Sangfor HCI's best features are the ability to scale to a bigger size and the roadmap, whereby if they need to replicate their production to disaster recovery, they can do so on the same platform.
Highly scalable with a simple licensing scheme
Pros and Cons
- "Sangfor HCI's best features are the ability to scale to a bigger size and the roadmap, whereby if they need to replicate their production to disaster recovery, they can do so on the same platform."
- "Sangfor HCI could be improved with certification and the right ecosystem for ISVs like Oracle and SAP."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
Sangfor HCI could be improved with certification and the right ecosystem for ISVs like Oracle and SAP. In the next release, I'd like to see more adapters to allow us to migrate applications to the cloud when needed.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Sangfor HCI for three to four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sangfor HCI's stability is very good. We've had typical minor issues, but in four years across small to large setups, we haven't had a total 100% failure.
Buyer's Guide
Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sangfor HCI is pretty straightforward to scale.
How are customer service and support?
Sangfor HCI's technical support is good enough for an enterprise solution. Most of the time, they're able to resolve the situation within the timeframe our customers expect.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was pretty straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Sangfor HCI was attractive to us because of the simplicity of its licensing and lack of hidden costs compared to its competitors. I would say its pricing is between cheap and reasonable and would rate it as three out of five.
What other advice do I have?
I'd advise anybody thinking of using Sangfor HCI for the first time to request a concept so you understand the solution fully. I would say there's always a place for Sangfor HCI in any environment as a cheaper parallel platform. I would give Sangfor HCI a rating of ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Senior Solutions Consultant Lead at a comms service provider with 1-10 employees
Free hypervisors, easy to set up, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the three nodes and the free hypervisor."
- "The initialization is not fully automated and has room for improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution within the healthcare industry.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the three nodes and the free hypervisor.
What needs improvement?
The initialization is not fully automated and has room for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable with the newer systems but is not compatible with the older systems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. The scaling is pay-as-you-go.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex but it is also not automated.
I give the initial setup a seven out of ten.
The deployment takes one hour to complete the initial configuration.
What about the implementation team?
We implement the solution for our customers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is very cheap. The solution is cheaper than others and has no hidden costs. The hypervisors are free, we just need the warranty to protect the hardware.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution a seven out of ten.
We provide maintenance for our customers.
When using high-intensity workloads or if some parts are already using flash or SSDs, it is acceptable. However, if the workload is a green field, starting from scratch is necessary.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Buyer's Guide
Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Sales Engineer at Comstar - Information Systems Associates Ltd.
An excellent solution with smart virtualization and great technical support
Pros and Cons
- "It is a smart solution for virtualization"
- "The processing speed and cost should be improved."
What is our primary use case?
It is a smart solution for virtualization. It simplifies the virtualization for clients, and their network is summarized using Sangfor HCI. We directly purchase from Sangfor and provide this solution to many clients in Pakistan with them. Clients are 110% satisfied. They understand the solution, and it's user-friendly.
What needs improvement?
I have prepared this solution with VMware, and both of them are the same. However, the processing speed and cost should be improved in Sangfor HCI. VMware is more economical than Sangfor HCI.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable, and we have two major clients. We have a secured deal with our client of about 2.5 million.
How are customer service and support?
Their technical support is great, and I rate them a ten out of ten
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward, and it took barely a few hours to deploy.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution a ten out of ten and recommend it to others.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Network Administrator at Eurolink Network
Great SCI technology and very user-friendly
Pros and Cons
- "Very user-friendly and simple."
- "Lacks network support."
What is our primary use case?
Our company is based in the Philippines and we are end users of Sangfor. I'm a network administrator.
What is most valuable?
The product is user-friendly and easier to use than other virtualization technology. The SCI technology is great.
What needs improvement?
I'd like to see network support, it's very useful to have support with the sub-suite solution. I'd also like to see additional features included in the future.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used VMware. We moved to Sangfor because we switched providers and it was difficult to get support. We went with a solution that would provide us with a built-in solution for storage, network and server. It's a complete solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy because we have support. The company provides everything from migrating and transferring from old to new. It's a big help for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing costs are reasonable, it's much cheaper than other solutions on the market.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution because it's reasonably priced and has similar features to other, more expensive solutions.
I rate this solution 10 out of 10.
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.
Information Technology Support Specialist at Code Expert Inc
Stable, good pricing and licensing, and useful CDP feature
Pros and Cons
- "The Continuous Data Protection (CDP) feature is one of the good features."
- "Its virtual machine tools can be improved. These tools should be enhanced for use in other applications and operating systems, such as Linux."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for SAP products and some other infrastructure applications. We are using its latest version.
What is most valuable?
The Continuous Data Protection (CDP) feature is one of the good features.
What needs improvement?
Its virtual machine tools can be improved. These tools should be enhanced for use in other applications and operating systems, such as Linux.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable. There is no issue in terms of stability so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is complex to scale. There was a situation where they undersized the memory on one of our solutions. They gave us free memory because they were the ones who sized the memory for the specs.
In terms of the number of users, we have two or three administrators who use it. There are up to 500 concurrent users or the number of users using the hyper-converged infrastructure.
How are customer service and technical support?
They support us in case of technical problems. They also provided a free deployment during a migration.
The level one support is provided by the partner or the integrator. The level two support is handled by the Sangfor teams. Technical support is based in the Asia Pacific region. They provide standard 24/7 support. They are easy to reach. Some of their engineers are Chinese, and there is a communication barrier because of their accents, but on the technical side, they are able to resolve the issues.
How was the initial setup?
Its initial setup is more on the complex side because of our system and company requirements. The deployment took about three weeks.
What about the implementation team?
We have an in-house technical team. Its maintenance is also handled by us. Every six to eight months, they provide updates to fix the bugs that they have encountered.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is in the middle range as compared to other hyper-converged infrastructure solutions. There is a three-year warranty on the hardware.
The license also includes other features. Sangfor has included Continuous Data Protection (CDP) and a built-in firewall with the license. Other top brands, such as VxRail and VMware, require a separate license for such features.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this product because of its pricing. It doesn't require a separate license for features such as Continuous Data Protection.
I would rate Sangfor HCI an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Responsabile Sistemi Informativi at a construction company with 51-200 employees
It's cheaper and easier to use than the competing solution
Pros and Cons
- "Sangfor is user-friendly and simple to upgrade."
- "Sangfor could improve its built-in CAP system. Right now, we need to use an external tool for CAP."
What is our primary use case?
We use Sangfor HCI for MES and for ERP systems.
What is most valuable?
Sangfor is user-friendly and simple to upgrade.
What needs improvement?
Sangfor could improve its built-in CAP system. Right now, we need to use an external tool for CAP.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sangfor is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sangfor is scalable. For example, we upgraded from 256 to 512 megabytes of memory.
We have about 50 people, and we're increasing usage at our secondary corporate site.
How are customer service and support?
Sangfor technical support is great. They're available 24/7.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were previously using a VMware solution, but we switched to Sangfor because of usability and pricing.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up Sangfor HCI was straightforward. We had help from a consultant.
What was our ROI?
We haven't calculated ROI, but we'll do that in the coming year. It's hard to make an accurate cost-benefit analysis by comparing to our past usage because the number of machines has increased over the last couple of years. We now have 45 virtual machines.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our initial license covers the first five years.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Sangfor HCI eight out of 10. I have to take a couple of points off because of some minor things, like the CAP system.
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.
Presales Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
User-friendly, easy to set up, and the auto-scaling is helpful
Pros and Cons
- "The interface is very user-friendly."
- "The error reporting needs to be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We are a reseller and Sangfor HCI is one of the products that we have experience with.
Our primary use case is for clustering our SaaS.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is auto-scaling.
The interface is very user-friendly.
What needs improvement?
The error reporting needs to be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sangfor HCI for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have had no issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability has not been a problem with this product.
How are customer service and technical support?
They have good technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex. It is user-friendly and easy to deploy.
Installing the hypervisor takes less than half an hour.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I am pretty satisfied with this product and I recommend it.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: reseller
Junior Solutions Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
A stable and scalable solution with regular updates and competitive pricing
Pros and Cons
- "Sangfor has many solutions, and you can easily manage their machine servers with just one management. They're always striving for greatness, and they continuously update their products. For example, they have now built endpoint security within the firewall. They are continuously improving not only the security but also all other products."
- "It can have more compatibility and new features. I would also like to see better performance. Some of the other HCI solutions already provide the SSD and flash storage and much higher Intel processors. Sangfor HCI can improve on that."
What is our primary use case?
A client is using it to build a high availability system to output many virtual machines, save power, and scale it up without the need to subscribe to a cloud provider like Amazon. It is their own HCI.
What is most valuable?
Sangfor has many solutions, and you can easily manage their machine servers with just one management.
They're always striving for greatness, and they continuously update their products. For example, they have now built endpoint security within the firewall. They are continuously improving not only the security but also all other products.
What needs improvement?
It can have more compatibility and new features. I would also like to see better performance. Some of the other HCI solutions already provide the SSD and flash storage and much higher Intel processors. Sangfor HCI can improve on that.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Our clients did not have any problem with it. It has minimal downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. To scale it more, you just need to add nodes to the management. That's it. We have around 60 users in our company.
How are customer service and technical support?
It is good. I had interacted with them for the POC, and we decided to purchase it very quickly. They were in Hong Kong or Malaysia.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty easy. This is my first job in the IT industry, and I could easily understand how to deploy it. It took just a few hours.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of Sangfor is very competitive.
What other advice do I have?
The biggest lesson that I have learned by using this product is to not judge a product by its price. Sangfor HCI is competitive in terms of price, and it has good features and functionality. I would recommend this solution to others. I am pretty satisfied with Sangfor products, and I want other people to also experience Sangfor.
I would rate Sangfor HCI a nine out of ten. It has great features, but there is always room for improvement. I am looking forward to more features in the future.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: reseller
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Updated: October 2024
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