What is most valuable?
With the VM Visualization feature, it gives us extremely fast troubleshooting when we have a performance issue with any of our VMs.
How has it helped my organization?
The performance of the array is superb, but for us it's the time saving we get - the IT staff don't need any special SAN training to fully operate the Tintri unit, and it saves huge amounts of time when provisioning systems.
What needs improvement?
It needs a Hyper-V toolset and OpenStack Horizon support. Most of the features are in line with the competition, but they could provide automation to move VMs between hypervisors.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used it for 3+ years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
No, everything was extremely simple. We had the unit racked and powered on in 15 minutes, and it took only 10 minutes to set the device up.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We've had no issues with stability, even when upgrading. The VAAI plugin is a little tedious to install on the ESX hosts, but it's not needed for every function.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scaling is very easy to do, as they effectively are standalone units. You can get a Global Center OVA which monitors and manages up to 32 devices at once. We have this in-house and use it frequently.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
9/10. They have always been prompt at getting back to us, follow-up service has never been pushy by pressuring us to buy more, and we can highly recommend them.
Technical Support:
9/10. The support site is a great resource. The techies in the UK really know their stuff, and the upgrades have always worked flawlessly (save one issue, which they released a fix for almost immediately!).
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used HDS, but its cost and technical skill level of implementation was too high for our IT staff. Also, the introduction of fiber channel meant a big change to our infrastructure. Tintri was simple, and plugged into our environment with minimal changes.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was incredibly simple. The whole system was installed and running in less than an hour. It took longer to rack and plug the cables in than to configure the software! We have VMware mainly, and adding it was a cinch.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented it with our in-house team with very little training required. As long as you know VMware, it's really easy to put in. Mounting the device as a NAS also takes a lot of the pain points away.
What was our ROI?
Our ROI is in the time saved on our troubleshooting. Also, management hours have been massively reduced as monitoring and maintaining the Tintri have almost gone down to zero!
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Only go for the Tintri Global Center if you intend to buy more than two VM stores, but other than that, it was straightforward, and even the SKUs are simple to understand.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, HDS, Huawei, and HP. We looked at a lot of different vendors beforehand, but Tintri just fit our needs nicely, and I cannot fault the performance.
What other advice do I have?
We love our Tintri's here, so much so, we have 3! I would highly recommend them to anyone. We are mainly VMWare, but the multi hypervisor support means that it can fit almost any environment.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We're partners.
