Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] vs HPE SimpliVity comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 HyperFlex HX-Series [...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE SimpliVity
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
155
Ranking in other categories
HCI (6th)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2133501 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant VP, Information Technology at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Effective deduplication feature, but lacks a unified architecture
Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series could be improved by reducing the number of nodes. Currently, the architecture separates data, computing, memory, and storage into different parts. For example, if I need around 200 servers with a requirement of TB of storage, I would need 200 clusters, which can be quite cumbersome. Other solutions like Dell and Nutanix have a single combined unit that includes computing, memory, and storage, which can reduce the number of nodes required and also reduce licensing and power consumption. Therefore, I suggest improving the architecture of the Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series by combining computing, memory, and storage into a single unit, making it more efficient and easier to manage. It will also reduce the number of nodes required and licensing costs and help to reduce power consumption. I would like to see improved internal integration capabilities in the next release. Currently, it is constrained only to VMware only. So, there is no integration part of the RAC or IEL or anything, and it isn't easy to manage it. If I want to hold another partner, then that part will not be possible. So, you have to manage that particular integration. Another feature could be in terms of memory usage.
Mohammed Lokman Hossen - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager, Enterprise Technology Services at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Has integrated solutions and rapid recovery made management smoother and more reliable
There is the latest update from HPE regarding HPE SimpliVity. For virtualization, HPE has to depend on other manufacturers, OEMs such as VMware or Hyper-V. Recently, HPE declared the VM essential virtualization solution. In the future, if HPE integrates HPE SimpliVity with VM essential, that will be a great combination. Functionality-wise, I am totally satisfied with HPE SimpliVity, but for improvement, if HPE integrates its own virtualization solution, this combination and integration will be beneficial because this integration can be configured with the cloud-based system. A VM can be uploaded to the cloud from this, which will be advantageous for backup to other sites.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Great integration with backup software."
"The speed, storage, and management are the most valuable features."
"It's very easy to use and quite a mature product."
"The feature that we are most interested in is the scalability. When needed, we are able to add more nodes and scale it up further."
"The initial setup was straightforward. With our partners and the consultancy that we had, we knew what we wanted to do. Therefore, we didn't have any problems with the installation and parametrization."
"There are some slight cost advantages when you need fewer resources to manage it."
"Easy to spin up and operate virtual machines without the overhead of managing a storage network."
"Scalability is easy and simple."
"The rapid backup and restore functionality improved our efficiency in the development area."
"Definitely the deduplication and compression, for the optimization of disk space."
"SimpliVity helps us to manage and has made deduplication work really well."
"The configuration capabilities are good."
"The most valuable feature for us is its integration, as it provides an entire solution in a single box."
"The most valuable features of SimpliVity are the built-in backup and immunity to ransomware."
"Its ease of use is the most valuable feature."
"Once installed, OmniStack performs beautifully, integrates painlessly, and can improve virtual datacenter performance magnificently."
 

Cons

"It is quite new solution, so it is not very stable."
"I would like to see more analytics. It could use better infographs in the HyperFlex Connect on how traffic is running in the network. If you were reaching any capacity issues on the Fabric Interconnects, it should be able to cool all of the servers and Fabric Interconnects, then possibly integrate it with, e.g., Nexus Series switches. This should all be available in a single pane of glass."
"The setup was complex, especially since we usually do all the planning, sizing, and workflows before integration."
"In the next release, I would like to see them able to connect to the public cloud."
"We are working with a lot of different technologies and trying to manage them with one tool. The API could be improved for better integration with other systems."
"The problem is that we always have to keep an eye out for new releases to make sure that the version we're running is up-to-date."
"Deployment on-prem was quite difficult."
"With the cache disk fails in Cisco, the whole node fails, and the workload goes down."
"Sometimes it's a little bit difficult to get a hold of them, but once we get a hold of them, their technicians are great."
"To install or to update it is more complicated than other solutions."
"Simplify the backup and restore: With integrated backup and remote replication, it could reduce risk and eliminates the use of legacy data tools."
"Let us populate the entire node; right now, there are 24 slots in a server and you're only allowed to populate 14."
"They could have better-specialized support for more countries."
"Increased storage capacity for big data, something that we have not had."
"I would like to see more features around managing the data that it uses."
"While it has been a while since HPE acquired SimpliVity, there is a lack of understanding/awareness about the product. In short, it took me time to actually make them understand they had a product named SimpliVity, which as you can imagine does not instill a great deal of confidence."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would like the pricing to be cheaper."
"The product could be cheaper."
"Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series is a bit pricier compared to other brands in the market...There is a need to make additional payments towards the maintenance and support of the solution."
"Comparable solutions with switches, storage, and services are cheaper than HyperFlex. It should be cheaper."
"It is highly priced compared to other vendors."
"We are on an annual subscription and the price is fair."
"It is relatively expensive, but it can easily return value by freeing up other resources."
"There is a 30 percent additional premium that all the companies are charging for Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series because of the lack of chips and bottlenecks in the market. The cost of the solution is high right now."
"Its licensing is quite easy. There is a model license, but it depends on the system you buy. There are no extra costs. There is only one license."
"ESXi licensing is a big part of initial investment if you do not already have that covered."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. We have purchased a five-year license with all the support and upgrades."
"In terms of the licenses, customers do not actually get any benefit."
"Its licensing is yearly."
"We're paying $3,000-$4,000 a month."
"The time savings on the administration side of things is huge. We had somebody who was dedicated pretty much full-time to hardware, and now, they spend about a quarter of their time a year on hardware-related issues."
"The only thing that I think we are paying for is the VMware licenses, but we are enterprise, so it is not horrible."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which HCI solutions are best for your needs.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
16%
Educational Organization
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Performing Arts
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise57
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business67
Midsize Enterprise49
Large Enterprise80
 

Questions from the Community

How do I choose between Cisco Hyperflex HX Series and Nutanix Acropolis AOS?
Cisco HyperFlex HS series vs Nutanix Acropolis AOS Cisco HyperFlex gives extended hyper-convergence functions from core to edge and multi-cloud environments. It helps IT and OT teams deploy hyper...
How does VxRail compare with Cisco HyperFlex HX Series?
VxRail provides stable solutions for technical problems while at the same time not being too expensive for a company to invest in. Even if you are working with a limited budget, this platform offer...
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 ...
What do you like most about HPE SimpliVity?
The solution's technical support is good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE SimpliVity?
Standalone HPE SimpliVity is more expensive than other OEMs and solutions. Regarding the software side, VMware is costing significantly more nowadays compared to other solutions in the market. The ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SimpliVity, HPE HCI
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BluePearl Veterinary Partners, Ready Pac Foods, Bryant University, Bellevue Group, KPIT Technologies, City Harvest
Red Bull Racing, Mandarin Oriental, Brigham Young University, UCLA, Merlin Entertainments, Sasa Cosmetics, Travelport, St. John’s Riverside Hospital, Princess House
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Broadcom, Nutanix and others in HCI. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.