FlexPod XCS vs Oracle Private Cloud Appliance comparison

NetApp and Oracle are both solutions in the Converged Infrastructure category. NetApp is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3, while Oracle is ranked #2 with an average rating of 10.0. NetApp holds a 10.3% mindshare in CI, compared to Oracle’s 14.2% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Oracle users who would recommend it.

FlexPod XCS

Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews

2,096 Views
859 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

Read 6 Oracle Private Cloud Appliance reviews

690 Views
656 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

FlexPod XCS

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

FlexPod XCS and Oracle Private Cloud Appliance compete in the private cloud infrastructure category. FlexPod XCS is advantageous with pricing and support satisfaction, while Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is highlighted for its feature set that many find justifies its cost.

Features: FlexPod XCS is notable for scalability, versatile integration, and robust data management systems. Oracle Private Cloud Appliance features powerful automation, streamlined configuration, and comprehensive solution orchestration.

Room for Improvement: FlexPod XCS could enhance its setup process and streamline deployment. Oracle Private Cloud Appliance might benefit from improving initial cost barriers and expanding support for a wider range of integrations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Oracle Private Cloud Appliance offers a simplified deployment model with efficient customer service, while FlexPod XCS provides a more extensive setup process with responsive support services.

Pricing and ROI: FlexPod XCS ensures competitive setup costs and attractive ROI through cost-effective scaling. Oracle Private Cloud Appliance, though higher in initial investment, offers substantial returns by handling demanding workloads, promising long-term savings.

To learn more, read our detailed FlexPod XCS vs. Oracle Private Cloud Appliance Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS vs. Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

September 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

FlexPod XCS

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

295

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 10.3%, up from 9.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is 14.2%, up from 11.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Converged Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Oracle Private Cloud Appliance	14.2%
FlexPod XCS	10.3%
Other	75.5%

Converged Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

John Kevin

Deputy IT Manager at MBBank

Enforces standardized setup procedures following Certified Validated Design (CVD) guidelines and offers greater flexibility and control over the system compared to traditional systems

The GUI setup follows the right setup, meaning we have to follow the CVDi.e. Certified Validated Design. Everything is clear, because you can build CI yourself, but without rules, it can be messy. With FlexPod, there are rules to follow, making it more standardized. This helps with troubleshooting and compatibility assessments, simplifying troubleshooting significantly. We also use FlexPod pre-validated architectures to validate the design. It is very, very important to us because we had a bad case in 2015 where separate items integrated poorly due to no version or firmware compatibility certification. Troubleshooting became a nightmare. So, standards are crucial for us, and everything entering production should be verified or at least documented for certification.

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Mir Gulzar Ahmed

IT Manager at Synergy Computers

Offers comprehensive support and performance but initial deployment requires expertise

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is a complete solution that includes built-in hypervisor management and Appliance Manager, and integrates with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. It simplifies the management of virtual machines, networking, compute, and storage, allowing me to create multiple virtual machines easily without logging into the storage system. It offers free licensing of Oracle Linux and Solaris, and provides high-performance capabilities through extreme performance storage options. Additionally, the product ensures comprehensive customer support.

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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

"Not a perfect ten because it could use better integration on the network side between UCS and the switching layerKnowing that everything works, having a single place to be able to find out compatibility and things like that are the biggest benefits of this solution. The fact that LACP is not supported on UCS blades isn't so great. It would be nice if it was."

"The solution's granular scalability and broad application support helps us to meet the needs of diverse workloads."

"The Cisco Validated Designs are the most valuable feature along with the Industry-leading technology, put together; and the fact that it just works."

"The most valuable feature is ease of deployment. Once I deploy the chassis and I have the back-end storage, configuring more UCS servers is very quick. I can deploy a new UCS server within minutes."

"It is innovative because it's bare metal and you can customize it easily. This brings a lot of benefits to the solution."

"Performance-wise, it is actually doing quite well. The end users are very happy with it."

"The advantage is being able to consolidate everything into a relatively small chassis."

"It's amazingly scalable. It just works. It can expand to large MetroClusters and keep expanding."

More FlexPod XCS pros

"The most valuable features include distinct storage within the Oracle PCA."

"Supports connection to most of network topology, such as VLAN and network segmentation."

"It is scalable as the box can be increased by one compute node, if required."

"You will find the high availability and License Team with Oracle very valuable."

"Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is a complete solution that includes built-in hypervisor management and Appliance Manager, and integrates with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure."

"It has helped us to reduce Oracle licensing costs for database and applications."

Cons

"They need to improve the user interface to make it easier to work in this environment. The older version is poor."

"We would like more integration with some other HCI solutions so we can take advantage of other opportunities."

"Installation with FlexPod is a bit complex, but it can be upgraded easily. I think Flexpod is phasing out, but it is still the right solution."

"FlexPods can include the new networking and new virtualization of storage and data center interconnectivity with the networking side of it. They can evolve and grow by connecting pods together."

"There is a history of issues with hardware availability. For example, we'll buy an array or a filer with a particular configuration and particular size of drive, sizing it appropriately. Then, as we grow, they're like, "Oh, you can always get more." Then when you go to get more, that model or type of disk is no longer available. It becomes this big process to try to figure out what we need to get, how it'll work, and how that'll integrate into the system. That could be simpler. They could do a bit more to guarantee the availability of parts. Obviously, not being the largest storage vendor, I know they can't sometimes control what the hardware vendors do. However, a bit more transparency and communication about this would be helpful."

"There have been issues upgrading the firmware."

"On the UCS side, sometimes it is difficult to set up."

"We would like them to improve the validate designs. It is hard to stay in a supported config with the software and firmware versions of the platform. It's always a concern to ensure things not only work well, but they work at all. If we run into incompatibility inside of the NetApp, Cisco, or VMware versions, it can cause real issues."

More FlexPod XCS cons

"Patching processing takes a long time. Only one compute node is patched at a time."

"The initial setup was very complex."

"In comparison to competitors like VMware, there's a perceived need for Oracle to enhance OVM, making it more flexible and user-friendly."

"The deployment process of Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is complicated and requires significant knowledge for initial configuration."

"OVM Manager Interface is using HTML5. It should be reconverted to be a Java interface."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"Our licensing costs are about $50,000 per year."

"I have saved time on new service deployments. I've done deployments in under a week, and if it's a cloud-based deployment, it's even faster."

"We have seen a five to ten percent savings on new service deployments."

"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."

"As a startup, for the amount of budget we have and the amount we spend, we are getting what we expected."

"The scalability is very expensive."

"Buy storage based on the solutions you need, the technologies you need, and what will make your life a lot easier down the road."

More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice

"It is relatively cost-effective."

"It is more expensive than the normal solution or the hyper-converged system."

"No licenses for the shipped software or firmware."

"If you have many Oracle products, such as databases, middleware, and apps, it will help you reduce Oracle app licences and support costs."

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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

22%

Performing Arts

10%

Educational Organization

Government

Computer Software Company

21%

Government

16%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	34
Midsize Enterprise	66
Large Enterprise	182

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

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.

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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...

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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...

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What do you like most about Oracle Private Cloud Appliance?

The most valuable features include distinct storage within the Oracle PCA.

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What needs improvement with Oracle Private Cloud Appliance?

The deployment process of Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is complicated and requires significant knowledge for initial configuration. Streamlining and simplifying the deployment process would make ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Oracle Private Cloud Appliance?

I use Oracle Private Cloud Appliance ( /products/oracle-private-cloud-appliance-reviews ) as a complete solution for hypervisor management. It includes a built-in hypervisor, Appliance Manager, and...

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Comparisons

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HPE Hyper Converged vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 12% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 12% of the time

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Compared 23% of the time

Dell VxBlock System vs Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

Compared 21% of the time

Rackspace OpenStack vs Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

Compared 19% of the time

Oracle SuperCluster vs Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

Compared 18% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS

October 2025

Download FlexPod XCS product report

Buyer's Guide

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

October 2025

Download Oracle Private Cloud Appliance product report

Overview

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

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance, is an integrated infrastructure system engineered to enable rapid deployment of converged compute, network, and storage technologies for hosting applications or workloads on a guest OS. It is a data center-class system that provides incremental and scalable performance optimized for consolidation of mixed workloads.

Oracle

Sample Customers

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

Agnitum Information Technologies, Mediacloud, Xait AS, Atos Global Managed Services, CaixaBI, ICA AB, BT Spain, Secure-24, Xait

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS vs. Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

September 2025

Free Report: FlexPod XCS vs. Oracle Private Cloud Appliance

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