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Dell PowerEdge VRTX [EOL] vs FlexPod XCS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 26, 2025

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

Dell PowerEdge VRTX [EOL]
Ranking in Converged Infrastructure
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
FlexPod XCS
Ranking in Converged Infrastructure
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
295
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge VRTX [EOL] is 19.4%, down from 22.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 9.2%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Converged Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerEdge VRTX19.4%
FlexPod XCS9.2%
Other71.4%
Converged Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Sheikh Sakil  Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Has delivered reliable and dynamic server performance
This process is very good, with a processor that has 32 cores, which is sufficient to meet my qualifications and needs. It's quite a good server, and I've been using it for the last three years. I also use different types of dynamic solutions for network design like AutoCAD and SolarWind.
John Kevin - PeerSpot reviewer
Enforces standardized setup procedures following Certified Validated Design (CVD) guidelines and offers greater flexibility and control over the system compared to traditional systems
The GUI setup follows the right setup, meaning we have to follow the CVDi.e. Certified Validated Design. Everything is clear, because you can build CI yourself, but without rules, it can be messy. With FlexPod, there are rules to follow, making it more standardized. This helps with troubleshooting and compatibility assessments, simplifying troubleshooting significantly. We also use FlexPod pre-validated architectures to validate the design. It is very, very important to us because we had a bad case in 2015 where separate items integrated poorly due to no version or firmware compatibility certification. Troubleshooting became a nightmare. So, standards are crucial for us, and everything entering production should be verified or at least documented for certification.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The security is very good on the solution."
"The online UA is very good in comparison to others."
"While I cannot say Dell is better than HP or IBM, Dell has a strong presence here in Qatar. We can recommend Dell because of that strategic factor."
"We were satisfied after we upgraded to a professional next-day on-site support."
"We now find that the solution is quite stable."
"Dell PowerEdge VRTX's most valuable feature is its reliability. It offers a good experience for my IT teams."
"With Dell PowerEdge VRTX, there are fewer points, and it is easier to troubleshoot and find your way around it."
"Dell PowerEdge VRTX supports a lot of memory which has allowed us to keep our system size smaller."
"Integrated support: It is all under one support contract."
"There are very many features, but from experience, the single point of contact for support has been valuable to our customers."
"Backup, restore, and ease of deployment are the most valuable features."
"FlexPod is easy to setup, maintain and has great stability."
"The initial setup is straightforward. It is all interface-based, so point and click."
"For the management side of our UCS, it is a single pane of glass for multiple people, whether it is data center, sysadmin, or server deployment."
"The ease of expansion is the most valuable feature."
"The storage efficiency and performance are valuable."
 

Cons

"The nodes should be synced with the server so that the solution can be used from the cloud when any or all nodes are down."
"The scalability could be better."
"Dell PowerEdge VRTX can improve by providing support for M2 drives."
"The licensing can be difficult to understand."
"We've had general issues related to the solution being difficult."
"I'd like to be able to increase capacity."
"VRTX is a bit simplified to the extent that it is a mainstream type of solution for small businesses. If a company needs a more complex solution or something that is a time saver or has more power or scalability, it is probably not the best solution. However, when a company grows and its needs grow, this type of environment can be definitely migrated towards a lab environment or pre-prod testing, not necessarily production. It can still have a second life for the other types of use."
"The storage can be improved."
"I would like them to integrate the NVIDIA GRID into the system, so we could easily deploy certain solutions with the FlexPod."
"I'd like to see better integrations with some of the third-party tools, like Terraform. That would be good. We use Ansible to deploy and that's good, but it's slower than it needs to be."
"We would like to have a single pane of glass available for it. It is something that the management in the business would like to have."
"It is not as easy as a hyperconverged solution, but you are going to have a hard time finding that anywhere, where you can just plugin and run a deployment app."
"They need to improve the user interface to make it easier to work in this environment. The older version is poor."
"Perhaps the automation interface could be improved."
"With the UCS X-Series, I would like to see the fabric interconnects in the chassis. Instead of hanging out so the chassis is 7U, you are increasing your footprint to 9U with the fabric enhancer, where some of the competing solutions are 7U and have collapsed that network fabric into the chassis. This is another thing that I would like to see from Cisco, though not really on the NetApp side since that is pretty solid."
"I think they can always improve, whether it's dedupe or compression, those algorithms; and flash through better SSDs."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fully configured, it costs about $50,000 or $55,000. I did purchase a used one or refurbished one. I have been very happy with it so far. Even if it is an older unit, it doesn't look like its age, and I would say it has been a great choice so far for me. Obviously, I would have thought twice if I had to pay for a brand new one because it is still an older technology with the risk of being discontinued. I talked to Dell, and they're still selling it, but they're not promoting it. They're promoting another line of products right now for hyper-converged, which are much more expensive."
"On the scale of pricing, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I would rate it as a three. I am familiar with the overall cost, which involves licenses from Dell and VMware, among others, making it a combination of various license types."
"The tool's pricing is fine."
"This product is more reasonably-priced than similar solutions by HPE."
"The solution price of Dell PowerEdge VRTX could be reduced. However, when comparing the price of Dell PowerEdge VRTX to other solutions, such as HP and Lenovo, it was the best price for what they offer."
"We are renewing the support and we are purchasing the license for the software."
"The solution is less expensive than competitors."
"We bought a license for seven years."
"The cost is a little high."
"The pricing is not cheaper, but stability is more important for us now. We focus on business gains, not static numbers."
"We have seen a five to ten percent savings on new service deployments."
"FlexPod has saved data center costs, due to the fact that we reduced our footprint for storage in a big way. We went from three complete racks down to a 2U storage array for more than 300 terabytes of storage."
"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."
"The NetApp portion was a $5 million investment five years ago. That has served the customer well over five and a half years."
"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."
"Make sure that you engage as much with whom you are buying from as a partnership, not just as a purchase."
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Comparison Review

it_user244362 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 30, 2015
Nutanix vs. VMware EVO:RAIL vs. FlexPod
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
19%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
20%
Educational Organization
15%
Performing Arts
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise66
Large Enterprise182
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerEdge VRTX?
The cost of Dell PowerEdge VRTX is high, making it difficult for small and medium businesses to bear. I would rate the pricing as seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge VRTX?
It would be much better for customers if Dell could provide firmware updates even after the end of the product's life, enabling them to manage and keep their hardware for a longer time.
What do you like most about FlexPod?
The system is designed for easy scaling. Because we define everything clearly. So when we plug the system in, we apply the profile, and it scales easily.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FlexPod?
The pricing is not cheaper, but stability is more important for us now. We focus on business gains, not static numbers. Following XCS rules ensures a stable environment, which is crucial. For me, C...
What needs improvement with FlexPod?
FlexPod should focus more on automation. Integrating an automation tool with FlexPod would enable customers to leverage automation capabilities. More automation would be helpful. Currently, we cont...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Dundee, GE Healthcare Japan
University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge VRTX [EOL] vs. FlexPod XCS and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
866,218 professionals have used our research since 2012.