HPE 3PAR StoreServ Reviews

We use about 40 percent of our workload in 3PAR. We have 3PAR 7400, V-Class series. We use dynamic tiering, so we have a mixed workload, SSD Fibre Channel and Nearline storage.

In terms of performance, it has been a little bit up and down, but overall there isn't much to complain about. It's because we have the Nearline storage, so that doesn't perform well. That is the reason we have SSD and Fibre Channel tiering. We use Adaptive Optimization and that helps us to improve certain applications using those high-performance tiers.

The next step for us is refreshing, likely with another 3PAR. Migrating the workload from one 3PAR, to another 3PAR is pretty easy using Peer Motion.

In terms of multiple business needs, we have multiple applications running and I don't have complaints. I think 3PAR runs multiple applications well. They're easy to manage.

Overall it performs well.

I would like to see more cloud-based integrations and more file storage capabilities. They do have that now, but we haven't started using it.

We haven't had any major issues on 3PAR. We have pretty much had 100 percent uptime; we haven't had any outage. We run a lot of production workload on it with no issues.

Regarding scalability, we are maxed out right now on all our 3PARs, so we can not add more storage. So we just order a new one and it's fine.

Support is good, overall. 

We had HPE EVA storage. We switched because all of it was legacy storage. We migrated from legacy storage to the new 3PAR. The main reason we went with HPE was the migration from the old legacy to the new 3PAR was very seamless. They have Peer Motion integration so the data migration was easy. If we had gone with another vendor we would have had to do an offline migration.

When it comes to selecting a vendor, HPE is our business partner so we use their products.

The initial setup was not that complex. We work with HPE to take care of all the implementations. It took less than one day.

Our ROI has been pretty good. I can't share how much we invested, but it has been almost five years and we migrated something like 40 or 50 HPE EVAs to two 3PARs. We consolidated it quite a bit.

We did consider other vendors. That's the reason we did a proof of concept and 3PAR was the winner. The other vendors on our short-list were EMC and NetApp.

I rate it a nine out of 10 because the product just works; we haven't had a lot of problems. I'm satisfied with the product.

3PAR is a proven, more reliable and stable SAN solution. Go with it.

We using it for our core compute (storage).

We have had it for about two years and had zero problems with it.

Less management.

• Dynamic disk pulling
• Ease of storage creation

In two years, I have had no downtime.

Scalability is excellent. It is easy to add drives. When you add drives into it, it automatically recognizes them and spins them up. 

One my engineers used the technical support, and they walked him right through the upgrades on the controllers.

We previously did not use another solution.

The initial setup was simple. It took me a single day to set it up.

We considered NetApp, EMC, and Dell. 3PAR came out on top.

I recommend this system to everybody because it doesn't fail. I am just installing another one now.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor:

• Good customer support
• Good technical support
• Price of the product
• Advanced features of the system.

These were all deciding factors.

It is our primary storage array for our virtual environment. We implemented it in the beginning of 2016. It has done well for us. 

We went to an Active-Active data center, set it up to where both data centers are separate, but they act as one. We can have workloads at either side at any given time, and it is all based on the Peer Persistence architecture.

• Remote copy
• Peer Persistence.

We have had a few issues with it. We had our virtual environment lock up a few times on storage-based things. We think we have it sorted out, but maybe it came down to a configuration issue on it.

They have starting to do some integration with the VMware and reporting from that. I think continuing along that path would be pretty good.

We have had some issues in the past, maybe due to configuration issues.

No issues with scalability.

We have used technical support. We have proactive care on it, but we found that the GDC team, which is the primary support team for it, has not been on the ball with everything.

There have been misunderstandings with what we are trying to do and with scheduling. We have two 3PARs, so they scheduled the wrong one for the work when it should have been the other one, or scheduling it on one and not the other one when they should be both in sync. 

We were using HPE EVA before and the solution had been in place for like six years at that point, so it was ageing, we're limited on what we could do with it. So, it was time to switch over to something that was newer, had better features.

The initial setup was straightforward and easy. We did the whole thing, including compute networking, like it was almost a a greenfield type of scenario. If we had not had an issue getting our circuits put into place, it would have been just a few months and we would have had the whole thing done. However, it was not just storage. It was a new virtual environment, we were putting in NSX networking, new networking switches from HPE, etc.

We had a partner that came in and helped us architect the whole thing, but one other guy and I worked through that whole implementation of it.

I can't really comment on it because I was not part of the whole purchase.

We talked with EMC a little bit, but it was decided pretty quickly that we were going with the HPE solution. We looked at the environment holistically, and we weren't just looking at we replacing storage. We thought, "How are we going to do storage, compute, and networking, then what will it look like?" Then, we chose to partner with HPE rather than just go with a one off here and there.

We have fewer limitations, but there are still limitations that we have work though. Overall, it is a good solution.

We set out to do something very specific with this, and that's the stretch metro cluster. A single VMware cluster across two data centers acting as one, not a lot of people do it in the way that we did it. I am not sure I could advise somebody unless they were doing the exact same thing.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: Speed, scalability, and the ability to support a metro storage cluster environment.

We use 3PAR as the primary storage in our environment for all our Tier 1 applications.

We have been using it since 2015. It has performed well. You guys have gotten a lot better with the 8000 and 20000 series.

We design a lot of our DR and business continuity strategy around 3PAR Peer Persistence and other copy services.

The most valuable features are their tight integration with VMware, their multi-node architecture, and their copy services, such as Peer Persistence. We are a big MetroCluster user.

I would like to see the following:

• NVMe support, not only on the disk side, but also in the NVMe over Fibre Channel.
• More advanced copy features.
• A few user improvements on their SSMC product.
• Mesh-Active, which I hear is coming.

One improvement that they could do right now is with the way they do their metric clustering. With Peer Persistence, they use a Lua. It would be really nice to have a volume that is truly Active-Active in both of our data centers.  

It has been quite a stable product, which is why we continue to invest in it.

It definitely scales.

We use HPE technical support. We have gotten every question answered, so they have been helpful.

We were look for a refresh. At the time, IBM was not keeping up with their VMware integration, especially with VVols. It was quite obvious that HPE was a leader in it, and this steered us into looking at them. Then, we found out that the product could do everything we needed it to do.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward.

For the price that we were able to acquire it, we have seen it give us the performance and stability that we require to run our enterprise. They have also added features, such as the compression and duplication, which have further increased our ROI.

NetApp, Pure Storage, and IBM. We chose HPE because they checked all the boxes.

Nine out of 10 times, the system does exactly what we need it to do.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: Knowing that the product works. We like to choose bigger companies. We do not like to invest in startups because you never know if they will be acquired. 

We have a good existing relationship with HPE, which was a lot of what steered us toward using them in the storage space.

It hosts our virtualization platform. It works really well.

We do not have to take the whole system down now to do upgrades.

It is very easy to use. That is its best feature.

What I would like to see the SSMC management interface and the regular, Microsoft Management Console (MMC) interface. I would have to use both, because one of them has features, the other one does not, and vice versa.

It is very stable.

Scalability is improving. We have some 7400s, 8200s, and 8400s. So, we can scale pretty well.

With the support that our organization has, I can talk to someone right away if I have an issue. It has been very good.

We were using HPE EVA. We had a lot of issues with it to begin with. Anytime you wanted to do an upgrade, you had to take systems offline. That just would not work for us.

We switched when our warranties were up.

It was a bit complex in the wiring of the cages. Other than that, it was pretty straightforward.

We also evaluated Dell. We chose 3PAR because of price and functionality.

There are some things out there now, such as HPE SimpliVity that do more things, and maybe we would like to go in that direction. Right now, we are doing a PoC with HPE SimpliVity. It seems to be working well, especially the backup solution that it has with it, where you can do snapshots. We really like that since 3PAR does not have this.

I am not on the latest release yet. We are still trying to get there. The people that I work with at HPE have recommended where we should be in our version. We are not to the 3.3 version yet. I am looking forward to upgrading, because you can do them yourself. You do not have to have HPE do them. Also, it will integrate with InfoSight, which I am looking forward to.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: In our case, price is usually the biggest factor, because we are a university and have no money. Price is always big when we make a decision.

It serves as our centralized storage for three tiers of storage, and we have half a petabyte.

It performs very, very well.

We've had an overall improvement of performance in terms of actually doing transaction data, and we have a lot more capacity than we once had.

The most valuable feature for me is the support, three tiers of support. Storage is storage. The reality is, is it available and functional? Service and support are more important than capacity.

I would like to see compatibility with NVMe.

Resilience and reliability, unmatched. They take good care of us.

The scalability is far beyond what we'll ever need.

The service and support are far better than any other service and support I've had. They are very proactive and very sensitive to any kind of disruption of functionality.

Our data center was compromised and I had to replace the entire data center. Our previous solution was HPE LeftHand.

The most important criteria for me when selecting a vendor are

• cost
• reliability
• support.

The setup was complex from the perspective of the employees having to go through five days of training. If they simplified the administrative process of maintaining the unit, that would go a long way.

We have seen value when it comes to ROI but I can't elaborate.

Nimble. We went with 3PAR because we got a special deal on pricing.

I rate this solution an eight out of 10 because administrative functionality requires five days of training.

Our primary use for 3PAR is virtualization, SQL Server data, and backup logs. We also use it for our Citrix VDI environment.

We have been using 3PAR for two years. It has been performing as expected. We are actually getting ready to invest a big chunk of money to expand our 3PAR.

It has improved multiple things. Integration with current HPE products that we have, e.g., backups with integration within Veeam and restores of a huge file server using Veeam. Across the board, it has helped with more than just serving data, but also with recovery.

• Ease of use
• Ease of training for my new staff and junior level staff.
• The support that we receive from HPE.

I would like more integration with OneView. I would also like to be able to deploy and manage 3PAR within OneView Global Dashboard so we do not have to use the interface for 3PAR. Overall, I would like more integration, which I think is coming.

It meets and exceeds all my expectations. It is easy to scale. It is fairly inexpensive to scale. It easily does whatever I need it to do.

When we have a failed drive or any failure, we receive emails and do not have to open cases. 

They make the replacement of any parts easy along with the analysis of any issues with the servers, 3PARs, and any upgrades which need to be happening, in addition to any detrimental performance issues.

We previously had Dell Compellent. We switched because we were using HPE Compute and HPE Blades, and it seemed like we might as well go all in on HPE. Also, we were not getting what we thought we wanted for performance out of Compellent.

It was the easiest SAN that I have ever set up.

I do not know if I can put a number on it. When we buy products, we do not put ROI on it. It is more performance, and does it meet our business needs? 

This product has been exceeding anything else that we have had in the environment firsthand.

Give 3PAR a good consideration. Budget wise, 3PAR is a lot of money compared to other solutions, but what is in the 3PAR integration that customers are getting now from the Nimble and InfoSight acquisitions, it is worthwhile.

This system has been (by far) the easiest to use, manage, and expand.

Our primary use case for 3PAR is our EMR application. We're in healthcare. We also use it for virtualization. The performance is excellent.

Backups were huge. We take a lot of SAN-level Snapshots and it has been phenomenal in that aspect.

When we bought it, the big sell for us was what they called "wide striping," how they striped the data and could get performance on a cheaper disk. Nowadays, the newer models that are out, which we are going to in the next couple of years, the most valuable feature is mainly being able to achieve such high IOPS in such a small chassis.

In new releases, I'd really like to see it more targeted towards hyperconverged. They are working that way with Greenlake and integrating their own "build your own" expansion environment within 3PAR.

I would like to see some of the InfoSight integration. In the speech today, here at HPE Discover 2018, it was pretty clear that that is where it's heading.

I think it's on track, on the whole, as far as where we're going. I'm probably two years away, maybe less, from a 3PAR purchase. LIkely, by the time I'm ready to buy, it's going to be in there.

We have had one major hardware failure in the last seven years and nothing went down because of it. It was a controller failure. It's a four-node cluster so end-users didn't even notice an impact in performance. Nobody was in a panic besides me. In the end it worked out, they just replaced it.

We're at right around 700 or 750 terabytes raw, and we're about maxed out for the version we're in, without a wholesale swap-out of our drives and drive architecture. From a scalability standpoint, we can add to it but we have to add more controllers. But we're in an older version. The newer versions have gotten better, faster, stronger. Probably the next step is going to be Greenlake and that avenue.

We went from an old XP24k, a long time ago, to an EMC VNX. The EMC storage was cheap on the front-end but expensive on the back-end for maintaining it. It was cheaper for us to jump into another 3PAR than it was to maintain support on the VNX. We quickly moved to 3PAR and we haven't looked back since.

In terms of important criteria in selecting a vendor besides price, we're primarily an HPE shop. I can count on one hand how many other pieces of hardware we have other than HPE: a Palo Alto firewall and maybe a couple of vendor-supplied Dell boxes. I always look to HPE first. If they can't do it, I call and complain to my regional sales VP and he tries his best. Sometimes he can pull one out and get something going for me, but if not then I start looking at others.

I was involved in the initial setup but we did have Professional Services come in and set it up because we didn't have any training at the time. The setup was a while ago, but it took longer to unbox it because our reseller messed up and sold us all the individual boxes for every single drive. So the implementation guy wasn't very happy: four pallets of itty bitty boxes for every single hard drive. But soup to nuts, with that problem in play, the setup took about a week. If he didn't have all that, it probably could have been done in a day.

Overall the setup is very straightforward. It's just like any other enterprise storage. If you set up one you've set them all up, as it were. They're the same idea, different architecture.

From a comparison of bang for the buck, what you get for the money, I'd have to say they are one of the market leaders. Are there solutions that do it faster? Sure, but you're going to pay for it. 3PAR isn't the cheapest, it isn't the most expensive, but in my opinion, it's the best.

We've looked at Pure Storage, we've looked at Kaminario. We've looked at EMC's new VMAX. From a price standpoint, what you get - and with us moving towards VDI and having Synergy frames and SimpliVity on the market - it doesn't really make sense to switch. Do you really want to pull away now after you have invested so much? 

It's a matter of: "They're going down the right path so just keep following it." The reason we jumped ship for VNX back when we did was that, at the time, HPE stepped away from SAN and storage. Those were their bad years of MSA versus EVA and dropping away. They didn't really have an offering that fit that mid-tier storage that we were at. We had to do something. "Once bitten, twice shy", so now we'll look at EMC, we'll look at other vendors, but I always have a feeling we're going to come back to 3PAR.

My current 3PAR, three years ago I would have rated it a 10 out of 10. Today, just because it's aged, I'd give it a solid seven. It's because the drive architecture has changed over the years. Comparing it to the new ones that are out... it comes back to "better, faster, stronger." Without me spending another six figures to swap out hundreds of terabytes of storage, I can't get the added performance. It comes down to me making a critical decision of, "Okay, how do I balance my current IOPS, deliver what I need to deliver to my customer, and still meet the budget?"