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HPE Hyper Converged vs HPE SimpliVity vs VMware vSAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the HCI category, the mindshare of HPE Hyper Converged is 2.9%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE SimpliVity is 6.8%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSAN is 10.0%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware vSAN10.0%
HPE SimpliVity6.8%
HPE Hyper Converged2.9%
Other80.3%
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

GosayeErko - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at BIOS Engineering
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.
Mohammed Lokman Hossen - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager, Enterprise Technology Services at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Has integrated solutions and rapid recovery made management smoother and more reliable
There is the latest update from HPE regarding HPE SimpliVity. For virtualization, HPE has to depend on other manufacturers, OEMs such as VMware or Hyper-V. Recently, HPE declared the VM essential virtualization solution. In the future, if HPE integrates HPE SimpliVity with VM essential, that will be a great combination. Functionality-wise, I am totally satisfied with HPE SimpliVity, but for improvement, if HPE integrates its own virtualization solution, this combination and integration will be beneficial because this integration can be configured with the cloud-based system. A VM can be uploaded to the cloud from this, which will be advantageous for backup to other sites.
ShyamikaThamel - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Tech Specialists at Seatrium
Managing mixed RAID workloads has improved data protection and delivers strong performance
VMware vSAN can be improved in certain areas. In cases involving our large data stores with large VMs, we experience some latency, not during normal operation, but during database backup operations. We observed latency due to buffer issues from the top-of-the-rack switches. These issues are mostly network-related because all storage data traffic travels through the network. I have recently used Nutanix, and I observed that Nutanix provides better performance than VMware vSAN due to its data locality features. VMware vSAN is now providing data locality, but we did not use that option. If VMware vSAN provides additional features in the next release, such as the VM balancing feature called DRS on the cluster that VMware previously had, it would be beneficial. With DRS, VMs can move easily from one node to another within the same cluster. Nutanix does not provide that flexibility. When placing a VM on a cluster in Nutanix, the placement uses a balancing component. After that, the VM remains on the same host. If any contention occurs on the CPU or memory side, the VM stays in place until contention happens. If issues occur, the VM migrates to another host while transferring all objects to the same host. This is how their data locality is maintained. When a VM moves to any host, it moves with all VM objects. VMware vSAN does not currently offer this option. If a VM moves to another host, it accesses the disk object through the network, which increases latency. VMware vSAN now offers an option to select data locality, but it does not function like Nutanix. This is why some latency remains. If VMware vSAN can improve this feature, it would be very helpful and VMware would regain its top position.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution has good backup resolution updates."
"Reasonably priced and easy to manage for small to medium size companies that don't have an IT department."
"What I really like about this program, is that it needs little space and it works really fast, so it saves us time."
"The solution has many good features."
"I've found the data protection features the most valuable."
"It is a stable solution...Those who want flexibility, ease of use, and a simple support system can opt for HPE."
"The solution's most valuable features are scalability, easy migration, easy recovery, and flexible backup possibilities."
"The most beneficial feature is the life cycle management."
"The ease of setting up our DR site with SimpliVity. It was very simple. I did not have to set up a separate storage, server, and networking environments."
"Definitely the deduplication and compression, for the optimization of disk space."
"Although it is still early, we are optimistic that it will decrease our management costs and many resource costs due to the fact that everything is included in one box in SimpliVity."
"SimpliVity is integrated into the virtual center, so there is no additional management software or management interface."
"It has lessened our burden on multiple different products, so they are under one umbrella. This has been economically good."
"Operational efficiency is definitely one of the biggest benefits, as they could get rid of all those man hours worrying about babysitting their SAN and their servers and the network and take those hours and put them back into real value for the business working on issues with the applications, not the SAN and the infrastructure."
"HPE SimpliVity makes the computer technology as simple and enjoyable to use as possible, and its design is efficient, effective, and satisfying."
"SimpliVity works well in a UAT environment."
"IOPS is comparatively best to run VDI solution."
"The most valuable features of VMware vSAN are that it receives updates frequently, has good compression, optimized storage, and they provide webinars on what is new."
"It is user-friendly, and its performance is good."
"If you have the budget or it's available to you, definitely go for it, because it's going to save money over the traditional SAN."
"Everyone uses virtualization to more efficiently utilize hardware resources; that's the main point of vSAN and VMware."
"The ability to have an HA cluster in the absence of a shared storage device or SAN."
"In my opinion, vSAN is the most natural way to migrate to a fully hyperconverged solution. If a customer needs a more scalable solution with consolidated management, vSAN is excellent."
"It is very well known in the industry, and there are a lot of technical resources around it. This is a big thing for me because, at the end of the day, when you implement it, you need to support it."
 

Cons

"I would like to see price points when there are larger solutions."
"I would like to see a more intuitive, user-friendly UI."
"Currently, the HPE HCI is based on the VMware solution, and many clients are skipping VMware due to its changed licensing method."
"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."
"The solution needs to add a module or plugin of vCenter for clear monitoring and insights."
"The pricing could be improved. It's quite an expensive solution."
"I would like to see more deduplication."
"The product must provide more storage capability."
"Not having an all-flash option right now is probably a hindrance for us, because the customers just get turned off when they see that."
"When it comes to performing backups, the dashboard is not intuitive and not user-friendly."
"I have a free project with SimpliVity deployment in the next three months. What can be improved is that in one or two of these projects, I need a cloud backup for the infrastructure and data. As for the infrastructure of the product as it relates to customer size, it is not very good at this moment in Peru. I need a solution for the cloud. In Peru, it's a three or four solution provider for cloud services."
"Once I am into the SimpliVity environment, I always have to go with HP because I am somewhat blocked, like Apple."
"It is not as flexible as we want. We have asked for some more granular scalability. For example, the ability to add some disks, and not another node, if we need more storage.​"
"Some things were not fully set up during deployment by their engineers."
"While it has been a while since HPE acquired SimpliVity, there is a lack of understanding/awareness about the product. In short, it took me time to actually make them understand they had a product named SimpliVity, which as you can imagine does not instill a great deal of confidence."
"I don't think it's as simple as it is marketed, but it is a new product."
"VMware vSAN could improve by adding NAS and object storage."
"VSAN currently has no data deduplication, and having such a feature would both be an improvement and provide a feature that Nutanix has."
"It would be ideal if clients didn't need to monitor the solution on a daily basis."
"When it comes to the renewal of the license, it's a very expensive solution."
"I would like to see replication as part of it. I would also like to see direct file access, being able to run SIF shares and NFS and the like. I think that would be critical to continuing the use of it going forward."
"The list of hardware supported should be increased in the future."
"If we have some complicated issues, you have to use the command lines interface."
"The server files are larger than before."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solutions cost us a lot."
"We have a very good return on investment due to data savings through compression and deduplication methods. It simplifies IT management and enhances security, including the end-to-end security of the IT data engine. The product is complete, simple, and provides visibility."
"It could be cheaper, everything could be cheaper."
"The entire solution is packaged with all licenses and support."
"The price per value compared to other solutions, like Nutanix and SimpliVity. (We made the deal before approval of HPE SimpliVity deal)."
"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."
"I would rate the price at seven out of ten. There are no additional licensing fees, but it would be cheaper to go with a dHCI solution."
"With this solution, I buy everything together, pre-packaged, pre-installed, and in just 15 minutes, it's installed."
"If we compare the price of HPE SimpliVity with other vendors that are selling the hyper-converged infrastructure, all of them are not cheap and are priced similarly. However, the price we pay and what we receive makes it a good price."
"The only thing that I think we are paying for is the VMware licenses, but we are enterprise, so it is not horrible."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. We have purchased a five-year license with all the support and upgrades."
"In terms of the licenses, customers do not actually get any benefit."
"The pricing is very high."
"HPE has decided to sell the solution in all-flash configurations, which may not be as cost effective for smaller mid-market enterprises."
"Its licensing is quite easy. There is a model license, but it depends on the system you buy. There are no extra costs. There is only one license."
"It is not expensive. We bought its license for two years. For support, we pay yearly."
"The only problem I have with VMware is the price. It is a good product, but it is expensive."
"The cost of VMware vSAN is reasonable."
"Users may also start off with the demo version of the tool. After you learn to use the solution, you can buy it if it is beneficial."
"It is not a subscription model. It is a purchase model, but it is very important that you also buy technical support from VMware. This is probably the only disadvantage of vSAN. It depends on the use case, but it can be very expensive."
"It is expensive, but you get what you pay for."
"It is expensive. It should be cheaper. It has a perpetual license as well as a subscription-based license, but they are moving towards subscription-based licenses."
"We are using the VMware vSAN ROBO which allows us to have a maximum of 25 virtual machines. The approximate cost is €10,000 for a perpetual license."
"The price of vSAN could be lower."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business67
Midsize Enterprise49
Large Enterprise80
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business100
Midsize Enterprise58
Large Enterprise129
 

Questions from the Community

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.
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 witho...
What needs improvement with HPE Hyper Converged?
The initial setup of HPE Hyper Converged requires study and a comprehensive understanding of virtualization. The seco...
How does HPE Simplivity compare with VMware vSAN?
HPE SimpliVity is a hyper-converged infrastructure solution that is primarily geared to mid-sized companies. We resea...
What do you like most about HPE SimpliVity?
The solution's technical support is good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE SimpliVity?
Standalone HPE SimpliVity is more expensive than other OEMs and solutions. Regarding the software side, VMware is cos...
What Is The Biggest Difference Between vSAN And VxRail?
While both run on the vSAN technology from VMware, vSAN needs to be deployed on vSAN ready nodes while VxRail is an e...
How does VMware vSAN compare with Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct?
We found VMware’s vSAN was easy to set up, configure, and manage compared to other solutions we considered. It is bes...
What do you like most about VMware vSAN?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
 

Also Known As

HPE Hyper Converged 380, HPE Hyper Converged 250, HPE Hyper Converged 250 for Microsoft CPS
SimpliVity, HPE HCI
vSAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

North Lindsey College, FireWhat?, HudsonAlpha
Red Bull Racing, Mandarin Oriental, Brigham Young University, UCLA, Merlin Entertainments, Sasa Cosmetics, Travelport, St. John’s Riverside Hospital, Princess House
Read Some Case Studies At Home Cloud CaribCINgroupDiscovery Check out the Rest of our Customer Stories Here
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Broadcom, Nutanix and others in HCI. Updated: March 2026.
885,444 professionals have used our research since 2012.