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Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs FlexPod XCS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 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
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
5th
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 July 2025, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge VRTX is 19.7%, down from 21.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 9.2%, down from 9.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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

"We now find that the solution is quite stable."
"The most valuable feature is the combined management in one box."
"It is simple to use and it's user-friendly."
"In my view, the only aspect that could be enhanced in the Dell PowerEdge VRTX solution is the pricing. Apart from that, the overall performance and features of the solution are flawless."
"The solution is stable."
"The system is very intuitive."
"The security is very good on the solution."
"The online UA is very good in comparison to others."
"I have never seen a more resilient HA product out there then NetApp's solution. If I want to know that I'm putting my workload on a solution, from a storage perspective, that is going to be up 100% of the time, I'm going to choose NetApp."
"It is pretty flexible. We are able to deploy faster."
"The solution’s validated designs for major enterprise apps are also extremely important in our organization. We don't always have time to research products and solutions ourselves. By going with a validated design, we're assured that it's the latest and greatest. It's supported by the three major vendors that we deal with."
"The biggest lesson that I have learned from this solution is the ease of actually setting it up and learning it."
"We found FlexPod to be innovative when it comes to compute, storage, and networking. We've taken advantage of their storage optimizations to obtain better use out of the space. We upgraded to All Flash FAS (AFF), which has provided a huge performance increase that we haven't barely scratched the surface of. We have plenty of overhead, so that's always nice when taking on tasks which might have otherwise taxed a smaller system."
"For anyone who needs the flexibility of moving around profiles from physical device to physical device, it really adds an additional layer of virtualization."
"This solution has helped to make more things consistent within our organization."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to integrate different products into one validated design. That allows customers to understand and get the value out of the hardware, as it was designed."
 

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."
"We've had general issues related to the solution being difficult."
"There are some noises, and this module is quite annoying, with significant heat issues."
"I'd like to be able to increase capacity."
"Dell PowerEdge VRTX can improve by providing support for M2 drives."
"Management of storage and networking is web-based, slow, and difficult."
"The storage can be improved."
"A disadvantage could be the price."
"We would like to see a new design that comes with more productivity or graphics. Currently, the vendors, like HPE and Dell EMC along with NetApp, all have very similar products. We want more diversification."
"I have noticed a lot of customers, they will kick it over the fence. It is FlexPod; it is that mystery animal. The room for improvement is to better present it to those users, so they will not have to be afraid of it."
"There have been issues upgrading the firmware."
"It would be very helpful if the upgrades for Cisco, VMware, and NetApp could be bundled together and performed at the same time."
"We would like them to have better features to integrate with the cloud."
"I would like to see improvements in the documentation. I understanding how things are coming together and a lot of that is from the UCS side."
"Updates are not frequent enough."
"The technical support is slightly above average. I would like them to have quicker escalation"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This product is more reasonably-priced than similar solutions by HPE."
"We bought a license for seven years."
"The tool's pricing is fine."
"We are renewing the support and we are purchasing the license for the software."
"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."
"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."
"The solution is less expensive than competitors."
"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 NetApp portion was a $5 million investment five years ago. That has served the customer well over five and a half years."
"We have seen a five to ten percent savings on new service deployments."
"Overall, the solution works pretty well. The biggest complaint I have from customers is the cost."
"We have saved time, money, space, and power consumption on new service deployments. We have a data center in Toronto which had ten racks on one of the new servers. This was all reduced to two racks with six chassis, which is amazing."
"I have saved time on new service deployments. I've done deployments in under a week, and if it's a cloud-based deployment, it's even faster."
"We fear high availability so we can't buy from different providers."
"We would like everything in one piece of hardware. This way we can just sell the product like a silo by putting everything in a stack together."
"I find the licensing and pricing structure to be favorable."
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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
22%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
20%
Educational Organization
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 vs. FlexPod XCS and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,481 professionals have used our research since 2012.