Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Dell VxBlock System and FlexPod XCS based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Converged Infrastructure solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS 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
"It's at least 99 percent problem-free because it's factory-built. So from an informational point of view, everyone trusts that VxBlock has been tested well at the factory and has been configured to their requirements.""In comparison to traditional file load systems, Dell VxBlock System can be deployed quickly and results in monthly cost savings.""With a converged infrastructure, it's easy to troubleshoot from network to server issues from a single point of reference.""Its performance is very good.""Virtual machines for the infrastructure.""VxBlock has good performance, so that is an advantage.""It's a highly optimized piece of equipment that doesn't give us any problems.""The most valuable feature of this solution is the speed."

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"The most valuable features are the Fabric Interconnect Manager and the UCS Manager.""The most valuable features are the CVDs and the support behind it from both companies.""It can scale, compute, and storage independently by what we need.""Our downtime has significantly been reduced.""It definitely streamlined operations. TCO-wise, it reduced cabling in the architecture. So, there has definitely been some savings. There have been a lot of reductions in the IT admin's time: reduced time to troubleshoot, reduced time to inventory the infrastructure, and reduced time to set up a host with templates and storage. The solution is saving easily 10 hours a week in time.""Provides unified support: Being able to get a vendor from one company or another company on the line without having to go back through the call queue.""Gives us a single point of contact for support.""All of our main applications run on this solution, and it has done a stellar job."

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Cons
"Does not support different kinds of mixed applications.""It is a good product, but for us, it is like a black box. We are not really sure about its internal components, and how to do the terminal upgrade, and how to make sure about the security of the device. We understand how it works, but in order to do the upgrades, we have to get help from the company. We cannot do it ourselves. In another model that we had, the internal team could do the upgrade but not in this one. There is no clear process for a new upgrade or update. They should provide a software intelligence tool that has a dashboard where you can see the current firmware, the latest firmware, and the documentation and the process for the upgrade. For VxBlock, we have different management consoles. There is no single management console that you can use to manage all components inside VxBlock. Their scale up and scale out process is also not clear. Their support is also a little bit slow in responding to the cases.""It's a good product but the price could be lowered. It's expensive.""Lacks flexibility with third-party applications.""The consistency of disc quality could be improved.""This solution does not support Hyper-V, and we would like the new version to be supported and certified to work with Hyper-V.""We are finding it a bit challenging in terms of the management of a specific VxBlock component. Currently, we have different units as a part of the block storage. We have one for Cisco equipment and one for Dell. When we have an issue in the infrastructure, Dell EMC VxBlock System should automatically detect it and send a notification to VC support, but, unfortunately, it is doing that only for one unit. It is not working for Cisco components. We have informed them about this area of improvement, and they are working on this. The way different parts are integrated should be improved. We should have one console to log in to see all the infrastructure in terms of each machine and hardware.""Scalability is an area that needs to be improved."

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"Maybe in the future, they could include the HCI solution into the mix.""Perhaps having a unified interface for managing the entire company could lead to improved efficiency and performance.""The procedure for contacting technical support could be simplified.""We would like something like a FlexPod Express; we want a smaller version for small offices.""If they could reduce some of the complexity at the system manager level for ONTAP. I find it gives a lot of flexibility. You can do as much or as little as you want. But to be able to do as little as you want, you do have to do a lot. So, if they could bring that down to a more manageable effort level, that would be nice and simplify it a bit.""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.""​Newer platform reference architectures take a long time to harden and be publicly available.​""Upgrades are always scary because you just don't know. Nobody has six or seven different systems sitting around that you can test on before you go into production data."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "We purchased this solution with a ten-year manufacturer warranty, and we have a three-year warranty with our local partner."
  • "Its price is high. That's why people are now moving to hyper-converge."
  • "Compared to other solutions, Dell VxBlock System is more expensive."
  • More Dell VxBlock System 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:With a converged infrastructure, it's easy to troubleshoot from network to server issues from a single point of reference.
    Top Answer:Compared to other solutions, Dell VxBlock System is more expensive.
    Top Answer:The solution could use a clearer description of working methods to tell people more about its use cases.
    Top Answer: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.
    Top Answer: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… more »
    Top Answer: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… more »
    Ranking
    4th
    Views
    1,780
    Comparisons
    785
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    362
    Rating
    8.0
    2nd
    Views
    922
    Comparisons
    442
    Reviews
    15
    Average Words per Review
    905
    Rating
    8.6
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    VxBlock, VCE VxBlock System, Dell EMC VxBlock, VxBlock 1000
    Learn More
    Overview

    VxBlock and Vblock Systems simplify all aspects of IT and enable organizations to achieve better business outcomes faster. Seamlessly integrating enterprise-class compute, network, storage and virtualization technologies from industry leaders Cisco, Dell EMC, and VMware, VxBlock and Vblock Systems, powered by Intel Xeon processors, deliver the world's most advanced converged infrastructure: engineered, manufactured, managed, supported and sustained as one, allowing you to focus on your business.

    The Dell EMC Converged Systems portfolio offers choice, flexibility, and reliability for accelerating IT transformation - VxBlock System offers additional levels of flexibility with a choice of network virtualization from VMware NSX or Cisco ACI.

    Dell EMC VxBlock System Will Help You:

    • Protect and consolidate your high-value workloads
    • Deliver cloud operations faster
    • Simplify life cycle management
    • Simplify operations 
    • Modernize IT
    • Protect critical business data

    With Dell EMC VxBlock System You Can:

    • Automate key processes
    • Move to a VMware-based private or hybrid cloud model
    • Gain ongoing validation for technologies across the stack
    • Mix and match SAN/LAN switches, different storage arrays, blade and rack servers, and more
    • Reduce patching and upgrade efforts using a turnkey system 

    Dell EMC VxBlock System Features:

    • Native data protection: Dell EMC’s data protection suite includes backup and recovery, centralized management, and replication.
    • Cisco C-Series servers: Dell EMC VxBlock System is now integrated with Cisco UCS C-Series rack servers, including the C220 and C240 in the M4 and M5 server lines. 
    • Server scalability boost: You can increase server scalability by approximately 56%. 
    • Storage mix: Dell EMC’s VxBlock System gives you the ability to mix four different types of storage arrays (Unity, VMAX, XtremIO, Isilon). It also includes multiple all-flash storage options (Unity 350F, 350F, 550F, 650F), and more.
    • Data center efficiency: The solution simplifies lifecycle assurance - which reduces time spent managing upgrades - and it can also reduce rack space and lower power costs.
    • Simpler RCM compliance: You will have simpler RCM compliance and your upgrades will feature an RCM dashboard showing the release level status of all components; You will also have access to RCM compliance score, RCM summary and detail reports, and RCM pre-positioning.
    • Deep CI context KPI metrics This feature includes capacity reporting and performance analytics with historical perspective.
    • Advanced, real-time CI-level alerting Dell EMC VxBlock System’s alerting feature includes operational state alerts, performance alerts, call home alerts, custom alerts and alert forwarding.

    Dell EMC VxBlock System Benefits:

    • Manage more efficiently 
    • Reduce operational risk 
    • Simplify upgrades and assure compliance
    • Focus more on added-value projects
    • Be more agile 
    • Reduce OPEX
    • Proactively manage workload health
    • Improve capacity planning 
    • Resolve incidents and problems faster

    Reviews from Real Users:

    “It's a highly optimized piece of equipment that doesn't give us any problems." - Architect at a manufacturing company 

    "It's at least 99 percent problem-free because it's factory-built. So from an informational point of view, everyone trusts that VxBlock has been tested well at the factory and has been configured to their requirements.” - General Manager, Enterprise Technical Solution at a tech services company

    "The monitoring and management parts are the most valuable. Monitoring is specifically valuable because you have one console to monitor everything. This console is called Vision.” - Data center Manager at a financial services firm

    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
    Atos, Canadian Pacific, IDS, City of Denton, CenturyLink, BNP Paribas, Asyaport, EDF, CSC, Fox Sports, Insight, Hunter, KPIT, Paetec, Rosetta Stone, Sonda, Switch, Xerox
    University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm27%
    Government18%
    Energy/Utilities Company18%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company11%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Government10%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Energy/Utilities Company9%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Manufacturing Company16%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Government9%
    Educational Organization8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise8%
    Large Enterprise62%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise65%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business12%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise65%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise68%
    Buyer's Guide
    Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Dell VxBlock System is ranked 4th in Converged Infrastructure with 12 reviews while FlexPod XCS is ranked 2nd in Converged Infrastructure with 295 reviews. Dell VxBlock System is rated 7.8, while FlexPod XCS is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Dell VxBlock System writes "Can be deployed quickly, is easy to manage, and is stable and resilient". On the other hand, the top reviewer of FlexPod XCS writes "Integrates everything so you are using fewer tools". Dell VxBlock System is most compared with Dell PowerEdge VRTX, Dell Vscale Architecture, IBM VersaStack, Oracle Private Cloud Appliance and HPE ConvergedSystem, whereas FlexPod XCS is most compared with Dell PowerFlex, Oracle Exadata, VxRail, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) and HPE Hyper Converged. See our Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS report.

    See our list of best Converged Infrastructure vendors.

    We monitor all Converged Infrastructure 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.