Anyone using xenserver for their production hypervisor? I've always used VMware but I've run into minimal budget situation. It's a small 3 host cluster to serve 10-20 small vms. No advanced features required just clustering for HA. I've done some testing and so far xenserver seems limited but capable. I'm just worried about stability and being able to trust it with production vms. If I do go xenserver, I will purchase support. I appreciate any feedback.

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Posted by Sev09

Nantucket

Member since Feb 2011

15554 posts

Posted on 7/13/15 at 9:35 pm to goldengorilla

Is Xenserver related to Xenprise? If so, yes. My company uses it to some extent.

For things like SQL Server and Sharepoint though, we definitely use VM. Xenprise is just used for app hosting.

This post was edited on 7/13/15 at 11:28 pm

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Posted by jdd48

Baton Rouge

Member since Jan 2012

22054 posts

Posted on 7/13/15 at 9:35 pm to goldengorilla

Never used it, but heard nothing but good things. Some people swear by it.

I am going through a transition to VMware from Hyper-V myself right now. I have 2 production hosts and 1 DR host, all with local storage. I am using Veeam to replicate the host VM's to one another nightly, and all VM's are replicated to DR.

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Posted by goldengorilla

Dallas

Member since Jun 2008

1013 posts

Posted on 7/13/15 at 9:37 pm to jdd48

I've used veeam, great support and product .

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Posted by LSshoe

Burrowing through a pile o MikePoop

Member since Jan 2008

4000 posts

Posted on 7/13/15 at 9:38 pm to goldengorilla

I only used it for a short time while trying to deploy Citrix VDI. It felt like a cheap version of vSphere. Also I forget the specific details but I think one hypervisor ended up being the master instead of a centralized management server which was odd. In the end we ditched it since it wasn't able to support multipathing with our San. Technically you could also use KVM as a hypervisor. I've never used it and it's probably not what you're looking for but it is completely free so I figured I'd mention it.

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Posted by jdd48

Baton Rouge

Member since Jan 2012

22054 posts

Posted on 7/13/15 at 9:39 pm to goldengorilla

quote:
I've used veeam, great support and product .

If only I could convince the powers that be that I really need that $100,000 all flash Pure Storage array.

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Posted by SG_Geaux

1 Post

Member since Aug 2004

77927 posts

Posted on 7/13/15 at 10:19 pm to goldengorilla

Been using XenServer for years running the datacenter for a company worth a few hundred million. It is pretty damn solid.

Citrix support is very good to.

This post was edited on 7/13/15 at 10:20 pm

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Posted by goldengorilla

Dallas

Member since Jun 2008

1013 posts

Posted on 7/14/15 at 3:59 am to SG_Geaux

I appreciate the feedback sg_geaux. Have you used VMware before, if so what are the biggest drawbacks of using xenserver over VMware?

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Posted by SG_Geaux

1 Post

Member since Aug 2004

77927 posts

Posted on 7/14/15 at 7:15 am to goldengorilla

I think VMware is more full featured.

VMware has more 3rd party tools and support by a large margin.

We are just getting ready to move to VMware amd Veeam as a backup after about 6 years on Xenserver.

We have been happy with Xenserver. We just feel its time to go to VMware

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Posted by oleyeller

Vols, Bitch

Member since Oct 2012

32015 posts

Posted on 7/14/15 at 8:02 am to SG_Geaux

we used xen for a few years and now on vmware

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Posted by Veritas

Raleigh, NC

Member since Feb 2005

6173 posts

Posted on 7/14/15 at 8:52 am to goldengorilla

Any of you work in government, education, or non-profit?

If so, I could probably help you out with scoping your environment and working within your budget for VMware.

This post was edited on 7/14/15 at 8:53 am

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Posted by oleyeller

Vols, Bitch

Member since Oct 2012

32015 posts

Posted on 7/14/15 at 9:26 am to Veritas

government... state job, mental health. We just started vm ware last yr

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Posted by jdd48

Baton Rouge

Member since Jan 2012

22054 posts

Posted on 7/14/15 at 9:41 am to Veritas

I work for a private company, so no go.

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Posted by Veritas

Raleigh, NC

Member since Feb 2005

6173 posts

Posted on 7/15/15 at 1:46 pm to oleyeller

quote:
government... state job, mental health. We just started vm ware last yr

Yeah, you are the type of end user that I work with. I work for a public sector distributor and specifically focusing on VMware (VSP & VTSP certified). I have very close relationships with your AE's, ISR's, and SE's, so any issues you might be having, you could leverage me as an escalation point.

With that being said, congrats on making the move to VMware. I think you will be much more satisfied with the functionality and overall performance.

Are you running anything besides vSphere and vCenter at the moment?

If I know you're EA# (Entitlement Account), I would have some visibility into your VMware install base and identify your upcoming renewals (co-terming), address any licensing issues, as well as working with you and your organization to find additional solutions (network/storage/desktop virtualization) to make your life easier and alleviate any pain points.

Also, if procurement is ever a problem for you let me know, as my company holds many state and federal contracts that can be leveraged to ease the bidding process, or avoid the bidding process completely.

If there is a virtualization expert that you currently work with (SHI, CDWG, Dell, etc.) there's a good chance we are working with them.

Thank you for sharing the field that you are in. Most state, local, and education budgets just had EOY, but if you'd like to discuss anything for the upcoming year or out year plans, I'd appreciate the opportunity.

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