Citrix Systems and NetApp announced a global, strategic partnership to deliver a complete server virtualization solution capable of leveraging the power of NetApp storage solutions. Citrix XenServer Adapter for NetApp Data ONTAP enables customers to unlock the power of virtualized storage in Citrix XenServer environments. This jointly developed certified solution simplifies virtual machine creation and management by allowing customers to centrally manage storage configuration and provisioning from a single console, making it one of the few virtualization solutions optimized for storage environments. Citrix and NetApp are building on their existing relationship and extending virtualized data management environment capabilities included in Citrix XenServer 4.1, which began shipping today.

The growth of virtual servers has complicated the way in which many IT professionals approach networked storage by requiring additional new layers of management software or disruptive changes to the underlying storage architecture. Unlike other server virtualization solutions, Citrix XenServer features an open architecture that allows customers to manage storage in the same way for both their physical and virtual server environments. The Citrix XenServer Adapter for NetApp Data ONTAP takes this one step further by allowing customers to access all the storage features in NetApp Data ONTAP directly from the XenServer management console. This approach simplifies the process of implementing virtual servers in NetApp networked storage environments and enables customers to leverage their existing investments in storage infrastructure without retraining users or implementing new layers of management when using the NetApp V-Series systems.

“ManageOperations has successfully deployed both Citrix XenServer virtualization software and NetApp Storage for customers such as T-Systems and Daimler, automating the management of their large computer centers running anywhere from 3,000 – 8,000 servers,” said Jim Corrigan, Founder of Manage Operations. “After looking at the beta product for Citrix XenServer integrated into NetApp, we are excited about a storage-optimized virtualization solution that will enable our customers to leverage familiar software to add server virtualization capabilities and manage it all through one central management console.”

Delivering Storage-Optimized Virtualization
NetApp Data ONTAP enables IT staff to process resource-intensive storage services in the storage array to free up physical server resources to run business-critical application workloads. With the new Citrix XenServer Adapter for NetApp, these benefits can now be leveraged for virtual server environments running Citrix XenServer. As a result, customers can take full advantage of the rich data management and data protection capabilities in their existing NetApp storage systems directly from the XenServer management console, including thin provisioning, cloning, replication, deduplication and backup and recovery. Customers can now leverage XenServer to use NetApp Data ONTAP for instant thin provisioning of virtual disk images (VDI), and for VDI cloning and Snapshot copies, improving performance of these data-intensive operations without affecting the performance of the virtual machines (VMs) themselves. Other highlights include:

• Integrated and simplified wizard-based set up and configuration
• Task and resource optimization
• Hardware Agnostic

“Integrating our products with XenServer provides customers with the unique ability to leverage the virtualization awareness inherent in NetApp arrays,” said Jay Kidd, CMO, NetApp. “By bringing the worlds of server and storage virtualization together, we offer operational breakthroughs that help customers improve their IT infrastructure and processes.”

“Our customers want the ability to create a data center experience with all the benefits of server virtualization without disrupting their storage virtualization environment,” said Peter Levine, senior vice president and general manager, Virtualization and Management Division for Citrix. “Citrix and NetApp customers can now virtualize their servers and directly leverage the superior data management capabilities from NetApp.”

In addition to the availability of the Citrix XenServer Adapter for NetApp Data ONTAP, NetApp has also completed testing and certification of Citrix XenServer to assist in seamless integration and support.