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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
52%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Government
4%
Educational Organization
29%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

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 Nutanix AHV compare with VMware vSphere?
To understand which is better - Nutanix AHV or VMware vSphere - you need to do a product comparison. Both products support hypervisors. However, Nutanix supports some of the most popular ones and m...
What do you like most about Nutanix AHV Virtualization?
Integration is the most valuable feature of the product.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nutanix AHV Virtualization?
Nutanix AHV Virtualization is expensive. I rate it a six out of ten.
 

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.
JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix XenServer vs. Nutanix AHV Virtualization and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
813,161 professionals have used our research since 2012.