FlexPod XCS vs Rackspace OpenStack comparison

NetApp and Rackspace Technology are both solutions in the Converged Infrastructure category. NetApp is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3, while Rackspace Technology is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.4. NetApp holds a 9.2% mindshare in CI, compared to Rackspace Technology’s 4.6% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Rackspace Technology users who would recommend it.

FlexPod XCS

Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews

1,703 Views
630 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Rackspace OpenStack

Read 12 Rackspace OpenStack reviews

674 Views
101 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

FlexPod XCS

Rackspace OpenStack

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

Rackspace OpenStack and FlexPod XCS are competing in the cloud infrastructure category. Rackspace OpenStack has the upper hand in scalability and flexibility due to its open-source nature, while FlexPod XCS shines in performance and integration through its pre-engineered solutions.

Features: Rackspace OpenStack offers an open-source architecture with a high degree of customization options, making it ideal for those needing extensive control over their cloud environments. It supports scalability and seamless integration with various third-party tools, enhancing cloud deployment flexibility. FlexPod XCS provides integrated infrastructure utilizing Cisco and NetApp technologies, ensuring performance optimization and reliability. Its design enables simplified deployment and excellent scalability, supporting robust performance for high-demand workloads.

Room for Improvement: Rackspace OpenStack could improve by simplifying its deployment process and enhancing user interface usability for less tech-savvy users. Supporting more out-of-the-box integrations with popular enterprise applications could also increase its attractiveness. Additionally, offering better documentation and educational resources might help users maximize the platform's capabilities. FlexPod XCS might benefit from more competitive pricing models to reach a broader audience. Its hardware dependence may limit customization options, suggesting potential enhancements towards software-defined configurations. Furthermore, expanding its integration capabilities with non-Cisco or NetApp solutions could also add value for diverse IT environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Rackspace OpenStack requires a more intricate deployment process due to its customization options; however, it excels in offering tailored customer support that helps users address specific needs. FlexPod XCS boasts a simpler deployment process due to its pre-integrated design, reducing the time and complexity involved in setup. Its customer service benefits from industry partnerships, providing a robust support network.

Pricing and ROI: Rackspace OpenStack typically features lower upfront costs owing to its open-source nature, presenting a favorable ROI for businesses capable of managing in-house solutions. On the other hand, FlexPod XCS demands a higher initial investment due to its engineered infrastructure but potentially offers better ROI over time by minimizing operational complexities and maximizing efficiency. Businesses should weigh the cost savings of OpenStack's flexibility against FlexPod's reduced management overhead and enhanced productivity.

To learn more, read our detailed FlexPod XCS vs. Rackspace OpenStack Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS vs. Rackspace OpenStack

July 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

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

6th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

295

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Rackspace OpenStack

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 9.2%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rackspace OpenStack is 4.6%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Converged Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

John Kevin

Deputy IT Manager at MBBank

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

Hai Dinh Van

Cloud Center Manager at FPT

Open-source nature enables seamless cloud management and customer transition

We deploy layer three managed services, and our customers manage layer two services. We combine the two-layer services and deliver them to our customers The open-source nature of OpenStack provides significant value. It allows for three-word cloud management, maintaining a stable customer…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It runs our VMs. Our SQL databases are all on VMs, so everything is virtualized."

"It reduced the total cost of ownership."

"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 is the overall collaboration between NetApp and Cisco to come up with a product that is best in class and best in breed. You are bringing together the best things about UCS and NetApp, as well as you are tying it together with the Nexus fabric."

"The consistent delivery that we receive from the products. We deliver it to different customers, and we know it will be a consistent end-to-end solution as well."

"The advantage is being able to consolidate everything into a relatively small chassis."

"The solution is resilient, because it has good scalability, and other products in the market don't have this. It has scalable storage and service."

"We have absolutely been able to save space."

More FlexPod XCS pros

"The documentation was plentiful and very helpful."

"The most valuable feature is the customization. With the customization you can really give the customers what they want."

"I like its integration with GitLab and its simplicity. OpenStack has a lot of third-party libraries that it uses."

"The open-source nature of OpenStack provides significant value."

"Rackspace OpenStack is stable and reliable, often compared favorably against other solutions."

"It was a very flexible and scalable solution. It was very useful because we were not dependent on a single vendor's solution. Increasing the number of machines or changing the hardware configuration was very easy."

"Apart from the main features, I really appreciate OpenStack's microservices architecture and its flexibility for deployment with different tools."

"The solution is stable."

More Rackspace OpenStack pros

Cons

"There could be room for improvement in terms of offering more flexibility in CBD options."

"The GPU based VDA solutions could use improvement."

"It would be great to see some form of interoperability between the FAS units and the E-Series, specifically for replication, even if it is just one more replication from a FAS to an E-Series. That would be amazing."

"We would like more security features."

"Some of the define features could use improvement."

"The solution could be improved by including automation for user updates."

"FlexPod XCS needs to improve its pricing."

"The majority of the time, if we need more storage, then we need to work with customizing the NetApp deployment. Right now, we just do a generic deployment, then wherever we have a need for storage, we have to move some application out of the next FlexPod deployment. One thing is to customize based on the requirements, but the requirements change so frequently, they are absolutely obsolete in six months."

More FlexPod XCS cons

"The line migration is a problem."

"It could use more examples in different languages (API use cases)."

"The pricing of Rackspace is quite high in the Vietnam market."

"VMware has a side-to-side replication feature, which is still more mature than Rackspace OpenStack's which can't be used in a production environment."

"The deployment process could be easy."

"OpenStack's UI, while user-friendly, could be improved to offer a more intuitive experience."

"It should have a single dashboard for cloud management and on-premises systems"

"The seamless integration between MySQL services and the rabbitMQ database can be revised during the debugging phase."

More Rackspace OpenStack cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"The footprint in the data center is quite large, especially when you scale out. Maybe find some hardware in the future, where if a new blade comes out, then Cisco can say, "Look, we'll buy those blades back off you, and we'll give you this blade for X amount of money." A buyback scheme would be good for hardware, and even NetApp as well. Something like a buyback scheme for blades and stuff moving forward would be good, because I know that they're going to put more power into them. E.g., replacing four blades might equal one blade, which would be awesome, but we are still going to have those four blades around. Maybe having something where it will give you this much money for these blades so we can upgrade. That would be perfect."

"Everything is purchased, so we do not do any leasing with this product."

"The main return on investment would be that instead of having to refresh all of our desktop hardware we have been able to go reimage existing machines and use those as thin clients, then also purchase new thin clients rather than buying actual hardware. It also reduces the overhead of having our technicians deploy those systems and maintain them."

"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 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."

"We can just swap in new equipment or hardware as we need, which has probably saved us several weeks."

"Pricing is always tough. We need to get to a point where the customer's happy. Then, as partners, we are also happy."

More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is low."

"I use it as an open-source tool."

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Comparison Review

it_user244362

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…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

20%

Educational Organization

15%

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

11%

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

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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...

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What do you like most about Rackspace OpenStack?

Apart from the main features, I really appreciate OpenStack's microservices architecture and its flexibility for deployment with different tools.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rackspace OpenStack?

The pricing of Rackspace is quite high in the Vietnam market. It would be beneficial to see developments in features like threat prevention and analytics tools for network security within OpenStack.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Rackspace OpenStack?

We deploy layer three managed services, and our customers manage layer two services. We combine the two-layer services and deliver them to our customers.

See all answers

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Compared 38% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 29% of the time

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 17% of the time

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Compared 16% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS

August 2025

Download FlexPod XCS product report

Buyer's Guide

Rackspace OpenStack

August 2025

Download Rackspace OpenStack product report

Also Known As

No data available

OpenStack

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

OpenStack is an open and scalable cloud operating system for building public and private clouds. It provides both large and small organizations an alternative to closed cloud environments, reducing the risk of lock-in associated with proprietary platforms.

Rackspace Technology

Sample Customers

University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group

X.commerce

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS vs. Rackspace OpenStack

July 2025

Free Report: FlexPod XCS vs. Rackspace OpenStack

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