Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs VMware vSAN comparison

Dell Technologies and VMware are both solutions in the HCI category. Dell Technologies is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.5, while VMware is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8. Dell Technologies holds a 2.6% mindshare in HCI, compared to VMware’s 16.4% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of VMware users who would recommend it.

Dell vSAN Ready Nodes

Read 17 Dell vSAN Ready Nodes reviews

2,969 Views
2,393 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

VMware vSAN

Read 229 VMware vSAN reviews

18,927 Views
13,554 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Dell vSAN Ready Nodes

VMware vSAN

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

VMware vSAN and Dell vSAN Ready Nodes compete in the virtual SAN technology space. VMware vSAN appears to have the upper hand in terms of integration with VMware products, which is crucial for environments heavily invested in VMware.

Features: VMware vSAN offers strong orchestration and flexibility in expanding resources, seamless integration into the VMware ecosystem, and high scalability ideal for consolidated management. Dell vSAN Ready Nodes excel in reliable performance, impressive storage management, and flexibility, crucial for a range of workloads.

Room for Improvement: VMware vSAN needs enhanced integration with hybrid clouds, improved monitoring tools, and better scalability options. Addressing compatibility issues and streamlining troubleshooting and upgrades is also necessary. Dell vSAN Ready Nodes could benefit from simpler deployment, improved integration with public cloud platforms, and more automated upgrade processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware vSAN is favored for ease of integration with existing VMware environments, with extensive support for smooth deployment. However, response times vary. Dell vSAN Ready Nodes are known for stable support but need more user-friendly setup processes. Both solutions are valued for supportive customer services, but demand faster response times.

Pricing and ROI: VMware vSAN is considered expensive, but its stability and feature set offer high ROI for larger businesses. Dell vSAN Ready Nodes, though potentially more costly initially versus alternatives like Lenovo or HPE, provide competitive pricing models and long-term savings through effective resource management. Both require significant investment but deliver positive ROI through decreased maintenance and operational efficiencies.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs. VMware vSAN Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs. VMware vSAN

January 2025

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Helped 831,158 peers since 2012

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 vSAN Ready Nodes

Ranking in HCI

11th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware vSAN

Ranking in HCI

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

229

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of Dell vSAN Ready Nodes is 2.6%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSAN is 16.4%, down from 18.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

HCI

Featured Reviews

Niraj Shah

Founder Owner at Interface

Offers good performance and is easy to use

The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required. The price of Dell vSAN Ready Nodes could be lowered. Dell's competitors offer many products at very good prices. I face some issues with the stability of the product, making it an area where improvements are required. In the future, I want to receive technical support directly from the vendor.

Read full review

Lipaz Hessel

Integration Manager at Gilat Satellite Networks

Expensive solution that requires professional services for installation and implementation

I'm still using a different solution. I only took two servers with vSAN to support one application that needs one feature that only VMware has. If not for that feature, I wouldn't touch VMware. Now, I'm looking at products like Nutanix, Silver Peak, Flexione, and FortiGate. For products that I choose, I don't need a specialist of that vendor. In VMware, I need a specialist in VMware. That's the issue I have with VMware. It's not like I can take any IT person, and they will know what to do. I need to make sure he will do the call, get the certificate and time to practice.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is easy to install."

"The most valuable feature is the set of user tools that are available."

"The solution immediately expands storage area when you add nodes."

"The most valuable feature of Dell vSAN Ready Nodes is the flexibility of the nodes. Additionally, if there are any critical issues they update us through emails. The issues are taken care of remotely on the system."

"We find the initial implementation process simple and straightforward."

"The product is useful for DR and other things."

"I rate vSAN ReadyNodes as a nine out of ten."

"I have found the most important features of Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes are the capacity to manage the storage because the storage is built in the servers. The type of profiles you can attribute to the storage is a benefit. You can manage the storage by profiles. Overall the solution is a good speed and performance."

Cons

"Dell vSAN Ready Nodes must be flexible since it is complex in designing concepts. It needs to improve stability. The product should integrate with the public cloud."

"The solution doesn't scale."

"Scalability is an area that could be improved. We are looking at a maximum of 32 nodes now in a cluster, but going to 64 or 128 would be a major advantage."

"Although vSAN ReadyNodes work well, a faster firmware lifecycle with the release of validated firmware catalogs more quickly would be a desired improvement."

"Currently, it's like a black box that only Dell technical support knows how to handle."

"The Dell VxRail solution is based on vSAN Ready Nodes, but the Dell VxRail is fully automated. It would be helpful if this automation feature could be added to the Dell vSAN Ready Nodes. For example, we need to install VMware ESXi, and manually expand the cluster."

"The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required. The price of Dell vSAN Ready Nodes could be lowered."

"This product is not sufficiently scalable."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a four-year contract to use Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes."

"The solution is more expensive than a traditional array. The prices are skyrocketing."

"Comparing the price of Dell vSAN Ready Nodes to other solutions it is not expensive."

"There is a problem, which is the lack of an integrated price structure."

"The price of the solution was reasonable."

"The tool's pricing is competitive compared to others. The tool's licensing is based on annual subscriptions."

"My company makes yearly payments towards the licensing charges attached to the solution. The solution is expensive."

"The solution requires a license. The payment is on a yearly basis and It is not overly expensive."

"Clients have to pay for VMware vSAN licensing based on the number of CPUs. The purchases would be lifetime or perpetual, but you need to have support, e.g. the support is negotiated from one, two, three, or four years."

"My customers have found VMware vSAN to be a little expensive."

"It could be cheaper."

"It is expensive. It should be cheaper. It has a perpetual license as well as a subscription-based license, but they are moving towards subscription-based licenses."

"In comparison with other solutions, such as HP or Cisco, I find the solution to be quite pricey."

"The price is okay."

"If they could reduce the cost, it would be better. Licensing costs are something that they could take care of. If you are a smaller and strong IT team, then VMware vSAN is a very good product. If you want to expand in the service provider space, then you will have to go for an open-source solution like OpenStack. We are now looking at OpenStack because we sell licensing costs. We are a service provider, so the IT component data is a substantial component in our overall costing. We feel that OpenStack might help us to cut down the licensing cost. Therefore, we are looking at SAS storage instead of vSAN. SAS is open source, but it is not wise to have open source without having the backend support. We are using RedHat SAS, and it is an open-source solution. You can also have a free version, but we are using it with support from RedHat so that we have somebody to back us up in case we have a problem. If you do normal business, then IT expense is 1% or 2% of the total turnover. The higher licensing costs sometimes don't make difference to the big companies who are not service providers and are using it only for their internal use. For them, the IT cost is 1% or 2%, but for an IT service provider, the IT costs will go up to 15% to 16% of the total cost of the operations. This is where the licensing costs become irrelevant. For example, the licensing cost of using VMware, VC, and vSAN is 8% of my monthly revenue. Every month, I pay about $35,000, and, with the revised plan, it will be something like $50,000 or revenue of 600k per month, which means almost 8% of the revenue is going into VMware licensing. In a very competitive world, 8% as a cost element is huge. So, if I can bring it down to 2%, I save 6% in revenue expenditure. In terms of profit, 6% of 30% is something like another 25% increase in my profit. My profit can be almost 25%. It would be 20% to 25% in case I am able to handle the licensing costs and bring them to a very low level. Because these IT costs are substantial for us, that is why we are going with OpenStack. OpenStack has a limitation that it requires more hardware. There will be some increase in the hardware cost, but overall we will save 5% to 6% of our licensing cost by using OpenStack."

More VMware vSAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

52%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell vSAN Ready Nodes?

If I consider the overall product, I would say that it is an excellent solution that offers very good performance and stability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell vSAN Ready Nodes?

There is no specific licensing model for vSAN ReadyNodes as it is linked with Broadcom VMware's solutions rather than Dell's. As a group under Comcast, we receive very good pricing from Dell due to...

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What needs improvement with Dell vSAN Ready Nodes?

Although vSAN ReadyNodes work well, a faster firmware lifecycle with the release of validated firmware catalogs more quickly would be a desired improvement.

See all answers

What Is The Biggest Difference Between vSAN And VxRail?

While both run on the vSAN technology from VMware, vSAN needs to be deployed on vSAN ready nodes while VxRail is an engineered system. The choice to choose which technology depends on two major fac...

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Which would you choose - Nutanix Acropolis AOS or VMware vSAN?

We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We fou...

See all answers

How does HPE Simplivity compare with VMware vSAN?

HPE SimpliVity is a hyper-converged infrastructure solution that is primarily geared to mid-sized companies. We researched VMware vSAN but found HPE was a better option for us. HPE SimpliVity has ...

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Comparisons

VxRail vs Dell vSAN Ready Nodes

Compared 43% of the time

Dell PowerFlex vs Dell vSAN Ready Nodes

Compared 10% of the time

Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series vs Dell vSAN Ready Nodes

Compared 9% of the time

Lenovo ThinkAgile MX Certified Node vs Dell vSAN Ready Nodes

Compared 6% of the time

HPE Alletra dHCI vs Dell vSAN Ready Nodes

Compared 6% of the time

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell vSAN Ready Nodes

January 2025

Download Dell vSAN Ready Nodes product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware vSAN

December 2024

Download VMware vSAN product report

Also Known As

vSAN Ready Nodes

vSAN

Learn More

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Dell Technologies

VMware

Overview

Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes are pre-configured building blocks that reduce deployment
risks with certified configurations, improve storage efficiency by up to 50%1
, and can help
you build or scale your vSAN cluster faster.14 Whether you're just getting started, and/or
expanding your existing VMware environment, Dell EMC is here for you every step of the
way with consulting, education, deployment and support services for the entire solution.

VMware vSAN is a software-defined storage product that is used in collaboration with VMware ESXi hypervisor and that provisions and manages storage based on policies, regardless of the underlying hardware. The solution enables you to prime your business for growth through its seamless evolution (it is integrated with vSphere and requires no new tools), its flexibility, and its multi-cloud capabilities. As an industry-leading software, VMware vSAN provides high levels of performance with minimal impact on CPU and memory.

VMware vSAN Features

VMware vSAN has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Storage policy-based management (SPBM): VMware vSAN supports storage policy-based management for automated management of storage profiles.

Software-defined data-at-rest encryption: With this VMware vSAN feature, you can prevent unauthorized access of data at rest.

Multiple nodes: VMware vSAN provides clusters that can include as few as 2 nodes or as many as 64 nodes.

High security and availability: VMware vSAN offers stretched clusters, allowing more than one virtualization host server to be used in the same setup, promoting higher security as well as availability.

Deduplication: VMware vSAN’s deduplication compresses data to ensure efficient storage management and security.

HCI mesh updates: VMware vSAN clusters can share storage capacity with non-HCI Sphere clusters and can adopt HCI without having to scale computing resources and storage or replace existing servers.

Simplified file services: With VMware vSAN’s file services, backup of file shares is simplified. You can use APIs that allow backup and recovery software vendors to integrate with your VMware vSAN file services, which enables backup software to track new data and add scalability enhancements to files.

VMware vSAN Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing VMware vSAN. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO): VMware vSAN helps you reduce upfront costs for businesses because it can be easily deployed on inexpensive x86 servers. In addition, its highly scalable infrastructure and quick deployment also save organizations time and money, making it an efficient storage solution.

Good manageability: VMWare vSAN is easy to set up, manage, and provision, without sacrificing performance.

Scalability: VMware vSAN is agile and allows administrators to scale storage on demand, quickly, and efficiently via policies and rules.

Simplicity: VMWare vSAN is simple to configure since it is embedded in the vSphere hypervisor. Installing it using the vSphere Web Client can be done quickly.

Reduced risk: VMWare vSAN reduces the risk associated with digital transformations by utilizing existing tools, skill sets, and solutions.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the VMware vSAN solution.

PeerSpot user Yves S., CEO, Cloud Evangelist at Comdivision Consulting GmbH, says, “vSAN gives us a lot of advantages when we need to expand resources. We have an overall larger host infrastructure, and we split that up for specific customer test and use cases. In that specific scenario, we can easily add more hosts or reduce the number of hosts in the environment.”

A reviewer who works in Infrastructure Security explains, “The ease of use is great. The initial setup and upgrade process was pretty straightforward. And, technical support is great.”

Laurent N., Director at Softlogic, comments, "The feature that I have found most valuable is that it is easy to deploy. It is easy to create and delete virtual servers. It is easy to create the load balancing and the clustering."

Sample Customers

Rackspace

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Buyer's Guide

Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs. VMware vSAN

January 2025

Free Report: Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs. VMware vSAN

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs. VMware vSAN and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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