Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series and Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series 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. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 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
"Highly available storage is the most valuable feature. The entire rollout is hyper-converged and requires no extra storage further than the hosts in which Hyper-V is running. Another feature that has been great is the support from StarWind in general. We have their proactive support package on the main cluster that employs Starwind Virtual SAN.""I've had to open a few support cases over the years due to administrator errors, and the support received was top-notch.""Virtual SAN runs on iSCSI, which is free and easy to configure. It's easy to manage from StarWind's GUI console, and it only required a few extra switch ports.""I have found the graphical user interface to be the most useful thing about Virtual SAN.""It includes every feature that a traditional SAN offers and so much more.""It has reduced our overall maintenance and overhead by having to only maintain physical boxes for one cluster instead of having to manage physical boxes for two clusters.""It has great free trials that allow end users to test a large variety of their products before deciding to buy the full product.""This software lets us maintain storage redundancy across both of our Hyper-V hosts, so if one goes down the environment fails over to the other and we have minimal to no downtime."

More StarWind Virtual SAN Pros →

"The management from the switches to the hyper-convergence solutions are quite good and well-developed.""It is a stable and scalable solution.""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 most valuable features of this solution are scalability, performance, and reliability. It scales well inside of a large data center.""It is scalable and easy to use.""The initial setup was straightforward. With our partners and the consultancy that we had, we knew what we wanted to do. Therefore, we didn't have any problems with the installation and parametrization.""The most valuable feature of Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is the integration with everything in a much smoother, such as in physical and virtual environments. VMware NSX is a simpler solution but, Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is more robust compared to VMware NSX.""Most of our users are Cisco customers, so it fits in within the suites we use. Primarily for me, as a solution architect, it's the technology and architecture that is the most valuable. I know from my technical colleagues that it's easy to use and for the customer, the up-time is the most valuable asset. It's running, has low failure, and so on which is why we use it."

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"Installation is straightforward because it's a vSAN. It only took one or two days.""We find the setup quite straightforward and very easy.""Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series' deployment is easy. We are a tier-one platinum partner who is into multiple implementations."

More Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series Pros →

Cons
"A better overall view of the different deployments could be beneficial, although this is difficult due to how flexible the solution is.""I would definitely like to see quite a bit more on the monitoring side of things.""StarWind doesn't really have any performance reporting, especially compared with other vSAN products we've used.""It would help if the manufacturer provided clearer and more detailed documentation, with explanations of how the application can be installed in various HA configurations.""This product would benefit from having automated alerting functionality.""The gathering of monthly consumption and performance reports for future dissemination to concerned parties is very important. Unfortunately, StarWinds vSAN doesn't offer this functionality.""It is difficult to control all of the hardware components.""If there was a way to automatically put disks in maintenance mode when shutting the host down and exit maintenance mode automatically, that would simplify things."

More StarWind Virtual SAN Cons →

"We would like to see better integration in the next release of this solution.""I would like to see them expand onto the cloud.""We'd like the product to offer better integration with other products.""Cisco HyperFlex should decrease the amount of memory needed from the Controller VM that controls the physical discs. They control the discs by using the virtual VM over every ESXi host and the VM consumes memory and consumes more hardware resources. They have to improve that by decreasing the amount of required memory and CPUs to control this disc on the server.""They can't get a POC to work because there are big latencies between the two sites we have. Even though we have a private fiber connection and everything else works well, they can't get the two products to talk to each other. They are not able to build it up. It looks like it's a firmware issue. They said it isn't but now it's looking like it is. I hope we can sort it out.""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.""HyperFlex could be improved by reducing the minimum number of nodes supported from three to two.""This solution is lacking in replication and backup abilities that I would like to see in a future release similar to HPE SimpliVity."

More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Cons →

"The user management could be a bit better. It's something they could improve upon in future releases.""Support could be better.""Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series needs to improve its stability. Its resolution should be faster."

More Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series 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 →

  • "You need to pay a license for additional features. If we need to monitor hardware for the automatic alert notification, we need to pay them."
  • "The tool's pricing is competitive."
  • More Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    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: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: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:Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series' deployment is easy. We are a tier-one platinum partner who is into multiple… more »
    Top Answer:Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series needs to improve its stability. Its resolution should be faster.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    StarWind SAN & NAS
    Lenovo VX Series, ThinkAgile VX Series
    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

    Differentiating yourself from the competition is vital in today’s fast-moving business environment. To support your business, IT systems must be simple, agile, and cost-effective so you can meet your customers’ requirements to be ever online. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series enables you to meet these requirements by focusing on the business outcome you require, rather than on building your infrastructure.

    ThinkAgile VX Series, powered by VMware vSAN, is available in several models. Each is preconfigured, pretested, and optimized to provide the simplest way to bring a new VMware hyperconverged environment online. If you have an existing VMware environment, the VX Series can integrate into it easily.

    Designed for any size business from SMBs through large enterprises, VX Series can be used as infrastructure for remote office/branch office (ROBO) and retail stores as well as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and enterprise applications.

    Offer
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    Learn more about Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series
    Learn more about Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series
    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
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    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%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Government10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company25%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    Government7%
    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 Enterprise61%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise50%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is ranked 8th in HCI with 90 reviews while Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series is ranked 16th in HCI with 3 reviews. Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is rated 8.0, while Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series 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 Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series writes "A stable solution that needs to improve stability and resolution". Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is most compared with VMware vSAN, VxRail, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), Dell PowerFlex and Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure, whereas Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series is most compared with VxRail, Dell vSAN Ready Nodes, Lenovo ThinkAgile HX Series, HPE Alletra dHCI and HPE SimpliVity. See our Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series vs. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series report.

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    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.