Dell/Citrix XenServer Dell Edition Reference Architecture

Customers are faced with many choices when planning a virtualization deployment. Server, storage, and software configurations can vary depending on workload and feature requirements. This paper proposes several sample virtualization architectures based on Dell’s server and storage products.

Architectures are divided into three main categories: Small, Medium, and Large. These categories are based on the features and capacity of each product, as well as the complexity of the overall architecture.

• The Small architecture is designed with simplicity in mind and focuses on providing basic functionality with minimal hardware. It does not enable advanced virtualization features.
• The Medium configuration is designed to meet the production requirements of small and medium businesses by providing economical SAN solutions, enhanced virtualization features, and backup options.
• The Large configuration is a full‐feature virtualization solution using redundancy, 1‐to‐many management, high availability and enterprise‐class server and storage products.

The goals of the document are as follows:

• Introduce customers to the Dell | Citrix XenServer sample reference architectures.
• Clarify, aid, and simplify the decision making process for customers.