Buyer's Guide
HCI
May 2023
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Technical Manager at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
It offers us some flexibility, but it could be integrated better with the cloud
Pros and Cons
  • "If we decide to expand, vSAN could offer us some flexibility. We are researching ways to set this up from a new data center, which is located somewhere different from the current location right now."
  • "I would like to see better integration between the cloud and our VMware virtual environment. We only have one virtual environment, which is VMware vSAN. Right now, there is little interoperability with the cloud solution at the moment."

What is our primary use case?

I work at a small company, and we have VxRail. Like Rubrik, VxRail can be upgraded brick by brick. Now we are studying considering deploying another traditional setup comprising a host and SAN Storage. VMware vSAN is a virtual SAN Storage. 

We are planning to expand the resources of our system, including CPU, RAM, and storage. Currently, we are utilizing the basic VxRail setup, which consists of only three nodes, and we're in the process of acquiring another. I'm upgrading because it's at capacity, so we have no choice but to add another node so we can expand the loads for some new applications that we need to employ under the virtual servers. Our expansion to a new data center will add some more capacity to the current setup.

In the end, we could wind up with around six nodes, SAN storage, or flash array storage. But we don't have a definite plan yet. Everything is being drafted at the moment, and we're researching some details on backup solutions and VR solutions. We also have some cloud-based and server-hosted applications from Azure and AWS. So maybe the on-premises solution could involve some VMs or a hybrid backup solution that goes back and forth between the cloud and on-premises. 

What is most valuable?

If we decide to expand, vSAN could offer us some flexibility. We are researching ways to set this up from a new data center, which is located somewhere different from the current location right now.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see better integration between the cloud and our VMware virtual environment. We only have one virtual environment, which is VMware vSAN. Right now, there is little interoperability with the cloud solution at the moment. We are currently researching to figure out if we can achieve that. 

It's possible that we'll need to acquire new infrastructure for the new data center. And for that, we need to consult some architects, whether it's a VMware architect or some AWS and Azure architects. And we could come up with a workable blueprint that to use as a guideline so we can manage our infrastructure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I am new to this company, but I worked with different solutions at my previous company, including vSAN and the traditional VMware vSphere setup. So I've been using vSAN for two years or three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

VMware vSAN is stable, although there's is some room for improvement. 

How are customer service and support?

I've been working with VMware technical support since I had my own company. It's pretty dependable because I used to work primarily with level three infrastructure support. We are the last escalation. I am one of the contact people between the company and the VMware vendor. The final escalations would be working with the vendor itself or some VMware engineer, whether it's vSAN, vSphere, Center, or anything else within the scope of our license.

In my environment right now, we only handle a limited set of VMware products. These solutions are not perfect because we must apply patches and updates to deal with glitches and minor bugs. Byt I think vSAN will be reliable, especially if the after-sales support and engineers are excellent and could help us work seamlessly and comfortably.

How was the initial setup?

Our initial vSAN setup is a backup from Rubrik being thrown up to AWS for Glacier. But in the near term, maybe we could migrate that kind of solution in a more seamless and resilient way. That's what we're considering right now.

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

VMware is quite expensive compared to Microsoft's Hyper-V. However, when you factor in flexibility and comparability of use, it's reasonable enough. For the high price of VMware, you get seamless operation and manageability. At the same time, I think VMware is lowering the price for its cloud-based solutions. And it's stable enough that some organizations might want to put part of their setup on the cloud and the other part on-premises. VMware's advantage is that they were already preparing for cloud solutions many years ago. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

There are several virtual solutions that I have hands-on experience with, including VMware, Hyper-V, and some open source software. I could only compare Microsoft and VMware. VMware is significantly more expensive than Microsoft, but I still prefer VMware because it's manageable and easy to set up.

As a VMware customer, it's hard to judge the value I'm getting for the price in terms of operability and manageability. Then there are other factors, such as the amount of resources used. So when we're evaluating, we're not just looking at the price. We don't want to settle for something cheaper that might cost us some headaches.

What other advice do I have?

I rate VMware vSAN seven out of 10. I prefer a traditional SAN storage solution. Right now, we're only using vSAN for small solutions. At the basic level, it's good enough because it operates the same way as the traditional setup. It's suitable for companies that are starting and might expand in the near future. For those use cases, vSAN is a great choice compared to Hyper-V. It's much easier to maintain. However, I haven't deployed vSAN for a larger configuration.

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.
Systems Administration Manager at Elsewedy Technology
Real User
Top 20
Flow Network Security for microsegmentation helps with security, and scaling is very easy
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable aspect of Nutanix is the performance of the storage, which is excellent. And controlling compute, storage, the network, and security all together in one box is very efficient for us. It gives us a single platform to manage our all infrastructure."
  • "They need to improve the look and feel of the interface. The functionality is fine, but the appearance could be better."

What is our primary use case?

We have four Nutanix clusters at different sites and we are using it as our hyper-converged infrastructure solution.

How has it helped my organization?

By using more than one cluster, if any node is down, the VMs can be moved to a remaining node, and that helps us to work without any downtime. A node can be moved, online, to another node, which minimizes downtime as much as possible.

Flow Network Security for microsegmentation also helps in maintaining security. For example, we can protect servers with policies between an application server and a database server.

Previously we had our own storage, stand-alone servers, and stand-alone network. For any new project, it would take us at least six months until we could provide a new server. Now, when we have a new product, we can avoid that long wait and provide a server in hours. 

We have also moved all our servers to Nutanix and have been able to eliminate our legacy servers and infrastructure.

And it keeps our IT staff informed by email regarding any error or alert. They log in and get a full view of all our servers, including memory, storage, and CPU usage. It helps our IT staff to be more productive.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable aspect of Nutanix is the performance of the storage, which is excellent. And controlling compute, storage, the network, and security all together in one box is very efficient for us. It gives us a single platform to manage all our infrastructure.

It's so easy to configure anything on Nutanix. We have had Nutanix for more than five years and all our products are on it. It's really easy to manage them. We can monitor our servers and get notified if there is any issue with a server and correct it before a problem happens.

What needs improvement?

They need to improve the look and feel of the interface. The functionality is fine, but the appearance could be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's very stable. We haven't had any issues with Nutanix.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's so easy to scale out or scale in our infrastructure.

How are customer service and support?

If we have any issue, we contact their support and they solve it within the SLA time. They are very helpful and respond to us as soon as possible.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We had another solution, VxRail. We did a comparison between Dell VxRail and Nutanix and we found that Nutanix is more compatible with our organization.

How was the initial setup?

The initial deployment was easy.

We installed Nutanix in multiple locations: at three sites in Egypt and one in Indonesia. We have the main site and a DR site in Egypt. There are three people on our IT team who administer the four clusters.

We have had to do maintenance on the hard disk two times in the last four years. And upgrading our Nutanix servers takes one click. We have upgraded our firmware and AHV and it is so easy. It's also very easy to add compute and storage. We just click to expand a cluster and add new nodes.

What was our ROI?

Nutanix has helped us to reduce the cost of the operations in our company.

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

The price of Nutanix is lower than other products.

What other advice do I have?

My advice is to purchase Nutanix. It will help with your infrastructure.

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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Availability Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Stable, scalable, but deployment could be simplified
Pros and Cons
  • "Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes is scalable"
  • "The deployment is done by doing it one by one and could be simplified."

What is our primary use case?

Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes is used for managing hyper-converged infrastructure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes within the last 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes is scalable

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

When comparing Dell VxRail and Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes, I have found that when managing and expanding Dell VxRail is much better. The monitoring is already prepared by the VxRail manager. There are features that are available in the VxRail manager that is not available in the Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment is done by doing it one by one and could be simplified.

What was our ROI?

I had some issues related to the Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes, and it was much more than I had with the VxRail. However, the increased issues could have been because there is a private cloud was built on that. Most of the issues were related to the private cloud, not related to the Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes itself. The support was very good.

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

The price of the solution was reasonable.

What other advice do I have?

Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes is hardware and VMware software combined. What I think is going to be added in the future is more VMware enhancement. VMware will be able to build software or to add to the VxRail, all the possibilities of the VxRail. VxRail will not be improved in a way, or rather in a different way. Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes will be similar to VxRail.

Anyone who has knowledge about VMware, can implement it and know their way around it. Whenever you need any support related to the Ready Nodes, you have to go back to VMware. Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes software is based on VMware, totally based on VMware. Nothing from Dell EMC has been added to the Ready Nodes besides some tuning for the software to be implemented to the Dell hardware. When we want to compare Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes to VxRail, VxRail many features have been added from Dell EMC.

I would recommend Dell VxRail much more than Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes.

I rate Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
Group IT Manager at a hospitality company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Effective backup and replication, highly stable, and helpful support
Pros and Cons
  • "I have found backup and replication to be useful. We have a 10 megabit line between the data center and our main site. The backup and replication are very good. Additionally, the solution runs on VMware which is a benefit."
  • "The interface is good but takes some time to get used to."

What is our primary use case?

We are in the hospitality industry with 10 hotels, and all the systems are on HPE SimpliVity infrastructure. We have our 10 systems on the infrastructure, such as a huge hospitality application, finance, and material control systems.

What is most valuable?

I have found backup and replication to be useful. We have a 10 megabit line between the data center and our main site. The backup and replication are very good. Additionally, the solution runs on VMware which is a benefit.

What needs improvement?

The interface is good but takes some time to get used to.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using HPE SimpliVity for approximately two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is highly stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We do not need to scale the solution because we have purchased it with servers, with two processors, and 750 gigabytes of memory per server. We have everything that we need and do not need to upgrade or scale the server or scale the infrastructure.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is good.

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

When the Dell PowerEdge infrastructure became old we then decided to switch to SimpliVity. We have also used Dell VxRail and all the other solutions that we had upgraded at that time.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is a bit complicated. Setting up the networking and other infrastructure can be difficult if you are have not done it before. There are lots of things that you have to take into consideration, and at that time it was quite new to us. The total time it took for everything to work correctly was approximately four days.

What about the implementation team?

HPE did parts of the implementation with us.

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

The price of the solution is reasonable. We have purchased a five-year license with all the support and upgrades.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others is HPE SimpliVity It is a very good system, very stable, and has lots of features that we have not seen work well in other systems. All the features work incredibly well with HPE SimpliVity.

I rate HPE SimpliVity an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Pre-Sales Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Easy to implement and set up but is expensive
Pros and Cons
  • "The implementation process is okay."
  • "The utilization needs to be better. It needs more options."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for our customers.

What is most valuable?

The implementation process is okay.

What needs improvement?

HyperFlex, compared to other competitors like VxRail or Nutanix, has stability issues.

The utilization needs to be better. It needs more options.  

For HX, we need to install a specific virtual machine on each node as a controller. For VxRail, we don't have to do this since it's a built-in feature on VMware. 

For the solution to work, we need to buy specific switches from Cisco. It's not flexible, actually. I wouldn't recommend using it.

The cost is pretty high.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the product for three or four years. 

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

I'm also familiar with VxRail and Nutanix. They are working with other platforms, and other techniques. Therefore they are more stable. They also have more storage options. 

How was the initial setup?

It is pretty easy to set up. It's not overly complex. The implementation is simple. 

We can implement the cluster within one hour.

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

The solution is more expensive since switches are one of the things that add cost to the solution. The service is a little bit more costly as well. They cost more than other vendors. 

What other advice do I have?

We are partners and resellers.

I wouldn't recommend HyperFlex.

If a company has options, I would say they should look at VxRail or Nutanix as the first option.

I'd rate the solution six out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Buyer's Guide
HCI
May 2023
Get our free report covering VMware, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and other competitors of VxRail. Updated: May 2023.
708,461 professionals have used our research since 2012.