Citrix announced the availability of Citrix XenServer software factory integrated on Dell PowerEdge servers. Citrix and Dell have partnered to make integrated server virtualization technology a reality for customers of all sizes. The initial products now available to Dell customers worldwide include the Citrix XenServer Dell Express Edition and Citrix XenServer Dell Enterprise Edition as part of factory-integrated solutions designed to make it even easier for customers to begin implementing their virtualization strategies. The Citrix XenServer Dell products are virtualization solutions that feature integrated Dell management agent technology. As a result, customers can use the same familiar Dell OpenManage System Management software on their existing Dell servers to help increase server and storage utilization. By coupling Citrix XenServer with Dell’s PowerEdge servers, the companies bring built-in, easy-to-use virtual machine installation and management to millions of Dell customers worldwide.

“We already use Citrix XenApp for application virtualization, so selecting Citrix XenServer for server virtualization was a great choice because it simplified our end-to-end virtualization strategy from the datacenter to the desktop,” said Scott Stanaland, Network Administrator, C.C. Dickson Company. “XenServer integrated with Dell servers is a win-win because now it is even easier. And it is a great value-add to have a single management console for our virtualization needs.”

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. By factory-integrating Citrix XenServer into Dell PowerEdge platforms, Citrix and Dell 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 Dell systems. Highlights include:

• Quick Start-up
• OpenManage Integration
• High performance
• Cost-effective Live Migration

“Dell is dedicated to simplifying IT for our customers and our partnership with Citrix enables us to further ease the complexity of virtualization,” said Rick Becker, vice president of solutions, Dell Product Group. “The power of Citrix virtualization software with the affordability of Dell solutions can help customers quickly leverage virtualization technology with minimal risk and immediate return-on-investment, while knowing they can easily upgrade to a larger solution as their requirements increase.”

“We have been using Citrix XenServer with an MD3000i storage array and found it to be a cost-effective solution for advanced virtualization functionality,” said John S. Lawler II, systems administrator at ATS Ohio Inc. “The integration of XenServer with Dell servers will further simplify our adoption and deployment of virtualization and we are excited to go to the next level of this technology without worrying about increased complexity.”

End-to-End Virtualization
After implementing Citrix XenServer, Dell customers can take advantage of Citrix’s application and desktop virtualization solutions to make their IT infrastructure more flexible and dynamic. Citrix XenApp for application virtualization stores all Windows applications in a single central store in the datacenter and delivers them to end users on-demand via innovative application virtualization technology. Citrix XenDesktop, scheduled to be available May 20, is a 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.

“Citrix XenServer is a simple and effective way to virtualize servers for customers of all sizes, but as the only integrated virtualization solution to provide built-in support for Dell OpenManage, we make it even easier for customers to reap the benefits of server virtualization,” said Peter Levine, senior vice president and general manager, Virtualization and Management Division, Citrix. “It is an exciting time for virtualization technology as it becomes a natural extension of the hardware platform, enabling companies of all sizes to easily and affordably increase server and storage utilization, while reducing equipment and energy costs.”

Citrix XenServer has also been tested and certified on Dell PowerVault MD3000, MD3000i and EqualLogic storage arrays, providing Dell customers with a proven solution for their storage and server virtualization needs. Announced from Citrix partner Egenera is the Dell PAN system, with integrated Citrix XenServer management, providing a complete disaster recovery and high availability infrastructure virtualization solution for large enterprise data centers.