Red Hat Virtualization vs. XenServer

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Red Hat Virtualization (formerly Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, broadly known as RHEV) is an enterprise level server and desktop virtualization solution. Red Hat Virtualization also contains the functionality of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktop in later editions of the platform.
$999
Per Year Per Hypervisor
XenServer
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
XenServer (formerly Citrix Hypervisor) is a virtualization management platform optimized for application, desktop and server virtualization infrastructures.N/A
Pricing
Red Hat VirtualizationXenServer
Editions & Modules
Standard
$999.00
Per Year Per Hypervisor
Premium
$1,499.00
Per Year Per Hypervisor
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)XenServer
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Red Hat VirtualizationXenServer
Considered Both Products
Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)
Chose Red Hat Virtualization
We use them both, as one is not better than the other at all facets required. There is still a need to use both products, as we have not fully switched to RHEV due to vSphere still having an edge over them with edits available to the systems while they are operational or they …
XenServer

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Red Hat VirtualizationXenServer
Server Virtualization
Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Product A and Product B
Red Hat Virtualization
7.7
10 Ratings
8% below category average
XenServer
6.6
11 Ratings
23% below category average
Virtual machine automated provisioning7.910 Ratings2.010 Ratings
Management console7.310 Ratings5.011 Ratings
Live virtual machine backup7.39 Ratings8.010 Ratings
Live virtual machine migration6.910 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Hypervisor-level security8.99 Ratings9.010 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Red Hat VirtualizationXenServer
Small Businesses
Proxmox VE
Proxmox VE
Score 9.3 out of 10
Proxmox VE
Proxmox VE
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Red Hat VirtualizationXenServer
Likelihood to Recommend
6.6
(12 ratings)
8.0
(11 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
6.1
(2 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
5.5
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(1 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
2.7
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
5.5
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
5.5
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Red Hat VirtualizationXenServer
Likelihood to Recommend
Red Hat
RHEV is well suited for organizations that need a cost-effective and flexible solution for their environment. As its vendor-independent software, easily install on any type of hardware. RHEV provides a GUI interface to manage the software, which makes the management of the software easier for the end-user. RHEV is best for non-production or less critical applications. RHEV can be easily integrated with other REDHAT software.
Read full review
XenServer
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
Red Hat
  • RHV issues/bugs can be reported via Bugzilla to RH support. The service is great and typically responds soon.
  • Red Hat distribution integration is seamless as it is integrated into the kernel.
  • OpenStack support enables more customized VM templates and network configuration control.
Read full review
XenServer
  • 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
Red Hat
  • 1- RHVM API is pretty slow, especially after creating a VM it is not possible to retrieve the VM details (i.e VM's MAC Address) fast enough, where we need to place a pause in our Ansible Playbook, make the automation process slow.
  • 2- RHV is still using collected to monitor the hypervisors which is deviating from Red Hat policy for other RHEL based applications to use PCP to monitor, which is richer in features.
  • 3- It will be great if it is possible to patch the hypervisors using other tools such as satellite and not only via RHVM.
  • 4- In the past Red Hat used to present patches in the z release (i.e. 4.3.z), and features in the y release (i.e 4. y), but starting from 4.4 that is mixed together wherein the Z release you get both patches and features, that is not good because that requires a lot of time to test when we patch as it includes features as well.
  • 5- Engineering team has to be more reactive when new feature is requested.
Read full review
XenServer
  • 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.
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Likelihood to Renew
Red Hat
No answers on this topic
XenServer
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.
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Usability
Red Hat
No answers on this topic
XenServer
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.
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Reliability and Availability
Red Hat
No answers on this topic
XenServer
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.
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Performance
Red Hat
No answers on this topic
XenServer
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
Red Hat
No answers on this topic
XenServer
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.
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In-Person Training
Red Hat
No answers on this topic
XenServer
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.
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Online Training
Red Hat
No answers on this topic
XenServer
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
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Implementation Rating
Red Hat
No answers on this topic
XenServer
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.
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Alternatives Considered
Red Hat
RHEV is an excellent product, includes more features, is less expensive, and has rock solid reliability and is backed with the best Red Hat Support in the industry. RHEV uses KVM under the hood which is used by all the big players in the industry (AWS, Rackspace, etc) to lower their overall costs and improve efficiency and profits and that's why RHEV is an excellent solution!
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XenServer
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.
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Scalability
Red Hat
No answers on this topic
XenServer
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.
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Return on Investment
Red Hat
  • RHEV has provided a positive ROI as our customers are not experiencing as many outages during maintenances.
  • We have not experienced any catastrophic failures as a result of vsphere losing connection to the ntp.
  • There has been a level of stability in our environment that was not previously experienced with our previous vendor.
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XenServer
  • 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.
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