Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs FlexPod XCS comparison

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5,485 views|1,780 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
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89% willing to recommend
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96% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

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

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Nutanix, VMware and others in HCI.
To learn more, read our detailed HCI Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,578 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
"The StarWind Virtual SAN management console is intuitive and easy to use.""The performance of the solution is accurate and concise.""A typical system administrator with minimal experience in Hyper-V, VMware, or Windows can do VSAN configuration and maintain VSAN operations.""As the client had acquired another company some distance away, they were concerned about having a single SAN in one location or the other. StarWind vSAN allowed us to keep a copy of the data local to each site without asking the client to pay for two SANs in addition to the two new servers they needed.""The solution provides great performance for the price it is listed with.""The best part is the easy way it operates with a very clear GUI without any unnecessary items.""The price was right.""The main benefit is that StarWind is almost maintenance-free."

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"I like Cisco Intersight.""Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is simple to use, user-friendly and has been best for our purposes.""It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution.""It is a stable and scalable solution.""Cisco provides the ability to configure BIOS, something that no one else can do, on a remote basis. That's really helpful sometimes. The bus-snooping alteration tool for BIOS is fantastic. That's one of the game-changing features that Cisco alone has at this point.""It is scalable and easy to use.""Offers very good data protection and provides system uptime availability effectively.""The most valuable features are scalability and the easy operation - if it works. You can configure everything from just one window."

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"The main advantage is consolidating everything into a single rack, which helps optimize power consumption, especially in CRM.""The consistent delivery that we receive from the products. We deliver it to different customers, and we know it will be a consistent end-to-end solution as well.""It is absolutely resilient. It has built-in redundancy and multipathing. If there is an issue with one part, it doesn't fail automatically.""The most valuable feature of this solution is the stability.""We have had great support, and this is when we have called for any problems, which have been very minimal to start with.""It's all converged into one consolidated platform, which works well together.""The solution’s unified support for the entire stack provides one stop shopping.""For FlexPod, it is always trustworthy. I had previously never seen flex machines from other brands or associated with other products. FlexPod is a large investment and they are good enough to support it."

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Cons
"The system performs as expected, but we're always looking for performance improvements regarding the best utilization of NVMe disks.""It runs until it does not - and disaster recovery documentation is sparse and mostly unclear.""The StarWind Management Console is available only for Microsoft Windows/Windows Server, and should also be available for Linux and macOS, as it would reduce implementation costs.""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.""This solution should be more self-sufficient, running without creating domains or failover clusters.""If there was one thing we could request, it would be the ability to shrink volumes. For example, we want to be able to decrease in the size of the volume.""An update caused a syncing issue and it took over a month to resolve it""There is one issue as far as licensing goes and that is a lack of documentation online for users when transitioning from the free version to the paid version, or vice versa."

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"The utilization needs to be better. It needs more options.""The initial setup can be complex.""Lacks easy integration with other vendors.""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.""We had a bit of complexity to think about how to migrate our legacy infrastructure into Cisco HyperFlex.""The deployment could be made a little bit easier, as we still seem to struggle with it a little bit for a day or so to get it running.""With the cache disk fails in Cisco, the whole node fails, and the workload goes down.""The additional feature I would like to see included in the next release of this solution is more security. We want to add more data servers to all the hosts all over the world. We have 140 hosts that connect to one data center in Manila."

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"The biggest problem we have seen is, we were using the vStorage which comes with the NetApp environment, a kind of fiber connect. We were missing fibre channel connectivity and we got lots of I/O errors.""Support could be more integrated. For example, you might call NetApp, and they'll determine that VMware is the issue. It would be helpful if they could automatically engage VMware and bring them onto the same call to transfer ticket information and work together.""We have had bugs which have been released, even though they have been minor.""I would like to see more cloud-centric modules that are specific to applications and more software-based solutions. That's all that is missing.""We would like them to improve the validate designs. It is hard to stay in a supported config with the software and firmware versions of the platform. It's always a concern to ensure things not only work well, but they work at all. If we run into incompatibility inside of the NetApp, Cisco, or VMware versions, it can cause real issues.""The solution has not reduced our data center costs.""The GPU based VDA solutions could use improvement.""We don't see the much DR capability within the FlexPod so for that, we have to maintain our own DR capability with DSRM."

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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 →

  • "Pricing and licensing is very affordable from a FlexPod perspective."
  • "It seems very cost effective once it's in place, and it's easy to expand and easy to add capacity without a lot of extra money."
  • "If your company really needs to be up 100% of the time, and you need to do a private data center, I don't know if I could realistically actually recommend another blueprint."
  • "Anytime that you are buying any storage make sure you understand storage. Do not just buy storage based on what somebody sells you in terms of IO or throughput."
  • "Buy storage based on the solutions you need, the technologies you need, and what will make your life a lot easier down the road."
  • "As a whole, it is inexpensive, and it uses the least amount of parts."
  • "Storage is very expensive. To buy MIC cards and additional storage either on-prem or in the cloud, the IT department does not have money for it, so you need a more niche product or a more flexible way to store your data. That is the benefit that you get from this product."
  • "We purchased the solution through CDW. They are a partner and knowledgeable."
  • More FlexPod XCS Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Anonymous User
    Originally posted at www.storagegaga.com/dont-get-too-drunk-on-hyper-converged/ I hate the fact that I am bursting the big bubble brewing about Hyper Convergence (HC). I urge all to look past the hot air and hype frenzy that are going on, because in the end, the HC platforms have to be aligned and congruent to the organization’s data architecture and business plans. The announcement of Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant on Integrated Systems (read hyper convergence) has put Nutanix as the leader of the pack as of August 2015. Clearly, many of us get caught up because it is the “greatest feeling in the world”. However, this faux feeling is not reality because there are many factors that made the pack leaders in the Magic Quadrant (MQ). First of all, the MQ is about market perception. There is no doubt that the pack leaders in the Leaders Quadrant have earned their right to be there. Each company’s revenue, market share, gross margin, company’s profitability have helped put each as leaders in the pack. However, it is also measured by branding, marketing, market perception and acceptance and other intangible factors. Secondly, VMware EVO: Rail has split the market when EMC has 3 HC solutions in VCE, ScaleIO and EVO: Rail. Cisco wanted to do their own HC piece in Whiptail (between the 2014 MQ and 2015 MQ reports), and closed down Whiptail when their new CEO came on board. NetApp chose EVO: Rail and also has the ever popular FlexPod. That is why you see that in… Read more →
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:It is easy to use and can monitor system synchronization and check Storage status. StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) combines… more »
    Top Answer:I would highly advise new users to consult the StarWind technical team beforehand. Also, consider the paid version if… more »
    Top Answer:You can maintain and update it with little to no fuss, even the free version is incredibly capable whilst it brings 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:The system is designed for easy scaling. Because we define everything clearly. So when we plug the system in, we apply… more »
    Top Answer:The pricing is not cheaper, but stability is more important for us now. We focus on business gains, not static numbers… more »
    Top Answer:FlexPod should focus more on automation. Integrating an automation tool with FlexPod would enable customers to leverage… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    StarWind SAN & NAS
    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

    FlexPod XCS is the secure platform your applications need from edge to cloud. Easily manage your suite of cloud-native, edge, and enterprise apps. Integrate advanced cloud services without compromising performance, security, reliability, or scale.

    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
    University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company11%
    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 Company25%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Energy/Utilities Company9%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Manufacturing Company17%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Government8%
    Educational Organization8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business65%
    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 Enterprise61%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business12%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise65%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise68%
    Buyer's Guide
    HCI
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Nutanix, VMware and others in HCI. Updated: March 2024.
    768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is ranked 8th in HCI with 90 reviews while FlexPod XCS is ranked 2nd in Converged Infrastructure with 295 reviews. Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is rated 8.0, while FlexPod XCS is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series writes "A fast and easy deployment that allows secure access to our medical applications ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of FlexPod XCS writes "Integrates everything so you are using fewer tools". Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is most compared with VMware vSAN, VxRail, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), Dell PowerFlex and HPE Alletra dHCI, whereas FlexPod XCS is most compared with Dell PowerFlex, Oracle Exadata, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), VxRail and HPE ConvergedSystem.

    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.