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reviewer1021158 - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Performs well, the support is good, and it is a stable product
Pros and Cons
    • "This product has come to the end of its lifecycle."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use the StoreServ as our main storage device. We have one unit in the main site and the other in the DR site, with replication between them. We have a file server running, it hosts our database, and it acts as our Exchange server.

    What is most valuable?

    The performance is very good.

    What needs improvement?

    This product has come to the end of its lifecycle. We could keep it for many years but we are following the recommendation from HPE and are looking to either the Nimble or the Primera.

    This is an expensive product, so the price could be reduced.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using the HPE 3PAR StoreServ in our organization for about five years.

    Buyer's Guide
    HPE 3PAR StoreServ
    December 2024
    Learn what your peers think about HPE 3PAR StoreServ. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
    824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    This is a stable product.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This solution is scalable. We have 50 users in our company and our clients have approximately 500 people who are using it.

    How are customer service and support?

    Technical support is perfect.

    We did a comparison in the market, and HPE was the best service providers for regular configuration and for the remote configuration.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Previously, we were using HPE MSA.

    How was the initial setup?

    The installation, which included migration from our old system, took approximately one week.

    What about the implementation team?

    The HPE partner installed this solution for us.

    We have an IT member in our organization to maintain it, but we have a support contract with a center that is a supporter of HPE. They provide us with support and services. This is not only for storage but for everything that is included.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The SSD is a little bit expensive.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are now thinking about transitioning to the HPE Nimble or Primera, although not this year. This may happen in 2022. We plan to continue using this solution for performance, and availability. We are following the recommendation of HPE. They have recently started to mention the Primera and Nimble, which is why we are studying them.

    We are not looking as much at Nimble because we are interested in the 100% availability that Primera has. The Primera is a little more expensive than the Nimble, so this is something that we have to think about.

    This is a good solution and I can recommend it.

    I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    SystemsE33b6 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Systems Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    If it needs an update, I can do it in the middle of the day with nobody being the wiser
    Pros and Cons
    • "If you can handle the IOPS, throughput is a natural byproduct. Usually, IOPS is where you are capped. HPE has done a great job in making sure that our IOP-intensive EMRs stay up and running. We have really good performance on them."
    • "It runs. I don't have a problem with it. If it needs an update, I can do it in the middle of the day with nobody being the wiser. It is phenomenal in that respect. As a hospital, I get two hours every quarter to reboot things, so it is imperative that nothing goes down."
    • "We do not use Memory-Driven Flash in the old 3PAR. Perhaps we will use it in the new 3PAR. That is part of the reason why we are upgrading."

    What is our primary use case?

    It is our main storage solution for our entire VMware environment.

    Everything run on the solution is core: MEDITECH, all the EMRs, and back-ends support services.

    We use a combination of flash and spinning disk. For some of our less critical functions, since we run everything on the 3PAR, there is no reason to spend the extra money on flash to run the stuff that is not super mission-critical.

    How has it helped my organization?

    It allows us to grow. We added almost 110TB last year alone. Not a lot of product let you throw that in, resulting in the performance that we have been seeing.

    It has definitely reduced our time to deployment. We can call up, and say, "I need 110TB," and they configure it so my IOPS stay consistent across 3PAR, Then, I don't actually have to worry about the IOPS. HPE takes care of that for me. I need the space, and they take care of the rest. They install it, and I just provision it, which is nice.

    If you can handle the IOPS, throughput is a natural byproduct. Usually, IOPS is where you are capped. HPE has done a great job in making sure that our IOP-intensive EMRs stay up and running. We have really good performance on them.

    We run approximately half a billion IOPS every six months. This 3PAR seems to handle it just fine.

    What is most valuable?

    Expandability and performance are its most valuable features.

    What needs improvement?

    We do not use Memory-Driven Flash in the old 3PAR. Perhaps we will use it in the new 3PAR. That is part of the reason why we are upgrading.

    We aren't using HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity yet. We are looking into it. The old 3PAR didn't support it, but the new 3PAR does.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is extremely stable. I'm able to do everything that I need to do in the middle of the day without interruption. It has been an absolute fantastic piece of hardware.

    The availability is excellent. I have not had any problems with 3PAR.

    It runs. I don't have a problem with it. If it needs an update, I can do it in the middle of the day with nobody being the wiser. It is phenomenal in that respect. As a hospital, I get two hours every quarter to reboot things, so it is imperative that nothing goes down.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is phenomenal.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    The technical support is excellent. They do everything.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    My old 3PAR is end of life, so it is time to switch.

    How was the initial setup?

    I haven't done the initial setup yet, and I haven't gone through the initial setup on the new one.

    What about the implementation team?

    We used HPE technical services for the deployment. They sent another company, Unisys, who was great. They did it all. I didn't have to lift a finger, which makes me happy

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I would like it to be cheaper.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We are an HPE shop. Everything that we have is HPE, so we just stuck with them. We have never been upset with HPE. They have been phenomenal, in my opinion.

    What other advice do I have?

    Check out HPE. They are well worth it.

    It pretty much checks all the boxes that I have concerns about moving forward. This version will do dedupe better. We will start to use some of the data classifications where it tiers the storage for us. Of all the bubbles that I care about, it checks them all.

    We don't use dedupe on our old 3PAR. We're hoping to use it on the new one.

    We don't use InfoSight at the moment. It's something we're looking into, though.

    I'm very happy with it. It has performed as I expected.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    HPE 3PAR StoreServ
    December 2024
    Learn what your peers think about HPE 3PAR StoreServ. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
    824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Coordinator at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    The solution has improved our throughput, which has improved our performance
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution has increased our performance by about 40 percent."
    • "We would like to see deduplication and hybrid in the next release of the solution."

    What is our primary use case?

    The primary use case is DR. We use it in the automation industry.

    How has it helped my organization?

    I has helped our organization with DR and replication of our VM environment and Oracle databases.

    The solution has improved our throughput, which has improved our performance.

    What is most valuable?

    It has improved our company's performance.

    It has an easy implementation and the support is awesome.

    What needs improvement?

    We would like to see deduplication and hybrid in the next release of the solution.

    The integration has room for improvement.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability is awesome.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is awesome.

    All-flash positions our organization for growth. We have more places for Oracle applications, VMware, and servers.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We have had to contact technical support. We have had no problems with them. The support is great.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We did not use another solution previously.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was straightforward.

    What about the implementation team?

    We used a consultant for the deployment. Our experience with them was great.

    What was our ROI?

    We have seen ROI.

    The solution has increased our performance by about 40 percent.

    This solution has helped our organization reduce time to deployment by 50 percent.

    What other advice do I have?

    The performance is great. 

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user783909 - PeerSpot reviewer
    System Administrator Team Lead at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
    Vendor
    We have built a DR solution based on this solution, minimizing our downtime
    Pros and Cons
    • "We built a DR solution based on this, we can sustain our business for any amount of time, 24/7."
    • "We have had some challenges in the Arabic implementation and in migration, but for daily work, it's fine."
    • "Needs more flexibility and expansion, and also relocation, a cloud solution."
    • "We have issues with scalability because 3PAR has limited storage capacity, so we have to invest more after a while."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it for our main production system, for SAP, and also for SharePoint, Microsoft products.

    We have a good relationship with HPE, but we still have some challenges in the Arabic implementation and in migration, but for daily work, it's fine.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We built a DR solution based on this, we can sustain our business for any amount of time, 24/7. We have minimized downtime to 10 minutes now, because of this solution.

    What is most valuable?

    Support.

    What needs improvement?

    More flexibility and expansion, and also relocation, a cloud solution.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's stable. We haven't have any issues, unless it's human error, until now.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have issues with scalability because 3PAR has limited storage capacity, so we have to invest more after a while.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We have gotten to level 3, the last level of support. We had some high issues with them, but they were fixed. It took some time. The issue with it was, when it's in production, even one day is too long.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    For storage we had Dell EMC, and we used to have IBM but not any more.

    IBM is not a Windows platform, and Dell, they didn't have storage at that time. Now they have EMC. So they both have a full solution, like HPE. And they are presenting a solution to us everyday.

    What other advice do I have?

    What is most important to me in a vendor is that when I need them there, they're available.

    I give it an eight out of 10 because of scalability.

    HPE is a full solution, and they have a bigger scale for everything. You can build something cheaper when you combine companies, but there will be problems after a while with support and troubleshooting. Everybody will blame the other.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user252609 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Senior Network Engineer at Colonial Savings
    Vendor
    Manageability and reliability are the most valued features.

    What is most valuable?

    Manageability and reliability are the most valued features of 3PAR. We've had no issues with it. We did a lot of research before we installed it. The other three companies we looked at were top of the line.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We did not lose connectivity, as we did with the other units. We've had no failed drives. The system has been up and running for almost four years now and there has not been an issue anywhere.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is very stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is very scalable. We've added quite a bit to it since we started.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We have used technical support. They were great.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    The system we had prior to 3PAR had a lot of drives. We didn't lose any data, but it was just not reliable.

    How was the initial setup?

    I was involved in the initial setup. It was pretty straightforward.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We looked at two other vendors. One was Compellent and one was EMC. Through our research and talking to various companies that were already using 3PAR, it was determined to be the better product.

    When selecting a product, reliability and support are the most important requirements.

    What other advice do I have?

    It's a very reliable product. I would advise them to get it.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user567576 - PeerSpot reviewer
    CIO at Equra Health
    Vendor
    It offers a variety of disk types at different price points and speeds.

    What is most valuable?

    It's probably the most cost-effective, value-for-money system for the mid-market.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Besides from being cost effective, it's got a low-cost disk, upon which you can load any of your imaging stuff. Then, there are also the higher-cost disks, and the SSDs, which are phenomenally fast. SSDs make our systems work significantly faster. I've used SSDs before when I was a customer. Previous to this job, I was the infrastructure executive for a much larger company and we invested quite heavily in HPE 3PAR.

    What needs improvement?

    In the next release, I think I would like to see lower-cost SSD features. I would prefer to spend a little bit less there so I can afford to actually move my entire 3PAR system into SSDs.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability is pretty good.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is very good.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We have used technical support. Sometimes we used HPE's technical support out of India and it is quite difficult to understand them. I think that HPE needs to look at that. Besides that, the technical support is relatively good.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Before this solution, we were in a situation where the disk capacity we had continued to grow. When I joined the company three years ago, each system had their own stuff so we invested in 3PAR. We were just using all internal disks. I've used one or two other disk systems, but I don’t recall the names. We also used HPE's EVA, which I don't think was necessarily the best environment. We also used their XP environment which was very good. EVA was not as fast as it should have been. I think it was too costly. When we chose this solution, we were looking for the most value for our money. We had a short list of other vendors, but I've been buying HPE since 1982, I think, so it didn't take long for me to think about HPE.

    How was the initial setup?

    I don't do this sort of leg work, the keyboard stuff, because I'm an executive responsible for other matters. However, I have a technical background, so I know quite a lot about it. The feedback I received was that it went very well. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.

    What other advice do I have?

    I have heard of a solution called "Clear" or something like that. If you look at them, trolley-for-trolley, or pound for pound, I think that HPE 3PAR is probably the best system around.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user471384 - PeerSpot reviewer
    CIO at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Consultant
    We chose to go with it because it runs on OpenVMS.

    What is most valuable?

    We went with 3PAR because we primarily use other storage solutions for our main production products. We chose 3PAR for one product because it runs on OpenVMS and it's only certified to run on HPE. That's why we went with 3PAR. It was a smooth transition over. It went pretty stable. We got an outside HPE VAR to help with the rollover. It's been very stable since we moved to it so.

    What needs improvement?

    It's a mature product. It's been working fine.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    It's been about eight months.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Hard to say with that product line. That product line, it's much more mature. It doesn't grow that dramatically, so we planned ahead with a five year window, to be on that platform. It's running fine. We're not running into any hurdles right now.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We have an HPE VAR on the openVMS side that helps us too. We kind of reach out to them if we do.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We switched from a really old legacy platform storage solution that was just into life. We were running it on Data Vault which was an HPE product.

    How was the initial setup?

    We switched from a really old legacy platform storage solution. I'm pretty sure we were running it on NetApp at the time.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    In most cases Pure Storage is better. It's better overall, and allows us to scale up faster, the cost of ownership's lower, and the replication across areas is good. 3PAR is not bad either, but Pure Storage is just more competitive.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would also evaluate others hard. We use Pure Storage in other areas a lot.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user178500 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Business Systems Manager with 501-1,000 employees
    Vendor
    Flash storage is worth it for performance advantage and simplicity.

    We were running HP servers and an HP storage area network (SAN), but with the business’s growth we were coming to a point where we either needed to upgrade the CPU and buy additional disks for the SAN, or replace everything – we considered both possibilities.

    The application provider did have a version running on Windows, but we wanted the proven stability of UNIX, and in particular of HP’s HP-UX. MomentumPro is business-critical, and runs all our inventory and financial systems. We considered systems based on other UNIX platforms, but that would have involved bringing in a completely new operating system, which would add additional risk. If we had a year for the project we might have looked at other UNIX versions, but our business’s rapid expansion meant we had tight timescales– so we stayed on HP-UX to simplify the migration.

    Once we had decided on HP-UX, we looked at the blades, storage and chassis available from HP. The blade system had the benefit that, as well as handling the expansion of the ERP, we could consolidate Windows environments and other servers onto the new infrastructure.

    We chose an infrastructure housed in an HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure, and it selected an HP Integrity BL870c i4 Server Blade featuring HP-UX 11i v3. For storage, we selected HP 3PAR StoreServ 7450 Storage system with thirty-two 480GB solid state disks (SSDs). The system includes HP FlexFabric interconnects.

    Had we upgraded, we would have had perhaps just a year before we had to upgrade again. Also, with an upgrade, maintenance costs are increasing each year – but the replacement system included support, so we are ahead on operating expenditure.When we did a comparison, the replacement was lower in cost than the upgrade, with a fifteen month payback period on the hardware. By replacing the system, we could build everything and get it up and running without interfering with the current operation. If we had done an upgrade, there would have been significant downtime, even if there were no problems – but with a replacement we could build it all in parallel, do comprehensive testing and make sure everything was working. 

    The implementation went extremely well, and the engineering support people at HP were excellent – everything was here on time or early, and it all went smoothly. We built the new system and got the operating system loaded, the disks up and database restored, and were able to run tests till satisfied to give us a comfort factor. Then we took the users off the system and started the migration of data at 6pm, and had everything up and running by 11pm that night.

    With the new infrastructure, the biggest single benefit is improved performance, not least due to the system’s solid state storage.The 3PAR storage was worth it for the performance advantage. We knew we had to speed up the processing, if we expand into Western Australia we would lose three hours from the overnight window, due to the time difference. We had to do the same tasks in a smaller timeframe.

    The old system would already have been unable to cope – we would have been on about 99 per cent CPU, but at the moment we’re sitting at 15 per cent CPU. It’s a massive change – we would have been happy with a 50 per cent improvement, but we’ve got almost an 80 per cent increase. While the store rollout is the priority, we’re also going to look at adding extra functionality in the ERP application. In the past we were constrained by hardware performance, but the new system is giving us the opportunity to add more modules.

    By moving from a rack-based server system to blades, we will be able to shrink infrastructure from eight cabinets to only two. HP’s de-duplication features will also save us money, as we will need to buy fewer disks to migrate our existing external servers onto Hyper-V virtual machines on the blades. We were at full storage capacity on the old system, but now with the 3PAR we will be at around 70 per cent after we have migrated Exchange onto the infrastructure – and that’s even before we add in the benefits of de-duplication.

    This was a deliberate choice – we wanted a system with the flexibility to grow, without having to buy hardware now that we wouldn’t use for six or twelve months. The project has gone very well and exceeded my expectations, and I was surprised at the ease of deployment– all the different components integrated well together.

    Overall, the biggest benefits for us were performance, simplicity of implementation and cost. Due to this positive experience with HP, we’re now looking at working with them in other areas of our business, and we’re already rolling out HP thin clients at some of our stores.

    Disclosure: PeerSpot has made contact with the reviewer to validate that the person is a real user. The information in the posting is based upon a vendor-supplied case study, but the reviewer has confirmed the content's accuracy.
    PeerSpot user

    Love hearing these kinds of stories. I think you made a great choice but so do others. HP 3PAR All-Flash won the All-Flash Array Product of the Year Award from TechTarget. I have a blog that talks about it. hpstorage.me There's been lots of other "best of" for the HP 3PAR family - if you're interested in those, drop me an email at hpstorageguy at hp dot com.

    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free HPE 3PAR StoreServ Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: December 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free HPE 3PAR StoreServ Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.