Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

HPE SimpliVity vs Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure 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
7.2
Number of Reviews
154
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Red Hat Hyperconverged Infr...
Ranking in HCI
24th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of HPE SimpliVity is 8.6%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure is 0.8%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

Mohammed Lokman Hossen - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
PS
Consolidated management and good documentation but very complex and difficult to operate
It is not user-friendly, and it is very difficult to operate. You have to have a deep understanding of the technical details of the infrastructure to implement it. When you compare it with VMware, it is totally different because the graphical user interface is not that easy to understand. It is not intuitive. To use it, you have to read a lot of documentation and even understand what is going on behind the solution. It is not for someone who has a little bit of knowledge. Currently, it is too complex. I need something that is easy to implement. It should have a basic configuration as well as a complex configuration.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We really enjoy the virtualization that the solution offers."
"Offsite backup, replication, and duplication of data are important for our plant environment since we are hard on our equipment."
"The whole backup capability, where we are able to create backups and restore backups in typically 40 to 50 seconds, has been great."
"It is just a one-stop shop, a single appliance that I can control through my virtual center."
"It doesn't take long to mount the entire VM somewhere and then copy it. That's one of the things that I like about SimpliVity's deduplication and compression. I can literally stand up a backup in minutes. It is like no time at all. They've got pretty phenomenal deduplication and compression. Within SimpliVity, one of the things that they do is deduplication and compression on ingestion. So, on the front side, everything is deduplicated and compressed, which, of course, adds some overhead to their solution. For instance, in my environment today, I've got roughly 30 terabytes of raw storage, and with their deduplication and compression, I'm over the 300 terabyte threshold with my active servers and all my backups."
"I find the replication feature valuable."
"The interface is very good and is very easy to navigate. You can find everything you need from one central place."
"Its performance and availability are most valuable."
"I like that you can add other types of services."
"The size of the hardware is what we need because it is very good for small configurations."
"The consolidation of the management in one control point is the most valuable. The whole infrastructure management is consolidated in just one console point. The documentation is also pretty good."
"Both the scalability and stability of this solution are excellent."
"It is stable and scalable."
"The most useful feature is the solution's automation in terms of how we are able to spin up a certain workload in real-time when we are doing R&D."
 

Cons

"The stability and scalability of the product are areas of concern where improvements are required."
"SimpliVity has very limited options for the virtualization layer."
"I would like them to add more connection capability, a hub and spoke model, to improve the number of connections that it can handle."
"Upgrading the firmware/software could be more seamless."
"There are some small changes that can be made to the interface to improve it but it typically works well."
"I think that they should have their own hyper-converged system."
"The product is expensive."
"The installation is quite easy but it could still be improved."
"The main issue is the initial investment. It is an expensive product, and it should be cheaper. It should also be easier to use and manage. The professional service for this solution is quite complex and expensive."
"It is not user-friendly, and it is very difficult to operate. You have to have a deep understanding of the technical details of the infrastructure to implement it. When you compare it with VMware, it is totally different because the graphical user interface is not that easy to understand. It is not intuitive. To use it, you have to read a lot of documentation and even understand what is going on behind the solution. It is not for someone who has a little bit of knowledge. Currently, it is too complex. I need something that is easy to implement. It should have a basic configuration as well as a complex configuration."
"The cloud deployment could be improved."
"It should be more user-friendly, in my opinion."
"This product is not so stable. Maybe it is just not mature enough in its development."
"The licensing policy needs to be improved. They have a licensing policy based on the number of CPU sockets. Nowadays what has happened is that the license they are trying to move is based on the number of CPU cores. With the advancement in technology there are now more cores in a single CPU. It's been very challenging in terms of managing the license around everything. Today we have a processor with 24 and 32 cores on the same physical CPU."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of the licenses, customers do not actually get any benefit."
"The solution can be expensive if you are using a lot of nodes."
"The pricing of HPE SimpliVity is comparable with other solutions so the price is good."
"There are additional costs for storage."
"Upfront costs seems high at first look, but after analyzing all the benefits of SimpliVity, we have come out ahead."
"There is not a license required for the solution."
"HPE has decided to sell the solution in all-flash configurations, which may not be as cost effective for smaller mid-market enterprises."
"Licensing costs are on a monthly basis. There are additional costs."
"Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure is an open-sourced, low-cost solution with full features."
"It is quite pricey."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which HCI solutions are best for your needs.
861,390 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
25%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

SimpliVity, HPE HCI
Red Hat HCI, Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization
 

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. Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
861,390 professionals have used our research since 2012.