Head of Business at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
MSP
Top 5
2024-10-24T06:35:00Z
Oct 24, 2024
An alternative to VMware could be a significant improvement, especially since VMware licensing has become stringent. Creating an integrated solution could make HPE BladeSystem more appealing.
In terms of improvements, I'd suggest enhancing the stability of the HPE BladeSystem, especially regarding network connectivity. We once had an issue where a system didn’t communicate with the network, and it took a while to diagnose the problem. Eventually, we discovered it was a motherboard issue, but we initially thought it was the network card. Improving the onboard administratordashboard to provide more granular insights, like clearly identifying faultycomponents, would make troubleshooting much more efficient. Aside from that, the system is superb and has been reliable.
The learning material available to understand the functionality of GreenLake is limited. They should provide open learning materials and seminars for detailed knowledge of the product.
HPE BladeSystem that we are using is currently very old. It's not too good. We haven't renewed it. I would like the solution to have more updates. The stability can be improved. I have been using HPE technology since 2008. I don't know what the new technologies look like. In short, I would like to improve the stability, support, and pricing of the solution.
The latest version of this system is called Synergy from HPE, and it comes with more advanced features. This is currently the most advanced solution available in the market. One of its key features is its energy efficiency, which optimizes energy usage.
HPE BladeSystem could improve the communication between the server and the storage. It's very difficult to have a representative give training. It would be helpful to provide some training. In the next release of the solution, it would be a benefit to have hypervisor capabilities on the system. If we could have a backup and a hypervisor built-in with all the capabilities for HPE BladeSystem it would be helpful.
If you've never used the solution before, the initial setup can be complex. The pricing is high. If you compare it with Lenovo systems, the pricing is too high. At this point in time, we are looking for some servers and when we have compared the prices we found Lenovo is the lowest option, even though they have about the same level of services. We'd like them to be more scalable. I'd like to be able to implement a single test system.
Sometimes there will be a delay and it will take some time to restart the server. The servers are a little bit huge, so it would be great if they could renew the size. Still, the Dell servers are comparatively large, but handling these servers, even just moving them or mounting them in the rack, is a huge challenge for us. If it is possible to reduce the size, that would be great.
I am not sure if iLO is included or if there is a separate license. If it is not included, it should be included in the license. It is such a valuable feature especially because people are working remotely.
Manager of Capacity and Control Management at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2022-07-21T15:24:17Z
Jul 21, 2022
One thing that is already being fixed in the new solution is how you connect with the console of tech management of this Blade or other enclosures. Right now, usually, you have to connect one by one, and it's a little tedious. And besides, the better option or best option they have to improve is to consolidate the way you connect to this platform. Right now, for example, if the new solution (Synergy) has a way to connect to everything and is a one-view console, it would be ideal. It could always use new tools.
The connectivity speed could be improved. It's the major thing everyone looks for. When you upgrade your system, you want connectivity at the highest speed possible.
I'd like to see an all-in-one packet in the future. Some solutions don't come with storage. During deployment, they're providing different places for the .EXE files and whatever it is downloading. It would sometimes mess up. This could be adjusted so that it's easier to deploy without issue.
Information Technology Administrator at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
2022-02-04T14:51:06Z
Feb 4, 2022
The other similar solutions used different CLI commands than HPE BladeSystem. The HPE BladeSystem CLI commands should be the same as the other companies which would make it easier to manage. It would be better for the system administrators to manage HPE BladeSystem and other systems together. I wanted to configure this service with the CLI but the commands are different than the other solutions making it a bit more difficult.
Senior Supervisor of Virtualisation & DevOps at a tech consulting company with 201-500 employees
Real User
2022-01-04T21:47:27Z
Jan 4, 2022
BladeSystem is an old-fashioned server and not very well developed for new features and new areas of data centers, which is not very good for enterprise companies. In the next release, I would like to see an improvement in the UI.
VMware Software Engineer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2021-10-11T14:03:48Z
Oct 11, 2021
These particular blades are no longer being produced. If they produced more or offered support for them I would be interested in getting more. It would be ideal if they had been offered at a lower price point. If they bring them back, I'd buy them at a lower price point. The support you get is dependant on the region. Some regions are better than others.
Director of Technology Services at a educational organization with 201-500 employees
Real User
2021-09-09T20:55:30Z
Sep 9, 2021
I would like to see the upgrade path a little bit smoother. We can't pull the servers from the current Blade, over to the NonStop system because of the different connectors. I feel that it is a waste of money. I invested in it and I can't port it over. The back of the blade system from their older generations will not connect to the new chassis. You will need buy new servers to the NonStop chassis.
We sometimes have compatibility issues depending on the browser that you are using. For example, sometimes you have to switch between Edge, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, or Chrome to have things operating correctly. We have a few Blades from previous generations that cannot have the updated firmware upload to them unless you have a maintenance contract with HP. This is a frustrating problem we have experienced with the support.
Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2021-04-26T17:39:32Z
Apr 26, 2021
It's an old-fashioned technology now. I'm not sure precisely what should be improved. I can't recall any missing features. If the hardware offered higher efficiency, that would be an ideal situation for our company.
We had a few hard drives that crashed, and we couldn't find them locally. We've tried internationally, but we are still struggling to get its spare parts. This is the main challenge that we have faced with this solution. Fortunately, the other drives are still working. There should be easy availability of spare parts. I should be able to request a quotation online from HPE for things that I am not able to get locally. Currently, I can order online, but when I type the serial number, most of the time, it is rejected. I don't know why it is happening. It could be because the company that sold us the system didn't buy it through the normal HPE channel. HPE should assist us as users to get the spare parts. Its security needs to be beefed up. I would like some security features. It was also challenging for us to set it up because we didn't get enough training from them.
Information Technology System Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Reseller
2021-03-14T14:09:36Z
Mar 14, 2021
The management side of this solution could be improved. In our case, it's managed via OneView — it's an appliance. It could be better, its interface doesn't feel 100% intuitive.
Executive Director at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
2021-03-03T21:28:18Z
Mar 3, 2021
For me, the product is okay, but I would probably suggest improvement in their services or technical support. They need to work harder in the preventative maintenance of the system. They need to improve in terms of how quickly can we get attention and how quickly problems are resolved. Its price could also be lower.
Manager of Capacity and Control Management at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2020-11-07T04:37:18Z
Nov 7, 2020
They are not selling BladeSystem anymore. The end of the sale of this platform was this year, 2020. Right now, if you try to buy a BladeSystem, you have to buy Synergy. I did try to buy some BladeSystem Generation 10 solutions in the USA. HP told me that they can sell this for the regular channel of HP still. Right now, the Synergy platform has a management console that has a lot of options or features that help the administration of the platform. IN addition to that, this console cooling could integrate with the monitoring platform, so we could monitor integrity. That said, this solution is discontinued, so any new features would only be useful on Synergy.
The response time in terms of getting technical support assistance could be improved. It's a bit expensive. They should work on bringing down the pricing if they can.
Corporate IT Infrastructure Manager at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
2020-09-27T04:09:55Z
Sep 27, 2020
- Ability to connect storage bay to all servers inside the enclosure not only Adjacent server. - simplified High Availability Configuration to connect the enclosure to different external switches.
Line Technical Agent at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2020-09-13T07:02:26Z
Sep 13, 2020
What we want to improve would be to add more management capability for BladeSystem to be integrated with a cloud platform in a hybrid model. Another point to improve. There are sometimes problems with laptops having issues in connecting with virtual connections to the database. The virtual connections can be improved.
The only side that must be improved is the active-passive interconnect module architecture. This blocks interconnects so that they can be upgraded simultaneously.
Infrastructure Architecture & Planning Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2018-11-22T10:29:00Z
Nov 22, 2018
HPE has a new solution it's called Synergy. I believe it's the new generation of solutions. It has capability of sharing the storage. It has open blade servers within the same enclosure.
VMware Software Engineer at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
2018-08-01T07:08:00Z
Aug 1, 2018
HPE has told us that the c7000 will no longer be part of its portfolio, so I don't think so they will provide any new features. But if I had to say something it would be some features from the Synergy. They could go to a converged system with the c7000, so everything would be automatic in the system.
IT Network And Infrastructure Engineer at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Real User
2016-11-09T08:31:00Z
Nov 9, 2016
This product needs a wider range of firmware compatibility matrix from the oldest to the newest blade server. Because the blade chassis (C7000) has a 16 blade servers bay (slot), it will be better if we can mix the first generation (G1 Blade server) with the latest Gen (G9 Blade server). E.g.: G1 only can be mixed in same chassis with G8 (max), if we have a new G9 blade server, we need to eliminate the old blade server, or if you don’t want to get rid of the old server you should buy another chassis. The new chassis is so expensive. So, it will be easier for scalability purposes, and a greater value for a company with a limited budget, if HPE Blade System has a wider compatibility matrix range.
HP ProLiant BladeSystem share power, cooling, network, and storage infrastructure via the blade enclosure. Since equipment is not needed for each server, you get a dramatic reduction in power distribution units, power cables, LAN and SAN switches, connectors, adapters, and cables. And you can add the newest-generation technologies by simply changing individual components.
An alternative to VMware could be a significant improvement, especially since VMware licensing has become stringent. Creating an integrated solution could make HPE BladeSystem more appealing.
In terms of improvements, I'd suggest enhancing the stability of the HPE BladeSystem, especially regarding network connectivity. We once had an issue where a system didn’t communicate with the network, and it took a while to diagnose the problem. Eventually, we discovered it was a motherboard issue, but we initially thought it was the network card. Improving the onboard administratordashboard to provide more granular insights, like clearly identifying faultycomponents, would make troubleshooting much more efficient. Aside from that, the system is superb and has been reliable.
The integration and price of HPE BladeSystem could be improved.
The tool must provide integration with the cloud.
The learning material available to understand the functionality of GreenLake is limited. They should provide open learning materials and seminars for detailed knowledge of the product.
HPE BladeSystem that we are using is currently very old. It's not too good. We haven't renewed it. I would like the solution to have more updates. The stability can be improved. I have been using HPE technology since 2008. I don't know what the new technologies look like. In short, I would like to improve the stability, support, and pricing of the solution.
The price of the solution has room for improvement.
The latest version of this system is called Synergy from HPE, and it comes with more advanced features. This is currently the most advanced solution available in the market. One of its key features is its energy efficiency, which optimizes energy usage.
HPE BladeSystem could improve the communication between the server and the storage. It's very difficult to have a representative give training. It would be helpful to provide some training. In the next release of the solution, it would be a benefit to have hypervisor capabilities on the system. If we could have a backup and a hypervisor built-in with all the capabilities for HPE BladeSystem it would be helpful.
If you've never used the solution before, the initial setup can be complex. The pricing is high. If you compare it with Lenovo systems, the pricing is too high. At this point in time, we are looking for some servers and when we have compared the prices we found Lenovo is the lowest option, even though they have about the same level of services. We'd like them to be more scalable. I'd like to be able to implement a single test system.
Sometimes there will be a delay and it will take some time to restart the server. The servers are a little bit huge, so it would be great if they could renew the size. Still, the Dell servers are comparatively large, but handling these servers, even just moving them or mounting them in the rack, is a huge challenge for us. If it is possible to reduce the size, that would be great.
There is always room for improvement everywhere with the HPE BladeSystem.
I am not sure if iLO is included or if there is a separate license. If it is not included, it should be included in the license. It is such a valuable feature especially because people are working remotely.
One thing that is already being fixed in the new solution is how you connect with the console of tech management of this Blade or other enclosures. Right now, usually, you have to connect one by one, and it's a little tedious. And besides, the better option or best option they have to improve is to consolidate the way you connect to this platform. Right now, for example, if the new solution (Synergy) has a way to connect to everything and is a one-view console, it would be ideal. It could always use new tools.
The connectivity speed could be improved. It's the major thing everyone looks for. When you upgrade your system, you want connectivity at the highest speed possible.
HPE BladeSystem can improve by providing the latest generation processor engine, such as the I-Flex processor.
HPE BladeSystem can improve proactive monitoring.
I'd like to see an all-in-one packet in the future. Some solutions don't come with storage. During deployment, they're providing different places for the .EXE files and whatever it is downloading. It would sometimes mess up. This could be adjusted so that it's easier to deploy without issue.
The other similar solutions used different CLI commands than HPE BladeSystem. The HPE BladeSystem CLI commands should be the same as the other companies which would make it easier to manage. It would be better for the system administrators to manage HPE BladeSystem and other systems together. I wanted to configure this service with the CLI but the commands are different than the other solutions making it a bit more difficult.
BladeSystem is an old-fashioned server and not very well developed for new features and new areas of data centers, which is not very good for enterprise companies. In the next release, I would like to see an improvement in the UI.
These particular blades are no longer being produced. If they produced more or offered support for them I would be interested in getting more. It would be ideal if they had been offered at a lower price point. If they bring them back, I'd buy them at a lower price point. The support you get is dependant on the region. Some regions are better than others.
I would like to see the upgrade path a little bit smoother. We can't pull the servers from the current Blade, over to the NonStop system because of the different connectors. I feel that it is a waste of money. I invested in it and I can't port it over. The back of the blade system from their older generations will not connect to the new chassis. You will need buy new servers to the NonStop chassis.
We sometimes have compatibility issues depending on the browser that you are using. For example, sometimes you have to switch between Edge, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, or Chrome to have things operating correctly. We have a few Blades from previous generations that cannot have the updated firmware upload to them unless you have a maintenance contract with HP. This is a frustrating problem we have experienced with the support.
All around, it would be nice if the solution were cheaper.
It's an old-fashioned technology now. I'm not sure precisely what should be improved. I can't recall any missing features. If the hardware offered higher efficiency, that would be an ideal situation for our company.
We had a few hard drives that crashed, and we couldn't find them locally. We've tried internationally, but we are still struggling to get its spare parts. This is the main challenge that we have faced with this solution. Fortunately, the other drives are still working. There should be easy availability of spare parts. I should be able to request a quotation online from HPE for things that I am not able to get locally. Currently, I can order online, but when I type the serial number, most of the time, it is rejected. I don't know why it is happening. It could be because the company that sold us the system didn't buy it through the normal HPE channel. HPE should assist us as users to get the spare parts. Its security needs to be beefed up. I would like some security features. It was also challenging for us to set it up because we didn't get enough training from them.
The management side of this solution could be improved. In our case, it's managed via OneView — it's an appliance. It could be better, its interface doesn't feel 100% intuitive.
The solution could use better management capabilities. The interface in terms of management could be much more intuitive.
For me, the product is okay, but I would probably suggest improvement in their services or technical support. They need to work harder in the preventative maintenance of the system. They need to improve in terms of how quickly can we get attention and how quickly problems are resolved. Its price could also be lower.
They are not selling BladeSystem anymore. The end of the sale of this platform was this year, 2020. Right now, if you try to buy a BladeSystem, you have to buy Synergy. I did try to buy some BladeSystem Generation 10 solutions in the USA. HP told me that they can sell this for the regular channel of HP still. Right now, the Synergy platform has a management console that has a lot of options or features that help the administration of the platform. IN addition to that, this console cooling could integrate with the monitoring platform, so we could monitor integrity. That said, this solution is discontinued, so any new features would only be useful on Synergy.
The response time in terms of getting technical support assistance could be improved. It's a bit expensive. They should work on bringing down the pricing if they can.
- Ability to connect storage bay to all servers inside the enclosure not only Adjacent server. - simplified High Availability Configuration to connect the enclosure to different external switches.
What we want to improve would be to add more management capability for BladeSystem to be integrated with a cloud platform in a hybrid model. Another point to improve. There are sometimes problems with laptops having issues in connecting with virtual connections to the database. The virtual connections can be improved.
The only side that must be improved is the active-passive interconnect module architecture. This blocks interconnects so that they can be upgraded simultaneously.
HPE has a new solution it's called Synergy. I believe it's the new generation of solutions. It has capability of sharing the storage. It has open blade servers within the same enclosure.
I'm not thinking about what kind of new services we could have in the HPE C7000 because I have made the decision to go to HPE Synergy or Dynamic.
HPE has told us that the c7000 will no longer be part of its portfolio, so I don't think so they will provide any new features. But if I had to say something it would be some features from the Synergy. They could go to a converged system with the c7000, so everything would be automatic in the system.
This product needs a wider range of firmware compatibility matrix from the oldest to the newest blade server. Because the blade chassis (C7000) has a 16 blade servers bay (slot), it will be better if we can mix the first generation (G1 Blade server) with the latest Gen (G9 Blade server). E.g.: G1 only can be mixed in same chassis with G8 (max), if we have a new G9 blade server, we need to eliminate the old blade server, or if you don’t want to get rid of the old server you should buy another chassis. The new chassis is so expensive. So, it will be easier for scalability purposes, and a greater value for a company with a limited budget, if HPE Blade System has a wider compatibility matrix range.