Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] vs Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure comparison

Cisco and Sangfor are both solutions in the HCI category. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Sangfor users who would recommend it.

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [...

Read 90 Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] reviews

89% willing to recommend

Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converg...

Read 32 Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure reviews

3,797 Views
2,241 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [...

Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converg...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] and Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, VMware, Nutanix and others in HCI.

To learn more, read our detailed HCI Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

HCI

April 2025

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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 HyperFlex HX-Series [...

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converg...

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Management (13th), HCI (9th)

Featured Reviews

Nuno Mendes

IT Manager - Resp.Department at Parvalorem

High performance solution that makes it easy to efficiently manage VM resources

In our case as a credit recovery company working with the state, our infrastructure is fixed and stable as we don't have the same need for growth as other types of companies. That said, one of the biggest problems with HyperFlex HX is that if you want to adjust your solution in terms of processing power, memory, or disk capacity, you have to buy completely new hosts. From a financial perspective, it can be very expensive to do so, and from a legal perspective, there are all kinds of compliance issues we would have to sort out before buying any new solution or application. Since we as a company will only be operating for perhaps the next ten years, when our HyperFlex solution comes to its end-of-life in 2024 our next step will likely not be with HyperFlex or any other solution from Cisco. Instead, from a financial point of view, we will likely turn toward a cloud solution because, that way, we won't have to spend so much money on physical infrastructure. We are, after all, only a small company and HyperFlex can be very expensive for other companies of our size, whether in Portugal or elsewhere like the United States. One other area for improvement is in regard to HyperFlex's integration with VMware. HyperFlex integrates with a specific version of VMware in such a way that HyperFlex doesn't always resolve security issues with VMware at the same pace as what you see in native implementations of VMware. This has happened in one or two situations in the past. On the other hand, the integration is otherwise adequate, especially in terms of availability and virtualization features (such as being able to split up each of our four hosts within VMware).

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KashifAli

Project Head, Director of Sales and Operations at Core ISP Router

User-friendly GUI, capable technical support team but complicated license mechanism

Sangfor HCI's license mechanism is too complicated. The license agreement is a distributed license. Within the HCI platform, Sangfor HCI has multiple licenses in terms of services. Sangfor HCI has a separate license for the security services, a separate license for the Doctor services, and application services. They have multiple SKUs in separate forms. As per local market requirements, I think they need to couple up these or bundle up the license model.

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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

"The workload can handle anything and has an extended capacity."

"Support is very responsive."

"Most of our users are Cisco customers, so it fits in within the suites we use. Primarily for me, as a solution architect, it's the technology and architecture that is the most valuable. I know from my technical colleagues that it's easy to use and for the customer, the up-time is the most valuable asset. It's running, has low failure, and so on which is why we use it."

"Scalability is easy and simple."

"Great integration with backup software."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the connectivity, consistency, and that we now have fewer vulnerabilities on the network."

"When we use it for VDI solutions, it is very easy to deploy and support."

"The storage system is its most valuable feature. It has eliminated our entire need for having to worry about storage. We were storing a lot of syslog data and using a lot of templates in our data center. With the storage system, we are now saving an enormous amount of space."

More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] pros

"Their GUI interface is a bit easier than VMware's."

"The most valuable feature of Sangfor HCI is the built-in recovery functionality. The migration is simple to do from other solutions, such as VMware."

"The most valuable feature is the three nodes and the free hypervisor."

"The product provides a single management console for managing everything."

"It was not expensive at all."

"The solution provides a single management console."

"The Continuous Data Protection (CDP) feature is one of the good features."

"I would rate the user-friendliness an eight out of ten."

More Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure pros

Cons

"Deployment scripts can be improved since several clans need to be created before the deployment effectively works."

"The storage layer seems to be a little better on the VMware than on HyperFlex side."

"We are operating two clusters for site resiliency. I would like to support running redundant/resilient vCenter server instances on each rather than a supported external server."

"There should be the opportunity to create more than one div group"

"The initial setup can be a bit complex."

"I would like it to be easier to manage the server, create VMs, and manage the VMs on the client."

"Their technical support is very bad. We had an issue where instead of an engineer we got a PDF "doctor" that didn't know anything about our problem which was very frustrating."

"They should have more blade options and more configuration flexibility. Also, the price is expensive. It should be cheaper but it is worth the price."

More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] cons

"As far as I know, no hyper-convergence solution includes security, so you have to buy security from another brand. For example, you buy SimpliVity or Nutanix. They don't really have a security solution inside the product. It would be good if there is a security solution inside this solution so that it is not only for the virtualization of CPU, RAM, disk, and network but also for security."

"There is a feature to upgrade multiple VMs simultaneously, but it crashes."

"Sangfor does not support a SAS configuration, which is something that we would like."

"The interface could be a little bit better."

"The migration process could be easier."

"Sangfor HCI has room for improvement in terms of integration. So, the integration with Sangfor HCI is not as extensive as in Nutanix."

"Its virtual machine tools can be improved. These tools should be enhanced for use in other applications and operating systems, such as Linux."

"My company faced some issues with the product, as our virtual machines crashed, and we had to face some security issues."

More Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you don't look at the costs of the systems, the scalability is quite good."

"The product is expensive. Other solutions are cheaper."

"Its price is rather fair when compared with other solutions like VxRail, vSAN, and HPE SimpliVity. We got a fair amount of discount from Cisco for Cisco HyperFlex. It is cost-effective. We have renewed storage till next year, and we have already paid the vendor. When we talk about HyperFlex or any HCI solution, storage is the part where we can reduce a lot of costs. At the current moment, we are already using NetApp storage, which did not allow us to go for a full Cisco HyperFlex setup. We are planning to go to a larger scale next year. Then we will be able to see how cost-effective it really is for us."

"HyperFlex is a little pricey."

"The cost is expensive, but there is a chance to save money in the future."

"Initially HyperFlex was a little costly, it was higher, but Cisco wanted to get into our company, so they gave us a fair discount."

"Cisco is quite expensive, but not in the initial first buy."

"We currently have a perpetual license, which is kind of unlimited, so we don't have the normal licensing cost, yet."

More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] pricing and cost advice

"I would say its pricing is between cheap and reasonable and would rate it as three out of five."

"Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure is a reasonably priced product."

"From a business perspective, we use Sangfor HCI due to its competitive pricing compared to other competitors such as Nutanix."

"The tool’s pricing is better when compared to VMware or Nutanix. The product’s licensing is on a yearly basis."

"The solution has a good initial cost but a high renewal cost."

"Its price should be better, but I don't think they will change the price list. You have to pay for licenses, and you have to pay for support, so you have an annual fee. You can use the product without the fee, but it's really dumb because you need support. We are an IT company. We provide the product, and we need the support too for our customers."

"The solution is very cheap."

"The price of Sangfor is cheaper than other competing products."

More Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

25%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series?

It's easy to get the tool started.

See all answers

What do you like most about Sangfor HCI?

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten... Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sangfor HCI?

I rate the pricing of Sangfor HCI at a five, as it is thirty to thirty-five percent more efficient than other solutions in terms of total cost of ownership.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sangfor HCI?

I would like Sangfor to have a presence on some public cloud offerings, such as Azure or AWS, to build disaster recovery sites. This functionality is currently missing in the Pakistani market.

See all answers

Comparisons

HPE SimpliVity vs Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL]

Compared 29% of the time

VMware vSAN vs Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL]

Compared 22% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL]

Compared 21% of the time

VxRail vs Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL]

Compared 16% of the time

Dell PowerFlex vs Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL]

Compared 13% of the time

More Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] Competitors

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure

Compared 22% of the time

VMware vSAN vs Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure

Compared 17% of the time

HPE SimpliVity vs Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure

Compared 10% of the time

HPE Hyper Converged vs Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure

Compared 5% of the time

VxRail vs Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure

Compared 5% of the time

More Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL]

May 2025

Download Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure

April 2025

Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure report

Download Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure product report

Overview

The Cisco HyperFlex HX Data Platform is a purpose-built, high-performance, scale-out file system with a wide array of enterprise-class data management services. The data platform’s innovations redefine distributed storage technology, giving you complete hyper-convergence with enterprise storage features:

Enterprise-class data management
Continuous data optimization
Securely encrypted storage
Dynamic data placement
Clusterwide parallel data distribution
Linear and incremental scaling
API-based data platform architecture
A simplified approach

Cisco

Sangfor HCI is an IT infrastructure platform built on converged architecture. It integrates server virtualization, distributed storage, and networking. Sangfor HCI provides a unified management platform that converges compute, storage, networking, and security on a single software stack. This approach delivers a simplified architecture, ease of use, and reliability for business-critical applications.

Hyperconverged infrastructure is a unified system of data storage. HCI combines storage, computing, networking, and management, unlike traditional storage solutions. HCI systems enable you to build your private cloud, expand to a public cloud, or have your own true hybrid cloud. Sangfor HCI presents two product models: The Sangfor HCI server appliance is a hardware version that enables easy deployment. Sangfor HCI software is the digital version combined with a third-party server that enables flexible deployment.

Sangfor HCI supports Windows systems on desktop and is web-based. Its range of use cases cover a wide spectrum of industries, from healthcare to manufacturing. It is applicable for mid- and large-sized businesses. The software is customizable. Users can customize the logo and contact information in the user interface.

Benefits and Features

Stability: Sangfor HCI delivers high reliability and availability with 0 RPO and 99.99% availability. The infrastructure is fully redundant to ensure business continuity. This means no data is lost in the event of hardware failure.
Simplified infrastructure: The solution supports visual management, making it easier to use. The single platform provides a central control with access to resources.
High performance: One unit of HCI can support up to 100,000 IOPS. The solution supports data striping, data locality, SSD caching and AI-based DB optimization. It also supports linear expansion without bottlenecks.
Hyper-converged infrastructure that enables working with different scenarios. For instance, cloud transformation and data center consolidation. It is fully converged, which means it provides unified management, full resource visualization, and orchestration with SCP. The standardized HCI unit consolidates hardware appliances, a storage network, IP network, and server into a single unit.
Integration: Sangfor HCI offers deep integration with NFV components. Users can deploy complex SDN networks.
Pay-as-you-grow model: The pay-per-use model reduces operational expenses and total cost of ownership.

Use Cases

Sangfor HCI can be applied tin various scenarios:

Enterprise applications: Users can benefit from the reliability and performance of Sangfor HCI for business-critical processes. The system is optimized for enterprise applications to enhance their performance and stability.
Datacenter consolidation: The unified and software-defined technology simplifies the operational management and the architecture of data centers.
Cloud transformation: You can add a cloud management platform, transforming Sangfor HCI into a complete cloud computing solution. You can then run your cloud workloads and benefit from the automation features of Sangfor HCI.
Data protection and recovery: Sangfor HCI offers multiple data protection features, such as continuous data protection (CDP), which ensure the integrity of sensitive and user data. You can protect backup snapshots and take backups. It records virtual machine IO logs at frequent intervals. It offers disaster recovery capabilities that ensure business continuity.

Reviews from Real Users

Gabriele P., Senior Software and Systems Engineer at SAMU.IT, says "It is flexible like a hyper-convergence system. You can add nodes, and you can scale to have better performance and stability. I also like the backup feature, the recovery system, and the web interface GUI to handle everything."

A Junior Solutions Engineer at a tech services company adds that "Sangfor has many solutions, and you can easily manage their machine servers with just one management. They're always striving for greatness, and they continuously update their products. For example, they have now built endpoint security within the firewall. They are continuously improving not only the security but also all other products."

Sangfor

Sample Customers

BluePearl Veterinary Partners, Ready Pac Foods, Bryant University, Bellevue Group, KPIT Technologies, City Harvest

TOSHIBA TEC Singapore, J&T Express Indonesia, Crowne Plaza Vietnam, Hermina Hospital Indonesia

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, VMware, Nutanix and others in HCI. Updated: April 2025.

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