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FlexPod XCS vs Vblock [EOL] comparison

NetApp and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the Converged Infrastructure category. Additionally, 96% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 84% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.
FlexPod XCS
Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews
  • 1,666 Views
  • 583 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, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Oracle and others in Converged Infrastructure.

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    Buyer's Guide
    Converged Infrastructure
    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
    Average Rating
    8.6
    Reviews Sentiment
    7.1
    Number of Reviews
    295
    Ranking in other categories
    Converged Infrastructure (5th)
    Vblock [EOL]
    Average Rating
    8.0
    Number of Reviews
    24
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
     

    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
    TS
    Centrally-managed and stable, but the initial setup could be made simpler and technical support can be improved
    There is a different platform and there are different interfaces for different parts of the product. Although there are some centralized components, you still manage each component using its own set of tools. There is definitely room for improvement in this regard. I would like to have a catalogue like menu where you simply define your end computing needs and the rest would be taken care of internally. The initial setup could be unified to make it simpler.
    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 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."
    "The Validated Designs are very good because they act as a reference to see whether we have done things properly."
    "FlexPod gives us the opportunity to deploy a product which is fully built and racked with minimal touch installation when it arrives onsite, so we can do all the configuration remotely."
    "It reduces the time required to dynamically provide applications to our end users and developers."
    "The initial setup is not complex. It is user-friendly since it is a single solution with all the components delivered in one package."
    "NetApp is always coming up with features that I want before I know that I want them."
    "It's all converged into one consolidated platform, which works well together."
    "Since the addition of nodes, it is all automated now. What would normally take us around three to five hours in the past, has come down to 15 minutes to half an hour, creating a significant gain in time."
    More FlexPod XCS pros
    "The component integration means I don't have to worry about technology mismatches."
    "UCS Manager worked well for net/blade management and has allowed fairly easy use of dedicated bare-metal blades."
    "Capability for scale and growth within a single rack brings strong possibilities for capacity planning."
    "​We have seen measurable increases in our system performance. Those increases have been directly measurable in application performance and the delivery of critical business information to our users.​"
    "​The XtremIO All-Flash array delivers​ performance, reliability, and deduplication."
    "The high redundancy of components has minimized frequent service degradation/failure."
    "​It has improved system performance, batch times for off-hours processing, and reliability with production applications.​"
    "Systems run solidly."
    More Vblock [EOL] pros
     

    Cons

    "Areas for improvement would be the support for the engineering team, who seem to have no clue when you open a case, the communication with and recognition of resellers, and the documentation, with could be more detailed."
    "There is a lot of documentation that has to be reviewed before you go through an upgrade. It is not as straightforward as some other solutions."
    "The solution has not reduced our data center costs."
    "The last two calls that I have made to NetApp support have been handled too casually. People are too lax, not quite as professional as I would have liked."
    "They should have an easier user interface to get it up and running."
    "I think it is sufficient for now, but in the next generation, I'd just like to see bigger, faster, and better."
    "The upgrades should be improved. We would like to have the ability to do unified upgrades of the whole infrastructure from beginning to end."
    "I would like to see them reduce the complexity, that would be my number one request because. Right now, doing simple things is pretty complex. You have so many options. It might be better if it were more wizard-driven, as opposed to going through five hundred dials. It's not very easy or intuitive."
    More FlexPod XCS cons
    "The integration with other vendors' products needs to be looked at. It's not as flexible as we would like it to be."
    "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."
    "RCM upgrades were not scripted, and you needed to roll on your own. We were led to believe this would be otherwise."
    "The user control could be more advanced. They should work to improve this in future releases."
    "OEM services requires too much planning and low availability of certified engineers."
    "VCE tools, like Vision or AMP were not stand alone, and depended too much on other management consoles."
    "Improve the patching process and timeliness of updates/releases."
    "Tighter alignment could simplify and speed up the configuration and delivery process.​"
    More Vblock [EOL] cons
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "Make sure you are buying for performance, not just capacity."
    "Licensing can be interesting with the new version because of the Intersight integration. I don't know what that looks like yet. I have seen some of the different licensing models, but with the new purchasing, all customers are going to have to buy some sort of Intersight licensing with the Blades or FlexPod. I am curious to see how that option shakes out. Previous to the UCS X-Series, the licensing was the same."
    "We have saved 50 percent on new service deployments."
    "The scalability is very expensive."
    "The scalability is very good. I wish it was a more cost-effective, but you get what you pay for."
    "The pricing is not cheaper, but stability is more important for us now. We focus on business gains, not static numbers."
    "It is cheaper than other products. For example, Dell EMC VxBlock is more expensive."
    "The FlexPod licensing can adjust to your purse, i.e. there are different levels available for businesses of all sizes."
    More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice
    "The paid support for Vblock is expensive."
    "Vblock is priced at a premium because people don't want the headache of managing and deploying different products."
    "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."
    "It is not cheap."
    "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."
    "Strive for a consolidated ELA."
    "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."
    "Related to tech support: I believe it is too expensive."
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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
    13%
    Financial Services Firm
    9%
    Computer Software Company
    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
    Earn 20 points
     

    Comparisons

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    Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs FlexPod XCS Logo
    Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs FlexPod XCS
    Compared 15% of the time
    HPE Hyper Converged vs FlexPod XCS Logo
    HPE Hyper Converged vs FlexPod XCS
    Compared 15% of the time
    VMware vSAN vs FlexPod XCS Logo
    VMware vSAN vs FlexPod XCS
    Compared 10% of the time
    More FlexPod XCS Competitors
    Dell VxBlock System vs Vblock [EOL] Logo
    Dell VxBlock System vs Vblock [EOL]
    Compared 100% of the time
    More Vblock [EOL] Competitors
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    FlexPod XCS
    July 2025
    FlexPod XCS reportDownload FlexPod XCS product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Vblock [EOL]
    June 2025
    Vblock [EOL] reportDownload Vblock [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    No data available
    VCE Vblock
     

    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

    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.

    Dell Technologies
     

    Sample Customers

    University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
    Xerox, ACS, and Columbia Sportswear.
    Buyer's Guide
    Converged Infrastructure
    July 2025
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