FlexPod XCS vs Vblock [EOL] comparison

FlexPod XCS
Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews
  • 874 Views
  • 399 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
Vblock [EOL]
Read 24 Vblock [EOL] reviews
    84% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive Summary
    We performed a comparison between FlexPod XCS and Vblock [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

    Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, NetApp, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Converged Infrastructure.

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    May 2024
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    Categories and Ranking

    FlexPod XCS
    Average Rating
    8.6
    Number of Reviews
    295
    Ranking in other categories
    Converged Infrastructure (2nd)
    Vblock [EOL]
    Average Rating
    8.0
    Number of Reviews
    24
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
     

    Market share comparison

    As of June 2024, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the market share of FlexPod XCS is 14.8% and it increased by 69.9% compared to the previous year. The market share of Vblock [EOL] is 1.1% and it increased by 56.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
    Converged Infrastructure
    Unique Categories:
    No other categories found
     

    Featured Reviews

    it_user527241 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Jan 2, 2017
    It is easy to use. If you follow the reference document how to set it up, it provides a stable environment.
    I don't think there's much to be improved with the tool since you can now scale out storage. Before that, this was a shortcoming in that you had to upgrade the head every time. I would like to see the ability to combine a couple of FlexPods into a cluster. You cannot do that now. You cannot combine two FlexPods into a single entity, into a larger FlexPod. To the best of my knowledge, FlexPods are meant to be in silos and you cannot create clusters at all. If there is a way to do that, that would be interesting. If there could be a FlexPod management piece, then you could manage all your FlexPods from a single console. That piece is missing even though there are some NetApp tools where you can manage. However, those management tools are specific for the storage. I would like to be able to manage FlexPod as a single entity for all the different components. If there could be a single tool which can monitor all of them together, that would definitely give a big edge. It would be great if you could manage all of your FlexPods from a single location.
    Read full review
    FA
    Jul 19, 2019
    The VCE VBlocks came along and it was the best combination of an all-in-one virtual data center in a box Converged SAN, Network, and Compute that used VMware to drive the whole package.
    The original pair of VBlock’s were purchased to replace a hodgepodge of small VM clusters of 3 to 4 VM hosts and an outdated SAN, in addition to moving from an old data center to a new data center. Moving the VM’s from the old systems to the new VBlock --which had more shared resources and a newer VMware version-- was a big win. Once in place, we virtualized as many servers as could be converted from freestanding servers to a VM. The only exception was when the licensing of an application was cost prohibitive; we keep these on stand-alone hosts. This was mainly due to application licensing bias, rather than limits on virtualization.
    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 best thing about this solution is the tight integration with VMware, Cisco, and NetApp from both a hardware and software perspective."
    "Large and small companies do not have time to design the compute, the amount of storage, and how it works together. They are buying pre-proven, pretested solutions with reference architectures already in place."
    "The solution’s unified support for the entire stack provides one stop shopping."
    "It is innovative because it's bare metal and you can customize it easily. This brings a lot of benefits to the solution."
    "It took a server room where we had 280 servers and another with 180 and condensed them from 15 racks down to three racks. It's helping us in the data center with all our environmentals... In addition, we're getting the ability of VMware, which is virtualization, so now we have redundancy on all of our boxes, instead of them being physical."
    "The most valuable feature is the one call number for support and the fact that all the documentation comes with it. They have all of the preprepared plans for the deployment model and we can just choose which one we want for VMware, etc. The hardware is all listed. We buy that and away we go. It's called validated design."
    "Software flexibility. Everything is fully configurable. The reliability results from the design. Elements are well projected (disks, blade, network, etc.). No single point of failure is identifiable."
    "The advantage is being able to consolidate everything into a relatively small chassis."
    More FlexPod XCS pros
    "Capability for scale and growth within a single rack brings strong possibilities for capacity planning."
    "Access to VMs is now faster due to the centralized management console."
    "​It has improved system performance, batch times for off-hours processing, and reliability with production applications.​"
    "Systems run solidly."
    "The high redundancy of components has minimized frequent service degradation/failure."
    "Some of the key features are the ease of operation and access, without constraining actions. The tool is available to actually move things around, do things quickly quickly."
    "It's an integrated box Mac solution, so it's a plug and play. The deployment and build is pre-made and ready to deploy. It makes it easy to apply."
    "The most valuable features are reliability and high availability."
    More Vblock [EOL] pros
     

    Cons

    "The networking configurations with UCS need improvement."
    "I would like to see more cloud-centric modules that are specific to applications and more software-based solutions. That's all that is missing."
    "On the UCS side, sometimes it is difficult to set up."
    "They should have an easier user interface to get it up and running."
    "We would like to have more monitoring and reporting, because today some of the reporting, and if you purchase it separately is expensive. We use OnCommand Unified Manager today, which is great, but we are looking for more of that."
    "As the industry as a whole is moving more toward the simplification of IT, that is something where both Cisco and NetApp could look to improve further. Just simplifying the day to day management, the day to day issues that arise, and building more intuitiveness into the interfaces would help."
    "One touch upgrades would be nice."
    "Perhaps having a unified interface for managing the entire company could lead to improved efficiency and performance."
    More FlexPod XCS cons
    "VCE tools, like Vision or AMP were not stand alone, and depended too much on other management consoles."
    "Troublesome relationships with VCE at the beginning of our use came undone quickly after we went live."
    "The implementation and support could be better."
    "It needs more customer/client involvement in back-end management."
    "While most public clouds are deployed on Linux, there is current no certified Vblock working on KVM hypervisors."
    "With respect to the technical support, there is room for improvement."
    "RCM upgrades are painful."
    "I would like to see them improve their switching infrastructure and rely on Cisco configurations. They are a bit more complex and technical, but result in a slightly reduced cost in terms of switching on the network side of it."
    More Vblock [EOL] cons
     

    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."
    "We have absolutely seen ROI. We have saved between two to four million dollars on travel alone over the past 24 months."
    "It is cheaper than other products. For example, Dell EMC VxBlock is more expensive."
    "Our licensing costs are about $50,000 per year."
    "We have saved 50 percent on new service deployments."
    "We have seen a five to ten percent savings on new service deployments."
    "We have seen our data center rack space collapse about 90 percent. We have a data center which only has two racks now out of the 20 that were there previously."
    "The product's pricing is high and I would rate it a nine out of ten."
    More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice
    "It is not cheap."
    "Vblock appears from the first while to be very expensive. There are more items you cannot see in the BOQ: customer service, support, delivery short time, and highly experienced VCE engineers."
    "Strive for a consolidated ELA."
    "I think the pricing is on the higher end of the spectrum. There could be some adjustments that could be made there. Regarding licensing, watch compatibility with external products that you run on Vblock. It has got to be properly architected, otherwise, you will run into licensing issues."
    "I would not say the pricing is not good value. It is still on the expensive side, near the top-end of cost compared to what's available now. Also, the licensing has to be improved. There has to be a clear definition of the licensing from the initial set-up so the customer knows what they are paying for, without being hit later on with extra licensing. The licensing definitions should be clearer and, perhaps, have one set of licenses rather than multiple licenses."
    "The paid support for Vblock is expensive."
    "Related to tech support: I believe it is too expensive."
    "Vblock is priced at a premium because people don't want the headache of managing and deploying different products."
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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
    18%
    Computer Software Company
    15%
    Government
    8%
    Educational Organization
    8%
    No data available
     

    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...
    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
    Ask a question
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    Comparisons

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    Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs FlexPod XCS
    Compared 14% of the time
    VxRail vs FlexPod XCS Logo
    VxRail vs FlexPod XCS
    Compared 12% of the time
    Oracle Exadata vs FlexPod XCS Logo
    Oracle Exadata vs FlexPod XCS
    Compared 11% of the time
    Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS Logo
    Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS
    Compared 11% of the time
    More FlexPod XCS Competitors
    No data available
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    FlexPod XCS
    June 2024
    FlexPod XCS reportDownload FlexPod XCS product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Vblock [EOL]
    May 2024
    Vblock [EOL] reportDownload Vblock [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    No data available
    VCE Vblock
     

    Learn More

    NetApp
    Dell Technologies
     

    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.

    VCE Vblock Systems is an all-in-one virtualization platform that integrates the leading storage, network, and compute technologies from the likes of EMC, VMware and Cisco. VCE Vblock allows organizations to easily and securely deploy cloud computing and virtualization in their environments, supporting these multiple technologies and providing flexibility and agility for changing business needs.

     

    Sample Customers

    University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
    Xerox, ACS, and Columbia Sportswear.
    Buyer's Guide
    Converged Infrastructure
    May 2024
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