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Chapter 2. System Requirements

2.1. System Requirements

XenServer requires at least two separate physical x86 computers: one to be the XenServer host and the other
to run the XenCenter application. The XenServer host computer is dedicated entirely to the task of running
XenServer — hosting VMs — and is not used for other applications.
Warning:
The installation of any third party software directly on the XenServer host (i.e. into the dom0
control domain) is not supported, except where it is supplied as a supplemental pack and is
explicitly endorsed by Citrix.
The computer that runs XenCenter can be any general-purpose Windows computer that satisfies the hardware
requirements and can be used to run other applications.

2.1.1. XenServer Host System Requirements

While XenServer will generally be deployed on server-class hardware, XenServer is also compatible with many
models of workstations and laptops. For a comprehensive XenServer hardware compatibility list, see http://
www.citrix.com/xenserver/hcl. The following describes the recommended XenServer hardware specifications.
The XenServer host should be a 64-bit x86 server-class machine devoted to hosting VMs. This machine should
run an optimized and hardened Linux partition with a Xen-enabled kernel which controls the interaction between
the virtualized devices seen by VMs and the physical hardware.
XenServer can make use of:
• up to 1 TB of RAM
• up to 16 NICs
• up to 160 logical processors per host (Note: The maximum number of logical processors supported differs by
CPU. Consult the XenServer Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) for more details.
The system requirements for the XenServer host are:
CPUs One or more 64-bit x86 CPU(s), 1.5 GHz minimum, 2 GHz or faster multicore CPU
recommended
To support VMs running Windows, an Intel VT or AMD-V 64-bit x86-based system with one
or more CPU(s) is required.
Note:
To run Windows VMs, hardware support for virtualization must be
enabled on the XenServer host. This is an option in the BIOS. It is
possible your BIOS might have virtualization support disabled. Consult
your BIOS documentation for more details.
To support VMs running supported paravirtualized Linux, a standard 64-bit x86-based
system with one or more CPU(s) is required.
RAM 2 GB minimum, 4 GB or more recommended