Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs FlexPod XCS comparison

Dell Technologies and NetApp are both solutions in the Converged Infrastructure category. Dell Technologies is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2, while NetApp is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.4. Dell Technologies holds a 19.9% mindshare in CI, compared to NetApp’s 9.3% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerEdge VRTX

Read 20 Dell PowerEdge VRTX reviews

1,491 Views
495 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

FlexPod XCS

Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews

490 Views
216 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge VRTX

FlexPod XCS

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

FlexPod XCS and Dell PowerEdge VRTX compete in the integrated IT solutions category. FlexPod appears to have the upper hand due to its robust scalability and integrated management across multiple vendors.

Features: FlexPod XCS focuses on integration, flexibility, and unified management, excelling in scalability for large-scale deployments. Dell PowerEdge VRTX is designed for affordability with a compact design, offering easy setup and efficient resource usage, ideal for small to mid-sized organizations.

Room for Improvement: FlexPod users seek more streamlined support processes, unified management interfaces, and enhanced cloud integration. Dell PowerEdge VRTX could improve by adding advanced networking features, scalability options, and support for emerging storage technologies.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: FlexPod XCS provides a consistent deployment experience across on-premises and hybrid cloud environments, supported by vendor collaborations, though multiple vendor support can be challenging. Dell PowerEdge VRTX is praised for simple setup and management with generally positive customer service, although response times may vary.

Pricing and ROI: FlexPod XCS is costlier but perceived as a worthwhile investment for its comprehensive features and favorable long-term ROI, especially in large deployments. Dell PowerEdge VRTX offers an affordable, practical solution for midsized enterprises, considered cost-effective compared to competitors.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs. FlexPod XCS Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs. FlexPod XCS

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerEdge VRTX

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

FlexPod XCS

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

6th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

295

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge VRTX is 19.9%, down from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 9.3%, up from 9.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Converged Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

Lakshmanan A

IT Manager at Heat and Control

A very good online UI and fit for lower budgets but nodes don't sync with the server

Our company uses the solution for 15 mediums with virtual machines. The online UI is very good in comparison to others. The nodes should be synced with the server so that the solution can be used from the cloud when any or all nodes are down. I have been using the solution for five years.…

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Chris Haight

Sr. Solutions Architect at CDW Canada Inc.

Integrates everything so you are using fewer tools

The traditional UCS Blades do not take much storage internally. You would be challenged to create an HCI (Hype converged Infrastructure) solution on FlexPod / UCS or any other solution that pools internal storage. Now, with UCS X-Series, you can carve off an HCI solution, software defined pooled solution if you want. This was one area of improvement that I wanted to see and can now realize with the refresh of the Cisco UCS infrastructure. With modern modular infrastructure, RESTful API has been added, there are more integrations, ServiceNow and vCenter along with tighter plug-ins. There is cross-user interface launching, for example with Windows Admin Center. The solutions are using Ansible and Terraform for deploying infrastructure as code. All the improvements that I wanted from the last gen are here or coming. With modern workloads and GPU use on the rise, adding GPUs to modern modular infrastructure will have some pros and cons. Typically, you can add one or two GPU's to a blade with no or little trade off. With the UCS X-Series, if you are doing a GPU farm, then you may have to sacrifice compute blades in the front slots to put in a GPU tray / module. A chassis holds eight compute blades, but if you are adding a ton of GPUs, a single GPU tray or more will reduce your blade count by as many GPU trays you add. This is not just a Cisco UCS X-Series problem. It is an industry problem with modular infrastructure and one that I would like to see get solved! I am looking into one such solution, VMware BITFUSION where you can send CUDA requests over the network to a BITFUSION server with the results sent back to the requestor, early stages here and only scratched the surface thus far. With Cisco UCS X-Series, I would like to see the fabric interconnects built into the chassis instead of being external. With the fabric interconnects, the real footprint of UCS X-Series is 9U, where some of the competing solutions are 7U and have collapsed the network fabric into the chassis. This is another thing that I would like to see from Cisco, though, not really on the NetApp side of the fence, NetApp is solid storage.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Dell PowerEdge VRTX supports a lot of memory which has allowed us to keep our system size smaller."

"The most valuable feature is the combined management in one box."

"It is pretty easy to install."

"In my view, the only aspect that could be enhanced in the Dell PowerEdge VRTX solution is the pricing. Apart from that, the overall performance and features of the solution are flawless."

"We now find that the solution is quite stable."

"We were satisfied after we upgraded to a professional next-day on-site support."

"Dell PowerEdge VRTX is almost perfect in terms of stability, and I would rate it ten out of ten."

"The online UA is very good in comparison to others."

More Dell PowerEdge VRTX pros

"The flexibility and data deduplication have been the biggest practical applications."

"FlexPod has reduced our overall TCO and simplified our operations."

"Simplicity and integration with NetApp are its most valuable features."

"The product is easy to deploy and use."

"FlexPod's native integration with hyperscalers is one of the reasons we chose to look at it and NetApp. That is one of the key components of our infrastructure. That native integration is very important."

"For the management side of our UCS, it is a single pane of glass for multiple people, whether it is data center, sysadmin, or server deployment."

"All-flash storage and low latency I/O enhance performance."

"SolidFire all-flash block storage system in an existing FlexPod data center environment. This improves the agility and performance, including the additional load of cabling."

More FlexPod XCS pros

Cons

"Dell PowerEdge VRTX can improve by providing support for M2 drives."

"Management of storage and networking is web-based, slow, and difficult."

"The scalability is limited with one chassis and the amount of storage it will give you, but it is mainly used for small offices."

"A disadvantage could be the price."

"The nodes should be synced with the server so that the solution can be used from the cloud when any or all nodes are down."

"The scalability could be better."

"When we first started with this product, we had some difficulty with it."

"The support must be improved."

More Dell PowerEdge VRTX cons

"It takes a very sophisticated group of people to run and maintain NetApp and Cisco products."

"With the UCS X-Series, I would like to see the fabric interconnects in the chassis. Instead of hanging out so the chassis is 7U, you are increasing your footprint to 9U with the fabric enhancer, where some of the competing solutions are 7U and have collapsed that network fabric into the chassis. This is another thing that I would like to see from Cisco, though not really on the NetApp side since that is pretty solid."

"The upgrade process needs to be improved and it would be nice to manage everything from a single pane of glass."

"I would like to see programmability into a SaaS-based offering, as I know Cisco's going in a lot of directions with their Intersight application."

"I want to use the expansion to its fullest extent, scaling by deploying 10 to 15 virtual missions in a given FlexPod."

"Since 2018 or 2019, maybe due to COVID and the chipsets, my DIMMs are dying left and right."

"The biggest problem we have seen is, we were using the vStorage which comes with the NetApp environment, a kind of fiber connect. We were missing fibre channel connectivity and we got lots of I/O errors."

"The last two calls that I have made to NetApp support have been handled too casually. People are too lax, not quite as professional as I would have liked."

More FlexPod XCS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This product is more reasonably-priced than similar solutions by HPE."

"Fully configured, it costs about $50,000 or $55,000. I did purchase a used one or refurbished one. I have been very happy with it so far. Even if it is an older unit, it doesn't look like its age, and I would say it has been a great choice so far for me. Obviously, I would have thought twice if I had to pay for a brand new one because it is still an older technology with the risk of being discontinued. I talked to Dell, and they're still selling it, but they're not promoting it. They're promoting another line of products right now for hyper-converged, which are much more expensive."

"We bought a license for seven years."

"We are renewing the support and we are purchasing the license for the software."

"The solution is less expensive than competitors."

"The tool's pricing is fine."

"The solution price of Dell PowerEdge VRTX could be reduced. However, when comparing the price of Dell PowerEdge VRTX to other solutions, such as HP and Lenovo, it was the best price for what they offer."

"On the scale of pricing, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I would rate it as a three. I am familiar with the overall cost, which involves licenses from Dell and VMware, among others, making it a combination of various license types."

"We pay approximately $1,400 USD in total for between five-thousand and ten-thousand ports."

"Sometimes you may end up spending a little more to get it in the first place, but you gain it back in terms of infrastructure upgrade costs and troubleshooting costs. The solution also lasts a surprisingly long time."

"The cost is a little high."

"As a whole, it is inexpensive, and it uses the least amount of parts."

"We have saved time and money for new service deployments."

"The scalability is very good. I wish it was a more cost-effective, but you get what you pay for."

"The investment has been great. We put our money into it and it has given us something that we have been able to rely on for years."

"We immediately saw a return on investment due to the fact that replacing our legacy storage arrays with the new AFFs reduced the footprint and maintenance costs. Overall, we saw an almost immediate ROI."

More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user244362

Managing Consultant with 51-200 employees

Aug 30, 2015

Nutanix vs. VMware EVO:RAIL vs. FlexPod

Originally posted at www.storagegaga.com/dont-get-too-drunk-on-hyper-converged/ I hate the fact that I am bursting the big bubble brewing about Hyper Convergence (HC). I urge all to look past the hot air and hype frenzy that are going on, because in the end, the HC platforms have to be aligned…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

21%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

20%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Educational Organization

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell PowerEdge VRTX?

The system is very intuitive.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerEdge VRTX?

The cost of Dell PowerEdge VRTX is high, making it difficult for small and medium businesses to bear. I would rate the pricing as seven out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge VRTX?

It would be much better for customers if Dell could provide firmware updates even after the end of the product's life, enabling them to manage and keep their hardware for a longer time.

See all answers

What do you like most about FlexPod?

The system is designed for easy scaling. Because we define everything clearly. So when we plug the system in, we apply the profile, and it scales easily.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FlexPod?

The pricing is not cheaper, but stability is more important for us now. We focus on business gains, not static numbers. Following XCS rules ensures a stable environment, which is crucial. For me, C...

See all answers

What needs improvement with FlexPod?

FlexPod should focus more on automation. Integrating an automation tool with FlexPod would enable customers to leverage automation capabilities. More automation would be helpful. Currently, we cont...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 68% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Dell PowerFlex vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 31% of the time

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 15% of the time

Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 12% of the time

HPE Hyper Converged vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 12% of the time

VMware vSAN vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 11% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge VRTX

May 2025

Download Dell PowerEdge VRTX product report

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS

May 2025

Download FlexPod XCS product report

Overview

PowerEdge VRTX modular infrastructure platform integrates servers, storage, networking and management together in a single compact chassis.

Dell Technologies

FlexPod XCS is the secure platform your applications need from edge to cloud. Easily manage your suite of cloud-native, edge, and enterprise apps. Integrate advanced cloud services without compromising performance, security, reliability, or scale.

NetApp

Sample Customers

University of Dundee, GE Healthcare Japan

University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs. FlexPod XCS

April 2025

Free Report: Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs. FlexPod XCS

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