Dell XtremIO vs Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Dell XtremIO and Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two All-Flash Storage solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Dell XtremIO vs. Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: Dell EMC XtremIO Flash Storage OR Hitachi Virtual Storage F Series
Answer: I would personally take a look at Nimble Storage. It is all processor and memory based. You can get the same performance out of a Hybrid array from Nimble. They offer all flash as well, but performance is not based on disk I/O. Very cool technology.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The support team is available all the time and they seem to know what they are doing.""Access speed and power consumption are most valuable.""It's extremely stable and has good performance.""The deduplication in the array combined with its snap technologies allows the product to be remotely/manually controlled or scheduled.""It is fast and reliable. It works.""It is easy to manage. You don't have to have the same people who used to manage the Dell EMC arrays because the solution is more intuitive.""It has made working with storage as easy and simple as it should be.""At this point, I don't know anything that they could provide in a better way."

More Pure Storage FlashArray Pros →

"The guaranteed sub-millisecond response time for a 4K block.""It is great for applications like Microsoft Exchange, ERP, SQL and VDI; basically saved the VDI buy-in from users, as now performance was seamless in comparison to a physical PC.""Speed and reliability:""Linear performance – The XtremIO wasn’t the fastest in all tests against other all flash arrays, but even with a massive workload, the response time and user experience were absolutely predictable with no sharp drop-offs.""The feature I like most about Dell Xtremio is its hardware quality compared to other vendors. It's clear they're continuously improving their research and development.""The speed is extremely valuable.""Thin storage allocation""The most valuable feature of Dell EMC XtremIO is the data protection (DP) group, it is one of the most advanced features in these types of arrays. The dedupe and compression that this array provides both do a superb job."

More Dell XtremIO Pros →

"The valuable features for data management include deduplication and compression without performance impact, and the ability to virtualize old storage, making migration seamless.""This is a good product with high capabilities and high reliability.""The solution provides excellent scalability.""The most valuable features in Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform F Series are Shadowimage, easy to manage equipment, and upgrading the firewire is very simple.""I am happy about the storage system and availability.""The most valuable feature is that it has 'eight nines' availability, 99.999999 percent of the time. That is the main selling point.""The setup is very easy to manage and configure. The initial setup and takes one hour more or less.""The most valuable feature is that you can use it with all deployment models."

More Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform Pros →

Cons
"A three wave application or multi wave application synchronization would be an improvement.""They are doing some stuff with containers and an object search. These could be improved, because containers is one of the main topics that we are talking with our customers about.""The 3PAR SSD arrays that we have are still failing a lot so even though we're under warranty, we still have to get someone out and usually have someone troubleshoot so that usually adds onto the cost. With Pure, we've had a disc fail and we pop it out and you pop it in and it's good to go.""The time-to-market could be better at times, but I think that's true for all vendors of hardware.""Storage. There could be better storage.""Historical analytics would be useful. At the moment, they don't have any type of application built for historical analytics.""The system has dual controllers but does not have a high level of resiliency built-in.""I would like to see active replication. I know that it's available now but I haven't tried it yet. I hope that it works."

More Pure Storage FlashArray Cons →

"Ease of use is key in the converged and hyper-converged world that requires administrators to have both hypervisor and storage skills.""It is very expensive to scale. You have to buy an additional system to extend from one disc, for instance. It is scalable, but extremely expensive to do so.""This solution is geared toward enterprise-level companies. Small and medium-sized businesses would find it extremely expensive.""Management and reporting need improvement.""One thing that should be improved is the reporting and monitoring tools. It should use real time monitoring for storage, IOPS, latency, etc.""Scalability is something that can be improved because there is an issue when it comes to mixing versions.""XtremIO needs to be lower priced. It also needs better endpoints and scalability.""The management should be improved and the GUI interface could be better and easier."

More Dell XtremIO Cons →

"The solution is stable. However, there have been some software crashes where we had to restart the system. They could improve the hardware to prevent this type of issue.""Hitachi should offer a distinct overview of the various storage choices.""Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform needs to improve its scalability options where there are a few shortcomings.""The user interface should be made simpler because it is difficult to manage.""The software has always been lagging a bit compared to the newer features. It usually takes a cycle for it to catch up.""For mission critical issues the performance is low.""For the support windows to work, maybe they have to upgrade the firmware of the VSP. They changed the hardware or the disk. I don't know if it was the port blade they changed or a VM for a memory cache. Also, replacing the old target with the processor target would be fine. The old equipment is very easy to manage, and I don't have any bad commentary.""It seemed like every time we turned around it was a statement of work and we'd have to pay for something that our previous vendors would not have billed us for."

More Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "We feel that the pricing is fair and the licensing process was easy for both."
  • "There is always room for negotiation."
  • "The price was slightly higher than others, but competitive, if you consider all the other features that you get from it."
  • "It is a more expensive solution, but it is worth it. You are getting what you paid for."
  • "For pricing, you have to take into account their performance on deduplication and compression in a $/GB comparison."
  • "We have seen a reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO)."
  • "It is a cheaper solution."
  • "Pure Storage is all-flash, so this sometimes tends to make it a bit more expensive in the beginning."
  • More Pure Storage FlashArray Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Pricing and licensing are in line with other products from other manufacturers. You get what you pay for."
  • "This is the best flash array on the market for high-end workloads, so expect to pay for that. But the support subscription cost is fixed for seven years, which made it easier for us to plan on the maintenance costs."
  • "It's not cheap, but it absolutely gets the job done. I don't have any real comment regarding licensing specifically."
  • "It is great when a product can deliver high-end performance capabilities while offering a very competitive price point."
  • "XtremIO is pretty straightforward about pricing. However, you need to look at your data so you can estimate, with the advice of DEL EMC, what data reduction ratio you will reach. In our case, a 3:1 reduction ration gave us a positive case compared to other storage arrays."
  • "Don’t buy this array. You’re paying for loads of magic beans, since it’s mediocre at best for a platform in a rapidly growing field. Look instead at Pure Storage or something with variable block deduplication. You’ll end up spending less and getting a better product with actual support."
  • "It is costly but worth it."
  • "With some workloads that benefit from compression and deduplication, costs are actually better than some tier 2 subsystems (while latency remains <1ms)."
  • More Dell XtremIO Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The pricing we get is very competitive when compared to other vendors. Hitachi is working on their licensing model and it is improving but can be irksome when many different items are not bundled or enterprise size."
  • "Our main issue with the Hitachi G-Series is what we consider to be an archaic software licensing scheme and high maintenance costs."
  • "It is a little expensive."
  • "I would like to see better pricing and more discounts."
  • "Pricing could be better, because the cost is very high."
  • "This solution is cheaper than Dell EMC VMAX. When you are looking for a high-end solution, price matters, but availability and stability are more important than the price."
  • "This is an expensive solution."
  • "When you are looking for high-end solutions such as this, price is less important than stability and availability."
  • More Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which All-Flash Storage solutions are best for your needs.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Comparison Review
    Anonymous User
    Leading up to EMC World 2015, IT Central Station asked how I would compare EMC XtremIO and HP 3PAR. Until recently, the flash storage conversation in my organization and many others has centered on XtremIO and Pure Storage, the leaders of the all-flash array (AFA) space. To that end, I've written a few posts already. In 2015, though, the HP giant began to rouse and challenge the mainstream status quo with its 3PAR offering. Quantifying 3PAR's platform is different from XtremIO and Pure, though, as it can seem amorphous given the many ways it can be quoted. Are you asking for all flash? 3PAR will give you that and lay claim to the best-of-breed title. Oh, but you want some mass storage akin to archival or virtual tape, too? 3PAR changes jerseys and shouts, "I'm it!" Is it, though? Let's put 3PAR against XtremIO and see how they measure up! Define the Conversation  The hard part about these comparisons and competitive analyses is that we aren't talking about products of the same species or specialization. I struggle to put it properly, but consider it this way. In pre-AFA days (the age of traditional spinners like NetApp FAS3040, EMC CLARiiON or VNX, and even last-gen 3PAR), the contest was like pitting a Toyota Camry against a Nissan Altima. They did most of the same things with minor strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Talking about XtremIO versus 3PAR 74xx is more of a discussion about construction-grade, heavy-duty cranes versus massive earth movers. They are in the… Read more →
    Answers from the Community
    Anonymous User
    reviewer357684 - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer357684 (Technical Architect at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees)
    Real User

    When we compare EMC XtremIO with HDS VSP F, there are quite a few things to be kept in the back of the mind:

    1. The EMC XtremIO is an AFA that provides only block storage. It is a scale out system and works in terms of X-Bricks. The system can scale from 1-8 X-Bricks.
    2. In terms of the benefits, the array is extremely simple to administer and support inline data efficiencies (de-dupe/compression etc).
    3. While native replication wasn’t initially available, I believe it is there now as is integration with Recoverpoint.
    4. In terms of positioning, we need to remember that, while it is an enterprise grade AFA and has been used to address Tier-0/1 requirements, it is still not the upper most echelon in the EMC hierarchy. The EMC VMAX all flash would be that.
    5. The array relies on standard eMLC disks and there have been mentions of integration with NVMe.
    6. If you are looking for metro clustering, you will need to rely on the VPLEX which can virtualize the XtremIO behind it. But this is a huge add on cost.

    1. The HDS VSP F is a Tier-1 storage array that is intended for the most demanding of apps. Additionally it is among a few arrays that support mainframe connectivity (FICON).
    2. HDS does not use standard eMLC drives but instead relies on HDS’s proprietary FMD drives which are pretty much similar to standard SSDs
    3. The VSP F conforms to standard VSP architecture and is part of the redesigned portfolio of newer VSP systems (G600, 800 and 1000).
    4. It supports enterprise grade replication, metro clustering (Global Active Device) natively.
    5. HDS offers standard data efficiency features
    6. HDS offers a data availability guarantee.

    Comparison:

    1. The selection would come down to what you are looking for. The XtremIO would probably be the less expensive option.
    2. With HDS, the product has a proven stability/reliability record. The same is true to a great deal with XtremIO.
    3. VSP F is treated as a tier-1 enterprise array that can deliver 6 ‘9’ availability which is not the case with XtremIO
    4. HDS management interface is still pretty pathetic in comparison with EMC and HDS has never taken that seriously
    5. Support is also not a huge differentiator with both EMC and HDS having global support
    6. HDS is historically known for being very rigid in terms of what they allow you to do. Typically expansions, add on configs are handled by their own people which is actually not bad but generally at an add on cost.
    7. In terms of market numbers, while XtremIO was EMC’s primary bread winner for the last 2-3 years, those numbers have come down and right now, the VMAX is dominating. HDS has been continuously losing market share and has not been innovating. These are things to consider.
    8. In short, think about the use case, data criticality, capabilities you are looking for, level of availability, expansion etc. That should cut it. On the EMC side, do remember that, XtremIO integrates with ViPR and also with vRA. You may want to explore the VMAX option. You can start small on the VMAX and it would be a better buy in the longer run.

    Conclusion:

    1. For a company of around ~500 employees, I believe the XtremIO would suffice. Think about capacity and growth. The VSP would probably be an overkill unless you have a need for such capabilities.

    it_user681915 - PeerSpot reviewerit_user681915 (Specialist with 51-200 employees)
    Vendor

    Hello,

    After trying and talking to various different NAS vendors (NetApp, EMC, Nimble, etc.)

    We decided to go with PureStorage FlashBlades and we couldn’t be happier with faster I/O’s, better latency and overall very steady performance plus very low management on the IT side.

    Huseyin Yildirim - PeerSpot reviewerHuseyin Yildirim
    Real User

    Alfred Morgan Jones did a very good job comparing EMC XtremIO and Hitachi Virtual Storage F series above. I recommend everyone to read his analysis. If someone must really make a choice between EMC XtremIO and Hitachi F series in terms of technology, reliability and support, then Hitachi F series is clear winner. Of course the nature of app. and data may change this based on whatever the criteria is. And finally money matters as well :)

    it_user627144 - PeerSpot reviewerit_user627144 (Senior Consultant)
    User

    Imho both Vendor´s have their pro´s and con´s. For our last Projects we do some POC´s with Pure with excellent results. So give them a try. POC with Pure is really easy to manage.

    it_user649044 - PeerSpot reviewerit_user649044 (Chief Information, Facility, Purchasing and Services Manager at Roma Metropolitane S.r.l.)
    Real User

    I’ve tested EMC XtremeIO two years ago, I don’t know Hitachi, but there are two things that push me to buy a Pure Storage, first is an EMC low performance with words more than 16 Kbits and the second is the design, I don’t want a big UPS in the middle of the more expensive/important storage.

    it_user454725 - PeerSpot reviewerit_user454725 (Works at a tech company with 10,001+ employees)
    Vendor

    Hi

    Have you looked at the IBM V9000, has virtualisation software, with
    microlatency modules instead of SSD drives which everyone else uses, SSD
    can also be used, other disk can also be virtualised to ensure smooth
    migration

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyEc1eLk1to

    https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?htmlfid=TSD03189USEN

    it_user425220 - PeerSpot reviewerit_user425220 (IT Architect with 1,001-5,000 employees)
    User

    I would recommend Hitachi.

    it_user651321 - PeerSpot reviewerit_user651321 (Principal System Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees)
    Vendor

    I would consider Pure Storage, //m or //x. EMC X2 ridged upgrade policy and where it should have been 2 years ago. No upgrade path from X1 - X2 so will the same be true off X2 - X3?

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Both are great platforms, but if you are considering all flash solutions, I would recommend you to consider Pure… more »
    Top Answer:We consume less physical storage because of the solution’s deduplication and compression.
    Top Answer:We have customers who use a three-year or five-year license. We also have customers who use Evergreen.
    Top Answer:Initially, we faced numerous issues with our analytical systems. However, we saw performance improvement after the… more »
    Top Answer:The license for XtremIO is in the box, so you don't have to buy anything.
    Top Answer:Dell XtremIO needs to provide better performance to keep up with new products.
    Top Answer:The deduplication is useful for us because we don't have that much money for our lab infrastructure. Deduplication means… more »
    Top Answer:One problem is that there are too many management tools for the F Series and for all the other Hitachi storage systems… more »
    Top Answer:We're only using the F Series in our lab for hosting lab infrastructure for all our colleagues. We needed fast storage.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Dell EMC XtremIO Flash, Dell EMC XtremIO X2, XtremIO, XtremIO X2
    Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform F Series, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform 5000 Series, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform E Series, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform N Series, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform G Series
    Learn More
    Overview

    Pure Storage FlashArray is the world’s first enterprise-class storage array that runs exclusively on the nonvolatile memory express (NVMe) protocol for memory access and storage. It represents a totally state-of-the-art type of storage technology. It offers users shared accelerated storage that delivers cutting-edge features in the realms of performance, simplicity, and consolidation. Pure Storage is fresh and modern today and will be for the next decade. Without forklift upgrades or planned downtime, Pure Storage takes the work out of storage ownership and delivers unprecedented customer satisfaction.

    Pure Storage FlashArray is built with simplicity and reliability in mind. The solution can be implemented and optimized in hours, as opposed to other similar solutions that can take days. It has no moving parts, which removes areas where it could potentially be vulnerable to suffering errors. It is highly stable and gives users the ability to manage system shutdowns in a way that  prevents data loss.

    Benefits of Pure Storage FlashArray

    Some of the benefits of using Pure Storage FlashArray include:

    • A much higher level of speed than similar pieces of technology. Pure Storage FlashArray maximizes the speed at which data can be transferred while at the same time minimizing system latencies that might slow the transfer down. Additionally, it offers users quick memory read and data access speeds.

    • A higher bang for your buck in terms of the storage capabilities you get for the money you pay. They are smaller in size than more standard storage technologies, but they offer flash memory, which enables users to store larger amounts of data than the current standard.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Pure Storage FlashArray is a highly effective piece of storage technology which stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its overall robustness and the value that it offers by way of its reliability and ease of use. It provides users with many valuable features that allow them to maximize what they can do with this solution. Pure Storage FlashArray’s reliability and ease of use make it a highly valuable solution. 

    PeerSpot user Prabakaran K., a technical consultant at Injazat Data Systems, notes the robustness of this solution when he writes, "FlashArray has many valuable features. It's very user-friendly and it has high availability, so there is comparatively less downtime. During maintenance, there is no shutdown procedure, so you can directly power off the Array and manage the shutdown process without any data loss, which is a unique feature. Managing replication and data migration is also very easy."

    PeerSpot user Jason D., a cloud solutions architect at a tech services company, notes three features that make this solution valuable when he writes, "We've had different types of storage, and three things of this solution are valuable. The first one is its outstanding performance. The second one is its stability. In the about three years that we've had it, we've had component failures, but we never had a service interruption or any data loss. The third one, which is really critical, is that it is super easy to use in terms of provisioning, storage, and managing the arrays. I'm able to maintain a multi-site environment with a couple of dozen arrays with a single mid-level storage admin."

    Bring all-flash, scale-out storage to your enterprise applications with EMC XtremIO. Purpose-built for flash, XtremIO storage arrays are amazingly fast. Delivering high IOPS at less than 1 millisecond latency is just the start. EMC XtremIO helps you harness the power of flash storage by building in innovations like content-based data placement and dual-stage metadata.

    RETHINK YOUR DEFINITION OF SPEED AND PERFORMANCE

    With adaptive, guaranteed data reduction and a 100% data-availability guarantee, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform F series helps you tackle complicated business challenges. Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) VSP F series delivers up to 4.8M IOPS with sub-millisecond response times.
    Featuring legendary Hitachi reliability, VSP F series arrays are backed by the industries only 100% availability guarantee. For these reasons, 80% of the Fortune 500 choose Hitachi all-flash arrays to accelerate the performance of mission-critical applications like Oracle, SAP, Virtualization, Microsoft apps etc. With over 350 patents in flash technology, Hitachi’s innovative mix of flash hardware and software accelerates ROI with enterprise-class reliability and performance.

    Sample Customers
    Nielsen, Lamar Advertising, LinkedIn, Betfair, UT-Dallas
    Raiffeisen Bank Bulgaria, Wentworth-Douglas Hospital
    Turkcell, Owens Corning, Region Nord, Net Credit Financial Group (NFC Group), Russian Railways
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Healthcare Company12%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Computer Software Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization32%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm29%
    Healthcare Company14%
    Insurance Company11%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Government6%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider21%
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Government14%
    Computer Software Company11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company20%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise57%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise41%
    Large Enterprise42%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise56%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise68%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise43%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise58%
    Buyer's Guide
    Dell XtremIO vs. Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Dell XtremIO vs. Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Dell XtremIO is ranked 25th in All-Flash Storage with 48 reviews while Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform is ranked 8th in All-Flash Storage with 47 reviews. Dell XtremIO is rated 7.6, while Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Dell XtremIO writes "Suitable for high IOPS and helps get backup in ten minutes ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform writes "It's a high-performing solution with strong architecture". Dell XtremIO is most compared with Dell PowerStore, Dell PowerMax NVMe, Dell Unity XT, NetApp AFF and INFINIDAT InfiniBox, whereas Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform is most compared with IBM FlashSystem, Dell PowerStore, NetApp AFF, Dell Unity XT and NetApp FAS Series. See our Dell XtremIO vs. Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform report.

    See our list of best All-Flash Storage vendors.

    We monitor all All-Flash Storage 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.