FlexPod XCS vs Rackspace OpenStack comparison

Why PeerSpot?

NetApp and Rackspace Technology are both solutions in the Converged Infrastructure category. NetApp is ranked #2, while Rackspace Technology is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.7. NetApp holds a 12.7% mindshare in CI, compared to Rackspace Technology’s 7.1% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Rackspace Technology users who would recommend it.

FlexPod XCS

Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews

12,603 Views
9,200 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Rackspace OpenStack

Read 18 Rackspace OpenStack reviews

2,811 Views
1,940 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

FlexPod XCS

Rackspace OpenStack

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

Rackspace OpenStack and FlexPod XCS are competing in the cloud infrastructure category. Rackspace OpenStack has the upper hand in scalability and flexibility due to its open-source nature, while FlexPod XCS shines in performance and integration through its pre-engineered solutions.

Features: Rackspace OpenStack offers an open-source architecture with a high degree of customization options, making it ideal for those needing extensive control over their cloud environments. It supports scalability and seamless integration with various third-party tools, enhancing cloud deployment flexibility. FlexPod XCS provides integrated infrastructure utilizing Cisco and NetApp technologies, ensuring performance optimization and reliability. Its design enables simplified deployment and excellent scalability, supporting robust performance for high-demand workloads.

Room for Improvement: Rackspace OpenStack could improve by simplifying its deployment process and enhancing user interface usability for less tech-savvy users. Supporting more out-of-the-box integrations with popular enterprise applications could also increase its attractiveness. Additionally, offering better documentation and educational resources might help users maximize the platform's capabilities. FlexPod XCS might benefit from more competitive pricing models to reach a broader audience. Its hardware dependence may limit customization options, suggesting potential enhancements towards software-defined configurations. Furthermore, expanding its integration capabilities with non-Cisco or NetApp solutions could also add value for diverse IT environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Rackspace OpenStack requires a more intricate deployment process due to its customization options; however, it excels in offering tailored customer support that helps users address specific needs. FlexPod XCS boasts a simpler deployment process due to its pre-integrated design, reducing the time and complexity involved in setup. Its customer service benefits from industry partnerships, providing a robust support network.

Pricing and ROI: Rackspace OpenStack typically features lower upfront costs owing to its open-source nature, presenting a favorable ROI for businesses capable of managing in-house solutions. On the other hand, FlexPod XCS demands a higher initial investment due to its engineered infrastructure but potentially offers better ROI over time by minimizing operational complexities and maximizing efficiency. Businesses should weigh the cost savings of OpenStack's flexibility against FlexPod's reduced management overhead and enhanced productivity.

To learn more, read our detailed FlexPod XCS vs. Rackspace OpenStack Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS vs. Rackspace OpenStack

September 2026

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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

FlexPod XCS

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

295

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Rackspace OpenStack

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 12.7%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rackspace OpenStack is 7.1%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Converged Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
FlexPod XCS	12.7%
Rackspace OpenStack	7.1%
Other	80.2%

Converged Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

John Kevin

Infrastructure Director at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

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.

Read full review

Shbhaves Shbhaves

Manager Dev Ops at MSD

Private cloud control has deepened my DevOps automation and strengthened security practices

For improvement, I feel the documentation available for setting up and creating infrastructure using Rackspace OpenStack could be enhanced, as I personally find the existing documents are not sufficient for new learners or beginners. We can also work on improving the user interface; the Horizon dashboard is functional, but compared to AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, the UI feels somewhat dated. A more modern, intuitive interface with better navigation would enhance the overall user experience, especially for new users. Improving the documentation, including more real-world deployment examples, troubleshooting guides, and architecture best practices, would make onboarding much easier. Faster upgrades would also help; Rackspace OpenStack upgrades can sometimes be complex, so simplifying the upgrade process and minimizing downtime would assist organizations in maintaining their environments more easily. Additionally, improving monitoring capabilities would be beneficial, with advanced monitoring and analytics dashboards providing administrators deeper visibility into performance, capacity, and potential issues without relying heavily on third-party tools. Adding more managed services, similar to what public cloud providers offer, could reduce operational overhead while still allowing customers to retain the flexibility of a private cloud. Lastly, integrating AI could be valuable, with AI-driven recommendations for capacity planning, security monitoring, and automated troubleshooting improving platform management.

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

"It's an all-in-one validated design; we don't have to worry about making sure that thing A supports thing B, as it's all top-down, integrated, and validated, which means for us, it's going to just work."

"It reduces the time required to dynamically provide applications to our end users and developers."

"The ease of expansion is the most valuable feature."

"Based on the fact that our clients can use code to program the system, they are able to deploy solutions that are a lot more reliable, enabling them to focus more on their business rather than solving technology problems."

"The main advantage is consolidating everything into a single rack, which helps optimize power consumption, especially in CRM."

"Peer organizations have recently purchased SolidFire and have seen a tremendous increase in their performance, not only just with speed, but with reliability."

"The most valuable features of the solution are the ease of support and industry leading technology – in storage, servers and networking, as well as virtualization."

"Overall, this is a good solution; it has saved us time on the setup, as well as maintaining the system, and we haven't had to do a whole lot of troubleshooting with it."

More FlexPod XCS pros

"The initial setup isn't too difficult."

"Rackspace OpenStack impacted my organization positively in that the drive helped me keep files in an organized folder, and obviously we needed email addresses to be able to communicate with each other and for outsiders to be able to email us."

"The documentation was plentiful and very helpful."

"The most useful opinion about Rackspace OpenStack is that it is very flexible, first of all, and the most important feature is that it is feature-rich."

"Apart from the main features, I really appreciate OpenStack's microservices architecture and its flexibility for deployment with different tools."

"Rackspace OpenStack has positively impacted my organization by bringing us much closer to our customers based on the supportability this platform provides, and it has unique features which are very useful for our customers."

"Customer Service: Top. Technical Support: Top"

"Rackspace OpenStack positively impacts my organization by making processes easier since I do not need to manage all servers manually because it efficiently manages server operations and maintains proper data, which saves time."

More Rackspace OpenStack pros

Cons

"Possibly the UCS could get a bit better. Other than that, overall I don't necessarily have any sorts of constraints or issues with it. It's done the job that it's been bought to do."

"If you have expertise setting up such environments, then you are good, but for customers or novices, it becomes a nightmare and stuff may actually be left out."

"Installation with FlexPod is a bit complex, but it can be upgraded easily. I think Flexpod is phasing out, but it is still the right solution."

"FlexPod's technical support is bad, as with everything regarding Cisco support."

"There are times where we have had issues with technical support."

"We did run into some hiccups around some different things."

"We would like one-click upgrades."

"This is an expensive solution."

More FlexPod XCS cons

"In terms of what needs to be improved, I would say the support. Rackspace might have some good support but the open source OpenStack doesn't have support because there are too many versions coming and too many people are customizing it."

"As a beginner, I find some difficulties in understanding Rackspace OpenStack, as it can be complex without a foundational grasp of cloud and networking concepts."

"The seamless integration between MySQL services and the rabbitMQ database can be revised during the debugging phase."

"VMware has a side-to-side replication feature, which is still more mature than Rackspace OpenStack's which can't be used in a production environment."

"The line migration is a problem."

"For improvement, I feel the documentation available for setting up and creating infrastructure using Rackspace OpenStack could be enhanced, as I personally find the existing documents are not sufficient for new learners or beginners."

"We are moving from Rackspace OpenStack to CloudStack due to the requirement of human resources and technicality. There are lots of moving parts in Rackspace OpenStack."

"Rackspace OpenStack can be improved because it wasn't clear that you have to cancel 30 days before; otherwise they charge you for the month."

More Rackspace OpenStack cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The NetApp portion was a $5 million investment five years ago. That has served the customer well over five and a half years."

"I have saved time on new service deployments. I've done deployments in under a week, and if it's a cloud-based deployment, it's even faster."

"We definitely saw a lot of operational cost savings using FlexPod. As far as capital outlay goes, that was a little bit too much for us to swallow and we weren't able to recognize enough savings in that area to afford it."

"We have absolutely seen ROI. We have saved between two to four million dollars on travel alone over the past 24 months."

"I find the licensing and pricing structure to be favorable."

"We purchased from CDW•G. They are great partners on the government side."

"We have saved time, money, space, and power consumption on new service deployments. We have a data center in Toronto which had ten racks on one of the new servers. This was all reduced to two racks with six chassis, which is amazing."

"It is not cheap, but there is a return on investment in time saved and efficiency."

More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice

"I use it as an open-source tool."

"The pricing is low."

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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

Financial Services Firm

14%

Outsourcing Company

13%

Construction Company

12%

Marketing Services Firm

11%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	34
Midsize Enterprise	66
Large Enterprise	182

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	8

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What needs improvement with Rackspace OpenStack?

I cannot comment comprehensively on how Rackspace OpenStack can be improved, as I do not find that much difference; however, some areas can be improved, such as support for OEMs deploying highly sp...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Rackspace OpenStack?

My main use case for Rackspace OpenStack is that we are particularly using it for our OpenStack applications, where we are putting our applications on Rackspace OpenStack software day-to-day. A spe...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Rackspace OpenStack?

I rate Rackspace OpenStack an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. I chose 8 out of 10 for Rackspace OpenStack because every product has some space to improve. Regarding Rackspace OpenStack's AI capabilities, ...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

IBM VersaStack vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 15% of the time

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Compared 14% of the time

HPE ConvergedSystem vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 10% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 8% of the time

VMware vSAN vs Rackspace OpenStack

Compared 8% of the time

More Rackspace OpenStack Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS

September 2026

Download FlexPod XCS product report

Buyer's Guide

Rackspace OpenStack

September 2026

Download Rackspace OpenStack product report

Also Known As

No data available

OpenStack

Overview

FlexPod XCS offers a seamless integration with existing IT systems, enhancing both scalability and usability. It simplifies complex IT environments with unified support and a pre-validated design, making it invaluable for mission-critical applications.

FlexPod XCS effectively manages diverse IT infrastructures by providing a comprehensive end-to-end solution. Its integration capabilities allow for efficient storage and compute operations, while users value its flexibility and high reliability. The platform ensures significant time savings and operational efficiency by reducing troubleshooting and facilitating seamless expansion. Known for supporting varied environments and workloads, FlexPod XCS optimizes resource management and is compatible with prominent cloud systems like AWS and Azure, thus supporting cloud, private, and multi-cloud strategies.

What are the key features of FlexPod XCS?

Integration: Connects efficiently with existing systems for smoother operations.
Scalability: Allows seamless expansion to accommodate growing demands.
End-to-End Solution: Reduces complexity via unified support and pre-validated designs.
Flexibility: Manages both storage and compute effectively.
Cloud Compatibility: Integrates with AWS, Azure, and other cloud environments.

What benefits should users look for when evaluating FlexPod XCS?

Reliability: High dependability ensures uninterrupted operations.
Operational Efficiency: Streamlined processes lead to time savings.
Resource Optimization: Better management across IT infrastructures.
Seamless Expansion: Easily scales without excessive reconfiguration.

FlexPod XCS is widely used in industries like finance, healthcare, and education for data center virtualization and telecom operations. It enhances IT consolidation, optimizes resource utilization, and supports efficient disaster recovery solutions in diverse environments, making it a favored choice for hosting data storage and hybrid cloud infrastructure.

NetApp

Rackspace OpenStack offers potent infrastructure concepts, customization options, and scalability with commodity servers, supporting microservices, virtualization, and numerous integrations, all beneficial for advanced IT deployments.

Known for its robust infrastructure and flexible deployments, Rackspace OpenStack caters to enterprises with complex IT management needs. It excels in virtualization and data analytics while enhancing server management with microservices architecture. Companies leverage it for effective infrastructure as code management, integrating tools like GitLab and Jenkins, offering a sought-after platform for deploying private clouds and managing diverse workloads efficiently.

What are the standout features of Rackspace OpenStack?

Infrastructure Flexibility: Easily configurable infrastructure with commodity servers.
Customization Options: Adaptable for unique enterprise needs.
Scalability: Supports increasing workloads effectively.
Integrations: Seamless integration with tools like GitLab and Jenkins.
Virtualization Capabilities: Lowers operational expenses and simplifies hardware changes.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Lower operational costs through virtualization.
Enhanced Flexibility: Microservices architecture offers advanced adaptability.
Data Management: Effective for big data services and data analytics.
Migration Support: Facilitates on-premises migration from the cloud.

Enterprises utilize Rackspace OpenStack across industries for tasks like large data management and private cloud deployment. It supports streamlined infrastructure management and eCommerce integration with Akamai. Often chosen for website development and deploying managed services, it meets diverse deployment needs efficiently.

Rackspace Technology

Sample Customers

University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group

X.commerce

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS vs. Rackspace OpenStack

September 2026

Free Report: FlexPod XCS vs. Rackspace OpenStack

Find out what your peers are saying about FlexPod XCS vs. Rackspace OpenStack and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.

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