Cisco Compute Hyperconverged vs VMware vSAN comparison

Cisco and Broadcom are both solutions in the HCI category. Cisco is ranked #21 with an average rating of 7.0, while Broadcom is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.5. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Cisco Compute Hyperconverged

Read 1 Cisco Compute Hyperconverged review

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604 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

VMware vSAN

Read 234 VMware vSAN reviews

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12,028 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Cisco Compute Hyperconverged

VMware vSAN

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

VMware vSAN and Cisco Compute Hyperconverged are competing products in the hyperconverged infrastructure space. Cisco Compute Hyperconverged emerges with an upper hand due to its expansive features and superior support infrastructure.

Features: VMware vSAN offers seamless integration with VMware environments, robust storage solutions, and scalability. Cisco Compute Hyperconverged provides integrated networking capabilities, flexibility across different environments, and diverse configuration options. Cisco's broader feature set gives it an edge for those needing extensive network integration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware vSAN is noted for straightforward deployment in VMware settings with comprehensive support. Cisco Compute Hyperconverged provides a flexible deployment model with strong customer support, suitable for complex network setups. Cisco's deployment flexibility and strong service surpass VMware vSAN for complex configurations.

Pricing and ROI: VMware vSAN is recognized for competitive pricing and efficient ROI due to minimal integration overhead. Cisco Compute Hyperconverged has a higher initial setup cost but offers satisfying ROI through extensive features and adaptable deployment, proving worthwhile for many despite the initial expense.

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Compute Hyperconverged

Ranking in HCI

21st

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware vSAN

Ranking in HCI

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

234

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Ashok Dwivedi

Sr. Manager Network Operation & Deployment Working with Airtel India at Airtel

Improved telecom control functions and security have exposed user plane performance gaps

I see that the hardware side and performance concerns are prevalent, even in Cisco hardware used in the card platform. We have observed the same issues with Cisco Compute Hyperconverged platforms as well, indicating a performance issue. Regarding the stability rating, it should be around seven because the support from Cisco is nice, but the performance of the product does not meet our preferences. For additional features to enhance competitiveness, Cisco needs to improve their hardware utilization performance specifically. There is a significant gap between the throughput they recommend and what commercial enterprises experience, which is around a thirty percent gap. If we talk about Red Hat or other external platforms, in that scenario, it is better for enterprises that want a complete support package to go with Cisco. However, if the enterprise has the capability to maintain in-house, it may be better to consider different hyperscalers. Another concern with Cisco is that they are trying to bind customers to specific hardware.

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ShyamikaThamel

Associate Tech Specialists at Seatrium

Managing mixed RAID workloads has improved data protection and delivers strong performance

VMware vSAN can be improved in certain areas. In cases involving our large data stores with large VMs, we experience some latency, not during normal operation, but during database backup operations. We observed latency due to buffer issues from the top-of-the-rack switches. These issues are mostly network-related because all storage data traffic travels through the network. I have recently used Nutanix, and I observed that Nutanix provides better performance than VMware vSAN due to its data locality features. VMware vSAN is now providing data locality, but we did not use that option. If VMware vSAN provides additional features in the next release, such as the VM balancing feature called DRS on the cluster that VMware previously had, it would be beneficial. With DRS, VMs can move easily from one node to another within the same cluster. Nutanix does not provide that flexibility. When placing a VM on a cluster in Nutanix, the placement uses a balancing component. After that, the VM remains on the same host. If any contention occurs on the CPU or memory side, the VM stays in place until contention happens. If issues occur, the VM migrates to another host while transferring all objects to the same host. This is how their data locality is maintained. When a VM moves to any host, it moves with all VM objects. VMware vSAN does not currently offer this option. If a VM moves to another host, it accesses the disk object through the network, which increases latency. VMware vSAN now offers an option to select data locality, but it does not function like Nutanix. This is why some latency remains. If VMware vSAN can improve this feature, it would be very helpful and VMware would regain its top position.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Regarding Cisco Compute Hyperconverged's data protection capabilities in terms of business continuity and protection, I would rate them as a nine, as there are no concerns concerning protection."

"VMware vSAN is a hyper-converged infrastructure and we use it as a software-defined storage solution for our customers."

"If you are going for features, scalability, and performance, VMware is the best solution."

"The performance has exceeded our expectations and exceeded our traditional converged infrastructure."

"Stretched Cluster is one of the big features that we use across multiple data centers."

"It increases the performance of the virtual machines and reduces the TCO for storage deployment."

"It's relatively low-cost for a high-performance solution."

"It’s a good solution – the trend is going towards converged infrastructure."

"The most valuable feature is the simplicity of its scalability: being able to grow it without having to make sure you get the right disks and the right nodes. The solution is also easy to manage. It's all right there in the vSphere Client. You're not going through multiple things. You don't have to know, once you've created the vSAN node. You add storage, it sees it, and you create your data storage from there. Everything is right there for you."

More VMware vSAN pros

Cons

"Regarding the stability rating, it should be around seven because the support from Cisco is nice, but the performance of the product does not meet our preferences."

"I would like for the next release to be a bit cheaper."

"Areas of improvement could be the UIs. The UIs are kind of cumbersome."

"So, my criticism is aimed towards the current Flash-based client, which is utterly slow, and Flash itself being deprecated technology."

"When you upgrade the vSAN, there are some issues like lost data and problems with the log. The log disappears. When you upgrade the solution, you must have several logs, so if you have some problems, you can check the log server to find them."

"If the support could be provided more quickly, it would be very helpful."

"The solution functions as the marketing says, as long as you follow certain rules."

"One area that could be improved is the management feature."

"I would like to see more ease of use, more compatibility with different areas."

More VMware vSAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"It could be cheaper."

"Its price could be improved."

"This solution is expensive. Nutanix provides us with Acropolis Operating System (AOS) along with its hardware, while VMware provides vSAN, vCenter, and vSphere which all have separate licenses and costs."

"VMware vSAN is an expensive platform. We purchase its yearly license."

"It is too expensive."

"Basically, vSAN is a license in addition to that of the classic VMware Vsphere, which is also mandatory."

"If they could reduce the cost, it would be better. Licensing costs are something that they could take care of. If you are a smaller and strong IT team, then VMware vSAN is a very good product. If you want to expand in the service provider space, then you will have to go for an open-source solution like OpenStack. We are now looking at OpenStack because we sell licensing costs. We are a service provider, so the IT component data is a substantial component in our overall costing. We feel that OpenStack might help us to cut down the licensing cost. Therefore, we are looking at SAS storage instead of vSAN. SAS is open source, but it is not wise to have open source without having the backend support. We are using RedHat SAS, and it is an open-source solution. You can also have a free version, but we are using it with support from RedHat so that we have somebody to back us up in case we have a problem. If you do normal business, then IT expense is 1% or 2% of the total turnover. The higher licensing costs sometimes don't make difference to the big companies who are not service providers and are using it only for their internal use. For them, the IT cost is 1% or 2%, but for an IT service provider, the IT costs will go up to 15% to 16% of the total cost of the operations. This is where the licensing costs become irrelevant. For example, the licensing cost of using VMware, VC, and vSAN is 8% of my monthly revenue. Every month, I pay about $35,000, and, with the revised plan, it will be something like $50,000 or revenue of 600k per month, which means almost 8% of the revenue is going into VMware licensing. In a very competitive world, 8% as a cost element is huge. So, if I can bring it down to 2%, I save 6% in revenue expenditure. In terms of profit, 6% of 30% is something like another 25% increase in my profit. My profit can be almost 25%. It would be 20% to 25% in case I am able to handle the licensing costs and bring them to a very low level. Because these IT costs are substantial for us, that is why we are going with OpenStack. OpenStack has a limitation that it requires more hardware. There will be some increase in the hardware cost, but overall we will save 5% to 6% of our licensing cost by using OpenStack."

"The vSAN is somewhat expensive to license."

More VMware vSAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Manufacturing Company

11%

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	101
Midsize Enterprise	58
Large Enterprise	135

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Compute Hyperconverged?

Their pricing is acceptable because they are trying to match the market.

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What needs improvement with Cisco Compute Hyperconverged?

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What is your primary use case for Cisco Compute Hyperconverged?

I have only used Cisco Compute Hyperconverged for telecom equipment, specifically telecom network functions. I cannot comment on other applications, but when using the hyperscaler for telecom, part...

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What Is The Biggest Difference Between vSAN And VxRail?

While both run on the vSAN technology from VMware, vSAN needs to be deployed on vSAN ready nodes while VxRail is an engineered system. The choice to choose which technology depends on two major fac...

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How does HPE Simplivity compare with VMware vSAN?

HPE SimpliVity is a hyper-converged infrastructure solution that is primarily geared to mid-sized companies. We researched VMware vSAN but found HPE was a better option for us. HPE SimpliVity has ...

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How does VMware vSAN compare with Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct?

We found VMware’s vSAN was easy to set up, configure, and manage compared to other solutions we considered. It is best suited for small- to medium-sized organizations. It is easy to create load bal...

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Comparisons

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Cisco Compute Hyperconverged

Compared 56% of the time

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure vs Cisco Compute Hyperconverged

Compared 11% of the time

Huawei FusionCube Hyper-Converged Infrastructure vs Cisco Compute Hyperconverged

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco Compute Hyperconverged Competitors

VxRail vs VMware vSAN

Compared 10% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs VMware vSAN

Compared 10% of the time

Everpure FlashArray vs VMware vSAN

Compared 5% of the time

NetApp AFF vs VMware vSAN

Compared 5% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs VMware vSAN

Compared 5% of the time

More VMware vSAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCI

July 2026

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Buyer's Guide

VMware vSAN

July 2026

Download VMware vSAN product report

Also Known As

No data available

vSAN

Overview

Cisco Compute Hyperconverged offers a highly integrated infrastructure solution that seamlessly combines computing, storage, and networking resources into a single platform, making it a preferred choice for businesses seeking streamlined IT operations.

Ideal for organizations looking to optimize their IT ecosystem, Cisco Compute Hyperconverged enhances data center management and provides scalability. It allows businesses to reduce their footprint while increasing flexibility, enabling rapid deployment and simplified management. This approach supports digital transformation by integrating advanced technologies, delivering substantial efficiencies in processing and storage, and supporting a diverse set of workloads across different environments.

What are the key features of Cisco Compute Hyperconverged?

Scalable Architecture: Supports growth with ease, allowing businesses to expand infrastructure as needs increase.
Integrated Management: Centralizes control for efficient management of resources.
High Availability: Ensures continuous operation with minimal downtime.
Data Protection: Offers robust security features to safeguard critical information.
Performance Optimization: Delivers enhanced processing power to meet demanding application needs.

What benefits can users expect from using Cisco Compute Hyperconverged?

Reduced Costs: Minimizes infrastructure expenses through streamlined resource management.
Improved Efficiency: Increases IT productivity by automating routine tasks.
Enhanced Agility: Allows quick adaptation to changing business requirements.
Lowered Risk: Provides reliable data protection reducing operational risks.
Future-Proofing: Keeps businesses ready for technological advancements.

In industries such as healthcare and finance, Cisco Compute Hyperconverged is implemented to handle critical workloads efficiently, maintain stringent data security standards, and meet the high-performance demands of data-intensive applications. Its ability to deliver reliable, scalable, and secure solutions makes it ideal for organizations committed to innovation and growth.

Cisco

VMware vSAN is renowned for scalability, speed, and management ease. Its performance equals traditional SANs, offering fast speeds with diverse disk types at a reduced cost, ensuring VM access amidst hardware failures, and integrating effortlessly with VMware tools for straightforward setup.

As a leader in virtualization solutions, VMware vSAN offers high-performance storage comparable to traditional SANs, allowing SSD-like speeds with a mix of disk types. It integrates into VMware tools, leading to easy setup and policy-driven management, leveraging diverse storage policies, deduplication, and compression for enhanced efficiency. It's especially valued for its ability to scale storage and applications affordably, supporting growth without heavy initial investments. Despite the advantages, areas for improvement include encryption, UI, hardware compatibility, and affordability for SMBs, with notable resync and performance monitoring challenges. Compatibility issues with non-VMware environments and complex updates and support are critical points highlighting a need for improved management interfaces and troubleshooting to enhance user experience.

What are the key features of VMware vSAN?

Scalability: Allows easy scaling of storage and applications without significant initial investments.
Speed: Rivals traditional SANs, offering SSD-like speeds.
Management: Seamless management through integration with VMware tools and policy-driven frameworks.
Resilience: Ensures VM access during hardware failures.
Efficiency: Offers deduplication and compression to optimize storage use.

What benefits or ROI should organizations consider in reviews?

Cost-Effectiveness: Supports horizontal and vertical growth without heavy costs.
Integration: Enhances cloud infrastructure and VDI with easy integration.
Automation: Provides automation for storage and compute consolidation.
Availability: Ensures high availability for VMs and workloads.
Performance: Known for strong performance suited for diverse workloads.

VMware vSAN is implemented across industries for virtualization and cloud infrastructure enhancements, being a cornerstone for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and the management of VMs. It supports major workloads like ERP and hyperconverged infrastructure, widely respected for its performance, seamless integration into VMware's ecosystem, and cost-efficiency, particularly appealing to small and medium businesses without extensive storage infrastructure investments.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

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