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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
96
Ranking in other categories
Backup and Recovery (3rd), Cloud Backup (3rd), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

Nuno Mendes - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager - Resp.Department at Parvalorem
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).
KB
Information Technology Specialist at LIGHTHOUSE DOCUMENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC
Technical support has improved my data management process but I encounter GUI and cost challenges
The solution is available in the Azure Marketplace, but approaching directly is more cost-effective. The Marketplace approach incurs additional platform and reporting costs. We initially built Rubrik at host level and DB level. We encountered latency issues when reverting back, with numerous snapshots available. This resulted in increased costs and occupied spaces. I performed manual deletion of snapshots and verified with the Rubrik team for confirmation. The GUI reporting functionality lacks flexibility. For instance, obtaining specific server reports considering drive space and backup quantities is not possible, as it only provides overall reporting.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Offers very good data protection and provides system uptime availability effectively."
"We used to have a single customer-facing data center, which was vulnerable to failure. This product has allowed us to create high availability between two private data centers."
"The storage system is its most valuable feature. It has eliminated our entire need for having to worry about storage. We were storing a lot of syslog data and using a lot of templates in our data center. With the storage system, we are now saving an enormous amount of space."
"Cisco HyperFlex is the best appliance-based product."
"The product makes management much easier since there's a single pane of glass to use to monitor, manage and upgrade the system."
"Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is essential to our vSAN solution; it's integrated."
"The most valuable feature is that it is something small that can be more easily deployed than a full data center set of servers."
"Performance-wise, everything is good. So far, we haven't had any issues. There has been no downtime at all."
"Instant recovery of virtual machines allows for the restoration of services in minutes."
"The time it takes to manage Rubrik across our entire multi-site environment takes considerably less time than it has taken in the past to manage a single location."
"Automation functions, image based backup, and the ability to instantly recover anything from files to databases."
"Rubrik is able to hit about 95% to 98% of the things that we want to do, which is not going to be the case for every company, but it will fit most customers' needs."
"It is easy to deploy."
"Intelligent agent technology."
"It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"CloudOn allows for backed up virtual machines stored offsite in Azure to be instantiated as an Azure virtual machine and spun up."
 

Cons

"Cisco is quite expensive but not in the initial first buy."
"The architecture separates data, computing, memory, and storage into different parts."
"Lacks easy integration with other vendors."
"The platform itself is very stable and robust, but when it comes to upgrading the system, it's not stable."
"HyperFlex could be improved by reducing the minimum number of nodes supported from three to two."
"I would like for them to develop integration with other technologies, like SD Access."
"Cisco should combine its features with its prices."
"If we could have just a single pane of glass, where everything can be managed through that one app, rather than have multiple apps, it would be great."
"One improvement I would suggest for Rubrik is to have an inbuilt media layer facility for direct backups to tape."
"And what about the data services, like the ability to have application-level recovery? Actually this is not included or integrated and it’s far from other products (like Veeam)."
"The main pain points we experienced was the stability of the system. We received a lot of instability when we have upgraded from a certain version to a new version."
"The reporting, in particular the customization of reports, needs to be improved."
"Troubleshooting failed backups is not what it should be. Once you gather logs, deciphering them without the help of support is usually almost impossible."
"There is always room for improvement with some shortcuts for the web interface. They could make it even more beautiful."
"I would like a way to set monthly backups on a certain date and time."
"With multiple Rubrik clusters setup in an environment, it becomes painfully obvious that this product needs a central management console."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's roughly $30,000 per Hyperflex license, so that would be about $60,000 a year."
"The licensing is perpetual and the only thing that you may need to pay for on a monthly basis is if you're going to use their cloud-based management features."
"The product is expensive. Other solutions are cheaper."
"We currently have a perpetual license, which is kind of unlimited, so we don't have the normal licensing cost, yet."
"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."
"Our licensing is Hybrid. We have all of our applications for billing and outage management through this."
"We negotiated with Cisco and we got some price benefit from that."
"Rubrik is quite expensive for small businesses."
"Rubrik was probably the most expensive solution but in the long run, it's justified by the value of the data that it protects."
"High priced when considering a total change in backup solution."
"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."
"The initial setup cost includes support and maintenance costs, followed by a monthly fee."
"Originally, we bought the units on perpetual licenses. Now, we have switched to Rubrik Go. I think the Rubrik Go subscription is a better model, where it is based on your onsite environment and you consume what you use."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Marketing Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise57
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise55
 

Questions from the Community

How do I choose between Cisco Hyperflex HX Series and Nutanix Acropolis AOS?
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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
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Broadcom, Nutanix and others in HCI. Updated: April 2026.
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