Transcript Scalability, Performance & Density Security & Multitenancy Flexible Infrastructure High Availability & Resiliency System Host VM Cluster Hyper-V (2008 R2) Hyper-V (2012) Improvement Factor Logical Processors (Cores) 5× Physical Memory 1TB 4TB 4× Virtual CPUs per Host 2,048 4× Virtual CPUs per VM 16× 64GB 1TB 16× Active VMs per Host 1,024 2.7× Guest NUMA No Yes - Maximum Nodes 4× 1,000 4,000 4× Resource Memory.

Scalability,
Performance
& Density
Security &
Multitenancy
Flexible
Infrastructure
High
Availability
& Resiliency
System
Host
VM
Cluster
Hyper-V
(2008 R2)
Hyper-V
(2012)
Improvement
Factor
Logical Processors (Cores)
64
320
5×
Physical Memory
1TB
4TB
4×
Virtual CPUs per Host
512
2,048
4×
Virtual CPUs per VM
4
64
16×
64GB
1TB
16×
Active VMs per Host
384
1,024
2.7×
Guest NUMA
No
Yes
-
Maximum Nodes
16
64
4×
1,000
4,000
4×
Resource
Memory per VM
Maximum VMs
System
Host
XenServer
(6.0)
vSphere
Hypervisor
vSphere
(5.0 Ent+)
Logical Processors (Cores)
320
160
160
160
Physical Memory
4TB
1TB
32GB3
2TB
Virtual CPUs per Host
2,048
Undocumented6
2,048
2,048
Virtual CPUs per VM
64
16
8
325
1TB
128GB
32GB3
1TB
1,024
50-1301
512
512
Guest NUMA
Yes
Host Only
Yes
Yes
Maximum Nodes
64
16
N/A4
32
4,000
800-9602
N/A4
3,000
Memory per VM
VM
Active VMs per Host
Cluster
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Hyper-V
(2012)
Resource
Maximum VMs
XenServer 6.0 active VMs per host varies based on Server/VDI workload, with PVS/IntelliCache & HA on/off
Maximum VMs on a Cluster (Resource Pool) on XenServer 6.0 based on a maximum of 50-60 concurrent protected VMs per host with HA enabled.
Host physical memory is capped at 32GB thus maximum VM memory is also restricted to 32GB usage.
For clustering/high availability, customers must purchase vSphere
vSphere 5.0 Enterprise Plus is the only edition that supports 32 vCPUs. All others support 8 vCPUs within a virtual machine.
Maximum number of Virtual CPUs per Host is not documented in the Citrix XenServer 6.0 Configuration Limits documentation
XenServer 6.0 Information: http://www.citrix.com/site/resources/dynamic/salesdocs/Citrix_XenServer_6_Configuration_Limits.pdf
vSphere Hypervisor / vSphere 5.0 Ent+ Information: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere5/r50/vsphere-50-configuration-maximums.pdf and
http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/faq.html
Hyper-V
(2012)
XenServer
(6.0)
vSphere
Hypervisor
vSphere
(5.0 Ent+)
Virtual Fiber Channel
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
3rd Party Multipathing (MPIO)
Yes
Yes (Manual)
No
Yes (VAMP)2
Native 4-KB Disk Support
Yes
Undocumented4
Undocumented4
Undocumented4
64TB VHDX
2TB
2TB VMDK
2TB VMDK
Varies1
15TB
64TB
64TB
Yes
No
No
Yes (VAAI)3
Capability
Maximum Virtual Disk Size
Maximum Pass Through Disk Size
Offloaded Data Transfer
1.
2.
3.
4.
The maximum size of a physical disk attached to a virtual machine is determined by the guest operating system and the chosen file system within the guest
vStorage API for Multipathing (VAMP) is only available in Enterprise & Enterprise Plus editions of vSphere 5.0
vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI) is only available in Enterprise & Enterprise Plus editions of vSphere 5.0
Neither VMware or Citrix documentation suggests that their respective platforms support 4K Advanced Format Drives
XenServer 6.0 Information: http://www.citrix.com/site/resources/dynamic/salesdocs/Citrix_XenServer_6_Configuration_Limits.pdf and
http://support.citrix.com/servlet/KbServlet/download/28751-102-673823/XenServer-6.0.0-reference.pdf
vSphere Hypervisor / vSphere 5.0 Ent+ Information: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere5/r50/vsphere-50-configuration-maximums.pdf and
http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/editions_comparison.html
Hyper-V
(2012)
XenServer
(6.0)
vSphere
Hypervisor
vSphere
(5.0 Ent+)
Dynamic Memory
Yes
Yes1
Yes
Yes
Resource Metering
Yes
Yes2
Yes4
Yes
Quality of Service
Yes
Yes
No
Yes5
Data Center Bridging (DCB)
Yes
Undocumented3
Yes
Yes
Capability
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Memory Optimization is a feature found only in XenServer 6.0 Advanced edition and higher.
XenServer collects processor use, memory usage, and network I/O rates for the entire host system, as well as each individual virtual machine. Free edition limited to 24 hours
of historical data.
A number of Converged Network Adaptors are supported within the XenServer 6.0 HCL however no official documentation can be found for DCB and XenServer 6.0.
Without vCenter, Resource Metering in VMware vSphere Hypervisor is only available on an individual host by host basis.
Quality of Service (QoS) is only available in the Enterprise Plus edition of vSphere 5.0
XenServer 6.0 Information: http://www.citrix.com/site/resources/dynamic/salesdocs/Citrix_XenServer_6_Configuration_Limits.pdf,
http://support.citrix.com/servlet/KbServlet/download/28751-102-673823/XenServer-6.0.0-reference.pdf, http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX123996 and
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=2300456
vSphere Hypervisor / vSphere 5.0 Ent+ Information: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere5/r50/vsphere-50-configuration-maximums.pdf and
http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/editions_comparison.html
Hyper-V
(2012)
XenServer
(6.0)
vSphere
Hypervisor
vSphere
(5.0 Ent+)
Yes
Yes
No
Replaceable1
4
Undocumented4
No
2
Private Virtual LAN (PVLAN)
Yes
No
No
Yes1
ARP/ND Spoofing Protection
Yes
No
No
vShield App/Partner2
DHCP Snooping Protection
Yes
No
No
vShield App/Partner2
Virtual Port ACLs
Yes
Yes
No
vShield App/Partner2
Trunk Mode to Virtual Machines
Yes
No
No
No
Port Monitoring
Yes
Yes
Per Port Group
Yes3
Port Mirroring
Yes
Yes
Per Port Group
Yes3
Capability
Extensible Switch
Confirmed Partner Extensions
1.
2.
3.
4.
The vSphere Distributed Switch (required for PVLAN capability) is available only in the Enterprise Plus edition of vSphere 5.0 and thus far, seems to be replaceable (By Partners such as
Cisco/IBM) rather than extensible.
ARP Spoofing, DHCP Snooping Protection & Virtual Port ACLs require either vShield App or a Partner solution, all of which are additional purchases on top of vSphere 5.0 Enterprise Plus
Port Monitoring and Mirroring at a granular level requires vSphere Distributed Switch, which is available in the Enterprise Plus edition of vSphere 5.0.
No XenServer documentation can be located that discusses Partner Extension s to the XenServer Open vSwitch.
XenServer 6.0 Information: http://support.citrix.com/servlet/KbServlet/download/28748-102-664877/XenServer-6.0.0-dvs_controller.pdf, http://support.citrix.com/servlet/KbServlet/download/28751-102-673823/XenServer-6.0.0reference.pdf and http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=2300456
vSphere Hypervisor / vSphere 5.0 Ent+ Information: http://www.vmware.com/products/cisco-nexus-1000V/overview.html, http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/networking/switches/virtual/dvs5000v/,
http://www.vmware.com/technical-resources/virtualization-topics/virtual-networking/distributed-virtual-switches.html, http://www.vmware.com/products/vshield-app/features.html and
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps9441/ps9902/data_sheet_c78-492971.html
Hyper-V
(2012)
XenServer
(6.0)
vSphere
Hypervisor
vSphere
(5.0 Ent+)
Dynamic Virtual Machine Queue
Yes
VMq1
NetQueue1
NetQueue1
IPsec Task Offload
Yes
No
No
No
SR-IOV
Yes
Yes2
DirectPath I/O3
DirectPath I/O3
Storage Encryption
Yes
No
No
No
Capability
1.
2.
3.
Dynamic Virtual Machine Queue (DVMQ) is not supported by either XenServer or vSphere, which both support regular VMq (known as NetQueue on vSphere).
Whilst XenServer 6.0 provides SR-IOV support, the release notes state: “If your VM has an SR-IOV VF, functions that require VM mobility are not possible. For example, Live Migration,
Workload Balancing, Rolling Pool Upgrade, High Availability and Disaster Recovery, cannot be used. This is because the VM is directly tied to the physical SR-IOV enabled NIC VF. In
addition, VM network traffic sent via an SR-IOV VF bypasses the vSwitch, so it is not possible to create Access Control Lists (ACL) or view Quality of Service (Qos).”
(http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX131381)
DirectPath IO, whilst not identical to SR-IOV, aims to provide virtual machines with more direct access to hardware devices, with network cards being a good example. Whilst on the
surface, this will boost VM networking performance, and reduce the burden on host CPU cycles, in reality, there are a number of caveats in using DirectPath I/O:
• Very small Hardware Compatibility List
• No Memory Overcommit
• No vMotion (unless running certain configurations of Cisco UCS)
• No Fault Tolerance
• No Network I/O Control
• No VM Snapshots (unless running certain configurations of Cisco UCS)
• No Suspend/Resume (unless running certain configurations of Cisco UCS)
• No VMsafe/Endpoint Security support
• No such restrictions are imposed when using SR-IOV, ensuring customers can combine the highest levels of performance with the flexibility they need for an agile infrastructure.
XenServer 6.0 Information: http://www.citrix.com/site/resources/dynamic/salesdocs/Citrix_XenServer_6_Configuration_Limits.pdf,
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=2300456,
vSphere Hypervisor / vSphere 5.0 Ent+ Information: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/Perf_Best_Practices_vSphere5.0.pdf
Policy Settings
Blue Corp
Provider Address Space
Blue Corp
SQL
10.1.1.1
WEB
10.1.1.2
Red Corp
Customer
Address
Provider
Address
10.1.1.1
192.168.1.10
10.1.1.2
192.168.1.12
Red Corp
SQL
10.1.1.1
Customer
Address
Provider
Address
WEB
10.1.1.2
10.1.1.1
192.168.1.11
10.1.1.2
192.168.1.13
Data Center
Network
192.168.1.10
192.168.1.11
Hyper-V Host 1
192.168.1.10
192.168.1.11
Hyper-V Host 1
SQL
SQL
WEB
WEB
10.1.1.1
10.1.1.1
10.1.1.2
10.1.1.2
Customer Address Space
Hyper-V
(2012)
XenServer
(6.0)
vSphere
Hypervisor
vSphere
(5.0 Ent+)
Yes
Yes
No2
Yes4
1GB Simultaneous Live Migrations
Unlimited1
Undocumented7
N/A
4
10GB Simultaneous Live Migrations
Unlimited1
Undocumented7
N/A
8
Live Storage Migration
Yes
No
No3
Yes5
Shared Nothing Live Migration
Yes
No
No
No
Network Virtualization
Yes
No
No
Partner6
Capability
VM Live Migration
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Within the technical capabilities of the networking hardware
Live Migration (vMotion) is unavailable in the free vSphere Hypervisor – vSphere 5.0 required
Live Storage Migration (Storage vMotion) is unavailable in the free vSphere Hypervisor
Live Migration (vMotion) is available in Essentials Plus & higher editions of vSphere 5.0
Live Storage Migration (Storage vMotion) is available in Enterprise & Enterprise Plus editions of vSphere 5.0
VXLAN is a feature of the Cisco Nexus 1000V 1.5, available at additional cost to VMware vSphere 5.0 Enterprise Plus
No XenServer documentation can be found that details the number of simultaneous live migrations over either 1GB or 10GB Ethernet.
XenServer 6.0 Information: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=2300456
vSphere Hypervisor / vSphere 5.0 Ent+ Information: http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/editions_comparison.html,
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps9441/ps9902/white_paper_c11-685115.html
Hyper-V
(2012)
XenServer
(6.0)
vSphere
Hypervisor
vSphere
(5.0 Ent+)
Incremental Backups
Yes
Yes1
No
Yes5
Inbox VM Replication
Yes
No2
No
No6
NIC Teaming
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Integrated High Availability
Yes
Yes3
No4
Yes7
Guest OS Application Monitoring
Yes
No
N/A
No8
Failover Prioritization
Yes
Yes
N/A
Yes9
Affinity & Anti-Affinity Rules
Yes
No
N/A
Yes9
Cluster-Aware Updating
Yes
Yes
N/A
Yes9
Capability
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
XenServer 6 provides Automated VM Protection & Recovery in the Advanced edition and higher
XenServer 6 provides a Site Replication capability in the Platinum edition, however replication is provided by a storage vendor, not inbox from XenServer hosts.
XenServer 6 provides HA in the Advanced edition or higher.
The vSphere Hypervisor has no high availability features built in – vSphere 5.0 is required.
VMware Data Recovery is available in Essentials Plus and higher vSphere 5.0 editions
vSphere Replication is a feature of VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM), which is available in 2 editions and is a chargeable addition to vSphere 5.0
VMware HA is built in to Essentials Plus and higher vSphere 5.0 editions
VMware have made APIs publicly available, but actual application monitoring is not included
Features available in all editions that have High Availability enabled.
XenServer 6.0 Information: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=2300456
vSphere Hypervisor / vSphere 5.0 Ent+ Information: http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/editions_comparison.html, http://www.vmware.com/products/site-recovery-manager/overview.html and
http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2011/08/11/vsphere-5-0-ha-application-monitoring-intro/
Hyper-V
(2012)
XenServer
(6.0)
vSphere
Hypervisor
vSphere
(5.0 Ent+)
64
16
N/A2
32
4,000
800-9601
N/A2
3000
Max Size Guest Cluster (iSCSI)
64 Nodes
Undocumented7
03
03
Max Size Guest Cluster (Fiber)
64 Nodes
No
2
2
Max Size Guest Cluster (File Based)
64 Nodes
Undocumented7
04
04
Guest Clustering with Live Migration Support
Yes
Undocumented7
N/A2
No5
Guest Clustering with Dynamic Memory Support
Yes
Undocumented7
No6
No6
Capability
Nodes per Cluster
VMs per Cluster
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Maximum VMs on a Cluster (Resource Pool) on XenServer 6.0 based on a maximum of 50-60 concurrent protected VMs per host with HA enabled.
High Availability/vMotion/Clustering is unavailable in the standalone vSphere Hypervisor
VMware does not support VM Guest Clustering using iSCSI storage.
VMware does not support VM Guest Clustering using File Based Storage i.e. NFS
VMware does not support the vMotion of a VM that is part of a Guest Cluster
VMware does not support the use of Memory Overcommit with a VM that is part of a Guest Cluster
No XenServer documentation can be found that details the number of simultaneous live migrations over either 1GB or 10GB Ethernet.
XenServer 6.0 Information: http://www.citrix.com/site/resources/dynamic/salesdocs/Citrix_XenServer_6_Configuration_Limits.pdf
vSphere Hypervisor / vSphere 5.0 Ent+ Information: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere5/r50/vsphere-50-configuration-maximums.pdf, http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphereesxi-vcenter-server-50-mscs-guide.pdf
Scalability,
Performance
& Density
Security &
Multitenancy
Flexible
Infrastructure
High
Availability
& Resiliency
Hyper-V: A More Complete Virtualization Platform
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