VxRail Reviews

The cover points feature in VxRail is remarkable. It's unique. It has an intervention failover system as well as an automatic failover system, reaching clusters existing in VxRail. This makes all files act as a single file with a large and huge resource, and, of course, with customized administration, configuration, and resources. It provides automatic failover for redundancy and data recovery.

If they can provide deduplication compression through the traditional hard drives, as Cisco does in the HyperFlex system, it will be very cost-effective, especially when it comes to archiving workload. 

VxRail doesn't allow the mixing of old flash clusters and hyper clusters. When I'm starting with an old flash cluster and it comes to archiving workload, I will also need to attend the new cluster. So, I either manage two different clusters, or I pay and upload my work with the archiving mobile hard drive, which is not cost-effective at all. The main key is to allow mixing between two types of clustering, like Nutanix, or allow deduplication of completion over the period of shared hard drive on SAV. It will be much better.

I have been using this solution for four to five years. I have used three generations of Dell servers. 

It is very stable and durable. It only depends on vSAN, which is the number one software that defines storage. 

Currently, more than 500 users are using VxRail in our company. It's capable of delivering for all types of workloads. Technically, it depends on the hyper-converged instructions. This means that you have 100% assurance of its compatibility with all of its components. It should also carry all types of workload dispersing, that is, from the normal traditional virtual machines to high-performance computing, such as HEP workload, heavy database, artificial intelligence, and business analytics.

They provide good support. You can reach them, especially if your system is at ESRS, EMC functional support. You can just chat with one of their technicians. They collect the logs and discover the issue. It takes almost a couple of hours from opening the ticket to resolve it. They are very good.

The hardware replacement takes 24 hours. They have their own stock here in Egypt.

It is easy to install and implement the VxRail clusters. The initial setup was a piece of cake for us. 

We manage the storage, compute, and virtual machines as well as networking through the perfect channel. 

We do all kinds of deployments. We check whether the customer wants to deploy it on-premises, cloud, or integrate with the public cloud to tier and replicate.

VxRail is very cost-effective and affordable in the long term. It is more recommended when it comes to financial life, but it may depend upon the license. VxRail comes with VMware licensing, which may not be that cost-effective as compared to others. With VMware, it's an auto check competition. VMware is an expensive solution, especially for Nutanix. Nutanix have their own hypervisor called Acronis, which is very cost-effective against the VMware.

Nutanix is cheaper for the hardware but not for the software. If you ask the Nutanix partners to deploy Nutanix over Cisco servers or Dell EMC servers, the cost will be higher. Nutanix wants to compete financially. Therefore, they propose their software over the Supermicro server, which is a very cheap Chinese server. In fact, I don't like their terms of service.

HyperFlex has the highest price, and it is very expensive. I don't know why. It may be because this is a UCS system, which comes from Cisco and is already expensive. When it comes to HyperFlex, they need the labor to deploy Hyper-V, Citrix, or any other hypervisor.

I also deal with HyperFlex and Nutanix. In fact, I prefer VxRail. 

When comparing with HyperFlex, VxRail is much alike HyperFlex. It is very cost-effective, and it doesn't have too many conditions like HyperFlex. When you start with building clusters in HyperFlex, you stick to the selected nodes forever. It is not the same in VxRail. You start with pNode in VxRail, and then you add eNode, sNode, etc.  

HyperFlex has its own limitations. They say we can create up to 64 nodes, but, in fact, there are only 52 storage and 52 nodes compute with no mixing between two workloads. On the other hand, in VxRail, you can really create up to 64 nodes, which means the double amount of nodes to carry more servers, more computing in the clusters. 

There are too many concerns about HyperFlex, especially related to performance. HyperFlex source the deduplication compression. You don't have the option to enable or disable the deduplication compression, which means that deduplication ends the performance. In VxRail, you can enable or disable the deduplication compression. So, you can gain a net performance against the storage, and you can move the storage against the performance. You can balance the full configuration. 

When it comes to the software, Nutanix is great. The main concern is that Nutanix doesn't have its own hardware, and it is integrated with different types of servers to deploy its own system. Nutanix just has a contract with Noble, Supermicro, or HP to develop its own system, which is okay for some types of users. However, many types of users request and prefer the full software or hardware that comes from a single vendor so that they can achieve the maximum and ultimate support.

I would rate VxRail an eight out of ten. They should allow the deduplication compression over the hard drives and mixing of the hyper and the old flash clusters.

In medium-sized installations, many of our customers require a reasonably-priced solution to replace legacy computer storage. Those are the customers who we are suggesting using the  VxRail solution to. If the customer is building a data center using VMware, we are recommending VxRail because of the VMware compatibility.  

Medium set-ups can be used in a large enterprise but only when they need this solution as a smaller part of their environment. It works well for small setups or medium setups, or for new application setups.  

Most of the products of this type have features that are almost the same. We are using VxRail especially because we would like to have products that are compatible with VMware and Dell to support our prospective client base.  

The configuration of HCI (Hyper-Convergence Infrastructure) solutions is very easy compared to the legacy solutions. Legacy systems run the computer and the storage separately and use switches to get the connectivity. That is much more complicated. It is completely the opposite when using generic HCI technology. The implementation is very simple and so is the operation.  

The only thing about the HCI solution is that troubleshooting is a little bit difficult because it is still a new technology. Other than this it is simpler than the traditional technology. HCI is nice and it makes sense. I think there is a need to improve the solution because it is difficult to troubleshoot. But compared to legacy solutions, you are troubleshooting one that is a little bit difficult instead of troubleshooting two different products that might each be a little easier. In the end, the difference as far as troubleshooting is not much but the advantages are still there on the HCI side and technology upgrade.  

The other thing I would like to see improved is not really a feature. It is about scalability. It would be good to increase the limit of the number of nodes within the clusters.  

I had experience before 2018, but I have been using it for this past year.  

Even compared to Cisco, I think VxRail is a very stable solution. It is in the same class as Cisco.  

VxRail is easy to scale, but the number of nodes is limited. This is not the same with other solutions like Nutanix. VxRail has a limit for a certain number of nodes within the cluster and if you need more than that then you have to create another cluster. It is an issue but at the same time, it is not an issue. It is kind of just a configuration difference.  

I do not have any direct contact with technical support because I am not doing the product delivery. If the technicians have some issues, they have to make the contact. I have not heard anything bad or good about the support. That suggests it is good.  

The initial setup was simple. The amount of time it takes depends on the number of nodes you have.  

It does require some maintenance over time. For maintenance, you have to request that through your supplier or even through the implementation team. It will be totally different depending on the kind of activity and the issue, but it should not be disruptive for the most part. The only exception is in critical applications. These may be critical but it is simple to restore the network connectivity or storage availability.  

My advice about cost and setup is that it is just as cheap to have the HCI solution as to stay with legacy solutions. If you convert the value of HCI versus the traditional, legacy solution you gain more than you spend. It comes out to an even trade as far as budget.  

Compared to other HCI products, VxRail has advantages in stability and support from the vendors. If you bought Cisco, for example, you have to open an account with Cisco for the hardware and open an account with VMware for the software separately. With VxRail this is not what happens. You opened the account with them and they will manage all the communication and the services. That ends up being more stable. Getting your support from one company is better than having to get support from different companies when dealing with an issue shared between products and trying to sort that out.  

I recommend VxRail as a solution especially for those using legacy services. We often recommend VxRail over other competitors. The only exception really is if the customer does not want Dell computing resources. For example, the client may have another vendor they tend to use. So if everything they have is HP they may like to have an HP solution. If they are using Cisco, they may want a Cisco solution. Those are the only times that we will not go with suggesting VXRail.  

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate the VXRail solution as an eight-out-of-ten.  

We primarily deploy the solution to medium-sized businesses from different markets, from automotive to sales to medical, etc.

The installation was really easy to perform. 

The most valuable aspect on VxRail is the one-click update where they are doing the updates all at once for the drivers, buyers, ID reg, and for the VMS. In one click it's running. It's great.

The performance is very good.

The update process is very convenient.

The price should come down a little bit. It has become better than it was at the beginning. There was a really big price difference between a hyper-converged infrastructure and the classic servers and storage. The gap is lessening, however, it's still there.

I first saw VxRail in 2016 when I was at EMC World in Las Vegas. I found it was a very, very interesting solution then, however, we didn't make our first installation until 2018.

The scalability is great. You can scale within the system easily. You just put in more disks and more memory. Even if you stop with one CPU, you can add a second one or you can go and just add another when customers come and say, "Okay we need more." We just buy another node and put it in. Within, let's say, 20 minutes, the node is within the cluster. It's quick and easy.

For us, we used to earn our money with installing and updating, etc., however, the customer's doing it all by himself now, even if he gets a new server or cluster, it's one each click.

Since we do not use the VxRail internally and we are just sending it to our customers, we have a technical team of about 10 people that are working in the service. Within this, there are three people who are working with VxRail.

How useful technical support really is in terms of solving the issue at hand depends on who you get. It's not only at Dell EMC. It's at Fujitsu, it's at HP, at Lenovo. It depends on which person you get on the other line of the phone. Sometimes it's great and there's no problem. Within a few minutes, the problem is solved. Sometimes you have to wait for the second or the third person that you get to be able to know what the problem is and be able to help you solve it.

I'd recommend the solution.

The big advantage of the VxRail is the one-click update. If you are using, let's say HP or Fujitsu, and use the standard VSAM cluster, then you have to update the virtual center, you have to update the host, you have to update the VSAM, you have to update drivers, etc. 

You also have to consider the HCL, whether the driver fits to that new VM version. For example, let's say from the customer side when they are working with the solution, there's no big difference whether the user is working with VxRail or the VSAM cluster. However, when you look at it from a maintenance and updating perspective, the VxRail really offers a superior system.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. The product is almost perfect. It really does fit the needs of our customers.

We have our internal servers allocated to the solution.

The tool's price is competitive and it is easy to use.

The tool needs to improve its price.

I have been using the solution for two years.

The tool is scalable and I would rate it a nine out of ten.

We used VMware before. We switched to the solution because we needed a system with more performance and scalability.

I would rate the tool's setup an eight out of ten. The tool's deployment got completed in a few hours.

I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. The tool fulfills our needs.

Our customers who have the old infrastructure and are looking for high-performance and modern infrastructure, use VxRail. 

VxRail has improved our organization by providing our admin team with an easy-to-use interface. 

The upgrade packages require a lot of bandwidth. This could be reduced for an improved experience.

I have been using this solution for four years. 

This is a stable solution. 

The technical support for this solution is great. I would rate it a ten out of ten. 

Positive

We used a different open-source product but it was not easy to manage which is why we switched.

The initial setup is straightforward. The time it takes to set up depends on the size of the cluster. For a mid-size cluster of 12 nodes, it usually takes one to two days.

We have seen a return on the investment due to how easy this solution is to use and the time it frees up for our staff. 

Its pricing is reasonable compared to other products.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

We typically deploy this VxRail on-premise. However, we do have some cloud customers.

VxRail could improve by having domain data protection.

I have been using VxRail for approximately five years.

The stability of VxRail is good, we have not had any issues.

VxRail's scalability is a bit of a challenge.

The technical support of VxRail is good.

The initial setup is straightforward.

If you are deploying VxRail from the external vCenter, then it is fine. However, if you're using the version of vCenter which has been supplied through the VxRail, then there are some challenges.

My advice to others is to update the VxRail because they release patches and updates frequently.

I rate VxRail a seven out of ten.

We are using VxRail for our internal applications and databases.

I have been using VxRail for approximately three years.

I have found VxRail software can scale very well.

We have approximately 100 users using this solution. We are planning to increase our usage.

The implementation was quick, we used a checklist and it took approximately one hour.

We used an integrator team for the implementation of the solution. The one person who takes care of the maintenance of VxRail, such as upgrading the software. The upgrading takes too long. We have many nodes which takes a long time, they need to improve the speed of the upgrades

We pay for annual support from VxRail.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate VxRail a seven out of ten.

We use this solution to ensure our hardware is supported. 

This is a good solution if you want to deploy an ACI Environment but don't have all the necessary resources.

VxRail is an expensive solution. It could be improved by having more information on the integration portion of ACI. 

This is a stable solution. We have migrated our old systems on the new ACI station and have experienced no issues. 

This is a scalable solution but this comes at a cost. 

The initial setup was quick and involved medium complexity. It requires help from the vendor to scale. 

We received technical support from Dell as part of the deployment implementation plan and contract.

I would recommend adjusting pricing of this solution to suit your infrastructure.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

VxRail is a comfortable solution for VMware users. You have one pane of glass from vCenter. They have a convenient update, it's just one click like Nutanix.

VxRail comes with vSAN making it an easy solution. You don't need to think about the compatibility of components.

The fact that is based on vSAN is the main issue of this solution.

I have been working with VxRail for one year.

VxRail is not perfect, there are bugs in the plugins.

VxRail has no concerns with scalability.

VxRail support is okay, it is not better than Nutanix.

The initial setup of VxRail is more complicated than Nutanix. If you have prepared the network for implementation you will not have any problems. You need to organize and prepare the network well.

For someone that does not want to think too much about the compatibility of components and VMware, VxRail is better than pure vSAN.

Make sure you have a good network specialist, specifically in VMware, on your team.

We are a customer of VxRail with 200 users. We use the solution for production workloads for the company workflow.

We have Dell enterprise licensing and use all the features. VxRail is a complete solution that includes performance, backups, and disaster recover.

VxRail should try to improve the pricing.

We have been using VxRail for 12 months.

Stability is good.

VxRail is vSAN, so we only need to buy a node when we need to scale, which is not a problem.

Technical support is good.

The initial setup is straightforward. Installation took approximately 2 days, but migration from the old UCS to the new infrastructure took time.

We have ten people on our in-house technical team including networking, security, and data center engineers who do storage and servers.

VxRail is doing the job we require, we are not making money from it.

VxRail is an expensive solution as we have the enterprise license that is billed annually. It has everything we need but it would be nice if they could do something about the pricing.

If you have done the research about VxRail and know what you are looking for then I recommend using it.

I rate this solution a 10 out of 10.