New Free Citrix XenServer Available

No-cost enterprise-class virtual infrastructure platform released

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Citrix Systems, Inc. announced that a new, free version of Citrix XenServer is available for download from more than 250 Web sites in 50 countries worldwide. The announcement is part of the company’s strategy unveiled on February 23, when Citrix announced that the full enterprise-class XenServer virtual infrastructure platform, now in production in more than 5,000 enterprise data centers worldwide, would be offered for unlimited production deployment at no charge.

Although basic hypervisors have been free for years, most have had limited practical use in real-world environments. By offering the enterprise-class, cloud-proven XenServer platform at no cost, Citrix is helping customers address today’s challenging global economic climate while setting an entirely new standard for free virtualization with powerful features such as centralized multi-node management and full live motion.

Users of the free XenServer product who wish to add more advanced virtualization management capabilities in the future will also be able to purchase Citrix Essentials for XenServer, a new product line also announced on February 23 that includes a rich set of capabilities specifically optimized for the XenServer environment. These optional features -- including lab automation, dynamic provisioning, workflow orchestration, high availability, and seamless integration with leading storage systems -- will be directly visible to all XenServer users from their XenCenter centralized administration console in grayed-out mode, making it easy to understand the additional capabilities available for additional purchase should their needs change over time. As Citrix enhances the Citrix Essentials product line, all active XenServer users will have the option to be automatically notified of these new capabilities through their XenCenter management console.

Customers using Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V for their virtualization platform will also be able to add similar advanced virtualization management capabilities to their environments by purchasing Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V. With the Citrix Essentials product line, Citrix can add significant value to both XenServer and Hyper-V, the two fastest-growing virtualization platforms in the market, helping customers in all market segments achieve more manageable, scalable, and agile data centers in a way that leverages their existing investments in the most efficient way possible.

More information about Citrix XenServer and Citrix Essentials can be found at http://www.citrix.com/xenserver. Customers can download the free unlimited use version of Citrix XenServer today from multiple Citrix Web sites worldwide as well as any of the following third-party download locations, including several global technology partners.

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