VxRail Reviews

I work for a telecom company, and we're using VxRail internally.

There are multiple things that have space for improvement. The most important are the features related to VMware, vSphere, vCenter, etc. 

We've been using VxRail since it was released around five years ago.

VxRail is stable.

VxRail is scalable. There have been few problems with VxRail in general. We've had some tickets, but it's generally okay.

The most valuable aspect of VxRail is its ease of implementation. It's not like the ReadyNodes. When you create the adjacent file and manage it with the customer, then the implementation will not take much time. VxRail can manage the whole cluster at the same time, so it's easy to expand. VxRail has more features vSAN ReadyNodes that make it easier to implement from scratch. 

Once we get a deal registration, we'll be fine. 

We've looked at alternatives like Nutanix and VMware vSAN ReadyNode.  In terms of management, VxRail is much more expandable. VxRail manager's built-in monitoring tool is a nice feature available in VxRail, but not in ReadyNodes. We don't see many features missing in VxRail but present in other solutions. 

Nutanix is a good competitor for VxRail, and Nutanix's software is helping to position it in the market better. Nutanix's software is better than vSAN's, but VxRail is better overall. However, if we're looking at costs, Nutanix will win because it allows flexibility in the type of hardware you can use.

I rate VxRail nine out of 10. VxRail is well-positioned in the hyperconverged infrastructure segment, but I still think there is a place in the market for Nutanix. 

We use VxRail as a hyper-converged infrastructure service within our virtualization environment. We utilize it to run various applications, including virtual infrastructure, Microsoft SharePoint, Citrix solutions, and internally developed applications. These applications serve diverse purposes and are essential components of our environment.

The product has significantly improved our organization. It is highly stable and supported by an excellent support team, ensuring reliability and assistance whenever needed, regardless of time or location. The self-deployment feature is easy to use.

One of the most valuable features we have found is the ease of managing our virtualization environment. The management interface makes overseeing various resources and tasks within our infrastructure simple. Additionally, managing different kinds of hardware and platforms through the same interface is highly valuable.

The product has high pricing. This particular area needs improvement.

The platform is stable. Once you deploy any workflow or virtual machine within the environment, it operates without encountering issues. There are no significant downtimes or interruptions in monitoring. Stability remains consistent unless constraints are due to specific errors.

The product has good scalability. We can connect the required nodes automatically. Deploying VxRail is relatively cost-effective in increasing the number of users. We currently have a low demand for increased user capacity. However, if such demand arises, the process would be straightforward. Adding additional nodes is intuitive and seamless. Connect the new nodes, and the system will automatically update within the centralized management model.

We have only needed to utilize support services once or twice. We have not encountered any major issues. Additionally, when we did require support, the response was immediate, and our requests were promptly addressed.

The initial setup was straightforward as it was deployed with the help of product management partners. As for requirements for deployment and maintenance, no additional software is needed. Basic skills and general knowledge are sufficient for deploying and managing this solution.

The licensing costs can vary depending on the number of processors and specific requirements, which may result in considerable expenses.

The platform has enabled us to reduce the physical machines required to run large-scale services. It supports VDI deployment, enabling easy use for running different platforms in similar environments.

Integrating VxRail with our IT infrastructure has been relatively straightforward, particularly from the network perspective. However, we encountered some challenges regarding firewall integration. Overall, the process has been facilitated by the platform's compatibility with various vendors.

I rate the platform a nine out of ten.

It is essentially for a standard use case. It is for server virtualization. I wanted to replace my infrastructure which was getting old, and I was looking for something that was scalable.

By implementing VxRail, I wanted to achieve rapid migration from my old environment to my new environment. Above all, I wanted to have scalability because I am not in control of the evolution. It provides us with scalability to avoid big gaps every time we are buying. I now buy a new node every year, and I increase my farm that way.

When I went from a so-called 'traditional infrastructure' to the VxRail infrastructure, I gained in performance. Thanks to its hybrid technology with Flash and traditional disks, I could achieve performance without having to blow my budget. That is important.

VxRail simplifies the management of VMware. There is a unified interface to manage the VMware environment and other components depending on the licenses that we have subscribed to. This unified interface saves us time as well as skills. In terms of training, we do not have to know storage or networking. Knowing the interface is enough, and we are capable of managing it.

In terms of energy consumption, because I have few servers, and everything has been made virtual in the VxRail infrastructure, I don't have the metrics for the consumption. I have not looked into it.

VxRail has helped to reduce unplanned production downtime. I must have gained more than 20%. The fact is that it is very stable in comparison to my old infrastructure. Because I do not have multiple manufacturers or components, everything is in the same block, and I have far fewer cables. That is a source of problems, and that is where we save that 20%.

In terms of durability, I still have my very first servers from 2017. I do have a few servers that are reaching the end of support, but I will keep them and integrate them into my testing infrastructure. I am already in the habit of keeping the old servers for a long time, and I will carry on with that habit.

One-click upgrade is valuable because upgrading an environment that is considered a traditional one is something that we never do or are never going to complete. It is very time-consuming for my team. With the one-click upgrade, it is much quicker. There are preparation stages, but it takes less time, so we are also saving time in the daily administration.

We have issues at times with the one-click upgrade, which is bugging us. At times, the one-click upgrade does not work or does not work well. It does not work well or it stops, and we do not always understand why. In one such instance, Dell support took over. We reach the end of the upgrade, but it is not smooth. It should be improved. It could be related to my infrastructure. Maybe I have too many nodes, but I do not know. Even though we do it and we go to the very end, we end up sweating sometimes.

It is a little bit ironic because the one-click upgrade was what made me sway and choose this technology, and it is still something that can be improved.

We started using it in 2017.

They are very stable.

They are scalable. They are made for it.

It was a little bit complicated at the beginning because there were two products. There was the software part, which is VMware, and there was the VxRail part, which is the equipment. Afterward, the support became one, and we had only one contact who could answer our inquiries and help us when we had any problems. Their support is very good. It was just a bit complicated in the beginning, but it got sorted, and it has been fine since.

They listen to our feedback, and they have managed to improve on all of that. I would rate them a good eight out of ten. The issues we encountered were more related to the product than the support.

Positive

In my previous work, I used HPE SimpliVity.

We had the help of a partner. We had no major issues at the time. It was a recent technology back in 2017. There were not many experts on the market, but we did not encounter any difficulties, and the infrastructure is still running today. It is still the same one as the one from that era.

We have been able to consume faster, and we have been able to upgrade our infrastructure quicker, so we have saved time. IT is complicated. It is a costly thing, and it is difficult to quantify a return on investments.

They match the market prices. They know how to be competitive.

With regard to the price, I am interested in what is out there on the market. They need to be aware of the competitors out there. The competitors know what they are doing and how to be powerful with their pricing. Dell can be a little bit more competitive.

In 2017, when I did my benchmark, I looked into all of the options. I saw what Nutanix was doing and what DataCore could offer, but I made a choice to go for VxRail.

Considering my usage, there was not a big difference between them. I did not use any cloud. I did not have any containerization. It was the same good old-school virtualization, so all three solutions achieved the same thing for me, but what made the difference was the relationship with the Dell staff. All of the work we did with the salesperson at the time as well as the company's strength were the factors that guided my choice. Nutanix was still quite young. HPE had just bought the SimpliVity technology, and I did not quite know which way it was going to go, so I decided on Dell.

We did not consider the option of a public cloud infrastructure before choosing Dell VxRail. I work in the medical field. In 2017, we were not ready to start using the cloud.

I would rate VxRail an eight out of ten.

Foreign Language:(French)
Offre scalabilité, des mises à jour en un seul clic et un management simplifié

Depuis combien de temps utilisez-vous les Dell VxRail?

On a commencé en 2017.

Quel est votre principal cas d’utilisation pour cette solution? (Décrivez votre environnement).

C’est essentiellement un usage standard. C’est de la virtualisation de serveur. Je voulais remplacer mon infrastructure qui était vieillissante et je cherchais quelque chose de scalable.

Veuillez décrire comment Dell VxRail a pu améliorer votre organisation. Si ce ne fut pas le cas, veuillez expliquer pourquoi.

En implémentant VxRail, je cherchais à pouvoir effectuer une migration rapide de mon ancien environnement à ce nouvel environnement. Ne maîtrisant pas l'évolution, je cherchais surtout à avoir cette scalabilité. Cela nous évite d’avoir de grands paliers à chaque fois quand nous faisons des achats. Maintenant, j'achète un nouveau nœud tous les ans et j’augmente ma ferme comme ça.

Quand on est passé d’une infrastructure dite traditionnelle à une infrastructure VxRail infrastructure, j’ai gagné en performance. Grâce à sa technologie hybride Flash et disques traditionnels, j’ai gagné en performance sans avoir une explosion de mon budget. Ça, c’est important.

VxRail simplifie la gestion de VMware. Il y a une interface unifiée ou l’on retrouve l’environnement VMware et d’autres composants en fonction des licences qu’on a souscrit. Cette interface unifiée nous fait gagner du temps et des compétences. En termes de formation, on n’est pas obligé de connaître le stockage, ni le réseau. Il suffit de connaître l’interface et on est capable de l’administrer simplement.

En ce qui concerne la consommation d'énergie, je ne sais pas vraiment car j’ai moins de serveurs, tout est virtualisé dans l’infrastructure VxRail et je n’ai pas les métriques de consommation. Je ne me suis pas intéressé au sujet.

VxRail a contribué à réduire les temps d'arrêt de production imprévus. J’ai gagné un peu plus de 20%. C’est en fait très stable par rapport à mon ancienne infrastructure. Parce que je ne suis ni multi-constructeurs, ni multi composants, tout est dans la même brique et j’ai beaucoup moins de câbleries. Ça, c’est source de problèmes et c’est là où on retrouve les 20%.

En termes de durabilité, j’ai toujours mes premiers serveurs qui datent de 2017. J’ai certains serveurs qui arrivent en fin de support mais que je vais garder et que je vais intégrer à mon infrastructure de test. J’avais déjà tendance à garder longtemps les serveurs et je vais continuer dans cette lignée.

Quelles fonctionnalités avez-vous trouvé les plus précieuses et pourquoi?

Le One-click Upgrade est utile parce que mettre à jour un environnement dit traditionnel, c’est quelque chose qu'on ne fait jamais ou on ne va jamais jusqu’au bout. C’est quelque chose qui prend énormément de temps pour mon équipe. Avec le one-click upgrade, cela est beaucoup plus rapide. Il y a des phases de préparation mais ça prend moins de temps donc, on gagne du temps aussi en administration quotidienne.

Dans quels domaines les Dell VxRail pourraient-ils être améliorés?

Nous avons eu des soucis avec le one-click upgrade car il cafouille parfois. Il arrive que le one-click upgrade ne fonctionne pas ou ne fonctionne pas bien. Il ne marche pas bien ou il s'arrête et on ne comprend pas forcément pourquoi. Le support Dell a notamment pris le relai une fois. On est arrivé au bout de la mise à jour mais ce n’est pas fluide. Il faudrait l'améliorer. C’est peut-être lié à mon infrastructure. J’ai peut-être beaucoup de nœuds, je ne sais pas. On va quand-même jusqu’au bout mais on transpire parfois.

C’est un peu paradoxal parce que c’est le one-click upgrade qui m’a fait basculer et choisir cette technologie mais c’est ce qui reste à améliorer.

Avez-vous précédemment utilisé d’autres solutions et le cas échéant, pourquoi avez-vous changé?

Dans mon ancienne société, j’ai travaillé sur du HPE SimpliVity.

Avant de faire votre choix, avez-vous évalué d’autres options? Si oui, lesquelles?

En 2017, lorsque j’ai fait mon benchmark, j’ai fait le tour de toutes les options. J’ai vu ce que faisait Nutanix et ce que pouvait proposer DataCore mais mon choix s’est arrêté sur VxRail.

Vu mon usage, il n’y avait pas de grande différence entre eux. Je n’utilisais pas de Cloud. Je ne faisais pas de conteneurisation. C'était de la virtualisation de manière bon père de famille donc, les trois solutions faisaient la même chose pour moi mais ce qui a fait la différence, c’est la relation humaine avec le personnel de Dell. Tout le travail qu’on a fait avec le commercial de l'époque et la solidité de l’entreprise étaient les facteurs qui avaient orienté mon choix. Nutanix était encore jeune. HPE venait de racheter la technologie SimpliVity, je ne savais pas trop où est-ce que ça allait et donc, je me suis arrêté sur Dell.

Nous n’avons pas considéré l’option d’infrastructure du cloud public cloud avant de choisir Dell VxRail. Je travaille dans le milieu de la santé. En 2017, on n'était pas prêt pour partir vers du cloud.

Que conseillez-vous à d'autres en ce qui concerne les coûts d’installation, les tarifs et/ou les licences?

Ils s’alignent avec les tarifs du marché. Ils savent être compétitifs.

En ce qui concerne le prix, je m'intéresse à ce qui se fait sur le marché. Ils doivent faire attention aux concurrents en face. Les concurrents savent ce qu’ils font et comment être percutant en termes de tarifs. Dell pourrait être un peu plus compétitif.

Quelles sont vos impressions sur la scalabilité de cette solution?

Ils sont scalables. Ils sont fait pour ça.

Quelles sont vos impressions concernant la stabilité de cette solution?

Ils sont très stables.

Avez-vous constaté un RSI (Retour Sur Investissement)? Si oui, de quelle manière (p. ex. mesures/points de données)?

On a pu consommer plus vite et on a pu faire évoluer notre infrastructure plus vite et donc, on a gagné du temps. L’informatique, c’est compliqué. C’est une chose coûteuse et c’est difficile de quantifier un retour sur investissements.

Le déploiement initial était-il simple ou complexe et de quelle manière?

On s’est fait accompagner par un partenaire. A l'époque, on n’a pas rencontré de difficultés majeures. C'était une technologie récente en 2017. Il n’y avait pas beaucoup d’experts sur le marché mais on n’a pas rencontré de difficultés et l’infrastructure tourne encore aujourd’hui. C’est la même que celle de l’époque.

Décrivez-nous votre expérience du service client et du support.

C'était un peu compliqué au début parce qu’il y avait deux produits. Il y avait la partie logiciel avec les VMware et la partie VxRail qui est la partie matériel. Par la suite, le support s’est unifié et on a eu un interlocuteur unique pour répondre à nos questions et pour nous accompagner lorsqu’on avait des difficultés. Leur support est très bon. C'était juste un peu compliqué au début mais ça s'est arrangé et depuis, tout va bien.

Ils sont à l'écoute de ce que l’on peut leur remonter et ils ont pu améliorer tout ça. Je leur donnerais un bon huit sur dix. Les soucis qu’on a pu avoir étaient plus liés au produit qu’au support.

Comment évalueriez-vous cette solution sur une échelle de 1 à 10 pour le service et le support?

8

Sur une échelle de 1 à 10 (1=le pire, 10=le meilleur), comment évalueriez-vous les Dell VxRail? Veuillez expliquer pourquoi.

Je donnerais aux VxRail une note de huit sur dix.

We primarily use the solution to run the loudmouth to host our virtual server's core courses.

There's user integration with VMware so you don't have to load VMware on top of it and it works right out of the box. 

There's good integration between VMware as my hypervisor and the hardware and it is specifically to size. 

You don't have to worry too much about the hardware and you don't have to work on integrating a storage device.  We instead have this as an all-in-one solution and everything is available as a box. 

They could make something like an actual catalog where you could just put your weblogs and then you cold can get the recommended specs along with the utilities like which processor to get. That would be an economical way to figure out the specs of the solution in relation to your requirements. 

Right now, it's difficult for a non-technical person to participate in using the product. It could be made more consumer-friendly. 

It should give output or recommend orders and dissolve effects. 

They could be more clear in terms of which options to choose. For example, they could say, "We recommend, if you want high performance, to go with this pack." Or "if you want an economical option, try this".

The solution could improve on some existing features, especially experience-based access or something like that. 

The product could benefit from more tightly integrated management.

I've only been using the solution for the past six months or so.

This generation, the third generation, seems to be the most stable compared to the initial bracket in the market. Of course, after learning from our myriad mistakes through the initial implementation allowed us to make changes and choose more stable options compared to a few years ago. 

Especially in the Philippines, we are the number one matching reseller for business-critical items. We utilize multiple units to ensure we have a failover in place. If repairs are delayed for hours, we're covered. 

Generally, Dell has a very good presence here. Therefore, we are very stable. The quality of the algorithm is better. You can see the quality of components inside the hardware. They manufacture everything in their own plants in Malaysia. Therefore, they already have hardware components inside the region that are easily accesible.

Failure rates are low compared to Cisco hardware.  

The solution is pretty scalable. There are a lot of items that keep adding onto the computing power and storage. It's not like other platforms where you have to plan far ahead if you plan to scale. 

We've dealt with technical support in the past. We dealt with HP, IBM, and Cisco a long time ago, and we find Dell works hard for us. Their service levels are very good in comparison to other organizations. We're quite satisfied with their level of service.

I've used Cisco in the past. I find this solution is easier to implement and offers good hardware and software integrations. We've also worked with IBM and HP a very long time ago. Dell has better customer services than all of them.

In terms of the initial setup, compared to any other platform, it pretty simple. I've used Cisco UCS in the past, and have experience with that solution, and compared to that, this implementation is easy.

It's got a very good integration between hardware and software specific configurations. You just need to watch out for technical inputs.

The maintenance we negotiated as a bundle over years of use. Our partner handles the maintenance of the solution.

We actually had that alteration done through our Dell partner. We chose a partner based on input from Dell about our limitations, what sort of skill set they had, how many engineers were verified, etc., and then we chose our partners. 90% of the population was done by the partner and 10% wherever delegation was needed, they would assist as necessary.

The pricing varies. We were able to negotiate a pretty good position

In India, they gave us something like three years without interest. However, there are various categories in terms of getting the correct payment options on the pricing, they have a lot of options.

They gave us 40% off of this year in the Philippines whereas in India they gave a monthly payment option without interest. 

A company can negotiate a price. At my organization, we've always managed very good pricing. Therefore, we have no regrets when it comes to the pricing we have to pay. If you have a good relationship with them, they'll try to take care of you.

We're just a customer. We don't have a relationship with Dell.

We just procured the latest version of the solution.

When we decided on our requirements, we had multiple calls with Dell and the attorneys to ensure that we received what we needed. Apart from choosing various generations or various models on VxRail boxes, we also took to deep dive into the actual configuration on each processor to understand how much memory to use.

It's easier if you have a technical professional on your side when you're dealing with Dell. I'm a technical person, so I could get into the weeds with them. If you are a company without the technical expertise, you're going to run into a bit of trouble as you won't necessarily understand the product or the technical aspects that are being discussed.

I would advise organizations considering implementing the solution to choose your partner really carefully. Ask questions like how many engineers do they have and find out how transparent they are about how they handle the process. I'd look at at least two potential partners and compare their capability and expertise.

Overall, I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

VxRail simplifies IT infrastructure management by providing a single management console for compute, storage, and network. The second advantage is that VxRail offers a continuously validated architecture from the OEM. This means that Dell thoroughly tests all firmware updates before being released or installed on the product, helping to prevent compatibility issues. The third benefit is its ten-year roadmap. Dell consistently announces a roadmap for the product spanning the next decade.

VXRail enhances data center scalability through its CI-based architecture. It allows for node-based scalability, meaning up to sixty-four nodes can be added to a single cluster. This scalability feature enables customers to scale up as needed without downtime.

Apart from the single management console, one of the most valuable features I've found in VxRail is its continuously validated architecture backed by Dell. This means that all firmware and updates undergo testing in Dell labs. Unlike with standard Dell servers, where we update firmware independently, with VxRail, Dell provides compatibility information for each update, ensuring we never encounter compatibility issues.

Integrating the tool with other products is quite straightforward. It's open in terms of storage, allowing for easy integration of third-party external storage solutions at both the network and storage levels. Additionally, all third-party backup software is integratable with it. 

The product's automation lifecycle management is a good feature.

One challenge customers face with VxRail is the high cost of scalability. The price is higher if they want to add memory or capacity after purchasing the tool for three or five years. Each drive and RAM module is licensed separately, making the architecture costly. It would benefit Dell to review this licensing model and make it more cost-effective and flexible for customers.

I have been working with the product for four years. 

I rater the tool's stability a ten out of ten. 

I rate the tool's scalability a ten out of ten. 

The solution's technical support is good.

Positive

The tool's setup process for VxRail is easy. If you follow the deployment guidelines and best practices, it typically takes no more than an hour to complete.

We've evaluated products from various vendors, but none currently match VxRail's capabilities in the market. While HP offers a similar product, it doesn't measure up to it. Some unique features make the product stand out, and we haven't found any direct competitors that can be comparedIt's primarily designed for enterprise-level use and may not be suitable for smaller or medium-sized businesses due to its higher cost. Enterprises are the main purchasers of VxRail. However, if Dell aims to make it more cost-effective, it could expand its market to include small and medium-sized businesses.

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. 

We use it for our database, all in Flash. So we have excellent performance, and it has resolved all our issues. No issues at all. And the support is very fast.

This solution is very good. It's a product from the other line, and it's very efficient for us. It has worked very well for us, and we haven't encountered any critical issues with it.

The solution is very expensive. And it's not scalable for small businesses, just medium to large enterprises. The pricing could be cheaper. 

Another area of improvement is support. It could be faster. 

We have been using this solution for about four years.

The solution is really stable.

It is a scalable solution. It handles big data of our database, about three or four million customer services.

Overall, the support is good. But sometimes, it takes a long time for the support to respond. 

The initial setup is very complex. 

Our partner also provides us with implementation and deployment support. We're not capable of troubleshooting it ourselves. We need technical support to handle it, and sometimes, it takes a long time to get the support.

Deployment takes a long time, but three people are enough. One admin, one manager.

The license is very expensive. 

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. It's a very good and effective product, though somewhat expensive. But in terms of performance and stability, it's worth it.

We have four to five clusters, and one of those clusters is an OT environment. We work in the oil and gas sector. We have deployed VxRail in three sites, mainly as a DMZ zone. We have another cluster for our internal network and a new VxRail cluster is going to be deployed and dedicated to SAP HANA.

The major advantage is the blueprint. You do not need to separately manage the sand or network part because it all gets virtualized.

The upgrading and virtualization of VxRail are easy to use. Compared to some of the other technology we use which requires a 32 GB memory minimum for one VM, VxRail does not require this additional memory. 

The SCL database sends out a warning and you have to download the adjacent file from the Dell website. You have to upload and retest it. We cannot always connect our systems to the internet which means we sometimes miss these important updates. 

I have been using this solution for five years. 

This is a scalable solution. 

The support for this solution is really good. I always use the chat medium because it is easy to open a ticket and get assistance. 

I would rate the support for this solution a ten out of ten. 

Positive

We previously used the initial generation of VxRail but experienced some issues. We went with another vendor but faced hardware-level stability issues and so we returned to VxRail.

The main issue during the initial deployment is if there are any errors, you have to completely re-image the nodes. There is no option to fix the issues and resume from where you stopped. This adds many hours to the process. 

We always follow what Dell recommends and their best practices.

We evaluated Nutanix for Discover FLeX and Dell. The Nutanix hardware is really stable and they still follow the chassis architecture. 

Dell changed from the chassis form factor to different nodes, so installing different nodes each time is easy, but when you have too many nodes it needs more space.

I would recommend VxRail because after using the solution for many years, I still prefer VxRail.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

VxRail is a simple, efficient solution. It's easy to upgrade and scale the solution. If we increase our user base, we can easily scale it out. We have several thousand using it now. 

When we have a vulnerability or we need to upgrade VxRail, it takes a long time. It takes eight hours each time we upgrade. 

I've been using VxRail for six or seven years.

VxRail is stable. However, it's not a central solution, so we can lose some information, logs, and data when we remove a node. The efficiencies must be improved. For example, in Nutanix, when you move or remove a node, you get any errors or warnings, and you can work as well. But removing nodes in VxRail could cause some issues. You have to put the node in maintenance mode then reboot the rest.

I haven't used Dell EMC support. My colleagues made a ticket with Dell EMC one year ago, but it's a strong solution. When we have an issue, it's usually not a problem with the hardware solution or the infrastructure. We more often have issues with the system close to the baseline solution, like the VMware app or Zoom. When we have trouble with those solutions, we make a support ticket with VMware support, etc., not Dell support.

You don't have to be an expert to install VxRail. To install the node, you just follow the steps from Dell EMC, and you can install the solution in one sitting. It only takes one person to install. We have 30 engineers on my team, but only three are responsible for maintaining VxRail. 

We have a three-year subscription.

I rate VxRail seven out of 10. Maybe when they put out the new version, I'll rate it eight. I would recommend it to others.