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As enterprises continue to search for new and better solutions for rising power costs and complex data center footprints, many are turning to server virtualization as a solution. Citrix XenServer as an integrated feature on HP ProLiant servers provides customers with an improved user experience, simplifying the adoption of virtualization and significantly reducing the time it takes to achieve return on investment (ROI). The Citrix XenServer HP Select Edition, part of the HP ProLiant iVirtualization offering, provides extensive advantages over alternative solutions. These advantages include faster implementation of Citrix XenServer virtualization technology on HP ProLiant servers, increased ease-of use for HP ProLiant customers utilizing Citrix XenServer, and leveraged investments in HP management tools such as HP Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) for remote server management.

Citrix XenServer is a simple, efficient way to virtualize servers and help deliver a dynamic data center—a flexible, aggregated pool of computing and storage resources. Citrix XenServer supports 64-bit and extends the development and testing resources of the open source Xen virtualization engine, delivering easy-to-use dynamic virtualization solutions.

By tightly integrating Citrix XenServer into ProLiant platforms, Citrix and HP will provide a simpler deployment and management environment that speeds adoption of flexible, cost-saving server virtualization technology, making it the optimal choice for virtualization on HP systems. Highlights include:

• New HP ProLiant iVirtualization – This offering integrates virtualization capabilities into the ProLiant server platform, empowering customers to virtualize their server environments. It allows customers to quickly and easily boot up a Citrix XenServer environment, either on a single server or as part of an end-to-end Citrix solution for server, application and desktop virtualization (see today’s related announcement from HP).

• New HP ProLiant Virtual Console - The newly developed HP ProLiant Virtual Console (PVC), unique to Citrix and HP solutions, provides the same simple-to-use GUI interface to set up and manage virtual machines as HP customers already use to set up and manage individual physical servers. HP PVC further removes complexity from virtualization installations by offering single server virtual machine management using the server’s local keyboard, video, and mouse, or remotely using HP iLO Advanced. This reduces the need for a dedicated management server or even a network connection, as it can be handled directly on the virtualized server.

• Pre-Integrated HP Management - Citrix XenServer HP products are the only integrated virtualization solutions to feature pre-integrated HP management agent technology. As a result, customers can use the same familiar management systems for virtualization that they have been using on their existing HP ProLiant servers, such as HP Systems Insight Manager (SIM). HP SIM provides a consolidated view of system hardware health, configuration, performance and status information for individual HP servers. In addition, HP Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) now supports Citrix XenServer and can be used to perform advanced management of virtual machines.

• Transparent Distribution of Virtualization Technology - The HP version of Citrix XenServer will be available on ten models of ProLiant servers, enabling customers to order systems with XenServer already integrated. The integrated solution will transparently power on as part of the system start-up, without any user intervention. This approach enables fast and straightforward virtual deployments with a consistent, reliable, and familiar ProLiant experience. Additionally, select models of existing HP ProLiant servers will be upgradeable with the XenServer technology.

• Seamless Upgrade - Citrix XenServer HP Select Edition provides a simple license-key upgrade to more powerful enterprise-class features included in Citrix XenServer Enterprise and Platinum editions, such as dynamic provisioning of both virtual and physical servers. – This makes it the only integrated virtualization solution to allow customers to upgrade and leverage enterprise features without having to shutdown and re-install new software or backend management systems.

• End-to-End Virtualization - After implementing Citrix XenServer, HP customers can also easily take advantage of Citrix’s application and desktop virtualization solutions to make the IT infrastructure more flexible and dynamic. Citrix XenApp™ for application virtualization stores all Windows applications in a single central store in the datacenter and then delivers them to end users on-demand via innovative application virtualization technology. Citrix XenDesktop™ is the industry’s first comprehensive, fully integrated desktop delivery system, moving beyond the limitations of existing virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) point solutions to ensure the simple, secure, fast delivery of Windows desktops to any office worker over any network.

In addition to these comprehensive server virtualization capabilities, the two companies are also working to strengthen existing storage capabilities for customers. Citrix is a member of the HP Information Management and Storage Partner Program and is working closely with HP’s StorageWorks division on compatibility and certification testing across HP’s enterprise storage product portfolio.

– Availability

Citrix XenServer HP Select Edition is available right now.