what is citrix xen hypervisor?before download citrix xenserver you need to know【2024】

Citrix Xen Hypervisor is an open source virtualisation technology that allows multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical computer.

It is the foundation for Citrix Hypervisor, an industry-leading platform for desktop, server, and cloud virtualisation.

Citrix Xen Hypervisor improves resource utilisation, reduces costs, and improves security and reliability.

Citrix Xen Hypervisor supports multiple operating systems, including Windows and Linux.

What is citrix xen hypervisor？

Citrix xen hypervisor is a virtualisation platform, earlier known as XenServer.

Xen began as a research project at the University of Cambridge called the XenoServer-Wide Computing Project, but Xen soon outgrew the research and a separate public company,

In 2004, shortly after Xen2.0 was released, Ian Pratt and several other technology leaders founded Xensource to upgrade the Xen hypervisor from a research tool to a competitive enterprise computing product.

XenSource, which coordinated development and released a commercial version of Xen alongside the creation of the open source project.

Citrix Systems acquired XenSource on 22 October 2007, and XenSource now generates more than $10 million in annual revenues.

Citrix Hypervisor is a commercial virtualisation solution based on the open-source virtualisation technology Xen, developed and maintained by Citrix Systems.

It is a high-performance hypervisor that enables users to create and manage virtual machines (VMs) on physical servers.

Citrix Hypervisor can run multiple virtual machines on physical servers and provides high availability, fault tolerance, dynamic resource management, and automatic load balancing.

On April 15, 2013, it was announced that the Xen project would move to the Linux Foundation as a collaborative project.

The Linux Foundation has launched a new “Xen Project” to distinguish it from the old “Xen”.

On June 24, 2013, Citrix announced the Open Source XenServer Project, with the goal of delivering its formerly proprietary XenServer product as an open source product to the open source community for more input and participation.

XenServer Architecture

The Xen hypervisor runs directly on the physical hardware and takes care of tasks related to CPU, memory, timers and interrupts.

The Xen hypervisor boots first after the system completes the boot loader.

On top of the Xen hypervisor run multiple virtual machines that run instances of what are called domains or guests in Xen.

The most specific of these domains is called Domain 0 or VM 0, which is a control domain, referred to as Dom0.

Domain 0 contains all of the drivers for the corresponding system devices, as well as a control stack and a variety of system services that are used to manage the Xen-based system.

Domain 0 decomposition allows you to detach some of the services and device drivers from Domain 0 and place them in a proprietary virtual machine, which requires some special configuration.

Xen hypervisor

The Xen hypervisor is a very thin software layer (<65ksloc on ARM, <300ksloc on x86) that runs directly on the hardware and is responsible for managing the CPU, memory and interrupts.

It is the first program that runs after the boot loader exits.

The hypervisor itself does not handle I/O functions such as networking and storage.

Guest Domain

Guest Domain alias DomU, this is the actual business virtualisation environment, each running its own operating system and applications.

Hypervisors support several different virtualisation models, and Guest Domains are completely isolated from the hardware: in other words, they have no privileged access to the hardware or I/O functions.

For this reason, they are also known as unprivileged domains (DomU).

Control Domain (Domain 0)

Control Domain alias Dom0, this is a special virtual machine with special privileges, such as direct access to the hardware, the ability to handle all access to the system’s I/O functions, and the ability to interact with other virtual machines.

Without Dom0 (the first virtual machine started by the system), the Xen hypervisor cannot be used.

In the standard setup, Dom0 contains the following functions:

System services: e.g. xenstore / xenbus (XS) for parameter management, Toolstack toolset (TS) for exposing user interfaces to VMs, Qemu-based device emulation (DE) service.

Native Device Drivers: Dom0 incorporates physical device drivers and therefore supports native hardware support for Xen systems.

Virtual Device Drivers: Dom0 supports virtual device drivers, also known as backends, in addition to physical device drivers.

Toolset

Allows users to manage the creation, deletion and modification of virtual machine configurations.

Toolsets provide interfaces to functions that can be invoked from the command line, graphical interfaces, or dispatched through third-party cloud management platforms such as openstack and cloudstack

many different toolsets are available for use with Xen.

Xen Project-enabled operating systems

Dom0 requires a valid kernel.

Linux distributions based on kernels newer than Linux 3.0 support the Xen project, which usually includes packages containing the hypervisor and tools (default toolset and console).

Key features and functionalities of Citrix xen hypervisor

Citrix Hypervisor is known for its robust set of features, performance capabilities, and reliability, making it a popular choice for organizations seeking a comprehensive virtualization solution for their IT infrastructure.

Infrastructure resiliency and workload protection

It provides a centralized management console that allows users to configure, monitor, and manage VMs and hosts from a single interface.

Citrix Hypervisor can ensure continuous operation and recovery of virtual machines through features such as high availability, fault tolerance, dynamic memory control, live migration, and more.

Citrix Hypervisor supports various storage options, including local storage, network-attached storage (NAS), and storage area networks (SAN), allowing users to choose the storage solution that best fits their needs.

Storage connectivity and image caching capabilities

Citrix xen hypervisor can support multiple storage types, including local, shared, software-defined, and cloud storage.

It can also leverage technologies such as Intellicache and PVS-Accelerator to improve VM boot speed and storage performance.

It offers features like automated VM restart and failover to ensure high availability and minimize downtime in case of host failures.

High Performance and Enhanced 3D Graphics

It is optimized for high performance and supports features like live migration, which allows VMs to be moved between hosts without downtime.

It also allows multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server, optimizing resource utilization and improving scalability.

Citrix xen hypervisor can leverage hardware-level features such as GPU virtualisation, SR-IOV, NVIDIA vGPUs, etc., to deliver highly efficient graphics processing for graphics-intensive workloads such as CAD, video editing, and more.

Security Architecture and Compliance

Citrix xen hypervisor includes security features such as role-based access control, secure remote management, and support for secure boot to ensure the integrity of the virtualized environment.

Citrix xen hypervisor can leverage technologies such as the Direct Inspect API to provide memory protection and isolation of virtual machines from malware and attacks.

It can also support multiple security standards and certifications such as FIPS 140-2, Common Criteria, etc.

What is xen orchestra/xen orchestrator?

Xen Orchestra is an open-source web-based management tool for Citrix xen hypervisor and Xen Project virtualization platforms.

It provides a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows users to manage and monitor their virtualized infrastructure efficiently.

Here are some key features and functionalities of Xen Orchestra:

• Dashboard: Xen Orchestra offers a centralized dashboard that provides an overview of the virtualized environment, including VM status, performance metrics, and resource usage.
• VM Management: Users can create, configure, start, stop, and delete virtual machines (VMs) directly from the web interface. It also allows for easy migration and cloning of VMs.
• Backup and Restore: Xen Orchestra includes backup and restore capabilities for VMs, allowing users to schedule backups, store data on different storage repositories, and restore VMs in case of data loss or system failure.
• Performance Monitoring: The tool provides real-time performance monitoring of VMs and hosts, enabling users to track resource utilization, identify bottlenecks, and optimize performance.
• Storage Management: Xen Orchestra allows users to manage storage repositories, create snapshots, and perform storage-related tasks to ensure efficient data storage and retrieval.
• User Management: It offers user-friendly interfaces for managing user accounts, permissions, and access control to ensure secure and controlled access to the virtualized environment.
• Automation: Xen Orchestra supports automation through scripting and scheduling tasks, making it easier to streamline repetitive operations and manage the virtual infrastructure efficiently.

Xen Orchestra simplifies the management of XenServer and Xen Project environments by providing a user-friendly interface and a range of management and monitoring tools.

It is widely used by system administrators, IT professionals, and organizations to effectively manage their virtualized infrastructure and streamline day-to-day operations.

Xen server pricing/citrix xenserver cost

XenServer is a virtualization platform developed by Citrix, offering features for server virtualization and cloud computing.

XenServer pricing is based on different editions with varying features and support levels.

Below is an overview of XenServer pricing based on its editions:

XenServer Standard Edition:

This edition is free to download and use.

It includes basic virtualization features and tools.

Limited support options are available through community forums and resources.

XenServer Enterprise Edition:

This is a paid edition with advanced features for larger environments.

It includes features like centralized management, live migration, and workload balancing.

Pricing is typically based on the number of sockets or cores in the host servers.

XenServer Platinum Edition:

The Platinum Edition is the most advanced version of XenServer.

It includes additional features such as GPU virtualization, Active Directory integration, and enhanced security.

Pricing for the Platinum Edition is higher than the Standard and Enterprise editions.

For specific pricing details and licensing options, it’s recommended to visit the official Citrix website or contact Citrix sales representatives.

They can provide detailed information on pricing, licensing models, support options, and any current promotions or discounts available for XenServer editions.

Conclusion

Citrix xen hypervisor is a popular choice for organizations looking for a reliable and feature-rich virtualization platform.

It is used by businesses of all sizes to create virtualized environments, improve resource efficiency, and streamline IT operations.

This is again one of the best virtualisation software solutions under ubuntu.

With its robust set of features and strong performance capabilities, Citrix xen hypervisor is a versatile solution for virtualization needs.