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FlexPod XCS vs HPE ConvergedSystem 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

FlexPod XCS
Ranking in Converged Infrastructure
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
295
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE ConvergedSystem
Ranking in Converged Infrastructure
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure for SAP HANA (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 12.8%, up from 9.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ConvergedSystem is 10.9%, down from 18.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Converged Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
FlexPod XCS12.8%
HPE ConvergedSystem10.9%
Other76.3%
Converged Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

John Kevin - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
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.
PF
Project Engineer at Astellas Pharma US
With good integration and expansion capabilities, the tool also offers good technical support
It is a solution that we could expand in our company. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten. Our company has 400 users, all of whom have used it at one point or the other. All of the departments are involved in the usage of the tool.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of the solution are the ease of support and industry leading technology – in storage, servers and networking, as well as virtualization."
"Our good luck with NetApp made the decision for us when it was time for a refresh."
"You can add more boxes and you can have more IOPS available if you want. It's very easy to add new hardware to the cluster."
"This is a very stable product and we have had really good luck with it, so I would recommend it to a colleague at another company."
"It's amazingly scalable. It just works. It can expand to large MetroClusters and keep expanding."
"For anybody wanting to get a small system to actually teach on as well as learn and use, you can't beat FlexPod."
"NetApp is always coming up with features that I want before I know that I want them."
"Their support is dynamite, and it's a lot easier to escalate with NetApp than with VMware."
"This is a scalable solution; our customers begin with an initial configuration and later add more servers, memory, and other options to meet the demands of increased processing."
"We find the deduplication and compression features to be most valuable, as well as that of the backup solution inside."
"This is a scalable solution. Our customers begin with an initial configuration and later add more servers, memory and other options to meet the demands of increased processing."
"It's a great solution that is very secure, and very easy to configure."
"The best value was in the service because we receive the solution as a managed service from HPE, so it's a box somewhere in the data center that we don't care about, it's always running and so far, no problems."
"The most valuable features of the solution are the flexibility and the availability of the machines."
"The solution is incredibly stable; it's one of the great advantages of the product, and we've never faced any problems when it comes to stability."
"The most valuable features of HPE ConvergedSystem are scalability and resilience."
 

Cons

"NetApp is a bit more complicated to set up than everything else."
"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."
"When we do call in for support, the Cisco side of it is fairly poor until you get past tier 1."
"For the initial customer or engineer, installing for the first time, this product sometimes is challenging to set up."
"The GPU based VDA solutions could use improvement."
"We would like more security features."
"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 have had some problems with SnapSuite and the replication functionality."
"There is some scope for improvement in support. The response time could be better."
"I think the MTG inside HP could be improved."
"I would like to see monitoring solutions included, as well as brand support."
"This is an expensive solution and could be improved with lower pricing."
"HPE ConvergedSystem needs to improve its management. I would like the tool to add cloud management features so that the system can be accessed anywhere from the cloud."
"Features that should be addressed concern the HPE functionality and the interaction with VMware."
"Technical support hasn't seemed to be that simple or that easy."
"The MTG inside HP could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The pricing and licensing are quite expensive. However, compared to other solutions, it is okay."
"We purchased the solution through CDW. They are a partner and knowledgeable."
"Cost is the primary factor behind why I would not give this product a perfect rating."
"Buy storage based on the solutions you need, the technologies you need, and what will make your life a lot easier down the road."
"You get better management and orchestration, but it still costs you money."
"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."
"We purchased from CDW•G. They are great partners on the government side."
"There are some extra costs in addition to the licensing costs for the yearly maintenance from professional third-party services."
"This is an expensive solution."
"This is an expensive system and not every customer has the kind of budget to support it."
"The pricing is sensitive."
"My company has a five year contract for HPE ConvergedSystem. The contracts depend on companies and sometimes it can be three years. The solution is worth its price."
"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."
"I rate the product price an eight and a half on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"The pricing is competitive. Not a major problem. We have a subscription model."
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Comparison Review

it_user244362 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Consultant with 51-200 employees
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
20%
Marketing Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise66
Large Enterprise182
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise13
 

Also Known As

No data available
HPE ConvergedSystem 700, HPE ConvergedSystem for SAP HANA, CS500, HPE ConvergedSystem 900, HPE ConvergedSystem 500, HPE ConvergedSystem 300
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
FAW-Volkswagen, NICS, NBrIX, Pinpoint, HPE Technology Services, SWS, Ko Sistem, HPE
Find out what your peers are saying about FlexPod XCS vs. HPE ConvergedSystem and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.