Member of management at Cyprobes
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Issue-free and easy to upgrade but is a bit expensive
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is issue-free and works almost flawlessly."
  • "If you compare it with Lenovo systems, the pricing is too high."

What is our primary use case?

These are rack servers. 

We have data for banking services. We use Windows servers, mostly. We install applications and banking applications mostly, otherwise like some E-discovery services servers are there. We have almost 25 servers. Some of them are in a data center, and some of them are in-house.

What is most valuable?

We can enhance the processors and increase the RAM. It's easy to do. It's very easy to upgrade.

The solution is issue-free and works almost flawlessly.

It's simple to set up if you have some experience with the product.

The solution is very stable. 

It is scalable. 

What needs improvement?

If you've never used the solution before, the initial setup can be complex. 

The pricing is high. If you compare it with Lenovo systems, the pricing is too high. At this point in time, we are looking for some servers and when we have compared the prices we found Lenovo is the lowest option, even though they have about the same level of services. 

We'd like them to be more scalable.

I'd like to be able to implement a single test system.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for a few years. 

Buyer's Guide
HPE BladeSystem
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about HPE BladeSystem. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable, reliable solution. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. The performance is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

They can scale if it is required. 

We have more than 1,000 users on the solution right now.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is good. They are helpful and responsive.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

Depending on your knowledge, the solution can be very easy or a bit complex to set up.

These are rack servers, so most of the time goes into acquiring them. Once you order them, it takes around four to eight weeks to get them. Once you get those servers, they can be deployed in a week or five days' time.

How many people you need for maintenance depends upon the technical guys as well as the applications themselves. If you're maintaining, then you just need two or three guys. However, it would take more resources if you talk about connectivity and application maintenance and other parts. It also depends upon the number of servers we have installed. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost of the solution is high. There are other cheaper options.

There is no licensing. You pay for the solution once. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are currently comparing the solution to Lenovo.

What other advice do I have?

We use it in-house and in a data center.

They need to make the product more scalable and price-efficient. 

I'd recommend the solution to others. 

I would rate the solution seven out of ten. It needs to be a bit less expensive. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Network Engineer at Lyceum
Real User
Top 20
A fast solution with great power consumption, but sometimes it delays when restarting
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is very fast and the power consumption is great."
  • "The servers are a little bit huge, so it would be great if they could renew the size."

What is our primary use case?

Our IMS system, or internal information system, is run on the server. If we have some sort of issue with our student management system, then we run it on that server as well. 

What is most valuable?

The solution is very fast and the power consumption is great. 

What needs improvement?

Sometimes there will be a delay and it will take some time to restart the server.

The servers are a little bit huge, so it would be great if they could renew the size. Still, the Dell servers are comparatively large, but handling these servers, even just moving them or mounting them in the rack, is a huge challenge for us. If it is possible to reduce the size, that would be great.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with this solution for two or three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. We have employees using this solution remotely and locally, so I believe there are more than 200 users. 

How are customer service and support?

We have rarely had to work with the technical support team, but they are okay. We are satisfied with them. I would rate them an eight out of ten. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was not hard because our expert technicians handled it. It might be a little bit confusing to do the BIOS setup if you don't have much experience, but if you have expertise you can handle it. 

What about the implementation team?

We handled deployment in-house with our own experts. We also have an internal team that deals with the maintenance of the solution, and it is very easy to maintain.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have an annual license. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We currently use both HPE BladeSystem and EMC from Dell. Personally, I prefer HPE because I have more experience with it. 

What other advice do I have?

As a tech guy, I recommend HPE for heavy usage. If you need to use it for applications and multitasking purposes, I recommended HPE because you can simultaneously run different applications without any delays or issues.

I would rate this solution as an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
HPE BladeSystem
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about HPE BladeSystem. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Account Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
MSP
Top 20
Highly scalable, simplified management, and straightforward installation
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of HPE BladeSystem is simplified management."
  • "There is always room for improvement everywhere with the HPE BladeSystem."

What is our primary use case?

We use HPE BladeSystem for many purposes, such as enterprise applications and Oracle transfers.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of HPE BladeSystem is simplified management.

What needs improvement?

There is always room for improvement everywhere with the HPE BladeSystem.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using HPE BladeSystem since they were released, approximately 25 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

HPE BladeSystem is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The HPE BladeSystem is extremely scalable.

We have some clients that have thousands and hundreds of people using the solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of HPE BladeSystem is straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price for HPE BladeSystem can vary between $100,000 to $1 million or above. The price can be high.

What other advice do I have?

The solution is simple and easy to manage.

I rate HPE BladeSystem a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
VMware Software Engineer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Stable, easy to use, and offers good scalability
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is very easy to use."
  • "The support you get is dependant on the region. Some regions are better than others."

What is our primary use case?

We are using HPE for the virtualization. All machines are virtualized, and we are using them in the clusters. They are highly available and set up on the default ones as well. For the DMZ, we use regular rack servers. Those are separate clusters.

What is most valuable?

The solution is very easy to use.

We find the product to be very stable.

The scalability is great.

Technical support is okay.

What needs improvement?

These particular blades are no longer being produced. If they produced more or offered support for them I would be interested in getting more.

It would be ideal if they had been offered at a lower price point. If they bring them back, I'd buy them at a lower price point. 

The support you get is dependant on the region. Some regions are better than others.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been here, in this company, for more than four years. We have been using the product since I have been here, so it's likely been more than five years that the company itself has used the product.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the product is very reliable. The performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale well. It's not a problem if a company wants to expand it.

We have thousands of people that use it.

How are customer service and support?

I've been in touch with technical support in the past. The level of service you receive depends on the region. We have two data centers, one in Frankfurt and one in Paris. When we were assigned to the Frankfurt team, they are okay, however, the local French team left us a bit unsatisfied.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Mainly we are using blade servers from different vendors. We have Cisco UCS, HPE blade servers, and Lenovo blade servers on the global team.

In previous companies, I used HPE and the Cisco blade servers as well - the Cisco UCS servers. In one other company, I used Dell servers as well.

How was the initial setup?

It's my understanding that the initial setup is very straightforward and simple. However, I was not directly involved with the initial setup. It was two or three years ago.

I'm not sure exactly how long the deployment process takes.

We have five or six people on staff that can handle deployment and maintenance tasks. They are all engineers and one is a team leader.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of the product was a bit on the high side. 

You do have to pay for the hardware and a yearly licensing fee.

What other advice do I have?

I'm a customer and an end-user.

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been very happy with its capabilities.

I would recommend it to others.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Manager of Capacity and Control Management at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Easy to set up and offers good scalability with a small footprint
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has good scalability."
  • "They are not selling BladeSystem anymore. The end of the sale of this platform was this year, 2020."

How has it helped my organization?

Years ago, before BladeSystem, we had an EDM platform. We were working with IBM. We had IBM platforms. They consume much more energy. They are so big, so they take up a lot of space in the data center. At the time, when we migrated to BladeSystem, we reduced the amount of energy, amount of space, and we got more capacity. It's been very useful to us in that sense.

What is most valuable?

The solution has good scalability.

We can consolidate our learning infrastructure into just one chassis. You can have infrastructure scalability and capacity with memory. It is a great way to pull up together everything inside multiple platforms and in just one chassis.

Overall, its a very good product.

What needs improvement?

They are not selling BladeSystem anymore. The end of the sale of this platform was this year, 2020. Right now, if you try to buy a BladeSystem, you have to buy Synergy. I did try to buy some BladeSystem Generation 10 solutions in the USA. HP told me that they can sell this for the regular channel of HP still.

Right now, the Synergy platform has a management console that has a lot of options or features that help the administration of the platform. IN addition to that, this console cooling could integrate with the monitoring platform, so we could monitor integrity.

That said, this solution is discontinued, so any new features would only be useful on Synergy.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution over the last year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very, very stable. We haven't had any issues with it. It's quite reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is excellent, and it even takes up less space than, for example, IBM, and uses less energy.

I'm not sure, overall, how many users actually use the product in our organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is pretty good. I would rate it eight out of ten.

I'm using the technical support from Synergy. At the end of the day, it's the same tech support. They're great. That said, sometimes it takes so long, as they often need to recheck many things. Still, they solve the problem if there is one.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used to use IBM. It was pretty bulky and took up a lot of space. It's hard to compare IBM to HP as IBM doesn't really show any good options.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not complex. It is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

I set up the solution myself. I didn't need the assistance of a consultant or integrator.

What other advice do I have?

We're just a customer.

We use the solution on Citrix platforms.

The BladeSystem compared with older solutions about energy and processor, offers more capacity and you can gain or minimize the amount of energy that you consume, which is super-helpful.

Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

One of the big problems that BladeSystem could look at is that systems like Microsoft Windows 2019, Linux, or Red Hat 8 demand a lot of RAM memory. There's no adaptable support. The more gigabytes or more processors that the actual operating system has, the better. With Synergy, and the power of Dell, hopefully, there will be support and adaption to the new necessities.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Systems Engineer at AXA Assistance US
Real User
Easy to manage the enclosure, simple software upgrading, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the most valuable features I have found to be the enclosure. It is really easy to manage and everything is integrated. You are able to upgrade the software quite easily."
  • "We sometimes have compatibility issues depending on the browser that you are using. For example, sometimes you have to switch between Edge, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, or Chrome to have things operating correctly."

What is our primary use case?

We have a mix of generation eight and ten Blades in our HPE BladeSystem and we mostly use the system for virtualization.

What is most valuable?

One of the most valuable features I have found to be the enclosure. It is really easy to manage and everything is integrated. You are able to upgrade the software quite easily.

What needs improvement?

We sometimes have compatibility issues depending on the browser that you are using. For example, sometimes you have to switch between Edge, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, or Chrome to have things operating correctly.

We have a few Blades from previous generations that cannot have the updated firmware upload to them unless you have a maintenance contract with HP. This is a frustrating problem we have experienced with the support.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for approximately eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution has had a few bugs and glitches.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable, we have approximately 3,000 people that use this solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

When we received technical support from HPE and it has been very good.

I would rate the technical support for HPE BladeSystem a ten out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The installation was very easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have been satisfied with the price. However, there are additional costs for support.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are currently evaluating and researching other options because we are looking for simplicity. We plan to replace our HPE BladeSystem with converged or hyper-converged infrastructure.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise others this is a good system overall with great hardware.

I rate HPE BladeSystem an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user484740 - PeerSpot reviewer
Analyst at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
OneView allows us to manage all of our infrastructure using one application.
Pros and Cons
  • "When it comes to the BladeSystem, what we love about it most is being able to actually manage it using OneView."
  • "I would like OneView to go over the current limit of 40 instances."

What is most valuable?

When it comes to the BladeSystem, what we love about it most is being able to actually manage it using OneView. It's one feature that allows us to fully manage all of our infrastructure using just one application.

How has it helped my organization?

We were able to deploy a lot of different operating systems such as VMware and Red Hat Linux, Oracle, Oracle Solaris; also Microsoft's Windows server. All of these are fully supported within the HPE BladeSystem. It allows us to be able to implement and deploy different operating system using one HPE BladeSystem.

What needs improvement?

I would like OneView to go over the current limit of 40 instances.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's very, very, stable. We've got over 40 HPE BladeSystems and so far we've had very, very few hardware problems. Whenever we have a hardware problem, HPE call us right away about our problem, and somebody works on that problem within four hours of generating a call for any type of hardware or software problem.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You cannot really scale a BladeSystem. If I were using it in conjunction with VMware, then we are able to upgrade or get a higher CPU or memory on a virtual machine or move a virtual machine in a different blade that has a higher CPU and memory. If it comes to that, yes, using other software, scalability is very good.

How is customer service and technical support?

Technical support is very good. I've opened a lot of calls over the web or by phone with HPE, and I would say that 99% of the time, they respond to the ticket within an hour of opening an issue.

How was the initial setup?

There is no complication at all when setting it up, either setting it up as an experienced user like myself or having HPE set it up for you using their services. No problem at all.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We were based on different hardware vendors. We selected HPE due to the cost of the hardware; also for the scalability of the materials, and the different models that could be inserted or interchanged in a chassis; also the easiness of the deployment. That's how we selected HPE BladeSystem. We also considered Dell, Cisco, IBM, and Oracle.

What other advice do I have?

It's because we've been using it for so many years now. It's been very reliable for us. I would say consult your hardware vendor and discuss with them your needs. Sit down with them. Elaborate what services do you need and decide together. That's how I would say it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Solutions Engineer at AmWINS Group, Inc.
Real User
It's been easy from an upgrade perspective and maintenance.

What is most valuable?

We like the wire once approach. We've had to do very little maintenance on the backend connectivity components. We really have been able to basically leave our fiber and Ethernet connections alone. I think in our ten years on two BladeSystem enclosures, we've done one infield upgrade, to raise our capacity limits on Ethernet and fiber channel. But really, the same enclosures have been doing fantastic for that entire time.

What needs improvement?

We had a lot of work to do from a management perspective as an administrator to ensure that we had the correct firmware and driver levels, and things like that, between servers. HPE fixed that when they introduced the service pack for ProLiant. OneView has expanded the idea of server profiles and added some additional management ease - including the ability to define firmware levels for blades - the way that a Cisco UCS blade does.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been a BladeSystem customer for over 10 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

The ecosystem of software the comes with HPE blade has been lacking. HPE's Rapid Deployment Pack (was rebranded Altiris when I used it) is clunky solution for imaging blades and it may have been replaced. Sometimes the NPIV makes it difficult to find WWN in the fibre channel SAN when bringing a new blade online.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Early on, I would say that it wasn't stable. Today, however they test all of the firmware and drivers together now, so when we do a deployment or upgrade for firmware, that service pack has been integration tested across all of the different generations and hardware components, so we've gotten a lot more stability out of the solution since they made that change, and that's something I will say across multiple different solutions. Sometimes if they identify a problem like that as a partner, they tend to try to correct it. It may take them some time to get it corrected, but we went through the same sort of thing with StoreOnce ... Early on we had some issues with the software releases and there were some inefficiencies that in a couple generations they had it worked out and they listened to customer feedback. They try to integrate that into their solutions. That's one of the things that keeps us as an HPE customer, because we do feel that communication and feedback gets heard.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Multiple enclosures at scale can introduce challenges. That's one of the downsides of a ten year old technology. HPE is working on new solutions to really hit scale issues that they have encountered with BladeSystem, but it works fine for us. We are a small to medium sized enterprise, so we've not encountered any major issues with scalability where we are at, but we are running one enclosure per sight, so we're not really trying to do scale things.

How is customer service and technical support?

7/10 - it can be hit or miss. We get better luck with our premium support levels. We have a named TAM for some of our systems, that works out well. Escalation managers are always good. There is good technical talent, it's just sometimes hidden by first level support. That can be difficult and frustrating at times, but over ten years working with them, I would say today it's probably a little better than when I first started. Actually, I would say it's probably improved a good bit since I first started working with them, but it's still got some room to go.

How was the initial setup?

BladeSystem setup was one of my first projects when I joined the company, there was a learning curve to it. It really actually was fairly straightforward except we were trying to do everything boot from SAN, and that added some complexity and learning curve. The actual hardware solution - it was fairly straightforward and made a lot of sense. Blades were brand new back then too, so it was a foreign concept, but it wasn't terrible. I would say maybe a a six out of ten or something initially, but if I had to do it now, it's probably a lot easier.

What other advice do I have?

It really gets the job done well. It's dense compute. We replaced an entire rack of equipment with ten use, twelve use, I can't remember how many use it is, but with a single BladeSystem. It has been a long-sustaining enclosure. We have field upgraded the interconnects twice to add new capabilities as technology changed and those were service affecting but not very difficult. I have worked with Cisco UCS Manager and both have similar concepts. HPE Synergy is also due to launch soon, and althought HPE has a commitment to BladeSystem for the next few years, Synergy is really their next generation of blade technology.

It really gets the job done. The management is easy, it's been easy from an upgrade perspective and maintenance. So, it works really well for us.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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