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HPE SimpliVity vs Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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 SimpliVity
Ranking in HCI
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
153
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series
Ranking in HCI
19th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of HPE SimpliVity is 9.6%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series is 1.4%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

Xavier Perez - PeerSpot reviewer
Has a deployment phase that is straightforward but needs improvement in the area of scalability
The main issue with HPE SimpliVity is that you are very attached to VMware or VMware dependencies because the tool works with VMware technology. HPE SimpliVity is an add-on from VMware. Nowadays, my company has a lot of concerns about VMware's licensing policy. Another big concern of the tool is related to security because one has to continuously update patch vulnerabilities that are appearing continuously in VMware's different versions. Actually, the foundation of all the architecture is VMware and that is one of the main issues with the tool. My company is analyzing our virtual infrastructure strategy to see if we can move to Nutanix because maybe it may work better and might have another approach. Nutanix is absolutely independent of VMware. I could add that since HPE SimpliVity is very precisely dependent on VMware, it is not open to containers unlike Nutanix, for example. The aforementioned area is a concern that needs to be resolved by HPE.
Genesis Dapoza - PeerSpot reviewer
simplifies management for clients familiar with VMware, and offers a user-friendly management and configuration experience
With the VX machines, the clients often confuse the hardware itself with the services and resources. VMs are configured according to resources - memory, hard disk capacity, and network. These resources, including memory and processor, are actually shared on the VX Series. So, if the server's processor is underpowered or unreliable for the VMs, many of the VMs will encounter issues. Ideally, the physical server configuration should align more closely with the needs of the virtual servers. The drawback is that the hardware resources (CPU, memory, storage) are shared among all the VMs running on the VX Series. If the server's processor is underpowered for the VMs, many of the VMs might have performance issues. An improvement could be to have more granular control over resource allocation to VMs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It comes all in one box."
"It is simple and easy to use."
"The solution's technical support is good."
"The biggest benefit of this solution is that If you use it, you can use it for the company headquarters and also for all the branches. You use the same system, only a smaller size. With SimipliVity you can also use the included backup solution. You don't need any other solution to back up the data or to transfer it."
"PCX card implementation improves speed."
"The main thing is its performance. In terms of performance, it is a lot better than VMware. Obviously, technology is changing a lot all the time. We were on just VMware with a separate attached array. The performance was kind of a step backward from just running separate servers. Now, the performance is much better, and we can take snapshots and backups of really big servers in just a matter of seconds. We can even restore them in a matter of seconds."
"The solution is user-friendly."
"The solution has integrated backup features that are useful."
"The clients like the solution’s simplicity."
"We find the setup quite straightforward and very easy."
"The VX machines are scalable."
"Installation is straightforward because it's a vSAN. It only took one or two days."
"Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series' deployment is easy. We are a tier-one platinum partner who is into multiple implementations."
 

Cons

"I wish to see an improved compute node selection, to allow us to select something other than merely the two socket system."
"There is room for improvement in the operations area because the support for that server space is minimal."
"The initial setup is not that easy."
"The upgrades need improvement."
"They should optimize the administration stack because it is consuming too much memory. It ends up consuming 20% of memory. They have another product for this feature, but I would like to have this feature within HPE SimpliVity."
"They can bring more awareness about this product. In this part of the world or this region, people normally don't know about SimpliVity and its capabilities. The company we have it sold to hasn't been able to fully utilize all the features or understand the features. So, product awareness should be improved."
"The way that it handles the memory could be better."
"The product is expensive."
"With the VX machines, the clients often confuse the hardware itself with the services and resources. VMs are configured according to resources - memory, hard disk capacity, and network. These resources, including memory and processor, are actually shared on the VX Series. So, if the server's processor is underpowered or unreliable for the VMs, many of the VMs will encounter issues. Ideally, the physical server configuration should align more closely with the needs of the virtual servers."
"The user management could be a bit better. It's something they could improve upon in future releases."
"Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series needs to improve its stability. Its resolution should be faster."
"Support could be better."
"The product must provide AI features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has helped to reduce our VMware licensing costs due to host consolidation."
"We did get some quotes from Nutanix, and they were ballparks. So, it is not cheap, and there is nothing free, but those two were comparable."
"One big advantage with SimpliVity is that you don't need the higher license cost or VMware to put together a simple SimpliVity solution."
"HPE SimpliVity is much more affordable than Nutanix or VMware vSAN...The first pair of servers was about 90,000 EUR, including three years of warranty. It is 30,000 EUR per year."
"We bought this solution as a package that included all of the hardware and all of the software."
"For three years, it is $60,000 for three nodes. It is quite pricey."
"The licensing is on a yearly basis. The licensing cost also includes vCenter at a cost in the cloud solution."
"Cost of this product is high."
"You need to pay a license for additional features. If we need to monitor hardware for the automatic alert notification, we need to pay them."
"The tool's pricing is competitive."
"There is room for improvement in the licensing structure, maybe. Regarding sizing the resources, sometimes it's difficult to calculate/compute them based on the client's requirements."
"The tool is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
60%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
4%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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 researched VMware vSAN but found HPE was a better option for us. HPE SimpliVity has ...
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?
The price is almost equal to VMware vSAN, making it not much cost saving. However, the time-saving during upgrades is notable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series?
The licensing model is moderately complex. The tool is expensive. It is VMware’s fault, though.
What needs improvement with Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series?
The product must provide AI features. It depends on VMware since the core is software. The solution must provide a more detailed plan to enable simplicity of use.
 

Also Known As

SimpliVity, HPE HCI
Lenovo VX Series, ThinkAgile VX Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Red Bull Racing, Mandarin Oriental, Brigham Young University, UCLA, Merlin Entertainments, Sasa Cosmetics, Travelport, St. John’s Riverside Hospital, Princess House
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE SimpliVity vs. Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.