Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS comparison

Dell Technologies and NetApp are both solutions in the Converged Infrastructure category. Dell Technologies is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.7, while NetApp is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.4. Dell Technologies holds a 12.4% mindshare in CI, compared to NetApp’s 9.4% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Dell VxBlock System

Read 14 Dell VxBlock System reviews

794 Views
364 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

FlexPod XCS

Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews

500 Views
228 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Dell VxBlock System

FlexPod XCS

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

FlexPod XCS and Dell VxBlock System are leading solutions in the integrated IT infrastructure market, known for simplifying IT management. FlexPod XCS is favored for its holistic support model that unifies NetApp, Cisco, and VMware, reducing troubleshooting complexity. Dell VxBlock's edge is its performance capabilities and scalability, suitable for substantial enterprise requirements.

Features: FlexPod XCS offers seamless integration with a pre-tested, certified design that ensures compatibility and reduces integration challenges. Its unified support model across major vendors minimizes troubleshooting downtime. Dell VxBlock System is recognized for its high performance, consolidated architecture, and ability to scale easily, supporting enterprises with varied compute, storage, and networking demands.

Room for Improvement: FlexPod XCS could improve by developing a unified management interface and streamlining vendor certifications for enhanced reporting features and customer clarity. Dell VxBlock System could be more flexible with third-party applications and simplify management interfaces while improving its cross-vendor support coordination.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: FlexPod XCS supports both on-premises and hybrid cloud deployments, aided by its collaboration with Cisco and NetApp, offering superior customer service through a unified support model. Dell VxBlock focuses on strong on-premises deployment with a single-console management approach, though it could be more intuitive for some users.

Pricing and ROI: Both FlexPod XCS and Dell VxBlock are considered significant financial investments. FlexPod's high upfront costs are offset by long-term savings due to improved efficiency and scalability, while Dell VxBlock's competitive pricing is balanced by its advanced functionalities, offering substantial ROI depending on enterprise-scale deployments.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS

March 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 845,040 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 VxBlock System

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

4th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

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 April 2025, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Dell VxBlock System is 12.4%, down from 18.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 9.4%, down from 9.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Converged Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

AKINJIDE OKE

Senior Sales Engineer / Team Lead Datacentre Solutions & Applications at ARIT OF AFRICA

Useful for virtualized environment, node management, configuration deployment, and system management with artificial intelligence

I've worked with Dell and had the privilege of working with many OEMs. I started my career as a system engineer, working with HPE as a partner, and then moved to other OEMs like IBM and Lenovo. Currently, I work with a small team. I don't believe any solution is bad. It's just that you might not have identified what the solution is addressing. It's about choosing the right solution for your needs. In terms of hardware or infrastructure, it's an Intel platform. What differentiates everyone is the additional value they can provide. Dell has many values that meet customer needs. I look at the customer's objectives and requirements as an IT professional to find the best solution. I haven't seen any drawbacks regarding the infrastructure deliverables or the value built into the tool. However, Dell as an organization could improve its channel management. For example, we've been trying to resolve an issue with our portal for two weeks. I'd like to see more simplification regarding integration, deployment, and connectivity for future releases. In deployment, I'd like to see simplification in creating VNets and positioning VMware across nodes. I want a template that simplifies the creation of VNets and VMware positioning. I'd push for more simplification and an intuitive graphical GUI that simplifies things with just a click.

Read full review

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.

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

"Good flexibility and speed."

"Its performance is very good."

"Customers use the Dell VxBlock System for new applications or solutions. For example, I'm working on a new mixing solution for a whole country in Africa. When we talk about it, there are many locations, and we're looking for efficiency, utilization, and solutions that can expand the application database we're deploying. It's used a lot for server consolidation and to consolidate environments into new ones for easy management. It's also used in health environments where they need to create infrastructure for products or solutions they want to launch to the market quickly."

"Virtual machines for the infrastructure."

"Good default features."

"VxBlock has good performance, so that is an advantage."

"In comparison to traditional file load systems, Dell VxBlock System can be deployed quickly and results in monthly cost savings."

"It's a highly optimized piece of equipment that doesn't give us any problems."

More Dell VxBlock System pros

"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."

"It's a new architecture, really scalable and programmable. When you look at SDN propositions it fits very well in a next-gen data center."

"The most valuable feature is the one support. Anytime that a customer buys a solution for a server, storage, or network, once they have trouble in their environment, everyone wants to find out who was wrong. With FlexPod, everyone is wrong and there is unified support. The best way to solve the problem is have it be everyone's problem, not just one person's problem. For FlexPod, you can call NetApp or Cisco, and I think it's the best way to solve the problem that the customer has."

"It's all converged into one consolidated platform, which works well together."

"It simplifies the management of our entire system."

"The product is easy to deploy and use."

"CVDs reduce risks for implementations. We always make sure that all installations are based on best practices."

"The data is available, compressed, and deduped."

More FlexPod XCS pros

Cons

"The consistency of disc quality could be improved."

"There are components of VxBlock that are not managed or supported by Dell because some of the components are from Cisco. Thus, when there are problems with compute nodes, though Dell was managing the interaction, we had to rely on Cisco to solve the issue. When Cisco was not responding as quickly as Dell would for their components, it made it difficult for us because we needed to have the failed nodes back up and running. As such, the disparate ownership of components in the equipment is an issue."

"Lacks flexibility with third-party applications."

"This solution does not support Hyper-V, and we would like the new version to be supported and certified to work with Hyper-V."

"It is a good product, but for us, it is like a black box. We are not really sure about its internal components, and how to do the terminal upgrade, and how to make sure about the security of the device. We understand how it works, but in order to do the upgrades, we have to get help from the company. We cannot do it ourselves. In another model that we had, the internal team could do the upgrade but not in this one. There is no clear process for a new upgrade or update. They should provide a software intelligence tool that has a dashboard where you can see the current firmware, the latest firmware, and the documentation and the process for the upgrade. For VxBlock, we have different management consoles. There is no single management console that you can use to manage all components inside VxBlock. Their scale up and scale out process is also not clear. Their support is also a little bit slow in responding to the cases."

"There is a need for single console management."

"Scalability is an area that needs to be improved."

"It's a good product but the price could be lowered. It's expensive."

More Dell VxBlock System cons

"I think it is sufficient for now, but in the next generation, I'd just like to see bigger, faster, and better."

"I think they are working on it, but I would like to be able to log into a portal and see the end-to-end solution and understand where it stands, from a supportability perspective."

"We dislike going online with the robot stuff. Many times, it has delayed our reaching out to a real support engineer."

"The biggest thing that I would like to see is more cost-effective FlexPod solutions."

"Cisco support is much slower. Opening cases with Cisco tech is sometimes a bit tedious. The return time for less important calls can be slower. Even Priority 1 calls can sometimes be a bit long and they will have to call me back."

"Possibly the UCS could get a bit better. Other than that, overall I don't necessarily have any sorts of constraints or issues with it. It's done the job that it's been bought to do."

"We would like to see a new design that comes with more productivity or graphics. Currently, the vendors, like HPE and Dell EMC along with NetApp, all have very similar products. We want more diversification."

"The ability to manage the templates across sites. We would like to easily take out the configuration of one FlexPod and copy it over, just making minor changes. There is a way to do it, but it's clumsy."

More FlexPod XCS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price is high. That's why people are now moving to hyper-converge."

"We purchased this solution with a ten-year manufacturer warranty, and we have a three-year warranty with our local partner."

"Compared to other solutions, Dell VxBlock System is more expensive."

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

"Make sure you are buying for performance, not just capacity."

"We purchased from CDW•G. They are great partners on the government side."

"It is cheaper than other products. For example, Dell EMC VxBlock is more expensive."

"Anytime that you are buying any storage make sure you understand storage. Do not just buy storage based on what somebody sells you in terms of IO or throughput."

"We would like everything in one piece of hardware. This way we can just sell the product like a silo by putting everything in a stack together."

"Everything is purchased, so we do not do any leasing with this product."

"The footprint in the data center is quite large, especially when you scale out. Maybe find some hardware in the future, where if a new blade comes out, then Cisco can say, "Look, we'll buy those blades back off you, and we'll give you this blade for X amount of money." A buyback scheme would be good for hardware, and even NetApp as well. Something like a buyback scheme for blades and stuff moving forward would be good, because I know that they're going to put more power into them. E.g., replacing four blades might equal one blade, which would be awesome, but we are still going to have those four blades around. Maybe having something where it will give you this much money for these blades so we can upgrade. That would be perfect."

More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Converged Infrastructure solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.

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

15%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

21%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Educational Organization

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell EMC VxBlock System?

With a converged infrastructure, it's easy to troubleshoot from network to server issues from a single point of reference.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC VxBlock System?

The cost is not overly expensive but not cheap either. Considering the features and everything, it is very good. Price-wise, it is reasonable but not the least expensive option.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell EMC VxBlock System?

There is a need for single console management. Everything should be accessible through a single console to ensure ease of management. So far, there are no issues since the storage and other systems...

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

Dell PowerFlex vs Dell VxBlock System

Compared 34% of the time

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs Dell VxBlock System

Compared 19% of the time

Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs Dell VxBlock System

Compared 16% of the time

Dell Vscale Architecture vs Dell VxBlock System

Compared 13% of the time

More Dell VxBlock System Competitors

Dell PowerFlex vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 26% of the time

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 13% of the time

HPE Hyper Converged vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 11% of the time

Dell PowerEdge VRTX vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 10% of the time

VMware vSAN vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 9% of the time

More FlexPod XCS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell VxBlock System

March 2025

Download Dell VxBlock System product report

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS

March 2025

Download FlexPod XCS product report

Also Known As

VxBlock, VCE VxBlock System, Dell EMC VxBlock, VxBlock 1000

No data available

Overview

VxBlock and Vblock Systems simplify all aspects of IT and enable organizations to achieve better business outcomes faster. Seamlessly integrating enterprise-class compute, network, storage and virtualization technologies from industry leaders Cisco, Dell EMC, and VMware, VxBlock and Vblock Systems, powered by Intel Xeon processors, deliver the world's most advanced converged infrastructure: engineered, manufactured, managed, supported and sustained as one, allowing you to focus on your business.

The Dell EMC Converged Systems portfolio offers choice, flexibility, and reliability for accelerating IT transformation - VxBlock System offers additional levels of flexibility with a choice of network virtualization from VMware NSX or Cisco ACI.

Dell EMC VxBlock System Will Help You:

Protect and consolidate your high-value workloads
Deliver cloud operations faster
Simplify life cycle management
Simplify operations
Modernize IT
Protect critical business data

With Dell EMC VxBlock System You Can:

Automate key processes
Move to a VMware-based private or hybrid cloud model
Gain ongoing validation for technologies across the stack
Mix and match SAN/LAN switches, different storage arrays, blade and rack servers, and more
Reduce patching and upgrade efforts using a turnkey system

Dell EMC VxBlock System Features:

Native data protection: Dell EMC’s data protection suite includes backup and recovery, centralized management, and replication.
Cisco C-Series servers: Dell EMC VxBlock System is now integrated with Cisco UCS C-Series rack servers, including the C220 and C240 in the M4 and M5 server lines.
Server scalability boost: You can increase server scalability by approximately 56%.
Storage mix: Dell EMC’s VxBlock System gives you the ability to mix four different types of storage arrays (Unity, VMAX, XtremIO, Isilon). It also includes multiple all-flash storage options (Unity 350F, 350F, 550F, 650F), and more.
Data center efficiency: The solution simplifies lifecycle assurance - which reduces time spent managing upgrades - and it can also reduce rack space and lower power costs.
Simpler RCM compliance: You will have simpler RCM compliance and your upgrades will feature an RCM dashboard showing the release level status of all components; You will also have access to RCM compliance score, RCM summary and detail reports, and RCM pre-positioning.
Deep CI context KPI metrics This feature includes capacity reporting and performance analytics with historical perspective.
Advanced, real-time CI-level alerting Dell EMC VxBlock System’s alerting feature includes operational state alerts, performance alerts, call home alerts, custom alerts and alert forwarding.

Dell EMC VxBlock System Benefits:

Manage more efficiently
Reduce operational risk
Simplify upgrades and assure compliance
Focus more on added-value projects
Be more agile
Reduce OPEX
Proactively manage workload health
Improve capacity planning
Resolve incidents and problems faster

Reviews from Real Users:

“It's a highly optimized piece of equipment that doesn't give us any problems." - Architect at a manufacturing company

"It's at least 99 percent problem-free because it's factory-built. So from an informational point of view, everyone trusts that VxBlock has been tested well at the factory and has been configured to their requirements.” - General Manager, Enterprise Technical Solution at a tech services company

"The monitoring and management parts are the most valuable. Monitoring is specifically valuable because you have one console to monitor everything. This console is called Vision.” - Data center Manager at a financial services firm

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

Atos, Canadian Pacific, IDS, City of Denton, CenturyLink, BNP Paribas, Asyaport, EDF, CSC, Fox Sports, Insight, Hunter, KPIT, Paetec, Rosetta Stone, Sonda, Switch, Xerox

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

Buyer's Guide

Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS

March 2025

Free Report: Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Dell VxBlock System vs. FlexPod XCS report.

See our list of best Converged Infrastructure vendors.

We monitor all Converged Infrastructure reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.