Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs HPE SimpliVity 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 HPE SimpliVity 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. HPE SimpliVity Report (Updated: May 2023).
710,326 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
"I like StarWind's high availability. The failover is almost immediate, so the end users have no idea the guest VM moved at all. We can failover all guest VMs onto a single hypervisor, place it into maintenance mode, install updates, and reboot a hypervisor all during the daytime and remotely, with confidence the process will be successful.""StarWind Virtual SAN is essentially hardware agnostic, allowing us to build out a specific hardware layer based upon the customer's unique requirements.""It integrates (fully) with VMware and Veeam, my hypervisor, and backup vendors, so for me, all the puzzle pieces simply fit and work smoothly.""StarWind support has been great in helping resolve other issues not caused by their software.""The ability for us to manage all of our nodes from the same console makes systems administration very easy.""I've been really impressed with it so far. I think it's pretty great, actually. It does exactly what we need it to do, and it does it well, so I would recommend it. Plus, the support has been very good.""The support team is available to solve any problem efficiently.""The biggest benefit was that it allowed us to provide SAN services on a limited hardware budget."

More StarWind Virtual SAN Pros →

"Overall, the solution is extremely easy, flexible and secure.""Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is simple to use, user-friendly and has been best for our purposes.""It is a stable and scalable solution.""I like Cisco Intersight.""Support is very responsive.""The solution is stable.""It's very easy to integrate with the ACI network.""Cisco offers very good quality."

More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Pros →

"Up scaling is very possible, and at any time it is scalable.""I like HPE SimpliVity's hard disk compression capabilities. The data is compressed into very little space or volume. I think that the principal value of HP SimpliVity is its capacity to compress the data, and I'm saving a lot of disk space using SimpliVity.""We can scale the solution easily.""Backups happen very quickly.""The setup is very easy.""Best for companies just starting out.""What I like about SimpliVity is the brand value of HP. I also like the data compression ratio, which is around more than 75% data compression ratio. HP's support and the ease of working with SimpliVity are also valuable features.""The backup feature is valuable, and replication is also valuable. It is very quick and easy to use."

More HPE SimpliVity Pros →

Cons
"The logs can also become very noisy when there is an issue, which is very infrequent.""A better overall view of the different deployments could be beneficial, although this is difficult due to how flexible the solution is.""It took a bit of knowledge and support to put in place but once installed it works fine. Migration (HyperV) from one server to another sometimes takes longer than expected but there is no data loss even if the host crashes.""I would like to see more user-friendly dashboards in future versions.""Proper training sessions should be included with the licensing.""The documentation could be better.""Currently, the StarWind management console is a bit clunky to navigate and isn't the most user-intuitive interface.""The most disappointing side of the application is the free edition. There used to be GUI attached. That has recently changed to only CLI management of the application."

More StarWind Virtual SAN Cons →

"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.""The utilization needs to be better. It needs more options.""Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series could improve by having the documents be more readily available and the support could be more flexible.""They should give us a little more information about how to use the CLI and offer more commands.""Lacks some integration and documentation could be improved.""In the next release, Cisco should add more integration and management capabilities as well as some tweaks to the dashboard that make it more user-friendly. They could also add support for multiple hypervisors.""The initial setup could be faster, due to the prerequisites.""The initial setup can be complex."

More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Cons →

"The Omni Card consumes a lot of memory and CPU.""I'm not a technical guy, and I am pretty much okay with the way it is, but it would help if it was closest to Nutanix in Gartner's Magic Quadrants. Nutanix very often beats us. Nutanix provides Acropolis for free. It probably would be great if we have a virtualization layer. It is something that might be lacking in our solution. We depend on VMware, and it is very expensive. It is lacking the software that allows us to install it with HPE and not depend on a third party.""I wish to see an improved compute node selection, to allow us to select something other than merely the two socket system.""The solution could improve by adding better support of the VMware add-ons and a more intuitive user interface for administrators.""Bottleneck is the main issue.""The interface is good but takes some time to get used to.""The product should be competitive with other brands.""There may be issues around scaling."

More HPE SimpliVity Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "For two nodes, it cost us $10,000, and we spend $2,000 a year on support."
  • "If you are looking at a traditional SAN for a small cluster, give StarWind vSAN because you will save thousands without any compromise."
  • More StarWind Virtual SAN Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "HyperFlex is a little pricey."
  • "There is a license required to use this solution."
  • "There is no additional licensing cost other than the cost for each part."
  • "HyperFlex is relatively expensive, but you get good value for money."
  • "There is a 30 percent additional premium that all the companies are charging for Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series because of the lack of chips and bottlenecks in the market. The cost of the solution is high right now."
  • "There is a recurring cost for the VMware license and the HyperFlex licenses."
  • "We have a yearly license."
  • "Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is expensive. It's a standard license, and we pay for it yearly. I think we pay about 700."
  • More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Customers always complain that SimpliVity is a little bit higher in price point as compared to other solutions available in the market."
  • "The solution is priced high. However, there are plenty of features as part of the package that other solutions do not have."
  • "There is not a license required for the solution."
  • "The price of the solution is reasonable. We have purchased a five-year license with all the support and upgrades."
  • "If we compare the price of HPE SimpliVity with other vendors that are selling the hyper-converged infrastructure, all of them are not cheap and are priced similarly. However, the price we pay and what we receive makes it a good price."
  • "We did get some quotes from Nutanix, and they were ballparks. So, it is not cheap, and there is nothing free, but those two were comparable."
  • "I think it's a complete package. We buy the license with support for five years. It's a subscription, I will say, but it's included when you buy the SimpliVity solution from HPE. You have a contract with the software warranty and upgrades."
  • "The solution is affordable and quite reasonably priced in terms of the product one gets."
  • More HPE SimpliVity Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which HCI solutions are best for your needs.
    710,326 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:I like StarWind's high availability. The failover is almost immediate, so the end users have no idea the guest VM moved… more »
    Top Answer:We underestimated how many guest VMs we would have running on these hypervisors after three years, and would have bought… more »
    Top Answer:The Command Center, a free guest VM for management and monitoring, leaves something to be desired. It could have more… more »
    Top Answer: Cisco HyperFlex HS series vs Nutanix Acropolis AOS Cisco HyperFlex gives extended hyper-convergence functions… 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:HPE SimpliVity is a hyper-converged infrastructure solution that is primarily geared to mid-sized companies. We… more »
    Top Answer:The built-in backup and quick restore are good features.
    Top Answer:Licensing is slightly more expensive in comparison to the competition but I think SimpliVity provides very good value.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    SimpliVity, HPE HCI
    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

    HPE SimpliVity is an HCI software solution that provides powerful data protection, reducing data loss along with lowering the risk of ransomware attacks on your enterprise.

    HPE SimpliVity Features

    HPE SimpliVity has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Flexible, compact architecture
    • Centralized management
    • AI-driven intelligence
    • Built-in data protection and disaster recovery
    • VM-centric management and mobility
    • Simple to deploy, manage, and scale

    HPE SimpliVity Benefits

    There are several benefits to implementing HPE SimpliVity. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Efficient: HPE SimpliVity helps reduce the number of devices in your data center while also decreasing the total cost of ownership.
    • Cloud benefits with enterprise capabilities: When your enterprise deploys HPE SimpliVity, you gain the agility, elasticity, and affordability offered by cloud computing.
    • Affordable and flexible: The solution provides IT teams with the performance, reliability, and resiliency of on-premises infrastructure. HPE SimpliVity allows them to start virtualizing their enterprise while also keeping sensitive data safe.
    • Reduced risk of data loss: Because HPE SimpliVity is a powerful solution with built-in resiliency, backup, and disaster recovery, it is able to provide advanced data protection that reduces your organization’s risk of data loss and also lowers the risk of ransomware attacks.
    • Speed: HPE SimpliVity gives you the ability to deploy blocks and manage VM environments quickly and easily by using the VMware interface. In addition, the solution allows you to quickly view all data centers and remote offices within a single interface.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by HPE SimpliVity users.

    Jeff S., Information Technology Manager at Troyer Foods, Inc. says the solution has “Phenomenal deduplication and compression, good support, and works on its own. SimpliVity is integrated with the hypervisor, and you have a single pane of glass. It is really hands-off. Once you set your backup schedules, you're done.

    A Senior Datacenter Consultant at a computer software company mentions, “The most valuable feature is the ease of use and the storage virtualization layer, together with the built-in backups. That's what makes SimpliVity really useful, and how you can replicate data between different sites without paying an extra license for that feature. All the features are built into the product.”

    PeerSpot user Doug C., IT Engineer at a government, comments, “Backups and restores occur very quickly. All SimpliVity management is done through vCenter, providing a single-pane of glass for all management and configuration functions. The advanced deduplication and compression greatly reduce the storage requirements, reducing the amount of expensive flash storage required.The 10G interfaces between the SimpliVity nodes greatly speeds up VM migrations between nodes. SimpliVity enables "stretched-cluster" operation with mirrored storage between the nodes, enabling automated failover. If a node or site goes down for any reason, the VMs on that node are automatically restarted on the other node.”

    German I., Solutions Architect Data Center Servers and Storage at Tecnologia informatica, explains, “The integration possibilities regarding the administration console are one of the best configurations and one of the best features that differentiates this product from others in the market. Also, you can add extra coverage protection that includes everything inside of the hard drives — similar products don't do this. You can use it directly from the hypervisor, which is great.”

    Offer
    30-days for free

    Try it today

    Learn more about Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series
    Learn more about HPE SimpliVity
    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
    Red Bull Racing, Mandarin Oriental, Brigham Young University, UCLA, Merlin Entertainments, Sasa Cosmetics, Travelport, St. John’s Riverside Hospital, Princess House
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Construction Company9%
    Educational Organization9%
    Computer Software Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider14%
    Manufacturing Company12%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Government11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company23%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Computer Software Company8%
    Retailer7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization29%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business63%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise15%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise58%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise59%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise61%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise27%
    Large Enterprise40%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise42%
    Large Enterprise39%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. HPE SimpliVity
    May 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. HPE SimpliVity and other solutions. Updated: May 2023.
    710,326 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is ranked 8th in HCI with 25 reviews while HPE SimpliVity is ranked 6th in HCI with 41 reviews. Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is rated 7.8, while HPE SimpliVity 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 HPE SimpliVity writes "Phenomenal deduplication and compression, good support, and works on its own". Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is most compared with VxRail, VMware vSAN, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), Dell PowerFlex and FlexPod, whereas HPE SimpliVity is most compared with VxRail, VMware vSAN, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), HPE Nimble Storage dHCI and HPE Hyper Converged. See our Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. HPE SimpliVity 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.