Managing XenServer with System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2012
In many of todays data centers you will commonly find hypervisors from multiple vendors used in parallel because of various reasons. Typical candidates are the hypervisors from vmware, Microsoft or Citrix and -in rare cases- RedHat (KVM).
The challenge with these kinds of heterogenous environments is the management (i.e. operational procedures, maintenance, support). To allow efficient processes it is necessary to leverage a management platform that is common across the various technologies. With the upcoming new 2012 version of Microsoft’s System Center Virtual Machine Manager, SCVMM will be able to manage hypervisors from other vendors as well. As Microsoft and Citrix maintain close and longstanding relationship (see https://www.v-alliance.com for further information) Citrix XenServer is one of the platforms that can be managed by SCVMM.
The intention of this blog, which is a joint effort between Michel Lüscher (Consultant Datacenter – Windows Server and Virtualization) from Microsoft Consulting in Switzerland and myself, is to give you an initial idea about what’s coming in the near future. (The german version of this article can be found here)
Important: Please note that this article refers to the public beta of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 and the XenServer Supplemental Pack only. The RTM (Release to Manufacturing) version might have a different features and functionalities!