HPE MSA vs VNX [EOL] comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category. Additionally, 92% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

HPE MSA

Read 26 HPE MSA reviews

1,667 Views
1,650 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

VNX [EOL]

Read 36 VNX [EOL] reviews

87% willing to recommend

HPE MSA

VNX [EOL]

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HPE MSA and VNX [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about NetApp, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hitachi Vantara and others in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network).

To learn more, read our detailed Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

March 2026

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Helped 884,873 peers since 2012

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

HPE MSA

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (5th)

VNX [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

JobyThomas

Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees

Ensures quick data handling but needs advanced security features

The speed and performance of HPE MSA are admirable. I found that its scalability benefited my organization, especially in larger settings. While the price is not reasonable, its performance makes up for it. Additionally, the licensing costs are consistent with most brands. Compared to Huawei, however, I found that Huawei's processing power, performance, and cost were more advantageous.

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Alireza Zabihi

Works at AIT

The Nimble CS-Series has proven to be reliable with 100% uptime

When we started the process of looking for a SAN vendor I had four primary criteria: reliability, performance, cost, and simplicity. We were really looking for a unicorn and were fully expected to have to make compromises in one of those areas. The Nimble CS-Series was recommended by our solutions provider, and we were blown away. Not only was it the most affordable option, but it was the easiest to deploy, had the best performance, and has proven to be reliable with 100% uptime.

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 features are the storage levels and snapshot features."

"The integration with Veeamware, with VAM for backup, is improved with the new version."

"HPE StorageWorks MSA is an entry-level, cost-effective solution for SMB customers."

"The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility."

"The solution is scalable and easy to manage."

"It has notably provided scalability benefits."

"We use the MSA outside of our data center, and it's a nice robust platform that we can use without buying a whole enterprise SAN, so it gives us the flexibility we need."

"The solution is very easy to use, it is not really complex for any user, such as non-technical individuals."

More HPE MSA pros

"The most valuable feature is the auto-tiering, which helps in the speed of data access."

"From my point of view, the configuration that I can sell is restricted to the EMC best practices. It is hard to make a mistake in a solution. It means the configuration has good performance and scalability options."

"EMC storage has the best performance and functions."

"FAST auto-tiering is a great feature."

"The most valuable feature is the auto-tiering, which helps in the speed of data access."

"Depending on how simple the customer needs it to be, might sway my recommendation one way or the other, but in terms of functionality, VNX is very very good."

"If you are looking for a stable, powerful and effective entry level SAN that you can provision on your own for a small environment or a small office/remote office situation - this is definitely the product for you."

"Since implementing VNX, we achieved a 10 times increase in the performance for its end users."

More VNX [EOL] pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in terms of scalability. There are times when we need to upgrade the device and the firmware. Sometimes, that can be a struggle."

"Some clients have suggested room for improvement in expanding storage capacity beyond the base traces."

"It would be beneficial to have an add-on feature to improve analytics or insight capabilities inside the app."

"Synchronized replication is very important for MSA; however, HPE StorageWorks MSA doesn't provide synchronized replication."

"I rate HPE support four out of 10. I'm not happy with them. We purchased mission-critical support, and we're supposed to get a response in four hours. Instead, I'm waiting days for them to replace the drive. They asked me to send back the failed one, and I don't know the address. After I sent it back, they told me they haven't received it. It's a nightmare."

"However, we did have some issues at first but we worked through them and currently we have no issues."

"HPE should reintroduce customizable ports as they were in Gen 5, allowing customers to use both iSCSI or SC on a single controller."

"It should show more options for cloud backup support."

More HPE MSA cons

"The scalability is average because the storage has some hardware limitations and, obviously, operating system limitations."

"We encountered scalability as it is limited by backend slots, and NAS performance is significantly reduced when scaling."

"The administrative console (Navisphere/Unisphere) needs some improvement, especially on their Java-based GUI. The updated version of Java is not compatible."

"So far we haven't had many issues with the VNX. However, the Data Mover (that manages CIFS/NFS) part needs some improvements."

"They may change the disks from NL-SAS to Flash, but it would be costlier for customers."

"Poor connection to FC."

"EMC VNX needs to support bigger SSDs. Next generation EMC Unity will do this."

"EMC VNX needs to support bigger SSD and the Next Generation EMC Unity does this."

More VNX [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When we bought this solution it was very reasonably priced and they were willing to deal."

"This solution involves a one-time CapEx payment, followed by warranty extensions."

"This solution is quite expensive; they should lower the cost."

"HPE StorageWorks MSA's licensing is perpetual and not integrated."

"The price of the solution is a little high and they should provide more competitive pricing. If you want to increases the storage size there are additional fees."

"I would rate the pricing as nine out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."

"The solution can be a bit expensive."

"Make sure you understand how the licensing works and that you are getting the right set of licenses if you need array-to-array replication."

"Reducing dependency on JavaServer Pages (JSP) could improve the administrative overhead."

"Pricing is somewhat higher, especially in Zambia, perhaps due to the low sales volume."

"Over time, VNX has become pricier than its competitors, and we have turned enthusiastically to Unity."

"The initial pricing and licensing are reasonable. Yearly EMC is more expensive."

"The initial pricing and licensing are reasonable, the yearly EMC is more expensive"

"While EMC tends to be on the expensive side, the stability and support of their products are top-notch and I feel are worth the cost."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

15%

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Marketing Services Firm

18%

Manufacturing Company

16%

Media Company

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	23

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StorageWorks MSA?

I did not compare the cost of HPE MSA with others because we buy with a framework contract, and HP is the only brand available on that contract, so we have no comparison.

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What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?

The user web interface is a bit slow, but it is really easy to use, although you still have to wait a bit when you send an operation. We have had some drive failures, but with the redundancy, we ha...

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What is your primary use case for HPE StorageWorks MSA?

We use HPE MSA as storage for the VMware servers, and we will try to use Proxmox server later on, but currently, we use VMware.

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Comparisons

NetApp FAS Series vs HPE MSA

Compared 29% of the time

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs HPE MSA

Compared 23% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs HPE MSA

Compared 16% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs HPE MSA

Compared 12% of the time

Infortrend ESVA Storage Array vs HPE MSA

Compared 7% of the time

More HPE MSA Competitors

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs VNX [EOL]

Compared 38% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs VNX [EOL]

Compared 21% of the time

More VNX [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE MSA

March 2026

Download HPE MSA product report

Buyer's Guide

VNX [EOL]

February 2026

Download VNX [EOL] product report

Also Known As

HP StorageWorks MSA

VNX

Overview

Whether you need best-in-class performance or are looking to get the most capacity for your investment, MSA has a fast, affordable solution for you. And every MSA comes with an intuitive setup and management interface anyone can master.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

With EMC VNX you'll have the right blend of flash, capacity, and application-aware software. Scale up storage for midrange workloads, optimized for virtual applications and cloud environments.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank

Samsonite, Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Kindred Healthcare

Buyer's Guide

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

March 2026

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