Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure Reviews

We were look for less expensive virtualization solution that can accommodate our VM workload and provide virtualized storage as well.

Our old environment consisted to multiple SAN storage devices. Maintenance such equipment is very costly and requires a separate in network infrastructure.

We wanted to utilize storage capacity available in our hypervisor nodes to provide clustered storage service using storage virtualization technologies similar to Microsoft S2D and VMWare vSAN, but at a low cost.

No, it did not improve our organization. At first Sangfor HCI look good product, but one we started to use it we faced many comparability issues. It is an appliance style of product and we cannot have administrative access to it. Where as in Hyper-V, ESXi, and/or KVM we can have an admin level access to install or add-ons or agents. Also it is not compatible with any cloud service providers e.g. Azure/AWS/GCP and neither it has hardware certified by any leading ERP providers.

After using it for 3 years only thing good about it is that it's cost less compared to Microsoft, and VMware solutions.

The features that Microsoft, and VMware gives on their Data Center and Enterprise licenses are provided by Sangfor HCI on Standard license.

Other than this there is no valuable feature.

Sangfor HCI can improve it's self in many ways.
1) Admin need a granular control on their system. There is no command line interface like we get in Hyper-V and ESXi.
2) The documentation and support from the community are not available. Support engineer lack knowledge also.
3) GUI also requires much working as well. The web interface of HCI and SCP are not user friendly.
4) No compatibility with third party solution and also no support with cloud services (Azure/AWS/GCP) and leading ERP providers.

I've been using the solution for 3 years now.

The all appliance solutions are stable and reliable, Sangfor HCI is the same.

The solution is scalable. You just have to add a node to the current cluster. It's not difficult.

The support engineer skills are not that good. They especially the support team we got in our country lack knowledge of their own product. There's a general lack of information. The documentation and knowledge base or community portal are lacking. I'd rate this aspect two out of ten.

Negative

We were using Microsoft Hyper-V. We decided to switch because we needed a solution that consists of storage virtualization. We also needed to remove our out dated SAN environment.

Since it is an appliance the setup is straight forward and quick.

We had three people from our company and two people from the vendor
handling the initial setup. Maintenance after setup is fairly basic and
requires simply looking after the hardware and looking out for heavy
usage of the processor. Three people are looking after it on the admin
side.

We have deployed it at two of our sites. One is at the head office, and the other is at our disaster recovery site.

We had help from the vendor. They were on-site and helped to integrate everything. But they lacked expertise.

ROI is not that good. After running it for almost 3 years and we had not a good experience with it.

Pricing is very cheap compared to Hyper-V and VMware.
Since it is an appliance setup cost in terms in time is very low.

Yes we evaluated VMware's solution. But management decided for Sangfor HCI as it was very cheap in cost.

With the experience we faced we will give it 2 out of 10 as the admin level experience is not good. No command line support. No third party integration. No public cloud support. No proper documentation.

If anyone is looking for a less expensive appliance type HCI then they can consider it. But for hybrid environments the solution fails.  

Hybrid Cloud

Microsoft Azure

In our company, we have a 3-node cluster on our primary site and a 2-node cluster for our entire site. The aforementioned area is a use case attached to the product.

The most valuable features or benefits of the solution for my company stem from the fact that we use the tool for aNET and aSV.

My company faced some issues with the product, as our virtual machines crashed, and we had to face some security issues. Thanks to the remote help provided by the technical engineers from Sangfor, who helped our company deal with the issues in the product, after which, for a year and a half to two, the product has been running fine without a single issue. With Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure, issues stemmed from the crash of virtual machines in our company, which is an area of concern where improvements are required.

In my company, we use some sort of a more advanced backup mechanism right now. If a few advanced features for backup mechanisms or application features, like DR or CDP, are available, which are parts that are mostly included in the license-based modules in Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure currently, it would be great. Native backup mechanisms are available in Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure, and we use them in our company, but a little bit more advanced features must be incorporated for basic users.

I have been using Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure since 2019. It has been four years since I have been using the product. I am a customer of the product.

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

It is a scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Almost 200 people in my company use the product. My company plans to increase the use of the product in the future.

The solution's technical support is very good. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup of the product is good, and I rate it a ten out of ten.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

The solution's deployment phase takes place over a period of almost two weeks.

An engineer from Sangfor visited our company during the initial installation phase of the product to take care of the installation process.

Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure is a reasonably priced product.

I recommend Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure to those who plan to use it since it is a stable and cost-effective tool that offers very good support.

I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten.

On-premises

My clients use it on all their virtual machines. These virtual machines contain web applications, and that's Sangfor's main purpose. They have application portals to collect user data, such as registration forms.

Sangfor HCI has a really good GUI. It allows us to monitor the temperature of the server and many other things.

We just deployed Sangfor HCI for our client, and the one problem we faced with Sangfor is preventative maintenance. When we do preventative maintenance, we must upgrade the operating system and run some updates, such as APT updates, because most virtual machines are on Linux. We need to keep the OS updated from time to time. Normally, we do a PM twice a year. Every time we do it, we face challenges. We needed to run an update on the VMs one at a time, which was the biggest challenge we faced. We have over 200 virtual machines, and doing the updates one at a time is tough. There's a window for preventative maintenance with downtime we have to agree on with our client. Normally, the downtime lasts about a day or half a day, depending on the client's requirements, such as the kind of uptime they require. If it's an application that should be highly available all the time, the updates are a huge problem for us. We can't update one virtual machine at a time. We need to update all of them simultaneously. That is why I would rather choose something like Nutanix.

There is a feature to upgrade multiple VMs simultaneously, but it crashes.

I've worked with this solution for around six months.

Sangfor can crash. I rate stability a five out of ten.

When we upgrade virtual machines, there is a feature that allows us to upgrade multiple virtual virtual machines at a time. But the problem is it crashes. The whole server can go down.

Every time the organization needs to expand, we must expand vertically or horizontally, and Sangfor is not cut for it. When it comes to scaling up, Sangfor can't do the job. We use Sangfor for a fixed thing. Let's say we know the organization has only 200 users and won't expand. Then it's okay to use Sangfor. Sangfor is not scalable.

My clients are enterprise-level businesses.

Sangfor is easy to set up. We just have to put the ISO file in our thumb drives. Then, we go to our bare metal server and deploy the ISO. Generally, this is what we do, and it's pretty straightforward.

The deployment time depends on how scalable the organization is. If it's full or fewer than ten servers, we can deploy the solution in a day or a couple of hours if we have experienced engineers. We can deploy the solution with two people.

The solution is affordable.

For preventative maintenance, Sangfor needs us to update one machine at a time. We have over 200 VMs, so the updates affect availability. Because we need to update all the VMs simultaneously, I would prefer something like Nutanix.

From a customer's point of view, Sangfor's instructions are straightforward. If the user is computer literate, they will understand and do it. If instructions are given correctly by me, and users follow them properly, they can fix the problem.

I recommend that prospective users study their client's requirements. They should try to understand what the client wants whether they'll be scaling up in a short period, and users have to consider all those factors before they choose a product like this. Depending on the kind of organization it is and how big it is, if it's a small organization, users can go for Sangfor and save a lot of money. But for big organizations, users must spend some bucks for these hypervisors.

Since there's a lot of room for improvement, I rate Sangfor HCI a six out of ten.

From a business perspective, we use Sangfor HCI due to its competitive pricing compared to other competitors such as Nutanix. We have reviewed Nutanix as well and found that Sangfor HCI offers similar ease of use. So, in terms of user interface (UI), the experience is more or less the same.

Sangfor HCI has a bundle of security features that are easy to monitor on the HCI dashboard.

Sangfor HCI has room for improvement in terms of integration. So, the integration with Sangfor HCI is not as extensive as in Nutanix. 

Usually, the integration should be straightforward, but with Sangfor HCI, we need to use another API to make the integration happen. That's what happened with our client's project.

In future releases, from a business point of view, Sangfor HCI needs to focus on coding, research, and testing, or involve the R&D department. Most of the time, Sangfor HCI utilizes this technology to follow the BIUI (Business Intelligence User Interface). 

Sometimes it becomes difficult to recall the exact details of a particular feature at the moment. Maybe the next feature should address this issue, so that we don't experience significant delays in the process.

This is our first year using the system.

The solution is stable. I haven't had any hiccups. 

I rate the solution's stability a seven out of ten.

Sangfor HCI is a scalable solution, provided you get the expected point or criteria.

I rate the solution's scalability a seven out of ten. Our clients usually include enterprise businesses. 

The setup process for Sangfor HCI was quite straightforward. We utilize HP servers and have an HP technical assistant on board. Additionally, we have technical support from Sangfor HCI. 

The technical person responsible for deployment is well-versed in the necessary steps and knows what to do and what not to do to deploy the solution.

Considering the huge scale of the deployment, it is crucial to have the right expertise. Although there may be some unique aspects and considerations, overall, I would say the process was relatively straightforward.

We deploy it for our clients.

The solution’s pricing is very competitive. I would say it is cheaper than Nutanix.

I rate the solution pricing a five out of ten, with one being the cheapest and ten being expensive.

I would suggest going for Sangfor HCI because, at the end of the day, HCI depends solely on your client’s or you. It offers the best price if it fits your requirements and you need centralized access to various authentication. The system is good.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

If you're dealing with a huge workload running on a massive infrastructure, Sangfor HCI can reduce the physical hardware while maximizing resource utilization. 

Sangfor HCI is a one-stop solution that enables you to store and centrally manage your VMs. 

Support may be an issue for customers in some industries. For example, financial institutions may require 24/7 support. 

I have used Sangfor for two or three years. 

I rate Sangfor HCI 10 out of 10 for stability. 

I rate Sangfor HCI seven out of 10 for scalability. We have nearly 80 users, Most of our clients are small and medium-sized businesses. 

I rate Sangfor support eight out of 10. 

Positive

I rate Sangfor HCI eight out of 10 for ease of setup. Deployment is pretty straightforward and can be completed in four or five days. 

Sangfor HCI is reasonably priced, and there are no additional costs. 

I rate Sangfor HCI eight out of 10. You should give Sangfor HCI a chance. It has more advanced technology and is more user-friendly than other solutions. 

On-premises

We use the solution for the virtualization of servers.

It’s a new technology. The solution enables less space utilization. The solution provides a single management console. It is easy and manageable.

The cost must be improved.

I have been using the solution for six months.

The tool is stable.

Around 1500 people are using the product in our organization. We have configured multiple servers. Every department might have access to three servers. A dedicated team manages the solution.

The initial setup was easy.

The tool is very expensive. Not all customers would be able to afford the solution.

Different products like Cisco and H3C are capturing the market.

If we are using 50 servers and if these servers could be combined into five servers, we could save power, space, data center, capacity, and racks. I recommend the solution to others. Every vendor is different. Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

We are using Sangfor HCI for cloud computing and operating it as an infrastructure-as-a-service.

We find the topology feature of Sangfor HCI particularly valuable. It allows us to design and define the architecture according to our specific requirements.

We can choose the components we want to use and easily visualize the layout we create.

It would be beneficial if Sangfor HCI provided us with more tools to perform various tasks. Currently, when we need to do capacity planning, we have to rely on Sangfor's support team for assistance. However, if there were dedicated tools available, we could handle it ourselves and increase efficiency.

For instance, Nutanix has some tools called Nutanix sizing tools. I would like Sangfor to offer similar tools specifically for IT sizing. These tools would help us accurately size our infrastructure since we operate on a service basis. We have numerous customers with different needs, and being able to easily size the infrastructure based on specific criteria would be advantageous. Currently, we face challenges in obtaining customer information, as it is not feasible to visit each customer individually and collect data. 

Having a dedicated tool for this purpose would greatly improve our operations. I've heard from the community that such a tool exists, but I don't know where to download it or how to access it as a user. 

If such features exist, it would be beneficial to understand how we utilize those features, check their functionality, and manipulate them.

We have documentation available for this solution. However, it may not provide detailed information about these specific tools. It's not easy to find comprehensive documentation for this type of tool.

I have been using this solution for more than two years. 

Sangfor HCI is a stable solution. I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. It's quite good.

However, there are some points I'm concerned about. Particularly, it relates to the ITC and application delivery controller (ADC). We had pushed out licenses for that component, but we recently learned that it had reached its end of life. We received this information from the community, but we're unsure if it's confirmed. Initially, we implemented it, but later, Sangfor support advised us to discontinue its use. So, we didn't fully deploy that component. As a result, we are unable to achieve load balancing as planned. We purchased the ADC license, but now we can't utilize it.

On Sangfor HCI, you can usually integrate various components, including a virtual ADC. However, in our case, we faced limitations due to the ADC license.

I would rate the scalability of Sangfor HCI a seven out of ten. I haven't implemented all aspects of Sangfor HCI. 

Currently, there are around ten end users using Sangfor HCI in our organization. 

The customer service and support have been helpful in assisting us with various matters. However, the response time could be better. It should be faster.

Positive

We have used Hyper-V and VMware vSphere in our lab environment. In my opinion, Sangfor HCI stands out because of its comprehensive features and very easy to implement, which I haven't experienced with Hyper-V.

The initial setup is simple. 

We deployed the solution with the help of Sangfor's support. 

The price is a bit better than overall.

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. It's mainly because of the sizing tools. When comparing it to solutions like Nutanix, for example, they have already signed and implemented tools that provide more functionality. They offer software-based solutions that can be accessed online, providing greater convenience.

So, having more comprehensive and easily accessible tools is an important aspect. It gives you a clearer understanding of the available space and enables you to communicate with the service providers to ensure better security measures.

On-premises

My customers use Sangfor HCI for the virtualization platform.

The most valuable feature of Sangfor HCI is the built-in recovery functionality. The migration is simple to do from other solutions, such as VMware.

The solution could improve by including backup capabilities.

I have been using Sangfor HCI for approximately two years.

I rate the stability of Sangfor HCI an eight out of ten.

We have approximately 1,000 users using this solution.

Our customers are mostly medium-sized using this solution.

I rate the scalability of Sangfor HCI an eight out of ten.

The support can take some time to respond to fix the problem.

I rate the support of Sangfor HCI an eight out of ten.

Neutral

My clients were using VMware prior to using Sangfor HCI.

The deployment of Sangfor HCI took approximately three weeks.

I rate the initial setup of Sangfor HCI a seven out of ten.

We had the vendor do the implementation of the solution.

The solution is on-premise which does not have a subscription. However, there is a need to purchase support. The solution is on a perpetual license model. There is not any extra cost other than the standard licensing fees.

The price is affordable for the solution.

I rate the price of Sangfor HCI a six out of ten.

I rate Sangfor HCI an eight out of ten.

I gave my rating of eight out of ten for the solution because it is feature rich and has enhanced protection.

On-premises