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FlexPod XCS vs HPE Hyper Converged comparison

The compared NetApp and Hewlett Packard Enterprise solutions aren't in the same category. NetApp is ranked #6 in CI , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 9.2% mindshare in the category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #12 in HCI , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 3.2% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.
FlexPod XCS
Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews
  • 1,703 Views
  • 630 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
HPE Hyper Converged
Read 37 HPE Hyper Converged reviews
  • 2,091 Views
  • 2,007 Comparison Views
97% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

FlexPod XCS and HPE Hyper Converged are advanced data center solutions. FlexPod XCS appears to have the upper hand due to better pricing and support, while HPE Hyper Converged is noted for superior features and management.

Features: FlexPod XCS offers robust hardware integration, exceptional performance, and scalability. HPE Hyper Converged provides simplified management, flexibility, and a comprehensive solution set.

Room for Improvement: FlexPod XCS needs better software updates, more intuitive management tools, and enhanced analytics. HPE Hyper Converged requires improved analytical capabilities, more streamlined support, and stronger software updates.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: FlexPod XCS is known for straightforward deployment and mixed support reviews. HPE Hyper Converged offers quick deployment and responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: FlexPod XCS is competitively priced with a good ROI. HPE Hyper Converged, although more expensive, offers significant value in terms of features and ROI.

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Converged Infrastructure
August 2025
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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
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
295
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (6th)
HPE Hyper Converged
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
HCI (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Storage Solutions solutions, they serve different purposes. FlexPod XCS is designed for Converged Infrastructure and holds a mindshare of 9.2%, down 10.0% compared to last year.
HPE Hyper Converged, on the other hand, focuses on HCI, holds 3.2% mindshare, up 3.0% since last year.
Converged Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
FlexPod XCS9.2%
Dell PowerEdge VRTX19.4%
HPE ConvergedSystem17.7%
Other53.7%
Converged Infrastructure
HCI Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
HPE Hyper Converged3.2%
VxRail17.0%
VMware vSAN14.4%
Other65.4%
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Read full review
GosayeErko - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure management simplifies for clients with integrated interface and enhanced resource utilization
Currently, the HPE HCI is based on the VMware solution, and most clients are skipping VMware because VMware has changed its licensing method. If HPE starts to use its own hypervisor for its HCI solutions, it will be the best solution. We push a different vendor for the backup and replication, so we only use the HCI, then we use Veeam for the backup and replication section.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The Cisco Validated Designs are the most valuable feature along with the Industry-leading technology, put together; and the fact that it just works."
"Performance-wise, it is actually doing quite well. The end users are very happy with it."
"The Validated Designs are very good because they act as a reference to see whether we have done things properly."
"It simplifies everything. It gives you a single place to go if you need support or if you need to expand."
"Technical support has been good when we have contacted them in the past. They have been helpful."
"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."
"The initial setup is straightforward. It is all interface-based, so point and click."
"The most significant benefit is storage flexibility. FlexPod is a reference design to build on and add the appropriate resources you need for your workloads. That's what differentiates it from something like HCI, where you have to buy certain size pieces when you want to expand."
More FlexPod XCS pros
"The product enables me to use any software or database."
"Hyper Converge is easier to manage and performs better than traditional infrastructure."
"If you were comparing this solution to VMware, it has more features, and it's very fast on the recovery."
"The features of HPE Hyper Converged that are most effective and beneficial are its simplicity as well as its scalability."
"What I really like about this program, is that it needs little space and it works really fast, so it saves us time."
"HPE Hyper Converged is stable."
"Ease of management, as I come from a software background, and I'm responsible for IT overall. I can get in there and turn some nuts and bolts and make things happen without any trouble."
"It is a scalable solution."
More HPE Hyper Converged pros
 

Cons

"The networking configurations with UCS need improvement."
"They should cram more space in there and find a way to compress things more; dedupe better."
"We would like them to have better features to integrate with the cloud."
"The integration between both companies, Cisco and NetApp, is very good but it still needs to be enhanced in terms of visibility and observability."
"Installation with FlexPod is a bit complex, but it can be upgraded easily. I think Flexpod is phasing out, but it is still the right solution."
"I'd like them to bring back the GUI for NetApp ONTAP. They changed the interface in version 9.8, and it's not great. In 9.9 they've tried to bring it back a little bit, but it's still not great."
"Not a ten because it could always be cheaper, it could always be faster."
"I had one problem at the site where I had an aggregate that would not shrink after I had deleted some stuff. It took a few tries to get the right guy on the call. We do have a NetApp SAM with our company, and it really took getting to him to get the solution fixed."
More FlexPod XCS cons
"Currently, the HPE HCI is based on the VMware solution, and many clients are skipping VMware due to its changed licensing method."
"The price can be improved. We would like to see support for some open source virtualization technology like for example KVM."
"The solution is not very stable."
"The solution needs to add a module or plugin of vCenter for clear monitoring and insights."
"Some improvement is required in the availability of the data and performance. The solution is too expensive for our customers. The pricing should be lower."
"If the solution could further compress the data, it would use less storage."
"It is very complicated to migrate to another domain. When we have one domain and want to move to another domain, we need to destroy the cluster on the HPE Hyper Converged system, and we need to change the IP sub-network and IP service."
"I would like to see improvement in the hardware underneath it. Currently, it's a Gen9 DL380. One day, there will be a Gen10 DL380 and maybe they will have bigger or smaller sizes."
More HPE Hyper Converged cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution has saved our customers' organization in terms of CapEx. E.g., with the cloud availability, it's turned into sort of a hybrid CapEx/OpEx model."
"Pricing is always tough. We need to get to a point where the customer's happy. Then, as partners, we are also happy."
"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."
"The cost is a little high."
"In terms of the cost, the last bill I saw was about $3.5 million, from the latest contract. That might have been for a five-year contract."
"The scalability is very expensive."
"Pricing and licensing is very affordable from a FlexPod perspective."
"It has saved us hundreds of man-hours by using this converged infrastructure."
More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The entire solution is packaged with all licenses and support."
"The solutions cost us a lot."
"The price per value compared to other solutions, like Nutanix and SimpliVity. (We made the deal before approval of HPE SimpliVity deal)."
"The solution is expensive - not only the hardware costs but server costs too. And the more you scale, the more expensive it gets."
"It could be cheaper, everything could be cheaper."
"Pricing with Dell EMC is double the price which I paid for HPE. However, in the end, Dell EMC is double in performance. This is not an apple to apple comparison though, as I have a four node from Dell EMC and a three node."
"HPE Hyper Converged is an affordable solution."
More HPE Hyper Converged pricing and cost advice
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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…
Read full review
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
20%
Educational Organization
15%
Performing Arts
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

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 Business18
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

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.
See all answers
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...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
What do you like most about HPE Hyper Converged?
The solution's most valuable features are scalability, easy migration, easy recovery, and flexible backup possibilities.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Hyper Converged?
The product is intermediate in price, neither expensive nor cheap. We are talking about an on-premises solution without licensing for years. Currently, licensing is required for VMs and CPU cores. ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with HPE Hyper Converged?
It is very complicated to migrate to another domain. When we have one domain and want to move to another domain, we need to destroy the cluster on the HPE Hyper Converged system, and we need to cha...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Dell PowerFlex vs FlexPod XCS Logo
Dell PowerFlex vs FlexPod XCS
Compared 25% of the time
Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs FlexPod XCS Logo
Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs FlexPod XCS
Compared 13% of the time
Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS Logo
Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS
Compared 10% of the time
VMware vSAN vs FlexPod XCS Logo
VMware vSAN vs FlexPod XCS
Compared 9% of the time
HPE ConvergedSystem vs FlexPod XCS Logo
HPE ConvergedSystem vs FlexPod XCS
Compared 9% of the time
More FlexPod XCS Competitors
VxRail vs HPE Hyper Converged Logo
VxRail vs HPE Hyper Converged
Compared 32% of the time
Dell PowerFlex vs HPE Hyper Converged Logo
Dell PowerFlex vs HPE Hyper Converged
Compared 16% of the time
VMware vSAN vs HPE Hyper Converged Logo
VMware vSAN vs HPE Hyper Converged
Compared 8% of the time
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs HPE Hyper Converged Logo
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs HPE Hyper Converged
Compared 7% of the time
More HPE Hyper Converged Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
FlexPod XCS
August 2025
FlexPod XCS reportDownload FlexPod XCS product report
Buyer's Guide
HPE Hyper Converged
August 2025
HPE Hyper Converged reportDownload HPE Hyper Converged product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
HPE Hyper Converged 380, HPE Hyper Converged 250, HPE Hyper Converged 250 for Microsoft CPS
 

Overview

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.

NetApp

HPE Hyper Converged solutions combine intuitive software with the reliability of a world class platform to deliver cloud-like simplicity to your business.

Now, IT can become an internal service provider to end-users by quickly delivering the resources they need for application development and consumption. With HPE Hyper Converged systems companies can operate with cloud efficiency to simplify IT operations with one comprehensive control panel to deploy, monitor, analyze and update – with a single generalist; consume with cloud flexibility to deliver a cloud-like experience, with multi-tenant workspaces that eliminate stranded resources and flexes on demand; and deploy at cloud speed to empower developers and lines-of-business with a self-service portal that can instantly compose and recompose VMs in minutes. Built-in enterprise grade features, such as performance and resiliency enable HPE Hyper Converged systems to easily handle a wide variety of virtualized workloads, including general purpose virtualization, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), and cloud.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise
 

Sample Customers

University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
North Lindsey College, FireWhat?, HudsonAlpha
Buyer's Guide
Converged Infrastructure
August 2025
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