I'm a reseller. I've been selling VxRail as well as Nutanix for about one to two years. My customers use this solution as a virtualization server for general virtualization and also for VDI. I am currently selling versions 70 and 71.
Solutions Architect at Net Place
A very good and fast platform with good throughput and scalability
Pros and Cons
- "My customers use it for VDI. It has been very usable and very fast to use with VDI. On the VxRail side also, it has been very fast."
- "Its price needs to be improved. It is very expensive. NSX should be licensed together. It will make the network virtualization layer more usable. It would be better if they come together in a bundle, not separately."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
For the main boot systems where all virtual machines are deployed, it has been very effective on the throughput side. We have a much faster deployment of the machines after they are located on the host disk as compared to the storage side.
What is most valuable?
My customers use it for VDI. It has been very usable and very fast to use with VDI. On the VxRail side also, it has been very fast.
What needs improvement?
Its price needs to be improved. It is very expensive.
NSX should be licensed together. It will make the network virtualization layer more usable. It would be better if they come together in a bundle, not separately.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has been very stable. I haven't seen many problems with it, and I do not have any complaints about it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is quite easy to scale. You just need to add more nodes.
Our clients are both medium and large companies. Most of our clients have a virtual environment, and they use VMware as a traditional infrastructure and add VxRail to it. As the company grows, the usage of this solution will also grow.
How are customer service and support?
Their technical support is very good. It is 10 out of 10.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is quite simple and very easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I live in Brazil, and my customers are from Brazil. It is quite an expensive solution. It is more expensive than the traditional environment.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend VxRail because is simple to use and administer. It just saves time in deploying the platform. Most of the teams are already able to use VMs and have experience with that. You just have to improve a little bit of storage knowledge. It is not very much different, and you don't have to learn a whole new platform. It is easy, and you should use it.
I would rate VxRail a nine out of ten. It is a very good platform.
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
Infrastructure Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
A good solution for solving performance problems in the VDI environment
Pros and Cons
- "VxRail performs well in the VDI environment."
- "I wish for the performance environment to be improved."
What is our primary use case?
I don't know which version we are using.
I use VxRail as a VDI solution in my environment.
What is most valuable?
We use the solution to solve our performance problems in the environment. In spite of the great expense, I needed to deploy a good alternate solution for our VDI clients, as there was a need to address the slow pace of the VDI and other deployment issues.
What needs improvement?
I wish for the performance environment to be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using VxRail for approximately one month.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is fine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We may need more nodes next year. At the present time, the solution is fine as we support only 200 users. However, I will need to have these capabilities for approximately 1,500 users, although I cannot specify the exact number.
How are customer service and technical support?
For the moment, the support is okay.
How was the initial setup?
I am not in a position to assess the difficulty or duration of the deployment as this is done with our partner, who sends it to us only after the implementation and deployment are completed.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
We support 200 users.
VxRail performs well in the VDI environment. We feel it to be a good solution.
I rate VxRail as a ten 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.
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Data Centre and HCI Solutions Lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Great performance, easy to scale, fairly stable, and very useful for scale-out upgrades
Pros and Cons
- "There are so many features, but if I have to choose, I would go for scale-out upgrades and performance. Scale-out upgrades are very valuable. Typically, when customers engage in virtualization, they're committing themselves to run many virtual machines on a fewer number of hosts. They'll have five or six hosts, and they will run all their virtualization on vSphere. They could be having anywhere from 50 to 100 or even more virtual machines. Once all these go into production, getting downtime or getting planned maintenance windows is extremely difficult. It is something that typically businesses will frown upon. With VxRail, you can just go ahead and add a node without disrupting the existing environment, which works very well. That's why scale-out upgrades are a key feature. Its performance is also valuable. It delivers a very high number of IOPS for a hybrid configuration or an all-flash configuration. The processors that are available in the Xeon family are very powerful. They are multi-core with typically 2 gigahertz, 2.4 gigahertz, or higher frequency, so the performance is very much appreciated."
- "It would be nice if its installation can be simplified, but it is currently not too bad. They can provide deduplication and compression in hybrid configurations. To the best of my knowledge, these features are not there, and it would be nice if these are added. Some of its competitors already have these features, so it will help VxRail to have a better feature set and compete more effectively."
What is our primary use case?
It is used for server virtualization. Most of my work is around server virtualization. There has been a lot of interest lately in virtual desktop interfaces but not much is happening there. Most of the customers come for server virtualization. They generally have three-tier architecture running VMware vSphere, and they are looking to upgrade their technology for different reasons, such as performance or hardware being the end of life. Our customers are mostly using the new versions of this solution.
What is most valuable?
There are so many features, but if I have to choose, I would go for scale-out upgrades and performance.
Scale-out upgrades are very valuable. Typically, when customers engage in virtualization, they're committing themselves to run many virtual machines on a fewer number of hosts. They'll have five or six hosts, and they will run all their virtualization on vSphere. They could be having anywhere from 50 to 100 or even more virtual machines. Once all these go into production, getting downtime or getting planned maintenance windows is extremely difficult. It is something that typically businesses will frown upon. With VxRail, you can just go ahead and add a node without disrupting the existing environment, which works very well. That's why scale-out upgrades are a key feature.
Its performance is also valuable. It delivers a very high number of IOPS for a hybrid configuration or an all-flash configuration. The processors that are available in the Xeon family are very powerful. They are multi-core with typically 2 gigahertz, 2.4 gigahertz, or higher frequency, so the performance is very much appreciated.
What needs improvement?
It would be nice if its installation can be simplified, but it is currently not too bad.
They can provide deduplication and compression in hybrid configurations. To the best of my knowledge, these features are not there, and it would be nice if these are added. Some of its competitors already have these features, so it will help VxRail to have a better feature set and compete more effectively.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been off and on working with VxRail for more than three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is fairly stable. There are no showstoppers as such.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easy to scale, but typically, it involves adding more nodes. So, there is an investment from the customer side. They have to have the budget for it, and then scalability is not an issue.
We are focused on all segments. Some of our customers start off with something as small as a three-node cluster, and we also have large enterprise customers who start off with 10 or 12 nodes.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't interact with their technical support.
How was the initial setup?
Its installation can be a little complex, but it is not bad. If you plan it well and stay in touch with the customer about requirements, it is not difficult. For an implementation project, it is a standard practice for us to work very closely with the customer. It is definitely not as complicated as deploying a three-tier architecture with SAN storage, SAN switches, and those kinds of things.
In terms of maintenance, it usually requires version upgrades. When a VxRail cluster is already in production and in use, these things are discussed very deeply with the customer, and whether to go for an upgrade or skip it is decided based on the consultation with the customer. It depends on a whole lot of things, and the customer is the key in deciding such things. You have to consider the following:
- What is the business cycle at that point in time?
- What is the workload on the virtual machine?
- Is this the right time to carry out the upgrade?
- Is the upgrade really necessary?
- Is the upgrade going to impact any of their applications?
What other advice do I have?
I would definitely recommend VxRail. If you have a heavy investment in VMware software infrastructure, it is definitely useful.
I would rate VxRail 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: Partner
Senior Consultant at global brands
Perfect, easy to manage, very scalable, and very stable
Pros and Cons
- "The simplicity and manageability of VxRail are most valuable. We have a very good experience with this product. Its stability and scalability are also very good."
- "The most important thing that I want to be included in this solution is the VMware license. Its deployment time can be quicker so that instead of 40 minutes, it takes 10 minutes."
What is our primary use case?
We have deployed it in our lab in our organization for POCs. We have its latest version.
I am responsible for presales and solution architecture for HCI VxRail. It is suitable for any business, such as financial, telecom, education, etc.
What is most valuable?
The simplicity and manageability of VxRail are most valuable. We have a very good experience with this product. Its stability and scalability are also very good.
What needs improvement?
The most important thing that I want to be included in this solution is the VMware license.
Its deployment time can be quicker so that instead of 40 minutes, it takes 10 minutes.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VxRail for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is the most stable solution I have come across.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have scaled it many times, and its scalability is very good. You can scale out and scale up as much as you need, which is a great thing.
It is suitable for small, medium, and large businesses. We have almost 500 users.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have contacted them many times. The best thing about their support is that there is single support for software, hardware, and networking.
How was the initial setup?
It is very straightforward, but it would be great if it can be done in 10 minutes rather than 40 minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It has a yearly subscription. It can be for one year, three years, or five years.
What other advice do I have?
I would 100% recommend this solution to others. I am very happy with this product.
I would rate VxRail a 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
Information Technology Solutions Architect at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Great for modernizing a data centre but simulator access is limited to premium customers only
Pros and Cons
- "For me, the most valuable feature is in relation to the software updates."
- "There could be better documentation and they should allow everyone to access the simulator."
What is our primary use case?
Our company is global. We have a wide range of customers and clients in many countries. Our customers who use VxRail are typically big companies.
Some of our customers are in the banking sector and use VxRail because they're concerned about using automated software for updates, upgrades, etc. VxRail is for a specific category, mostly for banking, oil, and gas — a few others sectors as well.
What is most valuable?
For me, the most valuable feature is in relation to the software updates. Updated software is very critical as I cannot risk making a mistake. To avoid this, VxRail provides me with pre-tested updates that can be implemented with little interruption. Since we are talking about banking, oil, and gas, there's no need for automating virtual machine creation.
What needs improvement?
Currently, I don't see much room for improvement; however, there could be better documentation and they should allow everyone to access the simulator. If Dell could provide access to a simulator or a demo for regular users, it would make things much easier.
In order to gain access, you need to be a golden partner — normal users can't do it. It would be more beneficial to everyone if they could access the simulator and run some trial and error experiments before operating the real product. Many other companies (like Cisco) allow all of their users to do this. You can simply download the materials from the internet, including the simulator.
In regard to VxRail or Dell products in general, you cannot do this because it's very limited to specific partners — typical end users don't have access. It would be great if it was more available to all partners, not just their top-tier partners. There would be less resistance from potential customers because they wouldn't be afraid of daily operations, support, etc.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been dealing with VxRail for roughly two to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VxRail is very stable. We haven't experienced any issues, stability-wise.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
As VxRail is constantly updating, it makes it really easy to scale-out and scale-up.
How are customer service and technical support?
We are experiencing some issues with Dell's live-chat support as the support is different based on the support included with the hardware. If you're on a basic plan, there will be some challenges. We're hearing this from our customers in Gulf countries, third-world countries, and even second-world countries. They also face some challenges due to international time zones. There should be online support everywhere, not limited to specific geographical locations, it's limiting. Other companies are not doing this. If you compare Dell with HP, that's not the case. With HP, whenever you have a problem, despite the hardware, you get premium support. With Dell, communicating with support can be a challenge.
How was the initial setup?
The complexity of the initial setup depends on your infrastructure as you need to integrate some existing components. It's not only about the VxRail components, but integration with the existing network and firewall. It's case-by-case. Sometimes it's very easy, sometimes it's not.
What about the implementation team?
We do not deploy this solution for our customers. We step in once it's been deployed. We handle end-to-end operations like security, computing, and networking — the whole portfolio.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
VxRail is not cheap, but it's not expensive either. Mainly it's for big enterprise customers. VxRail has its own or target customers and they know the value of this product; however, the hyper-converged solution is not for everyone. The good news is there are no hidden costs.
What other advice do I have?
I would absolutely recommend VxRail. From my previous experience, and because I work with a wide range of technical engineers, compared to other products, this solution offers a solid hardware performance. Generally, we look for value combined with price. If you're able to find a better solution, it will also come at a higher cost. Considering the range of prices overall, Dell is the best — my first choice. You can go for a premium version, but there will be an additional cost. For example, you can go for NetApp, which is better hardware, but the price is higher.
Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give VxRail a rating of six.
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
Sales Manager at LTA-RH Informatica
Stable with good software-defined storage and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
- "The stability continues to get better and better. It's pretty reliable."
- "The solution should offer more integration with other virtual software. VxRail runs just with VMware, however, maybe it should integrate with Hyper-V or with KVM as well."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution as a platform for all of the virtual platforms using VMware. We change the traditional infrastructure and don't sell any servers anymore. We're now selling appliances and VxRail and change the traditional platform to the hyper-converged platform.
How has it helped my organization?
Our customers have found that there is better performance across all of the virtual platforms and the routings. Routing and running are now faster.
What is most valuable?
The software-defined storage and software-defined network are great. We can easily change to VMware on Amazon, or on Azure or on private Cloud running Vx. It's very flexible.
What needs improvement?
The performance of data centers needs to be improved. They need to process more and deliver more in the space of the storage and offer better performance.
The solution should offer more integration with other virtual software. VxRail runs just with VMware.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been dealing with the solution for three or four years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability continues to get better and better. It's pretty reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
You are able to scale up to 64 nodes at a maximum. It does scale to that size. I don't know of any client that would need 64. We have a few clients that have an installation of 16 to 24 nodes and that's rather sizable. Chances are you wouldn't have to scale quite as large as 64. Therefore, it would be a rare instance in which it wouldn't scale enough for a company.
All of our clients are quite large and government-related.
How are customer service and technical support?
We've never had to reach out to technical support, not have our clients. We have an SLA, however, we really don't have many requests as the solution works very well.
How was the initial setup?
The solution does not have a complex setup. It's very simple and very straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
I've personally helped my clients with the initial setup. While I don't have all of the technical skills, I have a team that's very well versed in the product.
What other advice do I have?
We're a reseller. We sell the solution to our clients.
I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using. It might be the latest, which is the most likely.
We launch the solution on-premises in order to launch a private cloud.
Overall, I would rate the solution 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: Reseller
Scalable with great performance-inspired management tools and good stability
Pros and Cons
- "VxRail has given us a lot of tools in a one-stop-shop environment."
- "In the next release, maybe they could add in integration with the hyper-cloud so it will be easier to do the movement up and back to the cloud in order to scale in and scale out."
What is our primary use case?
For small companies that want to have several nodes and a lot of computing with a small amount of storage for databases and SQLs, this solution works well. They can use it to replicate the data.
What is most valuable?
The solution's most valuable aspect is a combination of a few things. It's fairly scalable, for example. It has a lot of performance-inspired management tools. They are very important to us to be able to manage and monitor the entire solution. VxRail has given us a lot of tools in a one-stop-shop environment.
The solution has been very stable so far.
The initial setup is very easy.
Technical support is great.
What needs improvement?
In the next release, maybe they could add in integration with the hyper-cloud so it will be easier to do the movement up and back to the cloud in order to scale in and scale out.
If I could have some kind of a container-based solution, I'd be happier. That way I would be able to run my containers, my Kubernetes, in that environment.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for about two years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable and the performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It's reliable. It doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product can scale very well. It's a notable aspect of the solution itself. If the company needs to expand, it can do so.
More than 200 customers are running on that solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
I've dealt with technical support. I'd give them a ten out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I also have experience with Nutanix. I know all of these kinds of hyper-converged systems.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was not overly complex. It was very easy. I used a certified partner to do the installation.
It took less than a week and the system was up and running.
How much of a technical team is needed for deployment depends on the customer. That said if the team is about seven people they can run everything including security and the regulation and whatever we need to run the solution. In our case, there were seven engineers. One of them is the manager, and they all handled everything including networking, the system, and the protection.
What about the implementation team?
We ended up using a certified partner that helped us with the installation. While we used an integrator the first time, we can do it by ourselves now.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We need to buy our license to renew it after a five-year period. The license is for five years.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did a POC with Nutanix and with SimpliVity. We wanted to see how well they would suit our organizational requirements and only did small tests.
What other advice do I have?
We're customers and end-users.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. We've been happy with its capabilities.
I would recommend the solution to other users and organizations.
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.
Sn. Eng Infrastructure Solution at UBG
Recent implementation of technologies and management features have made a big difference
Pros and Cons
- "The recent technologies and management features that have been implemented."
- "Pricing could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Most of our customers are Microsoft customers, so they are all seeking their own application servers on top of VMware. I'm a senior engineer infrastructure solutions and we are partners with VxRail.
What is most valuable?
The support is very good from the dataset. The recent technologies and management features that have been implemented, especially the application part, are good features.
What needs improvement?
The pricing of the solution could be improved. We are reliant on the distributor. I'm a technical person but I know from speaking to customers that they feel it's a bit costly compared to the generic product.There are also some major components of the product not available for download. Even though we are partners, we don't get them. They provide backup features but it comes at an additional cost. It would be helpful if they would include something like the standard backup procedure, backup features like the application manager.
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?
This solution is quite stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
I did some online training before setup, implementation probably took a few months.
What other advice do I have?
Given the overall product, I would rate this solution a nine out of 10.
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
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