VMware or Xen: Two Popular Hypervisors Compared

The use of virtualised servers is considered the most cost-effective solution in web hosting, especially for small and medium-sized businesses, to implement larger websites or their own IT infrastructures with high scalability. When choosing the ideal environment, it is essential to accurately assess the performance and also pay attention to the optimal virtualisation solution. Xen and VMWare are two of the most popular solutions, but they differ significantly in the way they function as hypervisors for controlling virtual instances. Many capabilities of virtual servers depend directly or indirectly on this process, leading to significant differences between Xen, VMWare, and alternative virtualisation solutions like KVM.

What tasks does a Hypervisor perform?

A Hypervisor is a category of software that enables the virtualisation of operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeDOS, or Unix, and administers individually isolated and configurable systems. Its key areas of application include security through isolation, flexible scaling of computing power during operation, optimal hardware utilisation through load balancing, and the customisation of IT environments. As a superior instance, the Hypervisor provides independent runtime environments and manages the distribution of available resources that are permanently and temporarily provided to the individual subsystems by virtualisation.

What are the advantages of Xen as a Hypervisor?

The software Xen was developed by Cambridge University for the virtualisation of IT systems and was released in 2003. After a few years, the management was taken over by the US company Citrix, and now the development is supervised by the Linux Foundation. As open-source software licensed under the GPL open-source license, it is freely available to users and can be used and modified according to their own interests.

• Open-source software project under the supervision of the Linux Foundation
• Enables the virtualisation of Microsoft Windows, Linux, and other operating systems
• Simple configuration and clear user interface
• High flexibility in resource distribution
• Modular design allowing customisation based on external conditions
• High security through the isolation of each individual instance
• More than 10,000,000 customers worldwide

More about Xen servers and some providers of server solutions:

Compare Xen VPS Hosting Providers

What sets VMWare apart as a hypervisor?

Amid the increasing virtualisation of hardware and operating systems, VMWare has emerged as an efficient and versatile hypervisor, becoming one of the leading companies in simulating runtime environments. Since its inception, it has continuously set new standards for efficiency and load balancing optimisation, making it a preferred hypervisor for virtual servers among many web hosting providers. The significance of VMWare has shifted from providing for specialised environments such as programming to managing virtual servers and a flexible, efficient, and scalable IT infrastructure. Key features of VMWare include:

• Support for a wide range of operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Linux, MS-DOS, SUN Java Desktop
• Excellent performance and above-average stability
• Ideal for memory and computation-intensive tasks
• Extensive customisation and scaling options
• Suitable for large enterprises, distributed structures, and complex environments
• Compatible with Apple iOS OS X
• Proprietary licence without direct access to the source code

More about VMware servers and some providers of server solutions:

Compare VMware VPS Hosting Providers

Conclusion: VMWare vs. Xen

VMWare is one of the oldest providers for virtualising IT systems, offering its customers professional, stable, and when needed, highly customisable environments for various tasks. However, solutions based on VMWare typically incur higher costs than open-source alternatives like Xen due to its proprietary licence. VMWare, though, excels in compatibility with heterogeneous IT environments.

Our article is based on our own experiences and research as well as information from external sources.

Sources & further links on the topic:
https://www.vmware.com/de.html (VMware's company website)
https://vmware-forum.de/ (Largest German VMware forum)
https://xenproject.org/ (Official website of the Xen Project)
https://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgaben/2017/12/xen/ (Article on Xen in the Linux Magazine)

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