Dell XC Appliance vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) comparison

Dell Technologies and Nutanix are both solutions in the HCI category. Dell Technologies is ranked #19 with an average rating of 9.0, while Nutanix is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.5. Dell Technologies holds a 0.6% mindshare in HCI, compared to Nutanix’s 9.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Nutanix users who would recommend it.

Dell XC Appliance

Read 8 Dell XC Appliance reviews

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308 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructur...

Read 198 Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) reviews

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8,431 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Dell XC Appliance

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructur...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure and Dell XC Appliance compete in the hyper-converged infrastructure category. Nutanix seems to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set, ease of management, and competitive pricing, which results in a quicker ROI.

Features: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure offers features such as data deduplication, compression, and one-click upgrades that simplify scalability and management. It provides extensive hypervisor capabilities and automation that improve operational efficiency and cost savings. The Dell XC Appliance features a distributed storage fabric that integrates well with VMware environments, offering robust storage and high performance. Its ease of installation and good performance are notable, but Nutanix’s feature set is more comprehensive for complex virtual environments.

Room for Improvement: Nutanix could improve support for multi-tenant environments, expand third-party integrations, and simplify configurations that currently require command-line interface use. Dell XC Appliance could enhance storage provisioning capabilities and multi-cloud interoperability. While Dell finds lifecycle upgrades complex, Nutanix receives feedback for more consistent updates based on user suggestions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Nutanix offers diverse deployment options, praised for its easy setup and responsive support team. The technical support is fast and efficient. Dell XC Appliance, mostly deployed on-premises, has dedicated support, yet features longer resolution times due to dependence on separate technical support systems. Nutanix is seen as having a more integrated and proactive support service compared to Dell's less streamlined support.

Pricing and ROI: Nutanix provides competitive pricing with benefits in cost savings due to reduced infrastructure needs and enhanced efficiency, despite being more expensive than some competitors. Its flexible licensing model simplifies management and cuts down additional licensing costs. Dell XC Appliance’s pricing varies by configuration and is often viewed as expensive for small to medium-sized businesses. Nutanix users report quicker ROI through reduced operational costs, while Dell XC users recognize ROI but cite higher initial costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell XC Appliance vs. Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell XC Appliance vs. Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

July 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

Dell XC Appliance

Ranking in HCI

19th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructur...

Ranking in HCI

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

198

Ranking in other categories

Software Defined Storage (SDS) (5th), Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) (1st), Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of Dell XC Appliance is 0.6%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) is 9.4%, up from 8.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

HCI

Featured Reviews

reviewer2644977

Works

Enables seamless integration with multiple software and outstanding AI tools

The main issue with the DirectVXL appliance is that it only supports a single orchestrator or hypervisor. If multi-hypervisor support is required and VMware does not provide it, then Dell's appliance won't support it. I find it overly reliant on VMware. In cases of company mergers involving different platforms, software that can handle a multi-hypervisor environment would facilitate quicker integration.

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MahendraPanchotiya

Infrastructure Manager at ER Tech Pros

Offers a unified platform, reduces downtime, and simple updates

Nutanix offers a unified platform for managing databases, virtual machines, and applications. This simplifies management by consolidating everything into a single interface. While Nutanix may have a higher upfront cost compared to other hypervisors, it can significantly reduce the resources needed for infrastructure management. With our previous hypervisor, we needed nearly ten IT personnel. Nutanix has allowed us to streamline our team to just three members. We use a combination of database technologies, including SQL databases and web servers such as IIS, BHP, and NGINX. Nutanix features helped our organization reduce downtime. I don't recall the last time we had downtime related to Nutanix because it is such a stable product. Nutanix, a reliable product, helps us streamline our processes, which in turn improves company revenue. We began to see the benefits after two years, with a 40 percent reduction in operational costs. We migrated 200 servers from AWS to Nutanix. Nutanix may not consolidate applications, but it helps us run them more efficiently on its platform. Updating is simple with one click. I would rate the updating processes 10 out of 10. Adding compute and storage on demand is not difficult. However, we need to factor in the existing and new firmware and software requirements.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are the deduplication and the compression features."

"The most valuable feature is that you can assign a volume to an off-shore workload on the fly."

"When we compare it to normal hardware servers, I'd say it is quite easy to configure and deploy."

"The solution's hardware is great."

"The solution's best feature is its simplicity. It's so simple to deploy it. You've got the VMware, and it's own appliance. It is really helpful. The system is online within half a day and saves so much time."

"The most valuable feature is the low management overhead, and the lower skill set required to manage it."

"It's an extremely stable solution, and I highly recommend it."

"What I like the most is that it is easy to implement, easy deployment and that it's easy to manage."

More Dell XC Appliance pros

"The simplicity when it comes to building your own automation has been excellent."

"Nutanix Acropolis AOS is flexible and has helped people to work from home during the pandemic."

"Nutanix Acropolis AOS is easy to use, integrates with other hardware configurations, and is simple to manage."

"One-click setup is a valuable feature because it allows us to set up a server automatically with a single click."

"There are a lot of things I really like. Perhaps the best part is taking a snapshot of a virtual machine. It's very quick. Another useful part is replication and creating a protection domain: using the protection feature to replicate a machine to a remote site for DR purposes."

"In terms of scalability, adding a number of nodes, I find that it will not be any issues."

"One of the most valuable features is the One-Click Upgrade. When I need to update the system, I do it with one click. This product is amazing because everything is easy to manage, from network management to snapshots."

"It has enterprise data services with consolidated storage data protection and disaster recovery. One valuable aspect is its efficiency as a robust platform. There is an ease of managing all processes. The data recovery process is remarkably fast. It’s a stable solution. The product is scalable. It provides high-speed live migration capability."

More Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) pros

Cons

"We are not always advised of new features or updates, so we must research to stay up to date."

"The main issue with the DirectVXL appliance is that it only supports a single orchestrator or hypervisor."

"The solution's storage size could be improved."

"The main issue with the DirectVXL appliance is that it only supports a single orchestrator or hypervisor. If multi-hypervisor support is required and VMware does not provide it, then Dell's appliance won't support it."

"Currently, there is no support for the servers that are not in the cluster."

"The cost of using the public cloud deployment is astronomical."

"In the next release, I would like to see support for Docker and containers."

"Dell needs to do a lot of work to simplify the maintenance and life-cycle upgrades for the product."

More Dell XC Appliance cons

"The price could be lower."

"It is a CentOS-based operating system, but CentOS releases security patches almost every week or every other week. However, Nutanix releases their upgrade at three or four month intervals. According to my organization's SLA, if a critical patch is released during that time, then I need to implement the patches within 30 days. If it is a standard patch, then I need to patch it within 60 days. Since that is my SLA, I cannot meet my SLA for security because Nutanix will not release the upgrade within these 30 days. Between the critical patch release and the Nutanix release, my customers say they are vulnerable and I am accepting the risk while the SLA is breached."

"Pricing and varieties of options could be better."

"The product could be improved with more security. The product needs a bit more experience in the market. I think you don't have the possibility to add other hardware. It could be improved with the ability to add and extend."

"The software-defined networking should be improved. It is quite substandard as compared to the VMware variant. The software-defined networking is quite limited, and we usually use other products to do that. We're aware that Nutanix is working on that and will be coming out with better solutions, and we can't wait because to do a fully software-defined architecture, the abstraction layer needs not only software-defined storage, which you have, but also the software-defined networking piece."

"The reporting section of the dashboard could be improved to include more detailed reporting about the servers."

"The pricing model for software and hardware subscription renewals can be improved."

"In Thailand, there really isn't a cloud version of Nutanx available to us."

More Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is good."

"The pricing is dependent on the technology and is in direct relation to the manufacturer and the components."

"The pricing for Dell EMC solutions is quite expensive and not really made for small or medium-sized businesses."

"The price point is very fair for a product in this category but can vary depending on the components selected within the family of products."

"We received a good price from Dell."

"It is slightly more expensive compared to a standard, on-prem, bare-metal configuration. There is about a 30 percent overhead there."

"In terms of the solution's licensing, it's quite comprehensive."

"The product’s licensing fee is moderately expensive."

"The price of the solution could improve. Nutanix has recently changed its pricing model from perpetual to subscription. They have identified there are challenges with the pricing model."

"If they could further reduce the cost, that would be great. I would like to see the cost be less than the equivalent three-tier architecture."

"The initial cost is affordable but the renewal fees are high."

"We renew our license on a yearly basis and have no costs in addition to the standard fee."

"AHV is free! This is a great feature that should be taken advantage of."

More Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user244362

Managing Consultant with 51-200 employees

Aug 30, 2015

Nutanix vs. VMware EVO:RAIL vs. FlexPod

Originally posted at www.storagegaga.com/dont-get-too-drunk-on-hyper-converged/ I hate the fact that I am bursting the big bubble brewing about Hyper Convergence (HC). I urge all to look past the hot air and hype frenzy that are going on, because in the end, the HC platforms have to be aligned…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

17%

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What advice do you have for others considering Dell XC Appliance?

My advice for people who are selling this product is to first make sure that you educate the customers. The customer doesn't often know much about HCI and what the need to be using it for. If they ...

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What needs improvement with Dell XC Appliance?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Dell XC Appliance?

Dell offers several benefits with its appliances. Primarily, I can combine them horizontally and vertically, reaching up to sixty-four nodes. Additionally, Dell employs its own artificial intellige...

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What is the biggest difference between Nutanix Acropolis and VMware vSphere?

We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We fou...

See all answers

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...

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Which would you choose - Nutanix Acropolis AOS or VMware vSAN?

See all answers

Comparisons

VxRail vs Dell XC Appliance

Compared 43% of the time

Dell vSAN Ready Nodes vs Dell XC Appliance

Compared 23% of the time

More Dell XC Appliance Competitors

VxRail vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

Compared 7% of the time

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

Compared 7% of the time

Azure Stack HCI vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

Compared 6% of the time

HPE SimpliVity vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

Compared 6% of the time

VMware vSAN vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

Compared 6% of the time

More Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCI

August 2025

Download Dell XC Appliance product report

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

August 2025

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) report

Download Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) product report

Also Known As

No data available

Nutanix Acropolis AOS, Nutanix AOS, Nutanix Acropolis

Overview

XC Series hyper-converged appliances integrate Dell EMC 14th generation PowerEdge servers with Nutanix software to offer one of the industry’s most versatile and scalable hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) platforms. By supporting a choice of hypervisors, XC Series appliances can be deployed quickly for all virtualized workloads to reduce management complexity and total cost of ownership.

Dell Technologies

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) is a top-ranking HCI software, cloud management tool, and Software Defined Storage (SDS) tool that is marketed as the foundation for users' hybrid clouds. It offers a powerful and secure hyperconverged infrastructure to deliver all data and applications at any scale and on any cloud. The solution offers a complete software stack that allows users to unify their hybrid cloud infrastructure.

NCI’s services include computer, storage and network, hypervisors and containers, and deployment in public or in private clouds. The product also comes with built-in resilience, disaster recovery capabilities, self-healing, and high-security capacities. It provides further deployment flexibility through several software and hardware options and platforms. NCI includes a full set of enterprise capabilities. It can also be deployed on a wide range of servers from popular manufacturers.

The capabilities of the product are categorized into three main groups:

AOS storage
Flexible and open compute
Automated and secure networking

Outside of these categories, NCI also offers other capabilities:

Integrated disaster recovery
Full-stack lifecycle management
VMware with Nutanix
Intelligent operations

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Features

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) offers its customers various features and tools in each of the previously mentioned categories. The available features for users currently include:

High-performance: This set of features utilizes hardware advances such as NVMe and RDMA to accelerate users' most demanding applications with consistent performance. The tools in this feature category work alongside data locality to ensure successful results.
Foolproof resiliency: These Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure features protect data and keep it available by facilitating advanced distributed consistency algorithms. Users can utilize these features to protect their data from issues like bit rot, hardware failures, and even entire site failure.
Flexibility: This set of features allows storage to be sized for the needs of each organization and expanded promptly and easily so that the organization and its data can grow. The features offer flexibility to users in terms of applying storage policies logically on a pre-workload basis, instead of being tied to hardware.
Hypervisor choice: Users can choose from the leading hypervisors - Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware ESXi. They can also leverage the built-in hypervisor AHV that Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) provides.
Integrated virtualization: These features offer simplified automation and AHV streamlined operations. The services in this category are optimized for high performance and reliability.
Kubernetes: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) offers features to build and deploy cloud-native applications on intelligent distributed infrastructure. Apps can be integrated with cloud-compatible storage and both building and deployment can be achieved within the same platform.
Microsegmentation: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) offers features to prevent malware spread and reduce attack surfaces by leveraging machine learning (ML).
Virtual networking: This set of features allows users to easily implement multi-tenancy in their environment or stretch networks across clouds.
Centralized network management: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) provides organizations with a way to manage networking configurations centrally. Users can utilize it across their human-computer interaction (HCI) environment with simple virtual switch management.

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Benefits

The product offers various benefits to users who utilize its capacities. Some of these include:

NCI reduces technology sprawl and frees up technical resources to allow organizations to focus on other activities, potentially reducing costs for the business.
The product allows customers to deploy, scale, and bridge to the public cloud to be able to react in evolving business environments.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure improves data availability while simultaneously protecting it against several kinds of failures and attacks.
The solution offers high-performance, resilient distributed storage for all workloads.
Working alongside Nutanix Cloud Platform, NCI offers simple management of data from one console.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure works by the zero trust philosophy, protecting users' apps and data through specially designed security protocols.

Reviews from Real Users

According to Gerhard J., an IT manager at Q4 Fuel, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) provides serious reliability and stability across the entire system makes for ROI.

A solutions architect at a computer software company describes NCI as a stable, straightforward to set up, and scalable solution.

Nutanix

Sample Customers

Cardlytics, AEW Energie, Aubert, Zhongtong Information Service, Commune de Villepinte, Teikyo University Hospital

St. Lukes Health System, the City of Seattle, Yahoo! Japan, Sligro, Empire Life, Hyundai AUS, and many others.

Buyer's Guide

Dell XC Appliance vs. Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

July 2025

Free Report: Dell XC Appliance vs. Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

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