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Cisco MDS Series vs HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 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 MDS Series
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
4th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Public Cloud Storage Services (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Enterprise SAN category, the mindshare of Cisco MDS Series is 9.5%, up from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 is 3.6%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise SAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HPE Alletra Storage MP B100003.6%
Cisco MDS Series9.5%
Other86.9%
Enterprise SAN
 

Featured Reviews

OğuzKalaycı - PeerSpot reviewer
system engineer at Yaşar Holding
Ensures consistent availability during updates and integrates seamlessly
I am using Cisco MDS in SAN environments for storage connections and server connections The product is very stable and performs well. During the update periods, the devices do not need to reload, ensuring constant availability. It is easy to set up and use. I do not have a central management…
reviewer1309695 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure And Systems Manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
High‑availability block storage has protected critical research workloads and boosted VMware IOPS
It is difficult to provide specific areas for improvement at this time. We may realize approximately 20% gains in the future, but the previous SAN we used was not very time-consuming, so the improvement is not very significant. We anticipate gains of approximately 10 to 20%. The management interface could be simplified. The cloud console contains two main sections: one for hardware and one for logical volumes on the LUNs being managed. This split is understandable because the hardware console contains HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 for block storage and HPE Alletra for backup, both accessible in the same console. The separation of the SAN hardware console and the backup console is logical and understandable. We have four compute nodes, and the system was not designed to shut down gracefully with only two compute nodes remaining. Running with just one compute node functions properly, and the system continues to operate at reduced capacity. However, when we experienced a crash involving half of the system, HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 failed completely. This behavior is documented as normal in the documentation, but we hoped the block storage could manage to run with half the power. This capability will be available in a future release but is not included in the current version. Our testing before moving to production was not entirely successful, but this aligns with the documented specifications. When we perform failover and data center crash tests, the system performs very well. We have deliberately crashed all four compute nodes, and the secondary storage site manages the workload without any virtual machines malfunctioning. This level of reliability is excellent, and it demonstrates why we selected HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000. Improvements in this area would make the solution even stronger.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is easy to use."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the devices, databases, and zoning."
"The product is very stable and performs well."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is its reliability, support, and scalability."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is security."
"Cisco MDS 9148 SAN switch model is the best product, highly reliable and low cost, easy to deploy, easy to upgrade, easy to configure, easy to administer, and it gives effective performance when used for SAN switch connectivity between hosts and storage boxes."
"This solution is required for any type of IT infrastructure for Storage Networking and provides high availability for storage service."
"It enables us to integrate and load balance between multiple layer one fiber vendor links, which is very useful."
"Moving to a consumption model is highly desirable from the client side. everyone seems to be moving in that direction."
"The features of HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 that I appreciate the most include the high RAM, which allows us to extract the data quickly, and the GUI, which is much more intuitive than the competitors."
"The biggest advantage of the product is the 100% availability guarantee from HPE regarding the solutions."
"The features of HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 that I appreciate the most are availability for the company."
"The scalability is very good."
"The feature I like is that I can create a template and apply it to multiple switches. I don't have to do the same task on every switch, and the same goes for access points. It's central management, with the features that come with central management."
"In the past three years, I have not had even one escalation call, which demonstrates how simple it is to manage and monitor our global block storage environment using HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000."
"After testing HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 in production and deliberately crashing the entire SAN to verify it functioned correctly, we confirmed it was the right choice for our needs."
 

Cons

"Webui needs Data Center Network Management tool licensed copy for accessing Cisco Switches instead a web-based GUI should be made easily available the way Brocade san switch is managed."
"It is quite a stable product. It should be shipped with the latest firmware to avoid download and upload schema at the beginning of the initial setup. There should also be the possibility of downgrading the firmware when required. WebUI needs DCNM instead a web-based GUI should be made available like Brocade san switch."
"Cisco MDS Series can improve by having SAN Manager with life cycle management features and Integration with 3rd party storage monitoring tools."
"The product is very expensive."
"The licensing model could be less complicated."
"I find it difficult to operate and troubleshoot."
"I do not have a central management software to manage these products due to the licensing cost. It would be beneficial to have central management software for easier handling."
"The GUI client is Java-based and we know that Java is not secure, so everyone disables it."
"The solution could improve the integration with sustainability-related services. A lot of clients ask us about that."
"There is still room for reducing the cost."
"HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 could be improved by integrating it with GreenLake, as this would enable us to do end-to-end monitoring across both on-prem and cloud environments better."
"The administration UI is only in English, not Spanish."
"We are facing issues related to your services and support with HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000."
"They take a long time to return the action plan after I send the logs. It takes them one to two days to respond."
"It could be a good solution, but the performance and reliability depend on how the hardware is sustained for a longer duration, including the controllers and everything."
"You need two different boxes for block and file storage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing cannot be considered an advantageous trait of the solution since it is expensive. I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"The price of the Cisco MDS Series is high."
"It's perpetual licensing and maintenance is a recurrent cost."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
Government
8%
Media Company
11%
University
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco MDS Series?
The pricing could be improved as the solution is very expensive. I am on a yearly payment basis.
What needs improvement with Cisco MDS Series?
I do not have a central management software to manage these products due to the licensing cost. It would be beneficial to have central management software for easier handling.
What is your primary use case for Cisco MDS Series?
I am using Cisco MDS in SAN environments for storage connections and server connections.
What needs improvement with HPE GreenLake for Block Storage?
We are facing issues related to your services and support with HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000. Your product is very good, but we are facing technical issues and issues related to queries that have n...
What is your primary use case for HPE GreenLake for Block Storage?
I usually recommend HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 in the government sector. We are the integrator, not just a consultant or using Cisco products ourselves.
What advice do you have for others considering HPE GreenLake for Block Storage?
We are still working with Cisco products as we are working with Cisco also. We are mainly focused on HP, but for server and storage related needs, we are working with Dell also. We have been dealin...
 

Also Known As

Cisco MDS 9100, Cisco MDS 9222i, Cisco MDS 9700
HPE GreenLake for Block Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Rugby League
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco MDS Series vs. HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
897,297 professionals have used our research since 2012.