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Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] vs Rubrik comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Rubrik
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
Backup and Recovery (4th), Cloud Backup (4th), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (5th)
 

Featured Reviews

Nuno Mendes - PeerSpot reviewer
High performance solution that makes it easy to efficiently manage VM resources
In our case as a credit recovery company working with the state, our infrastructure is fixed and stable as we don't have the same need for growth as other types of companies. That said, one of the biggest problems with HyperFlex HX is that if you want to adjust your solution in terms of processing power, memory, or disk capacity, you have to buy completely new hosts. From a financial perspective, it can be very expensive to do so, and from a legal perspective, there are all kinds of compliance issues we would have to sort out before buying any new solution or application. Since we as a company will only be operating for perhaps the next ten years, when our HyperFlex solution comes to its end-of-life in 2024 our next step will likely not be with HyperFlex or any other solution from Cisco. Instead, from a financial point of view, we will likely turn toward a cloud solution because, that way, we won't have to spend so much money on physical infrastructure. We are, after all, only a small company and HyperFlex can be very expensive for other companies of our size, whether in Portugal or elsewhere like the United States. One other area for improvement is in regard to HyperFlex's integration with VMware. HyperFlex integrates with a specific version of VMware in such a way that HyperFlex doesn't always resolve security issues with VMware at the same pace as what you see in native implementations of VMware. This has happened in one or two situations in the past. On the other hand, the integration is otherwise adequate, especially in terms of availability and virtualization features (such as being able to split up each of our four hosts within VMware).
AmarpreetSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
Optimal data security and management achieved with smooth deployment and strong support
I plan to expand the number of users for Rubrik in the future. Currently, I have approximately 10 to 12 customers on Rubrik, as we are partners to Rubrik and a service provider, SIS. I am working with large to medium organizations, not small ones. Regarding Artificial Intelligence, Rubrik is in the initial phase, and I am expecting more from them. I can give them seven out of ten for their improvements in that area. I would recommend Rubrik to other organizations because it is easy to install, easy to manage, and very compact in terms of a solution, with good support from Rubrik. These features allow it to match from small scale to large scale customers very easily. The number of people who usually take part in maintenance from my side depends on the customer size. For large customers, we involve four to five people, but for small customers, one person is enough. I rate Rubrik eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It's very easy to integrate with the ACI network."
"On the VDI side, because the storage is local to the HyperFlex, it was very easy and convenient. The performance is exceptional."
"Its most valuable feature is its flexibility."
"The feature that we are most interested in is the scalability. When needed, we are able to add more nodes and scale it up further."
"It is very scalable. It is also very secure. Cisco's security portfolio is integrated with it, which makes it secure. It is a platform-based device. Its performance is also fairly good in comparison to any other solution."
"The UCS, which is by far the best management tool there is on the market, regardless of vendor. It's the only tool I see that gives you the opportunity to size and scale all the assets and capacity you have in your data center, from a unified view."
"Great integration with backup software."
"The solution is stable."
"The tech support is extremely helpful."
"A Google-like file search, system scaling, and a frequent development cycle are some positives that this solution offers."
"The fact that the API is so available to us with the playground — there's an internal and public playground — is also valuable. We can write API calls — and although I'm sure there's a way we could hurt the data — we write those calls with a lot of certainty that we won't be destroying anything. We write these API calls using really easy mechanisms and generate automation a lot faster."
"Rubrik has made the process to manage backup and recovery painless. This frees up more time to work on other projects."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The implementation process is straightforward with simple clicks, cluster implementation, discovery, and adding components."
"I haven't encountered any bugs or glitches using the solution."
"​Rubrik is very simple to implement and setup. ​"
 

Cons

"The setup was complex, especially since we usually do all the planning, sizing, and workflows before integration."
"There are sometimes issues with memory failure."
"Cisco should combine its features with its prices."
"We had a bit of complexity to think about how to migrate our legacy infrastructure into Cisco HyperFlex."
"Deployment on-prem was quite difficult."
"I would rate the installation of Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series an eight out of ten. It can be complex."
"I haven't been too impressed with the Cisco HyperFlex HX, honestly. It's a hard concept."
"Cisco's technical support originally was outstanding, but it has declined over the last 12 months. I've heard they're trying to do better, but I haven't been overly impressed with their support recently for HyperFlex."
"The only thing that can be improved is catering for open source databases because at the moment it doesn't cater for Mongo, MySQL, and Postgres."
"I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. There is always room for improvement."
"I have a personal want which might not necessarily make sense with Rubrik as a company or Rubrik as a software, but it'd be really nice if they could also handle things like item-level backups and restores of Active Directory objects and DNS and DCP objects."
"The solution's reporting feature could be better."
"The recovery of Oracle databases is too complicated. It is not something that helps the DBA, the Database Administrator, but it should be done by the backup person like many other solutions. Everything is ready for the DBA to recover the database. It is a way of doing things, but I don't think you should give the backup people the ability to do it."
"Rubrik needs to continue to listen to their customers and what they want/need, not just care about money and the bottom line."
"The licensing cost is quite high. That is something that needs to be worked out, because so many times it happens that the team does not have the budget or there are other issues at that time. Cost has become an important factor in deciding whether to continue with the Rubrik solution."
"They should give more access to the backend capabilities. From a customer point of view, you do not have access to all the features on the system. You have to engage their support to perform some of the tasks. It would be helpful for an experienced engineer to be able to go and do some of those tasks prior to contacting the support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Comparable solutions with switches, storage, and services are cheaper than HyperFlex. It should be cheaper."
"There is a recurring cost for the VMware license and the HyperFlex licenses."
"For customers in the private sector, this product can have a very high return on investment."
"The product could be cheaper."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"Here in Brazil... it is very expensive. It's very hard for almost all companies to buy even the small version of this solution."
"There is a license required to use this solution."
"The cost is expensive, but there is a chance to save money in the future."
"There are additional costs for add-ons, and they recently upgraded a new cluster, which also carries a price."
"Rubrik's competitive pricing and strong return on investment make it a compelling choice, especially compared to alternatives like Data Domain and Avamar. Commvault was considered but deemed too expensive."
"The pricing has been quite good from our perspective, in terms of being able to negotiate with the Rubrik team to get the product that we want and be able to sell that out to our end customers."
"Some people say it is expensive, but you get what you pay for. If you want a Maserati, you have to pay for it. If you want to buy a Porsche, you have to pay for it."
"Rubrik is expensive, but due to its data management capabilities, customers can save a lot by reducing hardware and storage."
"Due to this effective, faster backup and recovery solution, we are now able to focus on other creative tasks to meet our entire pipeline. So, we have seen ROI in terms of the improvement of productivity in our team. We save around one million dollars a year."
"Rubrik is an all inclusive price. No additional implementation costs or licencing."
"Rubrik is quite expensive for small businesses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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How does VxRail compare with Cisco HyperFlex HX Series?
VxRail provides stable solutions for technical problems while at the same time not being too expensive for a company to invest in. Even if you are working with a limited budget, this platform offer...
Which would you choose - Rubrik or Veeam Backup & Replication?
Veeam Backup & Replication provides an easy-to-set-up solution to the issue of data storage and recovery. Setting it up is a relatively simple affair. For the most part it prompts you from scre...
What do you like most about Rubrik?
It's easy to manage and has an innovated solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rubrik?
Regarding pricing, Rubrik is a costly solution, and I would rate it an eight.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BluePearl Veterinary Partners, Ready Pac Foods, Bryant University, Bellevue Group, KPIT Technologies, City Harvest
Driscoll's, Red Hawk Casino, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Wabash National, Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Galliker Transport & Logistics
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