Dell vSAN Ready Nodes and Azure Stack HCI compete in the hyper-converged infrastructure market. Azure Stack HCI has the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set.
Features: Dell vSAN Ready Nodes enhance storage efficiency with optimized VMware environments and flexible configurations, improving network performance. Azure Stack HCI offers hybrid cloud capabilities with strong integration in the Microsoft ecosystem, scalable options, and advanced data center operations.
Room for Improvement: Dell vSAN Ready Nodes could benefit from enhanced hybrid capabilities and stronger Microsoft integration. Azure Stack HCI might improve by simplifying deployment for non-Microsoft environments, reducing initial costs, and enhancing VMware compatibility.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell vSAN Ready Nodes support straightforward deployment and have efficient customer service, ideal for VMware-focused environments. Azure Stack HCI integrates well with Microsoft infrastructures, backed by robust support but requiring a learning curve.
Pricing and ROI: Dell vSAN Ready Nodes offer cost-effective setup with favorable ROI via simplified infrastructure. Azure Stack HCI, while more expensive upfront, yields long-term value through seamless service integration and enhanced hybrid cloud functions.
There has been some return on investment in terms of just time usability and reduction of footprint.
The OPEX benefits are around 30 to 40% because the same engineer who manages vSphere can handle Dell vSAN Ready Nodes, eliminating the need for additional support engineers.
Not every support team member is very knowledgeable about Azure Stack HCI, creating delays in resolution.
There is always room for improvement in terms of response time and reaching knowledgeable staff quickly.
Whether we have pro support plus or just the basic level, they are helpful and reliable as long as we provide the necessary details.
For large environments with frequent scalability actions, we propose the Terraform solution that builds ESXi, does necessary configuration, and automatically starts up for associating with the existing environment.
I would rate scalability around seven because when customers want to expand capacity but all the drive slots are full, they are forced to buy new servers or nodes which adds more costs with licenses and hardware.
It does not feel like a well-oiled machine yet, with too many idiosyncrasies and insufficient documentation and integration, feeling more like software that is still in beta.
A disk group for five disks can be problematic, and customers need to tolerate downtime if the disk is not available.
There are discrepancies between managing VMs through Azure Arc versus managing them directly, as changes made not using the Azure Arc integration are not easily reflected in Azure Arc.
Hyper V seems to lag behind compared to VMware.
Dell vSAN Ready Nodes are useful as a product, but the lack of expansion with VMware has led customers to refrain from further upgrades.
A faster firmware lifecycle with the release of validated firmware catalogs more quickly would be a desired improvement.
In some cases, we have seen hardware failures and performance issues where performance suddenly deteriorates.
The licensing is quite expensive because it's per call.
As a group under Comcast, we receive very good pricing from Dell due to our considerable business dealings.
The integration with Azure using Azure Arc is excellent.
The ability for single-team management without requiring a separate storage team for managing arrays and fiber channel switches is also a valuable feature.
I would say in-house management, administration, and storage policies are the three key differentiators compared to normal non-Dell vSAN Ready Nodes where we are leveraging external storage.
Dell's technical support is generally very good.
Azure Stack HCI efficiently integrates software-defined networking and Azure Kubernetes Service, offering a streamlined hybrid setup for VM management while maintaining top performance.
Azure Stack HCI enhances data center operations with high-end processors and storage, optimal Kubernetes support, and integration with Azure Arc and Azure Site Recovery. High application density in four-node configurations improves both time and infrastructure efficiency. Despite its strengths, the platform can improve in areas like software-defined networking, operational management, and simplifying deployments, which currently rely on PowerShell. Users often desire better training and integration with Microsoft Azure Portal, along with multi-cluster capabilities and storage architecture enhancements. Improvements in Hyper V virtualization are also needed to match competitors like VMware.
What are the key features of Azure Stack HCI?In sectors like government, Azure Stack HCI is crucial for running secure on-premise services with selectable Azure features to ensure data privacy. Businesses leverage the platform for VM creation, management, and monitoring through Windows Center, alongside Kubernetes production environments. Connectivity with Azure allows for smoother cloud transitions, appreciated for its dashboard manageability and substantial network capacity.
Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes are pre-configured building blocks that reduce deployment
risks with certified configurations, improve storage efficiency by up to 50%1
, and can help
you build or scale your vSAN cluster faster.14 Whether you're just getting started, and/or
expanding your existing VMware environment, Dell EMC is here for you every step of the
way with consulting, education, deployment and support services for the entire solution.
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