Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] vs Dell vSAN Ready Nodes comparison

"The speed, storage, and management are the most valuable features."

"The implementation process is okay."

"The most valuable features are scalability and the easy operation - if it works. You can configure everything from just one window."

"It's very easy to integrate with the ACI network."

"The most important benefits that we've seen from this solution is that it reduces the cost of management and it has easy monitoring systems."

"The possibility to share the workload is one of its most valuable features. We have many applications which have need of workloads only a few times in a month, so we share HyperFlex with them."

"The scalability of the product is quite good overall - as long as you plan correctly from the outset."

"Performance-wise, everything is good. So far, we haven't had any issues. There has been no downtime at all."

"The most valuable feature is the set of user tools that are available."

"The most valuable feature of Dell vSAN Ready Nodes is the flexibility of the nodes. Additionally, if there are any critical issues they update us through emails. The issues are taken care of remotely on the system."

"We find the initial implementation process simple and straightforward."

"The best feature about any type of storage related to the Dell vSAN Ready Nodes is its ease of scaling, and with a converged infrastructure platform, you can easily add a storage node or a compute node to the stack and grow in smaller increments compared to getting a whole new array or upgrading controllers."

"The solution immediately expands storage area when you add nodes."

"The tool's most valuable features are compression and its usage in Kubernetes."

"No concerns regarding the footprint in the data center."

"The product is useful for DR and other things."

"There is a VMware plugin for HyperFlex, which sometimes it hangs up in our environment, and doesn't function well."

"You have to get the same servers with the same storage; they need to be identical. However, in vSAN or in VMware we don't have to do that. We can just add storage and manage it in the same server."

"With the cache disk fails in Cisco, the whole node fails, and the workload goes down."

"The setup was complex, especially since we usually do all the planning, sizing, and workflows before integration."

"The storage layer seems to be a little better on the VMware than on HyperFlex side."

"Sometimes when there are multiple technologies involved in a support case, this is when there is a bit of a lag."

"They should give us a little more information about how to use the CLI and offer more commands."

"I would like to see them expand onto the cloud."

"The Dell VxRail solution is based on vSAN Ready Nodes, but the Dell VxRail is fully automated. It would be helpful if this automation feature could be added to the Dell vSAN Ready Nodes. For example, we need to install VMware ESXi, and manually expand the cluster."

"Currently, it's like a black box that only Dell technical support knows how to handle."

"Compatibility with other hardware nodes needs to be improved."

"Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes is a great hyper-converged system that is a perfect platform for supporting any kind of workload. The only workload that it's not designed to support is big data."

"The deployment is done by doing it one by one and could be simplified."

"Although vSAN ReadyNodes work well, a faster firmware lifecycle with the release of validated firmware catalogs more quickly would be a desired improvement."

"The power switch on the hardware is located in a poor location where it can accidentally be pushed. In an update, they should solve this issue so people do not push it accidentally to have their service go down. A possible solution is the switch should be inside."

"Dell vSAN Ready Nodes doesn't perform as well as IBM. There are significant limitations, especially with scalability and flexibility over time. For example, adding drives can be problematic if the specific drives aren't available with older nodes that are four or five years old. Unlike IBM, Dell vSAN Ready Nodes isn't as flexible and doesn't scale easily. Additionally, while present, features like deduplication and compression don't perform as efficiently as they do on IBM. Our experience shows that the tool isn't as robust or flexible as advertised."

"There is a license required to use this solution."

"Our licensing costs are large, but it is combined between all of the Cisco products that we have."

"It's much more expensive than rack servers. It was an issue, but when you compare it to the number of people who were administrative assistants before, it's on the positive ROI side. It's much cheaper."

"I would like a clearer licensing model. It should explain a bit more what you receive if you buy the more expensive license rather than the standard one."

"We currently have a perpetual license, which is kind of unlimited, so we don't have the normal licensing cost, yet."

"They are not the cheapest on the market. But there's an old saying I like to quote: "If you know that you are getting what you pay for, it's fine if it's expensive.""

"Its price is rather fair when compared with other solutions like VxRail, vSAN, and HPE SimpliVity. We got a fair amount of discount from Cisco for Cisco HyperFlex. It is cost-effective. We have renewed storage till next year, and we have already paid the vendor. When we talk about HyperFlex or any HCI solution, storage is the part where we can reduce a lot of costs. At the current moment, we are already using NetApp storage, which did not allow us to go for a full Cisco HyperFlex setup. We are planning to go to a larger scale next year. Then we will be able to see how cost-effective it really is for us."

"The price is a bit too high."

"We have a four-year contract to use Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes."

"My company makes yearly payments towards the licensing charges attached to the solution. The solution is expensive."

"There is a problem, which is the lack of an integrated price structure."

"The solution is more expensive than a traditional array. The prices are skyrocketing."

"Comparing the price of Dell vSAN Ready Nodes to other solutions it is not expensive."

"The tool's pricing is competitive compared to others. The tool's licensing is based on annual subscriptions."

"The price of the solution was reasonable."