Dell vSAN Ready Nodes Reviews

Using this product has reduced our management and administration requirements.

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

The support that I get from them is good.

Integration is good, and we haven't had any issues.

The initial setup is slightly complex and could be improved.

Compatibility with other hardware nodes needs to be improved. I want to be able to mix and match the hardware nodes if I am elsewhere and continue using hyper-converged.

I have been working with Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes for the past three years.

This product is pretty stable.

In our case, it scaled according to our requirements.

Technical support from Dell is excellent.

We also deal with similar solutions from Cisco, HPE, and Lenovo.

The initial setup is slightly complex. I think that it took us a couple of days when we installed the first instance.

This is a product I recommend. My advice to anybody who is considering it is just to go and get it.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Our customers use this solution for virtualization. It's suited to small and medium sized organizations. We have a partnership with Dell and I'm a senior technical consultant. 

I'm currently doing an installation that is useful for DR and other things.

The main weakness we have with this solution relates to storage expansion. It's not sufficiently scalable in the sense that if we need to scale this product, we need to scale up everything. I'd like to see the single-click feature in the next upgrade.

We've been using this solution for close to five years. 

The solution is stable. 

We have problems with scalability.

The technical support is good. 

Positive

We previously used VxRail but vSan is better although very similar to VxRail.  What VxRail does have is additional software management that is easy to upgrade.

The deployment takes a couple of hours and is relatively straightforward. 

I'm not involved in licensing but I believe the cost is reasonable.

It's important to follow best practices so that the solution is stable. I rate this solution eight out of 10.

I am using Dell vSAN Ready Nodes for storage. We run our ERP application service on the solution.

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.

The power switch on the hardware is located in a poor location where it can accidentally be pushed. In an update, they should solve this issue so people do not push it accidentally to have their service go down. A possible solution is the switch should be inside.

I have been using Dell vSAN Ready Nodes for approximately seven years.

Dell vSAN Ready Nodes are highly stable. We have not had any downtime since we used it.

I rate the stability of Dell vSAN Ready Nodes a ten out of ten.

The solution can scale well. As per the commitment, it can grow up to around 200 plus nodes.

We have approximately 900 users using the solution in my organization. We are splitting to a different organization and the remaining team might use another solution in the future.

The initial setup of the solution was easy. We only need to plug it in and plug all our devices. By default, it comes with licensing, we plug it in and add it to our cluster.

The solution was integrated within 15 to 20 days.

I rate the initial setup of Dell vSAN Ready Nodes a ten of ten.

We did the implementation of the solution mostly in-house. We have a technical team of approximately 11 people and two people from OEM.

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

We evaluated HP and Lenovo before choosing Dell vSAN Ready Nodes. We chose Dell vSAN Ready Nodes because of the support pack. HP has three-year support but Dell vSAN Ready Nodes has more flexible support packs. As we have an in-house engineering team and flexible support has saved us money. They are not charging much for the warranty part, only terms.

I recommend this solution to others.

I rate Dell vSAN Ready Nodes a ten out of ten.

We run the solution on VxRail and use nodes to create storage space for replication. Our main servers are critical and include DNS, active directories, domains, and mail. The vSAN Ready Cluster Node using Veeam accommodates replication every few hours so we always have a copy of the latest virtual server delivered from the VxRail to the data recovery cluster. 

The solution immediately expands storage area when you add nodes. If there is a family of computers connected to a host, adding a node isn't complicated and makes space available in the vSAN storage area.

UnityVSA works very well with vSAN Ready Node for home directories. 

The solution should provide daily task alerts for data recovery maintenance, usage, and other instructions to ensure the systems are in a good status. The only alerts provided are during system builds and I want to be more connected to the applications I'm using. 

I have been using the solution for two years in an academic setting that includes 500 users across staff and students who are in transit mode. 

We have moved to a more stable status because we have added a node. When we ran only two nodes, we experienced a mirror or witness issue but will no longer need a witness with the extra node. 

The solution is scalable and working well so we are extending the cluster with another node to make more space. 

We haven't had a need for technical support but did receive sought advice on extending space and whether to expand a node or add another. The technical recommendation was to add a node. 

We previously used another solution but experienced roadmap issues because products were not compatible enough for our system. 

The initial setup requires that each stage works perfectly before you move to the next stage. 

Veeam does not care what product you use at the lower level, but that first stage of installation must be completed successfully because it connects several other products. There might be compatibility issues between components so it is important to use product versions that are supported. 

The deployment did not take long and was more a matter of waiting for delivery of parts needed for nodes. 

I am interested in learning more about the roadmap between Veeam and VMware. 

The first time we worked with disaster recovery, we used an integrator but now we manage the solution in-house. 

In our production area, we have storage on UnityVSA where we keep replica copies of home directories located in the vSAN.

When building the solution, think about the target and separate each cluster without mixing them or using vSAN Ready Cluster for most applications. Use one target and one application for each cluster so that it is easy to add more jobs. If you have a cluster for a Veeam platform then that is all it includes and nothing else. 

I rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

We primarily use the solution for pharma, as they are using it for different kinds of things like their OTIP network. There are some cases in the hotel industry and mining as well. Nowadays most of the clients are going from traditional architecture to vSAN, or any other hyper-converged option

The solution is pretty much issue-free. We haven't had any problems. 

It's quite stable.

The solution has proven to be quite user-friendly.

We find the initial implementation process simple and straightforward. 

It is very easy to manage the product.

The solution doesn't scale. 

Their pricing could be more flexible. For example, in some cases, Lenovo offers more flexible pricing in some areas. We've had issues where we weren't able to close a contract based on the inflexibility of Dell and the client went to Lenovo instead. 

I've been using the solution for the last two or three years. 

It's stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

It is not a scalable solution. 

We have three clients. Out of these clients, we have around 15 nodes of three clusters.

Dell tech support has been good. They have some problems with the smaller rollouts, such as laptops and other personal devices. However, at an enterprise level, they have been fine. 

I'm also aware of HP SimpliVity which is cheaper than a Dell vSAN. Dell is also a bit costlier than Lenovo, which I also work with. 

It's very easy to install the product. It's not complete or difficult.

How long it takes to deploy depends upon the number of nodes you are using for vSAN. If we deployed a vSAN for seven nodes in a single cluster with just the basic configuration of the vSAN, without any guest operating system deployment, it can be done in one day. That's possible if you don't have any challenges on the network side as vSAN is more dependent on the network than any other area. Typically it takes one to two days at a maximum.

The pricing is okay, however, HP has a cheaper option. There is competition between the Dell vSAN and HPE SimpliVity. Dell is a bit more high-end.

I'd recommend the solution to others.

I'd rate the product ten out of ten. I've very satisfied with its capabilities. 

We are selling the product and we are happy with it. Dell is cheaper than other options in many ways. Some other brands, such as HP have OEMs that do not allow users to go with Dell due to their OEM, however, in most cases, we'd suggest users go with Dell.  

I am a data center solutions architect that specifies the solution and then implements it for our customers.

90% of the time, it is deployed on their local data center and their objective is to go to the cloud. This is what they will do once their applications are brought up to speed.

They have to be more compatible.

When you are looking at Nutanix versus vSan with VMware, the operating system licenses are often difficult for those people in the mid-tier organizations that do not have access to ELAs.

They are heading in the right direction and moving to integrate everything with a hybrid cloud, and moving workloads back and forth. 

Also, the scalability could be better.

I have been working with this solution for five years.

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.

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

The issue comes down to affordability relative to alternatives and how they integrate with Azure, AWS, Google, as an example.

One of the interesting things that are coming to the floor is augmented reality, but I haven't seen any related discussions. It's obvious that they are waiting for devices.

Most people don't seem to understand that in order for augmented reality to become a viable entity for specific verticals, such as healthcare, manufacturing, or retail, you have to have a common database for all operational requirements. Then, you have to create extensions.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

The current customer for this solution is a service provider currently using private cloud and hoping to become a public cloud provider later on. vSAN starts its customers with private cloud to give them a taste of the technology. Later on they move to implementing public cloud. I'm a pre-sales consultant and we're a partner of Dell. 

ReadyNodes is a valuable feature. I'm happy with the fact that you don't have to worry about the footprint in the data center. It takes a very small footprint when compared to other traditional solutions, like the other storage server network solutions. I like the configuration and support, you get one vendor who supports everything; for the software and the hardware, which is excellent because you don't have to worry about multi-vendors where everyone blames the other if something goes wrong. 

I think the upgrades could be improved. If you compare it to other HCI solutions, like VxRail, the upgrade process is fully automated whereas on vSAM ReadyNodes it's a bit complicated and we have to do it manually. Finding some way to automate this process to make it a smarter, more perfect solution would be an improvement, it would make the solution more flexible, easier to administer, and would make my life easier.

I've been using this solution for two years. 

This is a stable solution. 

Scalability requires adding additional nodes but it's not a problem. 

Technical support is pretty good. 

We previously used the old traditional type of file storage and we switched because there was almost no difference in cost but we got a product with much better features. With this product you get consolidated sales and distribution, so you don't have to worry about multi-vendors. You can open one ticket and you'll get your issue resolved. It's not vendor specific.

Everybody's moving towards this. Everybody is dumping the old infrastructure uploads and moving towards renewal solutions, because it's the basic structure for cloud in the future, for anyone planning to become a cloud provider or build a private cloud.

The initial setup was not particularly straightforward but it wasn't too complex either. It was definitely more complex than other HCI appliances like VxRail. I've implemented both and VxRail is simpler for implementation. It took about a week for the solution to become operational. It depends, of course, on the cluster size. I have two sites with nine nodes per site. Implementation took a week at each site. Most of the maintenance is from the vendor's side. It's only very rarely that I have to interfere directly. We have five administrators working with the solution.

There are two costs that you have to consider before you can compare and you'll find that the HCI is cheaper overall. In a five-year duration, it is cheaper. But when you compare license to license, it is much more expensive but when you think of it, you need to think of the total cost of ownership and your ROI. 

I would suggest that if you don't have the hands-on experience to administer a solution like vSAN ReadyNode then you should consider other options. For example, VxRail is a bit more expensive, but if you don't have the basic knowledge required for vSan then VxRail is an internet solution that provides a much easier interface to manage and to administer.

I would rate this solution a seven out of 10. 

We use Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes in different types of workloads.

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.

Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes is a great hyper-converged system that is a perfect platform for supporting any kind of workload. The only workload that it's not designed to support is big data.

I have been using Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes for approximately five years.

Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes is a stable solution.

You can scale Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes vertically and horizontally. You can add assessing units and storage to one server, and add another server that can contribute to the whole group.

We have approximately five clients using this solution.

I have contacted the support from Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes because we have new devices or new hardware that can come with new features. Sometimes we have to consult the manufacturer in order to receive the best drivers or the best software.

I previously used VxRail and I switched to Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes because of the ease of maintenance. It's very easy to maintain because it has a layer that can automate all the things you need to. For example, in a normal solution, you have to shut down one host, upgrade that host, then bring that up again, shut down the other one, and upgrade that one. When this is done with Dell EMC VxRail, it is automatic.

The initial setup is easy. VMware has a straightforward deployment of any hyper-converged infrastructure. The full deployment of 10 Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes takes approximately one day.

I can do the implementation myself. However, only infrastructure workers can do this kind of deployment. For example, an insurance company a Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes, I don't believe their IT managers or IT people can do this as quickly or as well as we do, because we are used to doing it.

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

The price of Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes could be better, it is a little expensive.

I would recommend Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes for any kind of workload but not something that has large amounts of data. Any kind of solution you need the performance. For example, private clouds are built of hyper-converged systems.

I rate Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes a nine out of ten.