Rackspace OpenStack vs VMware vSAN comparison

The compared Rackspace Technology and Broadcom solutions aren't in the same category. Rackspace Technology is ranked #6 in CI , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 7.4% mindshare in the category. Broadcom is ranked #3 in HCI , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 8.5% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Rackspace Technology users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Rackspace OpenStack

Read 14 Rackspace OpenStack reviews

2,200 Views
1,386 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

VMware vSAN

Read 234 VMware vSAN reviews

17,237 Views
11,032 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Rackspace OpenStack

VMware vSAN

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Rackspace OpenStack and VMware vSAN based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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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

Rackspace OpenStack

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Converged Infrastructure (6th)

VMware vSAN

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

234

Ranking in other categories

HCI (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Storage Solutions solutions, they serve different purposes. Rackspace OpenStack is designed for Converged Infrastructure and holds a mindshare of 7.4%, up 4.2% compared to last year.
VMware vSAN, on the other hand, focuses on HCI, holds 8.5% mindshare, down 14.9% since last year.

Converged Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Rackspace OpenStack	7.4%
FlexPod XCS	12.5%
HPE ConvergedSystem	11.1%
Other	69.0%

Converged Infrastructure

HCI Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
VMware vSAN	8.5%
VxRail	10.4%
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)	9.1%
Other	72.0%

HCI

Featured Reviews

Bilal Inamdar

Cloud Linux Administrator at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Flexible virtual infrastructure has supported complex KVM workloads and accelerated SAP-ready hosting

For Rackspace OpenStack security features, we currently opted for ShapeBlue one, which will be installing CloudStack. ShapeBlue is helping us in training. So, we are moving away from Rackspace OpenStack to CloudStack because CloudStack has most of the features that we require, and it is also lightweight. Rackspace OpenStack does not provide that thing. The product has all the things included, you can say like that. But the thing is, if you are a company, if you are a hosting company, you will require at least three to four people with higher expertise to install and get going with Rackspace OpenStack. It is very hard; you have to understand bits and many things about it, how it works. It is not something you just tinker around with. The second thing is we are moving to CloudStack because it comes as just a single package that I can install in a VM and I am done with it. I just need to configure it the first time, and everything, the experience out-of-the-box is very good with CloudStack. But Rackspace OpenStack is very assembled parts, you can say. Would you prefer an assembled PC or would you prefer an HP-provided PC, a branded PC? It depends on you. The main thing about Rackspace OpenStack is that it is totally built on many modules. It is approximately 30 to 40 modules, you can say. You have to learn and understand that, which there is a very steep learning curve. If I am not wrong, there is a very steep learning curve. There is not one way to install Rackspace OpenStack; there are several ways, approximately three to four ways. But it depends on who deployed it. Suppose a person deployed it in a different style; after one or two years, he got changed, and another person comes. He does not know about that style, then it will be very hard to navigate. Currently, Kolla-ansible, which we have, is very hard to navigate for me. Although it is very easy to install, it is very hard to operate because it works on Docker. So, there are too many moving parts. If you say to me, there are too many moving parts, and the visibility is low on that. It is very hard to have any issue with it. It is a very stable product.

Read full review

ShyamikaThamel

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.

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

"I like its integration with GitLab and its simplicity. OpenStack has a lot of third-party libraries that it uses."

"It created a reusable library with OpenStack features."

"OpenStack allowed for mass uploading of images to Akamai cloud services."

"Rackspace OpenStack is stable and reliable, often compared favorably against other solutions."

"The open-source nature of OpenStack provides significant value."

"The solution is stable."

"Administrators are very comfortable with the functionality and services OpenStack offers."

"The initial setup isn't too difficult."

More Rackspace OpenStack pros

"The stability is good; the solution doesn't have bugs or glitches, it doesn't crash or freeze, it's very reliable and the performance has been great."

"We use the solution for data storage virtualization."

"The initial setup is straightforward and it's very easy to implement in any X86 server so anyone can use it in their existing environment."

"The most valuable features of vSAN are its simplicity to deploy and that we can use commodity disks in our servers without complexity or need for external storage arrays or storage specialists on our teams."

"vSAN provides default HA configurations, where if any host goes down, the VM moves around within the host. Even though the disks are local, the VMs moves around with the vSAN disk and vSAN provides a high availability on its own."

"I strongly recommend VMware vSAN to others because it is easy to manage, especially if you compare it with traditional server and network storage solutions."

"The most valuable feature for our customers is vMotion. It allows them to shut down virtual machines and migrate them to others servers."

"This is a product that I recommend."

More VMware vSAN pros

Cons

"The deployment process could be easy."

"OpenStack's UI, while user-friendly, could be improved to offer a more intuitive experience."

"The line migration is a problem."

"The seamless integration between MySQL services and the rabbitMQ database can be revised during the debugging phase."

"So for the main stability, there have been a couple of issues that I've experienced."

"It should have a single dashboard for cloud management and on-premises systems"

"In terms of what needs to be improved, I would say the support. Rackspace might have some good support but the open source OpenStack doesn't have support because there are too many versions coming and too many people are customizing it."

"As a beginner, I find some difficulties in understanding Rackspace OpenStack, as it can be complex without a foundational grasp of cloud and networking concepts."

More Rackspace OpenStack cons

"Technical support could be more knowledgeable."

"When you don’t have a chance to build upon an existing vCenter service, you have to think about the deployment of vCenter without having vSAN. There are several options, like deploying vCenter temporarily on a client PC and then migrating it later onto the vSAN cluster, but it’s always a bit tricky and you probably need some extra time to get the installation done."

"I hear a lot of issues of stability whenever you go to maintenance, but people who are having spectacular experiences are not speaking the loudest so it can be hard to tell."

"The main issue is drivers. Every time we move to a new vSAN version, we're having problems finding the correct drivers for the vendor."

"There are certain shortcomings in the stability of the product where improvements are required."

"There is a lot that VMware could improve from a marketing perspective. The cloud is still new for many people, so extending storage should be effortless. It shouldn't be so complicated to extend the storage so workloads can access it no matter where they go."

"If the vSAN cluster can’t self-heal due to an internal error, we can’t repair the vSAN cluster ourselves. A case with VMware is always needed to fix the issue, resulting in an increased time to resolve."

"Currently, one of the available features is shareable VMBKs. You can create the VMBK disc and you can make them shareable between the ends. But as soon as you start using this feature, you lose the ability to create snapshots."

More VMware vSAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is low."

"I use it as an open-source tool."

"The product's price has been increasing lately...VMware vSAN is expensive."

"Due to recent changes in VMware's licensing approach by Broadcom, the cost has increased significantly, making it less attractive from a cost perspective."

"The price of the solution package depends on the nodes and other factors. The cost some of our customers paid was $500,000. The licensing cost for the components is very good."

"I feel the pricing to be reasonable."

"It is an expensive solution. There should be more flexible with licensing to allow small businesses the essentials of the solution's features."

"The licensing cost is high and should be taken into account."

"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."

"With the new pricing model, it's expensive for the customer."

More VMware vSAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	101
Midsize Enterprise	58
Large Enterprise	135

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Rackspace OpenStack?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Rackspace OpenStack?

I mainly use Rackspace OpenStack for my virtual environment, for the KVM environment, such as hosting VMs. That is what we use it mainly for. You can say it is just like VMware; we are using Racksp...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Rackspace OpenStack?

I help my clients with Rackspace OpenStack as a consultant. I work with my clients as a consultant with Rackspace OpenStack. I am not involved in the purchase process of the platform. The pricing f...

See all answers

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 engineered system. The choice to choose which technology depends on two major fac...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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 best suited for small- to medium-sized organizations. It is easy to create load bal...

See all answers

Comparisons

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 16% of the time

FlexPod XCS vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 15% of the time

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 13% of the time

HPE ConvergedSystem vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 12% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 8% of the time

More Rackspace OpenStack Competitors

VxRail vs VMware vSAN

Compared 12% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs VMware vSAN

Compared 10% of the time

HPE SimpliVity vs VMware vSAN

Compared 5% of the time

NetApp AFF vs VMware vSAN

Compared 5% of the time

Everpure FlashArray vs VMware vSAN

Compared 5% of the time

More VMware vSAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Rackspace OpenStack

May 2026

Download Rackspace OpenStack product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware vSAN

May 2026

Download VMware vSAN product report

Also Known As

OpenStack

vSAN

Overview

Rackspace OpenStack offers potent infrastructure concepts, customization options, and scalability with commodity servers, supporting microservices, virtualization, and numerous integrations, all beneficial for advanced IT deployments.

Known for its robust infrastructure and flexible deployments, Rackspace OpenStack caters to enterprises with complex IT management needs. It excels in virtualization and data analytics while enhancing server management with microservices architecture. Companies leverage it for effective infrastructure as code management, integrating tools like GitLab and Jenkins, offering a sought-after platform for deploying private clouds and managing diverse workloads efficiently.

What are the standout features of Rackspace OpenStack?

Infrastructure Flexibility: Easily configurable infrastructure with commodity servers.
Customization Options: Adaptable for unique enterprise needs.
Scalability: Supports increasing workloads effectively.
Integrations: Seamless integration with tools like GitLab and Jenkins.
Virtualization Capabilities: Lowers operational expenses and simplifies hardware changes.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Lower operational costs through virtualization.
Enhanced Flexibility: Microservices architecture offers advanced adaptability.
Data Management: Effective for big data services and data analytics.
Migration Support: Facilitates on-premises migration from the cloud.

Enterprises utilize Rackspace OpenStack across industries for tasks like large data management and private cloud deployment. It supports streamlined infrastructure management and eCommerce integration with Akamai. Often chosen for website development and deploying managed services, it meets diverse deployment needs efficiently.

Rackspace Technology

VMware vSAN is renowned for scalability, speed, and management ease. Its performance equals traditional SANs, offering fast speeds with diverse disk types at a reduced cost, ensuring VM access amidst hardware failures, and integrating effortlessly with VMware tools for straightforward setup.

As a leader in virtualization solutions, VMware vSAN offers high-performance storage comparable to traditional SANs, allowing SSD-like speeds with a mix of disk types. It integrates into VMware tools, leading to easy setup and policy-driven management, leveraging diverse storage policies, deduplication, and compression for enhanced efficiency. It's especially valued for its ability to scale storage and applications affordably, supporting growth without heavy initial investments. Despite the advantages, areas for improvement include encryption, UI, hardware compatibility, and affordability for SMBs, with notable resync and performance monitoring challenges. Compatibility issues with non-VMware environments and complex updates and support are critical points highlighting a need for improved management interfaces and troubleshooting to enhance user experience.

What are the key features of VMware vSAN?

Scalability: Allows easy scaling of storage and applications without significant initial investments.
Speed: Rivals traditional SANs, offering SSD-like speeds.
Management: Seamless management through integration with VMware tools and policy-driven frameworks.
Resilience: Ensures VM access during hardware failures.
Efficiency: Offers deduplication and compression to optimize storage use.

What benefits or ROI should organizations consider in reviews?

Cost-Effectiveness: Supports horizontal and vertical growth without heavy costs.
Integration: Enhances cloud infrastructure and VDI with easy integration.
Automation: Provides automation for storage and compute consolidation.
Availability: Ensures high availability for VMs and workloads.
Performance: Known for strong performance suited for diverse workloads.

VMware vSAN is implemented across industries for virtualization and cloud infrastructure enhancements, being a cornerstone for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and the management of VMs. It supports major workloads like ERP and hyperconverged infrastructure, widely respected for its performance, seamless integration into VMware's ecosystem, and cost-efficiency, particularly appealing to small and medium businesses without extensive storage infrastructure investments.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

X.commerce

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