Enterprise Resource Center • Virtualization Knowledge Base
What Is XCP-ng?
XCP-ng is an open-source virtualization platform built around the Xen hypervisor. It enables organizations to run and manage multiple virtual machines across standalone servers or clustered host pools while supporting capabilities such as shared storage, live migration, snapshots, high availability and centralized management.
Xen Hypervisor Virtual Machines Host Pools Live Migration High Availability
Quick Answer
What Is XCP-ng Used For?
XCP-ng is used to virtualize physical server resources so multiple independent virtual machines can operate on the same physical infrastructure. It can be deployed on individual virtualization hosts or across pools of servers for centralized management, workload migration, shared storage and higher availability.
XCP-ng is commonly paired with Xen Orchestra, which provides web-based management, monitoring, backup, migration and orchestration capabilities for XCP-ng environments.
Platform Architecture
How Does XCP-ng Work?
XCP-ng installs on physical server hardware and provides the virtualization layer used to divide processor, memory, storage and networking resources among multiple virtual machines.
LAYER 1
Physical Hardware Server processors, ECC memory, storage devices, controllers and network interfaces provide the underlying compute resources.
LAYER 2
Xen Hypervisor Xen provides the low-level virtualization technology that isolates and schedules virtual machines on the physical server.
LAYER 3
XCP-ng Platform XCP-ng supplies the host environment and management services needed to create and operate virtual infrastructure.
LAYER 4
Virtual Machines Guest operating systems and applications run inside isolated VMs using virtualized CPU, RAM, storage and networking resources.
Virtualization Platform
Core XCP-ng Capabilities
XCP-ng provides the core technologies required to transform physical servers into a flexible virtual infrastructure platform.
Virtual Machines Run multiple isolated guest operating systems on a single physical server.
Host Pools Combine multiple virtualization hosts into a centrally managed pool.
Live Migration Move supported running virtual machines between compatible hosts with minimal service interruption.
Snapshots Capture point-in-time VM states for supported administrative and recovery workflows.
High Availability Pool-based configurations can help recover protected workloads when a virtualization host fails.
Shared Storage Shared storage repositories can make VM storage accessible to multiple hosts within a pool.
Centralized Management
What Is Xen Orchestra?
Xen Orchestra is a web-based management and orchestration platform commonly used with XCP-ng. It provides administrators with a centralized interface for managing hosts, pools, virtual machines, storage, backups and other virtualization operations.
VM Management Create, configure, start, stop and monitor virtual machines from a browser interface.
Infrastructure Monitoring View host, VM and resource information across the virtualization environment.
Backup Management Configure and manage supported VM backup and recovery workflows.
Pool Management Manage multiple XCP-ng hosts and pools through a centralized interface.
Multi-Host Virtualization
XCP-ng Host Pools
XCP-ng hosts can be organized into pools so multiple physical servers can participate in a centrally managed virtualization environment.
Central Management Multiple virtualization hosts can be managed as a coordinated infrastructure pool.
Resource Flexibility Workloads can be distributed among physical hosts according to capacity and operational requirements.
VM Migration Supported VMs can be moved between compatible hosts for maintenance or resource balancing.
High Availability Properly designed pools can support automatic recovery of protected workloads following host failures.
Virtualization Storage
XCP-ng Storage Repositories
XCP-ng uses storage repositories, commonly called SRs, to provide storage for virtual disks and related VM data. Storage can be local to an individual host or shared among multiple hosts depending on the architecture.
Local Storage Storage physically attached to an individual virtualization host.
NFS Network file storage can provide shared VM storage accessible by multiple hosts.
iSCSI Block storage can be presented across an IP network from compatible storage infrastructure.
Shared Storage Shared repositories help enable multi-host workflows such as migration and availability configurations.
Workload Mobility
What Is Live Migration in XCP-ng?
Live migration allows supported running virtual machines to move from one compatible XCP-ng host to another while minimizing interruption to the workload. This is particularly useful when physical servers require maintenance or when workloads need to be redistributed.
STEP 1
Source Host The virtual machine is running on its current physical virtualization server.
STEP 2
Migration VM execution state and required resources are transferred between compatible hosts.
STEP 3
Destination Host The workload continues operating on the destination virtualization server.
Availability
XCP-ng High Availability
High availability can help restore protected virtual workloads on another physical host when a server in an appropriately configured pool becomes unavailable.
01
Host Failure A physical XCP-ng server becomes unavailable.
02
Failure Detection The pool determines that the affected host is no longer available.
03
VM Recovery Protected workloads can be restarted on another available host when the required resources and storage remain accessible.
Important: high availability depends on correct pool, storage, network, capacity and failure-domain planning. HA is not a replacement for independent backups.
Infrastructure Planning
XCP-ng Hardware Considerations
Because virtualization concentrates multiple workloads on shared physical infrastructure, processor, memory, storage and network selection can directly affect VM density, responsiveness and overall platform availability.
CPU
Processors Core count, clock speed, architecture and workload characteristics influence virtual machine performance and consolidation density.
RAM
ECC Memory Memory capacity is frequently one of the primary limits on how many VMs a physical host can support.
STORAGE
SSD & NVMe Storage latency, throughput, IOPS and endurance become increasingly important as VM workloads operate concurrently.
NETWORK
High-Speed Networking VM traffic, shared storage, migration and backup operations can benefit from higher-bandwidth network infrastructure.
Enterprise Hardware
What Servers Can Run XCP-ng?
XCP-ng is designed for x86-64 virtualization hardware. Enterprise rack servers are particularly useful when a deployment requires large ECC memory capacity, redundant power, hot-swap storage, multiple network interfaces and PCIe expansion.
Dell PowerEdge Enterprise rack and tower platforms commonly used for virtualization infrastructure.
HPE ProLiant Enterprise server platforms available with high memory capacities and flexible storage configurations.
Lenovo ThinkSystem Modern enterprise compute platforms suitable for virtualized workloads.
Supermicro Flexible server architectures used for virtualization, storage and custom infrastructure deployments.
Deployment Scenarios
Common XCP-ng Use Cases
Server Consolidation Consolidate multiple server workloads onto fewer physical virtualization hosts.
Private Cloud Operate internally controlled virtual infrastructure for business applications and services.
Development Labs Deploy isolated virtual systems for testing, development and infrastructure training.
Business Applications Host databases, application servers and other production services inside virtual machines.
Virtualization Pools Combine multiple physical servers for workload mobility and centralized administration.
Homelabs Build hands-on environments for learning virtualization, networking, storage and server administration.
Platform Evaluation
XCP-ng Advantages & Considerations
ADVANTAGES
Why Organizations Consider XCP-ng
• Open-source virtualization platform
• Mature Xen virtualization technology
• Centralized host pools
• Live VM migration
• High-availability capabilities
• Shared-storage support
• Xen Orchestra integration
• Flexible enterprise hardware options
CONSIDERATIONS
What Requires Planning
• Hardware compatibility
• CPU and memory sizing
• Storage repository architecture
• Network bandwidth
• Backup and recovery strategy
• Pool and HA design
• Shared-storage availability
• Operational expertise and support
Data Protection
XCP-ng High Availability Is Not a Backup
High availability, redundant storage and VM snapshots address different infrastructure problems than independent backups. Important virtual machines and application data should be protected with a backup and recovery strategy appropriate to the organization's recovery objectives.
Frequently Asked Questions
XCP-ng FAQ
What is XCP-ng?
XCP-ng is an open-source virtualization platform based on Xen technology and designed to run and manage virtual machines on x86-64 server hardware.
Is XCP-ng a hypervisor?
XCP-ng is a virtualization platform built around the Xen hypervisor and includes the host-side components required to operate virtual machines.
What is Xen Orchestra?
Xen Orchestra is a web-based management and orchestration platform commonly used to administer XCP-ng hosts, pools, VMs and backup operations.
Can XCP-ng run Windows virtual machines?
Yes. Compatible Windows operating systems can run as virtual machines on XCP-ng.
Can XCP-ng run Linux virtual machines?
Yes. XCP-ng supports virtual machines running compatible Linux distributions.
Can multiple XCP-ng servers be clustered?
Yes. Multiple XCP-ng hosts can be organized into pools for centralized management and multi-host virtualization.
Does XCP-ng support live migration?
Yes. Supported virtual machines can be migrated between compatible XCP-ng hosts, subject to the requirements of the deployment.
Does XCP-ng support shared storage?
Yes. XCP-ng supports storage repository designs that allow multiple hosts to access shared VM storage.
Is XCP-ng suitable for enterprise virtualization?
XCP-ng provides features such as host pools, migration, shared storage and high availability that can support business and enterprise virtualization when the environment is properly designed and supported.
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Tech Supply Direct can help identify compatible enterprise processors, ECC memory, SSDs, NVMe drives, network adapters and server hardware for standalone XCP-ng hosts, virtualization pools and shared-storage environments.
