HPE Nimble Storage Reviews

We have two use cases for the solution. One use case is for our daily work. Another use case is our shared platform. We are a service provider and we have our shared platform to sell some power, some compute and storage to our customers.

The improvement of our organization with Nimble Storage really is with the InfoSight cloud. We are much more proactive. We are never surprised by problems, some disks or control breaks or something like that. The whole staff is very proactive, and we have no problems. We have very high availability of the systems, and that's the main improvement; the end-to-end management from the server, hypervisor, all the storage.

The most valuable feature is the management of Nimble Storage, InfoSight. This is like a cloud. That's really a very nice feature. I think that's the only reason to buy Nimble Storage.

The only area of the product that could be improved is if you have to buy additional storage, you have to buy a block. You can't buy two or four hard drives as you can buy for every other system. You have to buy a block of 24 disks, and that's normally very expensive. So if a customer calls and they want to expand the system for a few terabytes, you have to sell them an expensive solution, and it's the same for us. But that's just part of the system. That's part of the architecture.

A feature that would be a nice addition to the next release would be a filer option. A filer option so that you could connect the sim or NFS or chips like NetApp does for NAS functionality.

I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. We are very happy with the product.

I have been using Nimble solutions for about four years, since it became part of HPE.

The solution is really very, very stable. We have never had any issues.

The solution is scalable in every direction. You can change the controller online, you can add additional drives, you can add additional connectivity; it's really scalable.

For the Nimble part, support is very available because it's InfoSight. You don't need any first and second-level engineers because of this InfoSight part. And if you really have a problem, but we never have, then you will be able to contact the third level or the engineering. That's really a big improvement, this cloud solution.

We were still using 3PAR storage before we had EVA Storage System. We are a very loyal HPE customer for many, many years, for ourselves and also as a vendor. We have used HPE storage for ourselves for 25 years.

We switched to Nimble Storage because of InfoSight. You can say 3PAR also had InfoSight, but it was not the same quality. It's better right now. And for us, because we have customer systems in our infrastructure, it's very important to have very high availability in our systems. We have to get SLAs, the service-level agreements.

The initial setup was very easy, but we are used to installing storage systems. We have been a storage seller for many years, around 25 years. So it's getting easier and easier.

The deployment takes about one hour. It takes more time to build it in the racks and link the cabling, but the rest is very easy.

I do all the deployment and consultant work myself.

Once you purchase the solution, you don't have to buy a license for Nimble. All of the features are included. You never need to buy a license.

Before choosing Nimble Storage, we also evaluated NetApp and Dell EMC. The biggest difference was the management stuff with InfoSight.

Ninety percent of the Nimble Storage we have sold because of InfoSight. I would advise potential users to check their management ecosystem and not the storage. The differentiator, and for me the most important part, is the management of the system. Because every system is fast and has high availability. That's normal at the moment. 

The biggest lesson I've learned from using this solution is that most of the storage problems are not storage-related. Because of the InfoSight cloud, you can see the whole ecosystem end to end. It's not always because a system is slow that's part of the storage; it could also be a server problem, it could also be a network problem, it could be something else. With InfoSight, this end-to-end view, we saw that most of these storage problems were not really storage problems.

It’s an excellent solution. The failure rates are minimal.

It’s easy to set up.

It's a very easy solution. Whenever I have a question, I find they have already provided a solution for it. For example, I want to sort out backups so that I offload some data off the Nimble since I don't want online to be clogged. They'll tell you we've got storage which is where you write your backup, which one is a partner where you can back up this information, get Veeam to store the backup, and then you can configure and send it to the storage if I want to run high availability.

They have really thought through their solution. They've covered everything.

Even their support is great. We have a support contract, so when there's an escalation on the system, you even see an email from them telling you that you have this issue. They do respond quickly and help you resolve your daily from the log. They’ll say: “This is the issue. Do this.” It's so easy to work with.

When we’re setting up the solution, making options available regarding the replication tool mechanism would be ideal. There's a Nimble storage-based replication. They need to ensure that a customer beforehand understands what they want to do. When I joined, and I'm only about a year and four months in my new role here, I found that there was a gap in understanding of the type of replication they wanted and what they got. This is why right now, we're trying to change. Instead of having storage level replication, we're going to now buy Veeam so that we can run the applications active. That's how they want it set up. They didn't understand they could do that. They need to give options.

In terms of the setup, when someone is buying it, they should actually maybe ensure that they cover the admin portion. They should sit the user down to discuss and say, "If you want to deploy a solution like this, do it like that. If you want it like that, you need to buy this extra, maybe it's Veeam, and ensure you do it like this." That way, they don't just buy Nimble to set it up, and then it's not doing what it's doing. Then they'll think the solution doesn't work. Meanwhile, it's how they implemented it.

I’ve been using the solution since 2019.

We have about 350 users on the solution currently. It's sitting in a data center.

It’s pretty simple to set up. It’s not overly complex or difficult. I’m still earning it. However, it looks simple.

The Nimble deployment took maybe two to three weeks. I'm sure there was even education from the team. It was new to the team. Obviously, to get that sorted, it took a while as it's like a new greenfield. You start from zero, and then with time, it comes together. Now, they’d likely do it in a quicker time as they know the solution.

The pricing is okay. However, it can be cheaper. Performance wise it is okay. If the price was better, it would mean there’s no reason for anyone to think of changing if they bought Nimble.

The cost depends on what components you want to include.

We are just a user.

I'm learning to understand it. I originally was not a support administrator, however, over time, found that it's actually straightforward. I'm looking forward to getting certified or trained in Nimble.

I would advise people to go for it. They just need to make sure that they understand the support around Nimble, in terms of them knowing how to support solutions. Obviously, you don't want every call that comes to you to have to phone Nimble to do it for you. You want to support everyone quickly and escalate issues only.

Also, ensure that you look out for the configuration or proposed architecture from Nimble in terms of the best implementation approach where you have the store ones and the other supporting components to get it right. Sometimes people rush to make it cheaper, however, then you eliminate certain key components that backup mechanisms.

So far, that solution is great. I'd rate it nine out of ten.

We use HPE Nimble Storage for VMware VMDK object workloads.

The first installation we did was at a mine in South America, Chile, in a place called Ike where the elevation was very high that spinning disks were failing, the meantime for failure was low. The main reason we put our first all-flash array was that it was solid-state which has no moving parts. This solution allowed our organization to operate in that location.

The management software that runs in the cloud is called InfoSight and it is very good. It is similar to machine learning software that monitors your hardware.

I would like to have more administrative rights, for example, root-level administrative rights to the underlying OS of the storage array. We want more access to the kind of underlying infrastructure of the storage array rather than relying on support. However, most companies are looking to have more managed solutions which is the opposite direction of what I want. 

I have been using HPE Nimble Storage for four years.

We have approximately 5,000 virtual machines servers and over 100 storage arrays and they are placed all over our organization. We are using this solution extensively in our organization.

The technical support has been good in our experience. I have worked with the support quite a lot and I have not had any issues with their support.

We have used NetApp previously and our management preferred to use HPE Nimble Storage.

The installation is straightforward. The whole implementation took use approximately one day.

We did the implementation using an in-house team. The solution does not require a lot of maintenance. I have not updated the software in a year and when it is updated it is all done online with no downtime.

There is a one-time price for hardware, and with the software support, everything is included, such as software upgrades. The licensing of the solution is included in the cost of the hardware and the support is an extra cost. We have purchased support on an annual basis, but you can purchase support up front for up to seven years. We usually buy five years and near the time of the expiry, we sometimes extend it. 

I have evaluated Pure Storage and they are very similar to HPE Nimble Storage but are a lot more expensive. For ease of setup and cost perspective, HPE Nimble Storage is the better choice.

We are transitioning a lot of our hardware to Azure and we partnered with Microsoft on their cloud services. For our on-premise setup, we are doing a switch from traditional storage arrays to more of a VMware Cloud Foundation type of structure where we are using VMware vSAN instead of storage arrays.

I rate HPE Nimble Storage an eight out of ten.

I primarily use the solution for storage. 

It has a dual power supply. Whenever I want to upgrade, it's got a pack of power with the network and everything. It's got zero downtime.

It's very easy, very compatible, and user-friendly. 

You don't have to do anything. When you power up, it'll ask you a couple of questions. For example, what IP address is required, the name, and how many partitions or, if you don't do the partition, just go for the IP addresses. 

It has a power backup network card and everything.

You don't have to go directly to the storage to create anything. It's automatically from the VM or any other software. Whatever you are using, you just create storage over there or in space, and it automatically creates it in the Nimble.

It has SSD cache and it has a physical drive as well. It is fast. It'll automatically sense your data. Whatever data you are pulling frequently, it'll store in that cache instead of storing directly on the hard drive to pull or store that. It is a very good feature.

The initial setup is straightforward. 

It is scalable. 

It's stable. 

I don't find anything that is needed in terms of improvement. They are now gradually upgrading everything and are more powerful than we have.

It was a bit expensive.

I've used the solution for a year. 

The stability has been good. I would rate it eight out of ten. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

We do not have plans to increase usage at this time.

It can scale, however. I'd rate the scalability eight out of ten. 

Technical support is good. Nimble talks directly with the HB, the heartbeat. Nimble sends its heartbeat to the support team every day, every hour, whatever the schedule is. If anything happens, it automatically will open a ticket without calling me. They call you back and will fix the issue for you.

We've also used Dell storage solutions. They were not pure storage, however. 

It is a straightforward solution to set up. 

HPE came and racked the solution for us. That's all we needed. 

We have witnessed an ROI while using this solution. 

The solution is a bit expensive. I would rat the pricing six out of ten in terms of affordability. 

We did evaluate a few other options. However, we found HPE to be the best. 

I'd advise other potential users not to go anywhere else and just use Nimble. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Nimble storage is our primary Production storage vendor.  We use this with VMware on a daily basis including a new AFA5000 all flash array for our DMS system.

These arrays perform very well and have allowed us to move many physical servers to virtual and run them from the Nimble arrays without any performance impact and there is actual performance improvement.

The most valuable features are -

1. Ease of setup

2. Ease of Management with Web UI

3. InfoSight - analytics sight that collects data for all Nimble arrays deployed

Infosight has been very valuable with determining upgrade requirements, bottlenecks, etc. The latest update to the site now allows Per-VM monitoring within the Virtual Infrastructure now too.

No areas require improvement at this time.  The arrays run very well and updates are flawless when completing.

More than five years.

We have had some stability issues with one array which has happened twice during subsequent software updates but is due to a bad Postgres database. Nimble has been very helpful and are even replacing the array with a brand new one for our troubles.

There are no scalability issues and the arrays can be upgraded with ease.

Customer Service:

Customer service has been top notch with Nimble and would be 10/10. They even worked with use to replace a faulty array.

Technical Support:

Technical Support is one of the best and is 10/10. The autosupport system they have in place that creates tickets for you automatically is great. You can even specify on the InfoSight webpage which ones you want to Auto-Close, etc.

Previously used Dell Equilogic arrays but they were end of life.

The initial setup is straightforward. You connect the array to the network and power it up. You then run the Nimble Setup Manager which will detect the array on the network and allow you to complete an initial configuration. Once that is done you can then use the Web UI to finalize the configuration.

It was completed in-house with the assistance from Nimble when required.

Nimble has allowed us to run without much down time giving us a great ROI on our investment.

No other options for storage were evaluated.

Given the chance to evaluate Nimble it is highly recommended. Their CASL architecture is very fast and being able to get the performance from spinning disk that you see on some flash arrays is great. They are always improving the product and software including the recent changes to the InfoSight web page that allows Per-VM monitoring now. Excellent support and customer service when you need it.

HPE Nimble Storage is used for data backups.

HPE Nimble Storage uses the InfoSight platform and it is useful because we can identify the faults and can analyze the performance. It has many other features. This feature is the best that I have observed from HPE Nimble Storage.

The interface of the solution is good.

Pure Storages have some option, which allows us the ability to directly download that host inventory and volume report. We can receive everything directly generated from the storage itself. We do not need to use some other web browser or something. If HPE Nimble Storage could do the same it would be a benefit.

While we're attaching the host and creating a volume. Afterward, it is a bit difficult compared to all other storage solutions. In other solutions, we can directly search for the host, but in Nimble, the drop-down is difficult.

I have been using HPE Nimble Storage for approximately three years.

HPE Nimble Storage is highly stable. We have not had any downtime due to failures in the three years we have used it. 

The solution is scalable.

We have approximately 20 applications running on the solution.

Nimble support is different from HPE support. When comparing some other HPE products, such as Primera and 3PAR, the engineers are different. HPE Nimble Storage has all-in-one support. The L1, L2 will be one direct contact person. We don't need to wait for someone in the L1 to do any analysis. We can receive the analysis as earlier.

I would rate the support from HPE Nimble Storage a 4 out of five.

We have previously used many similar solutions, such as IBM and Pure Storage. I have found HPE Nimble Storage to be a better solution.

The installation of HPE Nimble Storage is not complex because I was one of the engineers who did the installations. We have not had many challenges while installing the HPE Nimble Storage. 

HPE Nimble Storage has a controller and we are using active and passive modes. It would be great a great benefit to have an active, active mode.

There is not a lot of maintenance. If we need to expand the solution there is no downtime required. For some other types of upgrades, there will be some downtime but it is minimal.

The price of HPE Nimble Storage is good.

To purchase the solution is a one-time purchase.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate HPE Nimble Storage an eight out of ten.

The performance and reliability are excellent. Due to the fact that we are a provider, we need systems which just run and run and run the whole day and the whole night without issue. This product does just that. We are selling services, and therefore we need a system which works 24/7.

The initial setup is very easy.

The stability is very good.

The scalability is straightforward.

There is a new version of the Nimble and 3PAR systems called Alletra and they have a lot of new features. We have to check and have to give them a read, however, at the moment, there are some new features with cloud connections. It's a feature that they haven't finished yet. There's the possibility to move the workload to the cloud and back. At the moment, they don't really need any improvements.

I've been using the solution for around 20 years. It's been two decades. I've used it for a long while at this point. 

The stability is great. It just keeps running without issue. There are no bugs or glitches. It does not crash or freeze. It is quite reliable. 

The scalability is great. It scales in every direction.

While the technical support isn't good every single time, for the most part, we are happy with it. 

They could improve their services a bit. If you have some easy problems, for example, if a hard drive fails or something like that, that's not a problem for them to deal with. However, if you have strange problems related to performance issues or something like that, sometimes it's difficult to find the right person. In most cases, we are happy with the support.

The initial setup is very easy. It's not very complex or hard to do. If a company needs to set it up, it can do so with very little difficulty.

We are certified partners. We know exactly how to set up the solution and can do so for our clients if they need assistance. 

We are an HPE partner. We also use it as customers and end-users. 

Right now, we use the HPE 3PAR 8000 systems, we use Nimble systems, and we also sell some systems like Primera.

I'd recommend the solution to other companies.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. We're mostly quite happy with the product.

We primarily use the solution to connect to the HCI. We try to connect to HCI and share the storage space to a VM farm.

The solution is very fast. It has a replication from Nimble A to Nimble B, which is a high-speed connection.

The solution is quite scalable.

The stability is very good.

It's quite easy to use and the performance is quite good.

The solution should allow for easier configurations.

I've been using the solution for around two years or so at this point. 

The stability is very good. We don't have to deal with bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable and the performance is good. 

The scalability is there if a company needs to expand. It's not a problem to grow it out.

We have three or four users on the product right now.

We might increase usage in the future.

I haven't really connected with technical support for issues with the product.

I remember one time I requested help from HPE for their info site. They did help and I was satisfied with the level of service I got. 

Previous to this product we just used normal three-tier storage, for example, HPE, MSA, Lenovo, and so on.

In terms of the initial setup, while it is quite easy for the fiber connection, I recall for the ISS connection it was quite complex.

The initial setup itself only took about one day. It didn't take too long. 

The first time we implemented it, we had the help of the HPE team. the second time we did it, we were able to handle the process internally on our own.

We pay a monthly licensing fee.

We are on the latest version of the solution. I can't speak to the exact version number.

I'd recommend it to others as it is quite easy to use and does offer very good performance. However, if you do not have experience with the product, you'll find the configuration process difficult. 

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