- Levels of performance
- Protection
- Compliance
- Ease of management
Technical Specialist at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
We require a very high throughput for our database and this product gives us the desired response
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
In a banking environment, on which we required a very high throughput for our database, we have used this product and our desired response was received.
What needs improvement?
They may change the disks from NL-SAS to Flash, but it would be costlier for customers.
For how long have I used the solution?
We implemented the solution in 2015 and it is still in our environment until now.
Buyer's Guide
VNX [EOL]
May 2025

Learn what your peers think about VNX [EOL]. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
853,271 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No, it is easily scalable.
How are customer service and support?
EMC technical support is good in India. They meet the SLAs well.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In our previous solution, we were getting less performance from our DB. So, it was a better idea to change to EMC.
How was the initial setup?
Initial EMC setup is easier than other Storage product vendors. It is mandatory to know the default IPs of SPs and the password for the admin user.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing and licensing quotes can be requested by the vendor's sales team. There response rate is high.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We also had the option of NetApp and HP Storage, but from a pricing and support perspective, we preferred EMC.
What other advice do I have?
It's a good product and easy to deploy.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partners.

Consultor de soluciones de tecnología
It has a good, high-level of storage along with Auto Tiering
What is most valuable?
- Auto Tiering
- It has a good, high-level of storage.
How has it helped my organization?
With integration, you can compress, and reduce the load of your Oracle DB, in relation to HCC.
What needs improvement?
Main business applications run on it.
For how long have I used the solution?
For about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Not in this case, but it has its limits based on the model you chose.
How are customer service and technical support?
The specialist are a 10 out of 10. Unfortunately to reach them, it could cost you hours on the phone.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I am a consultant. Customers change solutions all the time because of reliability, relationships, and costs.
How was the initial setup?
It was easy. Just know the protocol (what to turn on first and what IP address to connect to).
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Oracle is never the cheaper solution. Compared to others, it is always among the most expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, it was compared with EMC VMAX and Dell Compellent.
What other advice do I have?
Upon implementation, use the guide from the official manual, and if they have access to the EIS.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
VNX [EOL]
May 2025

Learn what your peers think about VNX [EOL]. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
853,271 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Solutions/Systems Engineer with 1,001-5,000 employees
It can scale to meet the needs of the growing business without compromising performance
What is most valuable?
- Auto Tiering: Ability to automatically move data from fast SSD drives to low cost disk drives and vise versa.
- Performance: Increase performance with FAST Cache (SSD), QoS and Auto Tiering.
- Unified storage: Provides capabilities for both block and file storage.
How has it helped my organization?
- Improved Performance: Since implementing VNX, we achieved a 10 times increase in the performance for its end users.
- Increased Scalability: As we continue to grow, VNX can scale to meet the needs of the growing business without compromising performance.
- Simplified Management: VNX's ease of use and Unisphere management software allow us to provision new storage in just minutes and instantly view its performance.
- Data Protection: VNX's replication solutions deliver comprehensive data protection and disaster recovery.
What needs improvement?
I think one area where we would like to see improvement is better deduplication and compression. Some other vendors offer better deduplication and compression ratios and performance.
For how long have I used the solution?
Five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No, I think VNX is one of the stable storage products available in the market.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No. Very easy to scale, both capacity and performance-wise.
How are customer service and technical support?
A nine out of 10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had EMC Celerra (file storage) and Clariion (block storage). When EMC introduced VNX, it provided both file and block storage capabilities. It was a no brainer for us to replace our existing storage with VNX. VNX made storage management simple as well as the cost of maintenance went down from two storage arrays to one.
How was the initial setup?
EMC did the initial setup. Though VNX management is pretty straightforward. Utilizing Unisphere, we can provision storage in matter of minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
From a licensing perspective, my advice to others would be to take a look at VNX Total Efficiency Pack. This unlocks all the features of VNX.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not.
What other advice do I have?
My advice would be to do research on VNX application performance.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Asst.Manager - IT Operations at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
One of the best supports you will ever get with top notch tech support and live chat
What is most valuable?
- Its reliability and ease of use.
- Single console for managing block and file (CIFS/NFS)
- Data replication to DR site for both block and file
- Auto tiering - Data movement in-between the pool
- Fast cache - Global cache for low end arrays
- EMC ViPR - A complete insight into the storage performance
- Deduplication and compression
How has it helped my organization?
With more than 145 applications including SAP for different businesses running in our environment, our requirement was always to have a storage with a very good response time and performance.
What needs improvement?
So far we haven't had many issues with the VNX. However, the Data Mover (that manages CIFS/NFS) part needs some improvements. EMC's new storage (Unity) has no DM's as the NAS functionality is all virtual.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used EMC products for nine years and VNX products for six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No, we have never had issues with stability apart from one instance where we were hit by a bug in the VNX code. After an upgrade, it was resolved permanently.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues with scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
One thing I would like to explicitly mention here is the EMC support. It is by far one of the best supports you will ever get in comparison with any vendor. The Live chat option gives it an extra edge and the technical support is always top notch.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Yes, we were using HPE Storage, which was not a bad solution, but EMC wins hands down when it comes to the Enterprise storage. We were having stability/performance issues with HPE Storage.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup is very straightforward and easy as long as you know what goes where.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Yes, when it comes to pricing, EMC might be a little on the higher side, but you can't buy the performance of a Ferrari in a Toyota. Hence, you get what you pay for.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Since we were using HPE Storage, we had a look at IBM Storage as well. After a features comparison and our requirements, EMC was the right choice.
What other advice do I have?
EMC VNX is a mid-range enterprise storage. Make sure to choose the right system and do have a look at their EMC Unity series that has hybrid as well as All-Flash arrays. Before doing any implementation, make sure to do right-sizing and you will be good for the next five years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Professional system engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Technical support is fast and always fixes the issues
What is most valuable?
It is hard to say which features are the most valuable. All other arrays can do pretty much the same, so it's hard to tell. At least I haven't used any feature that would be unique to other arrays.
How has it helped my organization?
As long as I have been working at my current company, it has always been one of EMC's biggest customers, and has had the most EMC certified engineers in the world, so the company's whole business is based on EMC's products.
What needs improvement?
- Upgrade the GUI
- Full integration with VMware
- The Unisphere for VNX needs improvement as it is old and slow.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used VNX 5700 for three years, but only for the NAS file system. For VNX 8000, it's been six months already, but only for block.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
When everything is standardized and unified, it is pretty stable.
I have not encountered any issues with stability, but a friend of mine did in another company. They had problems with snapshots, which made the whole VNX very slow. EMC wasn't able to fix the issue, so they had to stop using snapshots.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues. It has always been used in small isolated environments.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is a nine out of 10. It's fast and always fixes the issues. It would be a 10 out of 10 if sometimes I wouldn't have to tell Level 2 support how to navigate using Linux commands. Level 3 is good though.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I worked with 5700 because I worked in another company. The previous version could be changed just to handle bigger loads, but that is not the case neither in the current version nor in my current company.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup is usually done by the vendor itself. The product comes preconfigured, though you have to adjust it a little bit. Everything seems to be fairly simple.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing depends on the version, and the version depends on the environment you have. Plan what do you need, then decide what to buy. These days it is not necessary to have all the features in the array, which may cost a lot. If you are using VMware, it can do the same, sometimes for less.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Sadly, I did not have the chance to evaluate other products. The customer chose himself. In my other company, we didn't want to lose the EMC Elite support package and stuck with EMC, not choosing another vendor.
What other advice do I have?
It's a known product. It's a fairly stable product, but you may get more features from other vendors for less. Try them, too. Like the 16Gb SAN, which EMC still does not offer, and the 32Gb. which is already on the way.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Infrastructure Architect at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
It Was Ill-Equipped To Handle Our Environment Though Tiering Does Allow Dynamic Data Allocation Among Disk Types
What is most valuable?
Tiering, because it allows your data to dynamically move among different disk types based on demand in the last 24 hours. This removes the manual work to keep data in certain disk types.
How has it helped my organization?
We actually stopped using the VNX as it was ill-equipped to handle our environment with the way EMC spec’d it out. I do not recommend the Gen 1 VNX to anyone in this day and age. It’s outdated technology and a newer far less expensive array can more than adequately handle 99% of the tasks better than the VNX architecture.
What needs improvement?
EMC could have made the effort to spec the device appropriately. Instead, they low-balled the config in 2011 to make the price tag look alluring. Then, less than 12 months in, we needed to spend 35% of the cost of the entire array to put enough disks in the array to make it both perform and contain enough capacity, which only lasted until mid-2013. The device had multiple issues from 2013 – 2016 and numerous support calls to no avail, until I told them they would lose our business if they couldn’t identify the issue.
They finally spilled the beans, years after all of the issues, that the device was not spec’d appropriately for our environment. If they would have been honest about it, instead of cheaping out the config to make the solution appear appealing, this could have been avoided.
The competitor’s product was more expensive but would have destroyed the VNX’s capabilities. All they cared about was the sale.
For how long have I used the solution?
Six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Yes, there were many performance issues due to the storage pool latency being averaging more than 7ms, causing user-side impacts; spikes all the way to 256ms, array-wide. All issues surround the original EMC config, and poor architecture in their attempt to add disks to fix their own issue. It caused us three years of production-level issues including downtime to key servers.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Yes, this solution is sensitive to scalability in the sense that you require certain proportions of all three tiers of disk if you enable Auto-Tiering. This resulted in performance issues with the mid-tier having insufficient capacity. The array was thrashing to attempt to use 7200 RPM SATA disks in the lowest tier since they had the capacity. This was disastrous and EMC would not even acknowledge the issue until they forced us to prove it.
How are customer service and technical support?
Two out of 10 for overall technical support. Simple hardware issues like failed drives were promptly dealt with, but performance issues were treated like mysteries even by tier 2 support and engineers. This went on for over three years. We had to use our own team to prove to them, with their own tools, what the issue was in the NAR files.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
HPE EVA. End-of-life standard lifecycle replacement.
How was the initial setup?
EMC made it overly complex, and miswired the B fabric on our fibre channel. We fixed it a year later, after it caused an outage. To be clear, this was a paid-for EMC install engineer. Mistakes happen, but costing a company in downtime is not acceptable.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Ask thrice, not once, not twice… Ensure it is spec’d for your needs for performance and capacity. Ensure you have the appropriate suites purchased up front, and always buy the warranty for all years up front, or EMC will gouge you on years four and five. The $75,000 in support we would have pain in year four for a maxed out VNX 5300, let us simply pay for a chunk of a next-gen, all flash array and solve all issues for latency and performance as well as capacity.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, first-gen HPE 3PAR and IBM.
What other advice do I have?
Stay away, it’s old technology now. Look at newer arrays and features.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Territory Manager
Enables hardware disk replication
Pros and Cons
- "From my point of view, the configuration that I can sell is restricted to the EMC best practices. It is hard to make a mistake in a solution. It means the configuration has good performance and scalability options."
- "VNX can improve by offering flexible upgrade options. It's not possible to add a single HDD to a current array and there are fixed rules to make upgrades."
How has it helped my organization?
VNX 5200 works well with a medium VMware cluster. It has good performance and enables hardware disk replication. This is great, because before that, the customer was using a software replication solution that had many problems.
What is most valuable?
From my point of view, the configuration that I can sell is restricted to the EMC best practices. It is hard to make a mistake in a solution. It means the configuration has good performance and scalability options.
What needs improvement?
VNX can improve by offering flexible upgrade options. It's not possible to add a single HDD to a current array and there are fixed rules to make upgrades.
When I work with other vendors like IBM, I can add a single disk to an array to get more capacity, it's simple. For VNX, you have to add a new array, not just a single disk.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I did not encounter any issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easy to scale.
How are customer service and technical support?
I would rate the level of technical support as very good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
This storage solution replaced an IBM DS4700 and a V7000. They were outdated.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Review your needs and consider the right licensing.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Vice President at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It is very stable even during multiple power failures.
Pros and Cons
- "It is very stable even during multiple power failures."
- "EMC VNX needs to support bigger SSD and the Next Generation EMC Unity does this."
How has it helped my organization?
A hybrid tiered storage such as VNX enables data where IOPS is critical to be placed in SSD and archive data to be placed in NL-SAS disks where the IOPS are not in demand.
What is most valuable?
It is very stable even during multiple power failures.
What needs improvement?
EMC VNX needs to support bigger SSD and the Next Generation EMC Unity does this.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There were no stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There were scalability issues, the scalability options are limited due to supported SSD.
How are customer service and technical support?
I would rate the technical support a 10/10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we had Clariion, VNX was the next technological shift.
How was the initial setup?
It is very easy to set up, guides are available on the EMC site .
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The initial pricing and licensing are reasonable, the yearly EMC is more expensive
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked at IBM Storewize V7000.
What other advice do I have?
Go through EMC best practices available for proper disk sizing and allocation.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide
Download our free VNX [EOL] Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VNX [EOL] Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
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