HPE Nimble Storage Reviews

In our company, it is the back-end storage for virtual machines and file storage.

On our website, there are many different business-critical things running.

We migrated from a hybrid cloud to an all-flash. We have seen our average latency go from four milliseconds to point four. Therefore, we are getting 10 times better performance down to the end user on everything. We have seen an increase in our IOPS by ten times.

Infosight is good. We watch the capacity side of it. That is about all we have seen on there. InfoSight does allow us to get servers back up faster. We run a lot of virtual servers, so it is about ten times faster from deploying until it is up.

I want to see the full integration with OneView. I know they have started it, but I haven't had a chance to look at and evaluate it.

Uptime has been a 100 percent in our environment.

The product is very stable. There was some concern about HPE buying Nimble, but I think that it has gone okay, so far.

It is very scalable.

The deduplication of all-flash enables you to grow without having to actually grow the storage. That piece of the all-flash enables you to really grow, not having to keep growing in the racks.

The technical support is very good.

We came from a spinning SAN to hybrid SAN to all-flash. We just followed that path. 

We moved to all-flash because we were pushing the latency of the hybrid so far it was unusable.

The initial setup was very easy. I don't even know if we had to look at documentation, except in the very beginning, where we have to consult in. The solution provided what we needed to set it up.

We did it ourselves.

The solution has improved our throughput, because when we move large data it is just that much faster.

Every user is ten times faster at doing whatever work they're doing.

Performance per dollar, when we looked at it, was the highest that we could get for what we needed.

We evaluated other competitors (Pure Storage and NetApp), and it came down to cost per a dollar of what you could get.

Pure Storage had better deduplication rates, but it just cost three times more.

The product comes down to budget, I/O, and the use case that you need. 

It is really efficient in the size that it is.

Biggest lesson learnt: All-flash matters.

The built-in performance profiles have made tweaking settings for different uses (SQL log files, SQL data files, VMware datastores, etc.) extremely simple. The built-in profiles are more than enough for most implementations, and if you need to create a custom performance profile, the process is simple and well documented. The analytics available via Infosight (The online Nimble support portal) are extremely well written and useful too. In particular, I find the analytics extremely useful when tracking down causes of latency that occasionally crop up and affect processing.

The Nimble SANs, as part of an overall move from standalone servers to a combined virtual infrastructure, have allowed my client to be much more responsive to their clients. The client is a SaaS provider that does large analysis/predictive modeling for the retail market. The previous hardware setup had database processes running for 14 hours or more, creating long turn around times for users. The new servers, running on the faster Nimble storage, allowed processing times of two hours or less to be achieved, allowing for faster results, as well as the ability to process more datasets concurrently, servicing more customers.

While I was not present for the sizing discussions, I believe there was some lack of discovery in selecting the model and features for my client. Even though the flash size on the array was doubled from Nimble's initial recommendation, the SAN still has latency issues during the largest dataset imports, due to CPU limitations on the SAN model that presales had recommended for this client. Certainly not the end of the world, and it can be fixed with an upgrade, but it was somewhat frustrating for my clients. I suspect estimations were used as to what the expected load would be, without a full understanding of the data processing being performed.

I originally installed one of these SANs for a customer just over three years ago. Since then, two additional SANs (same model, features and capacity, have since been added).

Deployment was great. The web configuration was extremely easy (and has gotten easier with every major release). Network configuration, utilizing Juniper QFX 5100 10gb switches, was simple too. All Nimble required was jumbo frames and enough network ports of each speed, 1gb and 10gb, for data and management.

The initial SAN that I installed has been extremely stable. The second of the three SANs has had occasional issues with a controller crashing, eventually leading to replacement of one of the controller heads. Failover was seamless each time it happened though, and we were able to keep working with no loss in performance (one of the few advantages of an active/passive array). Support replaced the faulty controller after appropriate testing and troubleshooting, and the problem hasn't recurred.

Yes and no. The SAN chosen was not ideal for the workload found, but growing in breadth, expanding the load across multiple arrays (with and without Group configuration) was very simple and fast, making use of the built-in replication to copy data. It is also easy to expand vertically via upgrading the controllers, though my clients chose not to do it.

Customer service with Nimble has been great every time I've dealt with them. They've always been very responsive and friendly to deal with. I definitely have appreciated the experience of dealing with Nimble Customer Service.

The technical support at Nimble is stellar. The analytics available via the Infosight web portal are extremely detailed, and yet well laid out and easy to peruse. In addition, the portal is regularly upgraded, with additional information, new views, and easier navigation. If the analytics there aren't sufficient, though, technical support is always happy to provide whatever additional help is required, including taking the time to do deep analysis of all settings in the environment (ie, Nimble and VMware settings, or Nimble and Windows settings) to ensure that things are configured optimally.

This particular environment was all standalone servers and storage previously. Decision was made to move to shared storage to support movement from standalone servers to a VMware cluster on Cisco UCS blades.

Initial setup was extremely easy. There was a Windows app for initial configuration to get the SAN configured on the network for management, and then subsequent work (volume creation, snapshot schedules, etc) is all web based and extremely easy.

I implemented these SANs personally, and did not make use of a vendor team.

It's hard to say, since it was a complete change in the datacenter going from

Licensing is dead simple and not a concern on this product, as all features are included. SANs are purposely CPU limited in a particular model, so be aware that even if you have enough flash for all your typical needs, you may hit a hard CPU limit on performance before you run out of flash. Luckily, head upgrades are easy and fully supported, allowing movement up to faster models.

I was not part of the initial hardware selection. My client was working with a VAR to choose and obtain the hardware for a data center refresh. During this process, it eventually worked out that I took over the complete data center refresh project, from design to deployment.

The solution can be used for SAP HANA applications and some Linux-based databases. Our customers use it for SUSE Linux.

InfoSight is a valuable feature. It enables 24/7 monitoring and administration of our storage. Whenever there is a fault, the user will be alerted. It is a 100% customer satisfaction-based experience. Everything is on the dashboard.

The solution could reduce its price.

I have been working with the solution for the past three years.

I didn't see any failure so far.

I rate the tool’s stability a ten out of ten.

We have around 180 users.

I rate the product’s scalability a ten out of ten.

The intervention of the technical support is only to facilitate parts replacement. InfoSight gives the user information like predictive failure and faulty parts. The vendor is then notified about it.

The initial setup is simple. HPE makes every deployment simple and easy to integrate. It takes us two to three hours to deploy the product because everything is connected over the internet. We need internet connectivity for the deployment.

We need only one engineer to deploy the solution.

We can choose between a yearly license fee or once in three years. The solution’s pricing is reasonable for the features that it provides.

I haven't checked the latest version of Nimble yet. Maybe there will be lots of improvements after the 2019 version. It is a good solution. I recommend it. My recommendation depends on what the customer needs. Sometimes, customers overdo the specifications. Sometimes they need only SaaS-based storage.

Customers should know what they need and what applications are running on it. Then, the partners can recommend a solution accordingly. Customers should not take the specification directly to the supplier. They should ask the partners. Partners would give cost-effective recommendations.

Overall, I rate the product a ten out of ten.

We primarily use it for storage.

The capacity for data storage and compression is good.

I would like to see some additional features included in the next release.

I have been using HPE Nimble Storage for the past eight months.

It was on track, but I have problems with the next servicer. For example, I have a new device and it needs to connect to Nimble. 

I do not pay for it.

I would rate HPE Nimble Storage a nine out of ten.

InfoSight. It's AI for the data center. It's very easy. It does a lot of the work for the customer. That is why HPE bought InfoSight, so they could deploy it across all their other platforms as well. It's a big game-changer. It's one of the easiest things to talk about when you're working with a customer. Customers don't want to do a whole lot of troubleshooting themselves, and with InfoSight and the whole system, it helps to deal with all these issues.

From what I've seen personally, customers that have Nimble don't really switch away from it. When newer versions come out, they usually have everything in terms of all the support and all the additional components that might be needed to help.

With the newest models, you're getting decompression and dedupe on some of the entry-level models, and this fixes a lot of issues for customers. Therefore, I am not hearing anything at this point. They just released the newest version, and so far, it's going well.

It's stable. 

It is a scalable product. They just released Gen 5 a couple weeks ago, and there's a lot of ability, depending on the need. 

They have very good, high-level support. You deal with Level 3 technicians, so that is a key takeaway. Customers don't want to be triaged, jump from here to there, and be in the line for X amount of time. They want things done, and they want them done now. With Nimble, in my experience with it, this is where they has been beneficial.

For the Nimble product line, support is very strong. There is a lot of different information, but you get a lot of support with Nimble, and Level 3 technical support is a huge benefit for customers. Especially knowing that you receive it right off the bat, as opposed to going through all the stages. Support, coupled with the InfoSight, triages a lot of their issues.

I did not set it up myself, but based on conversations with some of our solution architects, it seems like it's a straightforward setup: out-of-the-box and easy to deploy.

I have had a lot of personal success with it. Our organization has had a lot of success with it. It has a very straightforward presentation. It does the job for a lot of customers, and it's a great enterprise solution for many of them.

Our storage solutions are stable and scalable.

The valuable features include encryption of data, hybrid performance, firmware updates, and overall simplicity.

The amount of firmware updates released seem excessive.

There were no issues with stability.

There were no issues with scalability.

The level of technical support is excellent. We are always able to speak to an intelligent engineer 24/7/365.

We used EMC Celerra. We switched due to the complexity of volume management and performance.

The initial setup was straightforward once the decision of connectivity is made.

It is expensive, but it is worth the “uptime”.

We evaluated other NetApp, EMC, and DELL EQL

Prepare your network properly if using the iSCSI protocol.

Improved performance. It's made my life easier. It integrates very well.

Deduplication and compression.

I would like to see SSL Certification. For someone like me who has been in the field for a long time, it’s easy to overlook. However, for someone who is fresh out of college, it will be hard for them.

The stability is good.

The scalability is really good.

I used technical support once. I would give them a rating of 10/10.

We knew we needed a new solution because we needed something for restored backup.

The setup was straightforward. It wasn't hard. I came from the background of NetApp. Compared to NetApp, it was really easy. It’s pretty easy to configure and easy to set up the volumes. It’s really good. It was more user friendly than NetApp.

It was a decision that was made before I joined to the company. The reason they chose Nimble over other products was because HPE required too many licenses at that time. Nimble didn’t require all of that.

Now that Nimble is an HPE product, HPE has changed their whole licensing for their other products as well.

The shortlist included HPE, Dell, and EMC. We chose Nimble because of all- flash, user-friendliness, and the compression and deduplication. It does way more than any of the other vendors. I have 10 terabytes with compression. That's a big change. Other solutions are not as user-friendly and cannot do all of that compression.

When selecting a vendor, I look for security. We want something that can be integrated and is compatible with our environment.

I would say jump on it right away, because it's really the solution. It is really user-friendly. It will make everybody's life easier. It's really wonderful.

The most valuable features are snapshot & replication. The snapshot is straightforward in terms of how you can easily manage your backup schedule based on your RPO & RTO. You can instantly recover your data in a minute when you need it from a specific point in time. The replication was very reliable and efficient for our customers because you can just replicate your data with a minimum 2 Mb bandwidth.

You know, here in the Philippines, internet bandwidth is one of the most critical concerns and with Nimble, bandwidth wasn't an issue for you to have a reliable disaster recovery setup (DR site) and amazingly, Nimble doesn't charge you any additional license cost no matter how big the data that you need to replicate.

• Upgraded models that doubles the capacity and performance

Just continue the updates of technology features; I expect there will be more updates in capacity and IOPS as models upgrade in the future.

I have used it for about two years; from the CS200 series and the CS700 series to the new models, which are the CS1000-CS7000 series.

So far, based on my experience in deploying Nimble in different industries such as telcos, manufacturing, retail, hotel & casino, etc., I haven't encountered any major issues in terms of stability because all of the components were fully redundant and aside from that, Nimble has a monitoring system, or what they call InfoSight, which gives you proactive support. The product appliance will send a heartbeat every five minutes to InfoSight just to make sure that all software and hardware components are working properly and 100% up and running.

We have not encountered any scalability issues; this was really a scale to fit. I can just scale up if I need to by upgrading specific components such as CPU, SSD & HDD. I can also scale out by combining different Nimble array models to have flexible adjustment if certain apps need more resources.

Technical support is 10/10. Aside from InfoSight, they have technical support on standby 24/7 when you need it. In terms of hardware replacement, they always make sure that they meet what is expected from the SLA.

I previously used a different solution, and I switched to Nimble because of its cost effectiveness, its ease of use and it is very manageable. Nimble simplified everything for me.

Initial setup was very straightforward. In fact, you can set up the product in just 30 minutes, as long as everything is ready; the checklist, etc.

Pricing is very competitive compared to other solutions. All the features are bundled in the product without any additional cost.

There are no licensing costs.

Before choosing this product, I also evaluated other options such as EMC, HPE, IBM, etc. Among those brands, for me, Nimble was the most cost effective and simplified.

Please evaluate and review other solutions and from that, you can simply compare and experience the advantages of Nimble storage in terms of features, performance, cost effectiveness, reliability, and efficiency.