Virtualization comparison: Licensing and pricing guide
Alex Barrett, News Director
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This virtualization comparison takes a look at the licensing and pricing policies of VMware, Microsoft and Citrix Systems to help you choose the best hypervisor for your organization.
Virtualization licensing and pricing
VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer don't just have different features and capabilities. Their virtualization licensing policies and pricing models are different, too. For instance, some virtualization pricing models are on a per-processor basis, others per-server, and still others are free -- with important caveats surrounding management capabilities, feature sets and server size.
Support also differs from platform to platform; for some, support is purchased annually, for others, per incident. Virtualization licensing policies and pricing models can have a profound effect on an IT organization's budget and operations, and thus must be examined as closely as technical features and functionality.
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Virtualization comparison
Read more about vSphere, Hyper-V and XenServer to make your own virtualization comparison and pick the best hypervisor:
- Under the vSphere pricing and licensing model, VMware licenses the vSphere platform per processor and requires a separate license for vCenter Server, its management console. The company also requires an annual support and subscription contract. Both the hypervisor and management features can be purchased in several bundles designed to meet the needs of all organizations, from small businesses to large enterprises.
- Microsoft takes a different approach with its Hyper-V R2 pricing and licensing. Hyper-V R2 can be obtained as a standalone offering for free, or as part of a Windows Server 2008 license. Some management capabilities can also be had for free, but Microsoft does charge for many virtualization management features found in Systems Center Operations Manager and Systems Center Virtual Machine Manager.
- Citrix, by and large, also does not charge for its hypervisor. Under the XenServer pricing and licensing policy, the company also gives away XenCenter and live migration. Additional functionality is available in the Essentials Enterprise and Essentials Platinum bundles, both of which are priced per server, without a support requirement.
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