Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs Dell PowerFlex comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series and Dell PowerFlex based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two HCI solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. Dell PowerFlex Report (Updated: March 2024).
763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"You can build cheap, reliable, replicated virtual machines clusters using simple servers with an all flash disk or SAS\SATA hybrid tiered by performance storage.""This product now allows us to migrate virtual machines between nodes as if we had a dedicated $100,000 SAN in the mix without the additional cost and management of the SAN.""The top-notch support before, during, and after deployments are better than any other vendor I have come across.""Starwind made it easy to deploy fully redundant, highly available storage at a low cost.""I have found the graphical user interface to be the most useful thing about Virtual SAN.""The fact that we can expand our storage and add on to our compute nodes easily and how amazing the StarWind technical support team is really adding value to our purchase.""One of the standout features of StarWind.com is its remarkable ability to seamlessly integrate with Dell systems. This integration provides users with an unmatched level of convenience and compatibility, allowing for streamlined operations within a Dell environment. This compatibility factor alone can save significant time and effort for IT professionals, ensuring a smooth integration process and optimized performance.""The user interface for this application is amazing."

More StarWind Virtual SAN Pros →

"Its most valuable feature is its flexibility.""The ROI we have seen from the high performance that has saved us time and money.""The scalability of the product is quite good overall - as long as you plan correctly from the outset.""The most valuable feature of Cisco HyperFlex HX is that it is self-contained.""Cisco technical support is very skilled. From what I've had to access, there were quick responses and the necessary escalation.""Offers very good data protection and provides system uptime availability effectively.""It is helpful as a backup solution.""I like Cisco Intersight."

More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Pros →

"The solution is scalable.""Saves us a lot of space in the data center.""The most valuable feature of this solution is integration.""The support is highly responsive.""The catalog of APIs for automation has been most valuable, although they are quite limited.""We've had no issues with scaling the solution.""The most valuable feature is high availability.""It is easy to use for management and operations teams because the tools are in one place."

More Dell PowerFlex Pros →

Cons
"Feature-wise we are only waiting for the release of a "planned disaster" feature that would allow us to patch a hypervisor node without having to take the full storage offline.""The logs can also become very noisy when there is an issue, which is very infrequent.""I struggled when bit figuring out how to go about doing the evaluation.""It should be improved in the way it detects the right filesystem image after a complete shutdown of the system or in the case of disaster recovery.""It would be good to have a little more access to control certain aspects within the UI.""I am expecting to see it more user-friendly in the future.""Security on the ISCSI protocol could be improved by adding features like OS-type control access, especially for the data center environment.""I would like to see more advanced free versions."

More StarWind Virtual SAN Cons →

"Their technical support is very bad. We had an issue where instead of an engineer we got a PDF "doctor" that didn't know anything about our problem which was very frustrating.""Deployment scripts can be improved since several clans need to be created before the deployment effectively works.""You cannot just apply the VSXi updates. You are dependent on Cisco HyperFlex for metric services, analytics, and everything else. I don't like that dependency.""The product does not have a cloud version...The product should be made more flexible in terms of integration capabilities.""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 primary improvements should be made in the cluster storage controller VMs so that they don't break the upgrade process.""Some of our customers do not want to adopt the Cisco ACI solution. They want to manage Cisco HyperFlex by integrating it with their own management solution.""I would have liked it to be able to back up the system to a cloud, to be able to work from any other place"

More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Cons →

"We're also running Hyper-V virtual machines. But we recently discovered that migration of the Hyper-V virtual machines is a bit challenging. Maybe if Dell EMC can come out with a tool that will make it very easy for us to migrate the Microsoft Hyper-V machine, that may be an improvement.""The support of containers needs to be improved. At present, it is limited to VMware. There needs to be direct communication with the hardware rather than through a hypervisor.""The storage capability must be improved.""Including instrumentation would be a helpful improvement.""I would like to see a more user-friendly interface.""The biggest issue with the solution is that it doesn't support Hyper V. It's a big problem.""The installation is complex.""Exporting data from the dashboard is not very user-friendly. It's just designed in a way that it's going to cover let's say 90%, 80%, of the end-users needs. If you need more sophisticated reporting it's not easy to have."

More Dell PowerFlex Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The setup cost is very low. The pricing is great."
  • "We are happy with the price."
  • "The license is reusable. We can always rebuild it and apply the license. Then, boom, we get new servers, apply the license, and we're back up and running."
  • "The pricing is fine for the work that it does."
  • "When we did all the analysis for StarWind, it was approximately 20 percent less than any of the other solutions that we looked at."
  • "The scalability limitation for us is its licensing. At some point in the fairly near future, we will probably have to upgrade our license so we can store eight terabytes instead of four. We are currently at four terabytes, but we're starting to knock on the door of that capacity."
  • "The pricing is excellent. It will run on anything. You don't have to buy a $100,000 server, with hardware you don't need. You just pay for the license and you're good to go."
  • "The licensing is a bit weird. If you license the standard version of StarWind, it allows you four terabytes. Then, they have a pro version, but with the pro version, the only difference is it doubles the terabytes to eight."
  • More StarWind Virtual SAN Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Cisco is quite expensive, but not in the initial first buy."
  • "Pricing is better if you buy more Cisco products."
  • "The pricing is a bit expensive."
  • "For customers in the private sector, this product can have a very high return on investment."
  • "If you don't look at the costs of the systems, the scalability is quite good."
  • "The price is a bit high. It could be better, but the product is worth the cost."
  • "I would like the pricing to be cheaper."
  • "Comparable solutions with switches, storage, and services are cheaper than HyperFlex. It should be cheaper."
  • More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The pricing for this solution is good."
  • "The price of the solution is fair, it is priced in the average range amongst competitors."
  • "The cost of this solution is fair."
  • "The solution is expensive and I give the cost a two out of ten."
  • "The solution's price is medium."
  • "The price could be improved."
  • "The product is expensive."
  • More Dell PowerFlex Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which HCI solutions are best for your needs.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:We test live failovers every week, and so far, everything has been running smoothly without anything unexpected.
    Top Answer:The cost of this is less than you expect. Since they're selling a software stack, you do need to consider your own… more »
    Top Answer:Pricing is a bit high. That said, the support is worth it. It's really hard to point out any other negatives. The… more »
    Top Answer: Cisco HyperFlex HS series vs Nutanix Acropolis AOS Cisco HyperFlex gives extended hyper-convergence functions from… more »
    Top Answer:VxRail provides stable solutions for technical problems while at the same time not being too expensive for a company to… more »
    Top Answer:VxRail vs. Dell EMC PowerFlex VxRail provides stable solutions for technical problems while at the same time not being… more »
    Top Answer:The product is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    StarWind SAN & NAS
    VxFlex, VxRack FLEX, PowerFlex
    Learn More
    Overview

    StarWind Virtual SAN provides high availability and fault tolerance for virtualized environments without the need for dedicated SAN hardware. It allows for real-time replication between servers, shared storage for Hyper-V clusters, and enables vMotion and High Availability features for VMware vSphere. The solution reduces costs and leverages existing hardware while providing a scalable and reliable infrastructure. Valuable features include ease of use, scalability, top-tier support, hardware agnosticism, and the ability to use off-the-shelf standard servers to increase storage space. StarWind VSAN has helped organizations improve performance, data availability, and data security while reducing downtime and providing cost-saving storage options.

    The Cisco HyperFlex HX Data Platform is a purpose-built, high-performance, scale-out file system with a wide array of enterprise-class data management services. The data platform’s innovations redefine distributed storage technology, giving you complete hyper-convergence with enterprise storage features:

    • Enterprise-class data management
    • Continuous data optimization
    • Securely encrypted storage
    • Dynamic data placement
    • Clusterwide parallel data distribution
    • Linear and incremental scaling
    • API-based data platform architecture
    • A simplified approach

    VxRack System consists of hyper-converged rack-scale engineered systems, with integrated networking, to achieve the scalability and management requirements of traditional and cloud native workloads. The VxRack series is purposely designed to enable customers to quickly deploy Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and/or Private Cloud architectures. VxRack Systems tightly integrate hardware with software and management layers.

    The result is a fully tested, pre-configured, hyper-converged system with simplified operations at data center and Service Provider scale. VxRack Systems support the deployment of a variety of application workloads, allowing IT to rapidly deliver new services while improving overall agility and efficiency.

    Offer
    30-days for free

    Try it today

    Learn more about Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series
    Learn more about Dell PowerFlex
    Sample Customers
    Baker Tilly BVI, CMS Internet, Board Harpeth Hall School
    BluePearl Veterinary Partners, Ready Pac Foods, Bryant University, Bellevue Group, KPIT Technologies, City Harvest
    Canopy, 8x8Inc., Atos, Canadian Pacific, City of Denton, CenturyLink, BNP Paribas, Asyaport, EDF, CSC, Fox Sports, Insight, Hunter, KPIT, Paetec, Rosetta Stone, Sonda, Xerox
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Construction Company8%
    Educational Organization8%
    Computer Software Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider16%
    Manufacturing Company12%
    Government10%
    Computer Software Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company24%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm22%
    Healthcare Company11%
    Wellness & Fitness Company11%
    Computer Software Company11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Government8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business64%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise58%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise59%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise62%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise66%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. Dell PowerFlex
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. Dell PowerFlex and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is ranked 8th in HCI with 18 reviews while Dell PowerFlex is ranked 11th in HCI with 7 reviews. Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is rated 8.0, while Dell PowerFlex is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series writes "High performance solution that makes it easy to efficiently manage VM resources". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Dell PowerFlex writes "Infrastructure management solution that offers rapid provisioning of computer storage but the APIs and enablers for custom automation could be improved". Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is most compared with VxRail, VMware vSAN, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), HPE SimpliVity and Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure, whereas Dell PowerFlex is most compared with VxRail, VMware vSAN, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) and HPE SimpliVity. See our Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. Dell PowerFlex report.

    See our list of best HCI vendors.

    We monitor all HCI reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.