Likelihood to Recommend You are going to be able to find the most resources and examples using Docker whenever you are working with a container orchestration software like Kubernetes. There will always some entropy when you run in a container, a containerized application will never be as purely performant as an app running directly on the OS. However, in most scenarios this loss will be negligible to the time saved in deployment, monitoring, etc.
Read full review It can be really helpful & useful if we are using Citrix Hypervisor with other provisioning tools. Here are some specific scenarios where Citrix Hypervisor (formerly Citrix XenServer) is well-suited: Server Consolidation, Virtual Desktops, Disaster Recovery, Development & Testing Environments. On the other hand, there are some scenarios where Citrix Hypervisor may be less appropriate: Small-scale Deployments, Highly Heterogeneous Environments, and Limited Virtualization Requirements.
Read full review Pros Packaging of application to limit the space occupied Ease of running the application Provide multiple ways to handle the application issues and integration of different components like pipeline, ansible, terraform etc Read full review Citrix hypervisor does price very well for small organizations. It is free. Since this product is open source it does not have any type of vendor lockdown issues. Allows live migration of VM's so you can keep systems up and running when changes are needed to the hardware in the background. The GUI management tools are quite easy to learn. Has Snapshot capability which is a great way to protect against malware as well as do risk-free upgrades. Read full review Cons Docker hub image retention policy can be relaxed Docker hub policies can be more developer friendly Docker CLI help section can be improved Image and container storage (local) management can be optimized Read full review Adding or presenting additional storage to the host can often be a task that is far more involved than competitive products. The product can require reboots more frequently than competitors due to the DOM kernel getting "hung up". Sometimes when a virtual machine is deleted it still leaves behind orphaned vdisks. Recovering from the loss of a host can sometimes cause virtual machines to require lengthy command prompt scripting to fix so they can be powered back on from another host. Read full review Likelihood to Renew With the knowledge and usage of solutions from VMware and Microsoft offering more compelling cloud integrated options it makes it more compelling in many environments which I consult. XenServer is a good product and fits the bill in many smaller environments but as clients look to the cloud or a hybrid cloud it can in some cases make it a bit more difficult.
Read full review Usability Very easy to use, great tutorials, documentation and cheat sheets out there to help you become a Docker Wiz
Read full review XenServer is quite usable due to the simplicity the management and installation provide for an administrator. The console for management is very intuitive and can easily be installed on any Windows operating system. There is a relatively simple web console that can be implemented as well that enhances the usability to provide service to non-administrators.
Read full review Reliability and Availability Haven't seen any outages, fatal/unrecoverable errors in my usage so far. Enough said.
Read full review It's been a little problematic in the past at larger VDI deployments requiring a bit more care and feeding than other vendors. But the latest releases (6.5.x) have brought about huge improvements in the stability and availability.
Read full review Performance Docker Desktop. The CPU high usage is a known issue. Needs fixing. Otherwise, it is great overall. Would not use anything else still.
Read full review When running like a top XenServer is a fantastic hypervisor. There is relatively low overhead on the Dom0 so workloads get the most of the resources.
Read full review Support Rating The staff I've worked with are very knowledgeable or able to get a very well articulated and capable support team member on the phone or helping them if necessary and they always want to ensure the best experience possible for you on the platform. The ability for the support team to reach out to hardware vendors for assistance is a nice plus too.
Read full review In-Person Training Part of a training for certification to become a trainer for Citrix included an in-person training with a Master CCI. The XenServer training at this time was pretty simplified due to the product primarily being installed however you did have to work with it and mildly configure the system.
Read full review Online Training Haven't given it a real go with any online training however there are some options out there. I have taught a course following Citrix material for
XenDesktop which leverages XenServer and it is pre-built so not the best for XenServer specifically for installation but configuration is mildly touched on
Read full review Implementation Rating Ensure you review the HCL (hardware compatibility list) and reach out to the hardware vendors to ensure they support the platform and in case they have documentation that can be followed for the implementation. Also ensure the prerequisites are completed prior to implementation so that as few unexpected delays occur as you can control.
Read full review Alternatives Considered The reason why we are still using Docker right now is due to that is the best among its peers and suits our needs the best. However, the trend we foresee for the future might indicate Amazon lambda could potentially fit our needs to code enviornmentless in the near future.
Read full review Feature for feature they are neck and neck. I have used Hyper-V 2012 and 2016,
VMware ESXi and XenServer evenly. XenServer is a fast install, good documentation, with enterprise features out the box that compare or exceed what VMWare offered with a higher cost of entry.
Read full review Scalability It is the only tool in our toolset that has not [had] any issues so far. That is really a mark of reliability, and it's a testimony to how well the product is made, and a tool that does its job well is a tool well worth having. It is the base tool that I would say any organisation must have if they do scalable deployment.
Read full review The servers latest versions have made massive improvements to scalability. But from past experience there have been issues when running workloads for extended periods of time without reboot on the hosts. I would need to run similar workloads on the 6.5 release which has changed much of the bottlenecks or issues so I'd imagine its far more capable now, Perhaps able to stand near the best in the market.
Read full review Return on Investment Reduces the number of virtual machine which impacted our quarterly billing Using docker with proxy we run multiple application on same port on same host. impact on billing is we have to provide docker training to the people who are working on it. Read full review Xenserver is easy to learn. We paid for support only for installation and deployment in the first three years, and now our team has the knowledge to solve most problems. Low CAPEX if you have a team that uses open source software day by day. But paid support is necessary to solve critical problems. The open source community is not enough. Actually, we have difficulty solving some bugs without paying for support. Medium OPEX if you have a team that uses open source software day by day. Read full review ScreenShots