What is our primary use case?
Our main use cases for HPE Alletra Storage include high-performance computing clusters (HPC) and as a storage solution for data storage.
It is being used in educational institutions. We are acting as a system integrator and reselling the solution. For our customers, the main use cases for HPE Alletra Storage are focused on research. They store their research data in HPE Alletra Storage.
We have provided Alletra 6000 on-premise. The usage depends on the customer's specific needs. Currently, they have deployed it as an in-house operation and are using it purely for internal storage on their premises. There are various features available, but these customers—mainly from the educational and government sectors—are unlikely to utilize even 50% of the storage’s capabilities. Their basic needs are being met, which is sufficient for them.
How has it helped my organization?
HPE Alletra's capacity and efficiency are good, and the upgradability option is excellent. Its console makes the management easy.
HPE Alletra Storage has definitely helped our customers reduce the time they spend on capacity planning. As for whether the tool also reduces the data management operations expenses for our customers, they have fixed jobs and data requiring regular backups on the storage. Wherever we have provided HPE Alletra Storage, it is still not completely filled up. Once the storage gets filled up, we will examine data management further.
What is most valuable?
I find the replication, snapshots, and deduplication features of HPE Alletra Storage most useful. Since the deduplication and replication parts are there, the data is compressed and stored, which is why users are happy with the storage performance. The input-output operations per second (IOPS) of the storage are very good, and the performance of the storage is impressive. The read-write operations are fast.
HPE Alletra Storage helps simplify storage operations such as provisioning and day-to-day management, and I find it good.
What needs improvement?
Its performance is good, but we do have some concerns with Alletra. The challenge I face is that the recent models launched are not available now. When we pitch a solution to a customer and sell HPE Alletra 6000, the customer sees that the product has been discontinued by HPE. The transition of the storage is happening too fast, making it difficult for us, as we normally declare to customers that the product will not reach end-of-life for the next five years. These challenges arise as HPE transitions for the betterment of the product, but we are left answerable to the customer when they ask why we are offering something that the OEM has discontinued. This transition is occurring too fast, and historically, HPE had 3PAR storage that lasted a long time. We need a stable product, and with HPE Alletra, we are unsure about the stability of the product for the next one or two years. Customers now inquire about what happened to Primera storage, which is no longer available, and we lack answers.
I feel that HPE Alletra Storage could be improved, as all our competitors offer storage with options for both file and block and object within a single model, while HP still considers HPE Alletra as block storage only. In many government bids, when the government specifies a need for storage that supports both file and block, we lack a solution for that. A customer will not purchase two storages—one for file and another for block—so we need HPE Alletra to come with a solution that accommodates all data types: file, block, and object. This is critical since government purchases often rely on tenders.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with HPE Alletra Storage since the launch itself for the last two to three years.
How are customer service and support?
The backend support from HPE is good.
I did not talk to their technical support. My engineers deployed it. They had a chance to talk to them.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of HPE Alletra Storage is straightforward. The deployment is not very difficult.
Our customers mainly utilize HPE Alletra Storage on-premises. Nobody is using the cloud version, as government rules in our country mandate that storage must be on-premise or on a MeitY-approved cloud that must be located in India. Due to these guidelines, customers are currently favoring on-premise solutions, although they may transition to cloud in the future.
What about the implementation team?
Our engineers were able to handle the deployment without needing assistance from the HPE team.
What was our ROI?
My customers' return on investment (ROI) with HPE Alletra Storage depends on different factors. We can ascertain the ROI once warranties and everything else conclude for one or two storages. As for performance, I can say that the ROI is satisfactory since the IOPS are high and failures are low, indicating good ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Generally, I find the price competitive for HPE Alletra 5000. However, for the higher version of HPE Alletra, the price does not seem competitive when compared to competitors EMC or NetApp, which have higher prices.
I don't believe HPE Alletra has helped reduce the cost per terabyte, as it is competitive with other products, maintaining a similar price point.
What other advice do I have?
To summarize, the biggest benefit of HPE Alletra Storage for our customers is the higher IOPS and read/write performance. However, there remain numerous concerns regarding the product being too format-specific as it only serves as a block storage solution, presenting challenges.
I would rate HPE Alletra Storage an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises