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FlexPod XCS vs Oracle Private Cloud Appliance comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

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

FlexPod XCS
Ranking in Converged Infrastructure
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
295
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle Private Cloud Appliance
Ranking in Converged Infrastructure
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 9.2%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is 14.9%, up from 10.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Converged Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

John Kevin - PeerSpot reviewer
Enforces standardized setup procedures following Certified Validated Design (CVD) guidelines and offers greater flexibility and control over the system compared to traditional systems
The GUI setup follows the right setup, meaning we have to follow the CVDi.e. Certified Validated Design. Everything is clear, because you can build CI yourself, but without rules, it can be messy. With FlexPod, there are rules to follow, making it more standardized. This helps with troubleshooting and compatibility assessments, simplifying troubleshooting significantly. We also use FlexPod pre-validated architectures to validate the design. It is very, very important to us because we had a bad case in 2015 where separate items integrated poorly due to no version or firmware compatibility certification. Troubleshooting became a nightmare. So, standards are crucial for us, and everything entering production should be verified or at least documented for certification.
Mir Gulzar Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers comprehensive support and performance but initial deployment requires expertise
Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is a complete solution that includes built-in hypervisor management and Appliance Manager, and integrates with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. It simplifies the management of virtual machines, networking, compute, and storage, allowing me to create multiple virtual machines easily without logging into the storage system. It offers free licensing of Oracle Linux and Solaris, and provides high-performance capabilities through extreme performance storage options. Additionally, the product ensures comprehensive customer support.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The virtual environment is a lot more efficient than physical boxes."
"It is easy to add-on to the tool. If we need to add a new switch, a new server, or a new chassis for Blades, it is easy. It is not disruptive. You just do it."
"It is pretty flexible. We are able to deploy faster."
"The data is available, compressed, and deduped."
"I like the combination of the brands that they decided to include, in terms of its compatibility, e.g., they integrated UCS into this solution."
"The most valuable thing for me is the shorter time to market."
"For the management side of our UCS, it is a single pane of glass for multiple people, whether it is data center, sysadmin, or server deployment."
"The most valuable features are that the solution is vetted and validated and it's supported end-to-end."
"You will find the high availability and License Team with Oracle very valuable."
"It has helped us to reduce Oracle licensing costs for database and applications."
"The most valuable features include distinct storage within the Oracle PCA."
"It is scalable as the box can be increased by one compute node, if required."
"Supports connection to most of network topology, such as VLAN and network segmentation."
"Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is a complete solution that includes built-in hypervisor management and Appliance Manager, and integrates with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure."
 

Cons

"A progress bar would...be pretty cool."
"There are times where we have had issues with technical support."
"It would be helpful if they sold a pre-boxed option so that you can buy a rack and everything's already there, everything's connected."
"It would be very helpful if the upgrades for Cisco, VMware, and NetApp could be bundled together and performed at the same time."
"Not a perfect ten because it could use better integration on the network side between UCS and the switching layer. The fact that LACP is not supported on UCS blades isn't so great. It would be nice if it was."
"We haven't seen ROI yet."
"The procedure for contacting technical support could be simplified."
"The ability to manage the templates across sites. We would like to easily take out the configuration of one FlexPod and copy it over, just making minor changes. There is a way to do it, but it's clumsy."
"In comparison to competitors like VMware, there's a perceived need for Oracle to enhance OVM, making it more flexible and user-friendly."
"Patching processing takes a long time. Only one compute node is patched at a time."
"OVM Manager Interface is using HTML5. It should be reconverted to be a Java interface."
"The deployment process of Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is complicated and requires significant knowledge for initial configuration."
"The initial setup was very complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The total cost of ownership with this solution is good."
"We have absolutely seen ROI. We have saved between two to four million dollars on travel alone over the past 24 months."
"We have saved 50 percent on new service deployments."
"The footprint in the data center is quite large, especially when you scale out. Maybe find some hardware in the future, where if a new blade comes out, then Cisco can say, "Look, we'll buy those blades back off you, and we'll give you this blade for X amount of money." A buyback scheme would be good for hardware, and even NetApp as well. Something like a buyback scheme for blades and stuff moving forward would be good, because I know that they're going to put more power into them. E.g., replacing four blades might equal one blade, which would be awesome, but we are still going to have those four blades around. Maybe having something where it will give you this much money for these blades so we can upgrade. That would be perfect."
"We have reduced our manpower with the solution."
"The solution has saved our customers' organization in terms of CapEx. E.g., with the cloud availability, it's turned into sort of a hybrid CapEx/OpEx model."
"It is not going to save you money, but that is not the point. The opportunity to stay competitive in the marketplace is not a cost."
"Because the solution is now stable, we are saving about $100 million USD a year."
"No licenses for the shipped software or firmware."
"If you have many Oracle products, such as databases, middleware, and apps, it will help you reduce Oracle app licences and support costs."
"It is more expensive than the normal solution or the hyper-converged system."
"It is relatively cost-effective."
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Comparison Review

it_user244362 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
20%
Educational Organization
15%
Performing Arts
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
25%
Government
15%
Comms Service Provider
12%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about FlexPod?
The system is designed for easy scaling. Because we define everything clearly. So when we plug the system in, we apply the profile, and it scales easily.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FlexPod?
The pricing is not cheaper, but stability is more important for us now. We focus on business gains, not static numbers. Following XCS rules ensures a stable environment, which is crucial. For me, C...
What needs improvement with FlexPod?
FlexPod should focus more on automation. Integrating an automation tool with FlexPod would enable customers to leverage automation capabilities. More automation would be helpful. Currently, we cont...
What do you like most about Oracle Private Cloud Appliance?
The most valuable features include distinct storage within the Oracle PCA.
What needs improvement with Oracle Private Cloud Appliance?
The deployment process of Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is complicated and requires significant knowledge for initial configuration. Streamlining and simplifying the deployment process would make ...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Private Cloud Appliance?
I use Oracle Private Cloud Appliance ( /products/oracle-private-cloud-appliance-reviews ) as a complete solution for hypervisor management. It includes a built-in hypervisor, Appliance Manager, and...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
Agnitum Information Technologies, Mediacloud, Xait AS, Atos Global Managed Services, CaixaBI, ICA AB, BT Spain, Secure-24, Xait
Find out what your peers are saying about FlexPod XCS vs. Oracle Private Cloud Appliance and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.