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Dell VxBlock System 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 VxBlock System
Ranking in Converged Infrastructure
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
FlexPod XCS
Ranking in Converged Infrastructure
3rd
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 September 2025, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Dell VxBlock System is 11.0%, down from 15.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 10.1%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Converged Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
FlexPod XCS10.1%
Dell VxBlock System11.0%
Other78.9%
Converged Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

AKINJIDE OKE - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful for virtualized environment, node management, configuration deployment, and system management with artificial intelligence
I've worked with Dell and had the privilege of working with many OEMs. I started my career as a system engineer, working with HPE as a partner, and then moved to other OEMs like IBM and Lenovo. Currently, I work with a small team. I don't believe any solution is bad. It's just that you might not have identified what the solution is addressing. It's about choosing the right solution for your needs. In terms of hardware or infrastructure, it's an Intel platform. What differentiates everyone is the additional value they can provide. Dell has many values that meet customer needs. I look at the customer's objectives and requirements as an IT professional to find the best solution. I haven't seen any drawbacks regarding the infrastructure deliverables or the value built into the tool. However, Dell as an organization could improve its channel management. For example, we've been trying to resolve an issue with our portal for two weeks. I'd like to see more simplification regarding integration, deployment, and connectivity for future releases. In deployment, I'd like to see simplification in creating VNets and positioning VMware across nodes. I want a template that simplifies the creation of VNets and VMware positioning. I'd push for more simplification and an intuitive graphical GUI that simplifies things with just a click.
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

"Customers use the Dell VxBlock System for new applications or solutions. For example, I'm working on a new mixing solution for a whole country in Africa. When we talk about it, there are many locations, and we're looking for efficiency, utilization, and solutions that can expand the application database we're deploying. It's used a lot for server consolidation and to consolidate environments into new ones for easy management. It's also used in health environments where they need to create infrastructure for products or solutions they want to launch to the market quickly."
"Virtual machines for the infrastructure."
"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."
"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."
"Good default features."
"Good flexibility and speed."
"Its performance is very good."
"It's a highly optimized piece of equipment that doesn't give us any problems."
"The most valuable feature for me is that you can swap out pieces when you have to lifecycle your equipment."
"CVDs reduce risks for implementations. We always make sure that all installations are based on best practices."
"The advantage is being able to consolidate everything into a relatively small chassis."
"It can scale, compute, and storage independently by what we need."
"When our clients choose to call NetApp or Cisco directly, the cooperative support model means they can get passed back and forth between the two organizations freely. It works really well."
"It provides ease of automation."
"FlexPod’s prevalidated architectures are very important to our organization... Especially in healthcare, it is absolutely critical that we have a validated performance platform. It has to work every time."
"It simplifies infrastructure from edge to port to cloud. It proves that deployment is easy and straightforward. There isn't any need to do extra work."
 

Cons

"The consistency of disc quality could be improved."
"The only thing that I can say is when you procure the VxBlock, obviously you have to complete detailed questionnaires about your architecture including the configuration, et cetera. If you make a mistake on the implementation, then you need to rebuild the entire VxBlock. That is just a point of consideration rather than a flaw. You need to be absolutely sure and validate the upfront configuration information that you provide because your VxBlock comes delivered and built, according to that exact information."
"There is a need for single console management."
"This solution does not support Hyper-V, and we would like the new version to be supported and certified to work with Hyper-V."
"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."
"The hardware lifecycle is not documented very well. For example, now you can buy a piece of equipment, but you don't know if the hardware is going to be a team production next month or next year."
"Scalability is an area that needs to be improved."
"There are too many management products: System Insight Manager, Oakum, etc. There are a lot of them and you have to know which one to use at which time. Whereas, with competitors, they have a single pane of glass view which has everything in it."
"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 would like to see better operations, a single pane of glass to manage and monitor the entire design across VMware, Cisco, etc. I would also like the upgrade process to be a little smoother."
"There are times where we have had issues with technical support."
"I would like more orchestration and networking in-between the VMs, the virtualization layer for networking. I would like to see better tools for this."
"The integration between both companies, Cisco and NetApp, is very good but it still needs to be enhanced in terms of visibility and observability."
"Since 2018 or 2019, maybe due to COVID and the chipsets, my DIMMs are dying left and right."
"We would like FlexPod to have more power, though it is not lacking in power now."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price is high. That's why people are now moving to hyper-converge."
"We purchased this solution with a ten-year manufacturer warranty, and we have a three-year warranty with our local partner."
"Compared to other solutions, Dell VxBlock System is more expensive."
"Sometimes you may end up spending a little more to get it in the first place, but you gain it back in terms of infrastructure upgrade costs and troubleshooting costs. The solution also lasts a surprisingly long time."
"Because the solution is now stable, we are saving about $100 million USD a year."
"Overall, the solution works pretty well. The biggest complaint I have from customers is the cost."
"Make sure that you engage as much with whom you are buying from as a partnership, not just as a purchase."
"The product is kind of expensive even from an entry-level standpoint. I would say FlexPod would be the way to go if you are a larger business or one with large data volume."
"It is cheaper than other products. For example, Dell EMC VxBlock is more expensive."
"It has saved us hundreds of man-hours by using this converged infrastructure."
"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."
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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
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
20%
Educational Organization
15%
Performing Arts
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise66
Large Enterprise182
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC VxBlock System?
The cost is not overly expensive but not cheap either. Considering the features and everything, it is very good. Price-wise, it is reasonable but not the least expensive option.
What needs improvement with Dell EMC VxBlock System?
There is a need for single console management. Everything should be accessible through a single console to ensure ease of management. So far, there are no issues since the storage and other systems...
What is your primary use case for Dell EMC VxBlock System?
I am currently using it for the converse infrastructure. Before the VxBlock from Dell, everything was integrated into the system.
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...
 

Also Known As

VxBlock, VCE VxBlock System, Dell EMC VxBlock, VxBlock 1000
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.