VxRail Reviews

We use it for our applications, which are all homeward applications and on a Windows-based server. VxRail has performed well so far. 

With VxRail, there is a single vendor with the hardware, software, and maintenance. Thus, there is a single vendor with whom we can contact. With other products of HPE, you have to procure different vendors and pay the hardware to HPE, the software to VMware, and the maintenance to someone else.

• They should add automation and activation going forward.
• VxRail is missing some of the features that Nutanix has in its product.
• Next release, we would like to see online applications.

It is very stable.

It is scalable. When you are buying it, you have to buy a minimum of three nodes. After that, if you want to add more nodes, you can buy can buy them. You can also add-on additional compute and storage.

The technical support is very helpful and answers questions whenever we have issues with the product.

The initial setup was straightforward.

Compare the VxRail product to Nutanix. Nutanix has more features, but its pricing is higher.

We went with Dell VxRail because we have a good relationship with Dell EMC. The second reason was the price. We procured a very limited edition of VxRail. 

We are currently looking at buying a full featured edition of a hyper-converged product. For example, we are considering buying Nutanix, HPE SimpliVity, VxRail (the third edition), or Cisco HyperFlex solution.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor:

• Stability
• Scalability
• Technical background of the company
• Price.

For use with our on-premise infrastructure.

It makes for easier deployments through automation and improved accessibility. 

Its ease of administration is extremely valuable. It allows me to make better use of my time for other tasks instead of maintaining systems through multiple administration consoles.

It needs faster deployment of security patches. Dell EMC is already improving its patching method, but faster security patch rollout would alleviate risks associated from known vulnerabilities within VMware/subsystems.

No issues with stability.

No issues with scalability.

Technical support has not been needed.

We previously used traditional storage and compute. We switched because we needed a single pane of glass for administration.

The initial setup was straightforward.

Be mindful of your storage needs now and for the future.

We evaluated VxRail vs HPE SimpliVity, as well as Flex, and others.

You should make use of all the products available within the solution.

With SSD cache managed by vSAN technology, all servers have a much faster experience.

vSAN: It is the most valuable Software Defined Storage ever to manage all storage workloads, and also offers high availability.

It still has compatibility issues with the latest version of VMware vSphere 6.5. In fact, we spend around six months waiting for a confirmation and firmware upgrade to confirm this step.

Only in replication using native RP4VM software.

No issues.

They are always in touch with us doing whatever they can.

I used to use traditional infrastructure (blade servers and SAN storage). I switched for scalability and for the fast-growing data center that I have.

It is a little complex. We had a lot of technical discussions to set a proper plan and basic architecture.

Most of hyper-converged solutions require additional licenses for the virtualization layer (like VMware). Nutanix, for example, offers their solution (Acropolis) for free. So, you have to revisit your needs and budget.

Nutanix, Cisco HyperFlex, and HPE Hyper Converged.

It is good choice if you are looking for flexibility and scalability for the future.

At a remote location where physical servers were deployed in order to address latency or process delays, one of these appliances is now installed and a low cost virtual environment is in place. This has also allowed snapshot backups to be taken with our Avamar solution rather than just performing file level backup with an agent.

Being able to perform upgrades and check the system through the VxRail Manager has been very helpful. It allows files to be uploaded, performs a pre-check against the system, then upgrades the appliance from the hardware up through the VMware environment.

My main issue so far is that the installation created a default datacenter name of "Marvin" and it cannot be changed. This can be a problem with multiple device\location deployments where all of the names are "Marvin".

As with any new product, we have had a few bugs that were address in the last upgrade we performed. For example, we had a host that would appear to become disconnected or missing from vCenter, but later return and be online. However, there has never been an outage or loss of data with any issues. In the above mentioned issue, the VMs still functioned and were reachable. This was correcting with a software update.

We have not had a reason to scale or add to the initially purchased appliance.

Customer Service:

Our customer service is outstanding. As with many Dell EMC accounts, there is a primary person assigned as our account representative. He maintains regular contact and interaction to ensure we are not only satisfied with our VxRail, but also our other Dell EMC solutions.

Technical Support:

The few times I have contacted technical support they have always been very responsive. I have never felt as though it was a low-level support person, reading a script. They all seem to have been top-level support individuals. As with other Dell EMC products, the appliance includes an ESRS gateway, so they have the ability to remotely access (if allowed) and proactively address issues that may occur through the dial-home service.

No, we did not have any previous HCI installations.

The initial setup was not really any more complex than some other HCI deployments. We completed a spreadsheet, with IP addresses and names, that was imported into a JSON file. This was then used to automate the deployment and creation of the virtual environment.

The implementation used a combination of in-house staff being onsite and Dell EMC personnel being on a WebEx. This was mostly due to being one of the early deployments of the system. I am not sure of the current requirements around new deployments.

The VxRail has allowed an environment to be created that is easy to manage and back up. This reduces the amount of time that is required by staff to manage and update systems.

At the time, VMware licensing was purchased separately. I have heard that now it is offered as part of the appliance. There is a permanent vSAN license included since it is required, but vCenter\ESXi host licensing should be validated in the purchase process.

We did look at some other solutions, but at the time we were only capable of 1G networking and this device was the only one available at that speed. However, it has performed great and has been easy to manage.

We typically deploy this VxRail on-premise. However, we do have some cloud customers.

VxRail could improve by having domain data protection.

I have been using VxRail for approximately five years.

The stability of VxRail is good, we have not had any issues.

VxRail's scalability is a bit of a challenge.

The technical support of VxRail is good.

The initial setup is straightforward.

If you are deploying VxRail from the external vCenter, then it is fine. However, if you're using the version of vCenter which has been supplied through the VxRail, then there are some challenges.

My advice to others is to update the VxRail because they release patches and updates frequently.

I rate VxRail a seven out of ten.

VxRail can be used for application modernization.

VxRail could improve compatibility with other products like VMware vSAN.

I've been working with VxRail for five years or more.

VxRail is stable.

The scalability is limited to a single cluster with 64 nodes. 

All of the primary use cases of the solution are pure infrastructure, and one of two of them are horizon infrastructures.

One area of the product that could be improved is the support. In the first year, it was not that fast. Simple things could be changed, but the support has make the changes because you cannot just change them in VxRail. It had to be the support, and they took a little more time than usual supporting other kinds of infrastructures.

I've been using the solution for five to seven years. I'm an integrator.

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable.

The initial setup is not straightforward, but it's not that complicated. Deployment is supposed to be complicated, so it does not necessarily need to be easier.

If you already have VMware, you just have to convert the license and apply it to the VxRail.

We have about 400 customers, and I would recommend the solution. It's a simple product, fast, and reliable.

I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

The product's integration could be improved. Its price is also a bit of a challenge, particularly if you want extra features or higher performance.

I've been using this solution for two years.

This solution is scalable.

My experience with the technical support for this product has been good.

The initial setup is straightforward, as everything is pre-installed.

VxRail's performance is tremendous, and it provides fine security. I would recommend this solution for most customers who want to avoid complex SAN storage implementations and managing SAN storage, as VxRail provides a single point of management console. I would rate this solution nine out of ten.