FlexPod XCS vs VxRail comparison

The compared NetApp and Dell Technologies solutions aren't in the same category. NetApp is ranked #1 in CI , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 12.6% mindshare in the category. Dell Technologies is ranked #1 in HCI , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 13.8% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

FlexPod XCS

Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews

3,176 Views
1,493 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

VxRail

Read 134 VxRail reviews

12,930 Views
12,284 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

FlexPod XCS

VxRail

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between FlexPod XCS and VxRail based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about NetApp, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Converged Infrastructure.

To learn more, read our detailed Converged Infrastructure Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Converged Infrastructure

January 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

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

295

Ranking in other categories

Converged Infrastructure (1st)

VxRail

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

134

Ranking in other categories

HCI (1st)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Storage Solutions solutions, they serve different purposes. FlexPod XCS is designed for Converged Infrastructure and holds a mindshare of 12.6%, up 8.4% compared to last year.
VxRail, on the other hand, focuses on HCI, holds 13.8% mindshare, down 20.0% since last year.

Converged Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
FlexPod XCS	12.6%
HPE ConvergedSystem	12.3%
Dell VxBlock System	10.2%
Other	64.9%

Converged Infrastructure

HCI Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
VxRail	13.8%
VMware vSAN	11.4%
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)	8.8%
Other	66.0%

HCI

Featured Reviews

John Kevin

Deputy IT Manager at MBBank

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

Saleh Khalid

computer scientist at Imam University

Experience improved integration and cost-efficiency while facing support challenges

The best features of VxRail are its compatibility with VMware, its hyper-converged solution capabilities, and its single line of support. These are the most beneficial aspects of VxRail. I switched from the previous HP solution to Dell solution because it was a good decision. With HP servers, we dealt with a vendor for the compute servers, another vendor for the storage servers, and another vendor for the networking, which required us to manage multiple vendors. Now, we have a single team who can handle VxRail and a single line of support. We don't need anything other than that, and these are the differences we noticed after we switched.

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 feature of the solution is the flexibility in configuration and the setup."

"We have also seen an improvement in our application performance. Our VM and database environments are able to go as fast as we need them to now."

"This solution has helped to make more things consistent within our organization."

"The data is available, compressed, and deduped."

"It's amazingly scalable. It just works. It can expand to large MetroClusters and keep expanding."

"High availability is outstanding. We haven't had any problems with that."

"The most valuable feature is the one call number for support and the fact that all the documentation comes with it. They have all of the preprepared plans for the deployment model and we can just choose which one we want for VMware, etc. The hardware is all listed. We buy that and away we go. It's called validated design."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the automation point because it's a lot less staff to have to manage it."

More FlexPod XCS pros

"When we have a resource contention, we can easily increase the capacity."

"I like that there is a dependency on the storage controller."

"VxRail does not require fiber switches or external storage. It's easy to replace and manage. It's centralized management through VxRail Manager."

"You don't need to think about compatibility of components."

"This is a good solution if you want to deploy an ACI Environment but don't have all the necessary resources."

"The best features of VxRail are its compatibility with VMware, its hyper-converged solution capabilities, and its single line of support."

"It gives us tons of flexibility. We can create new machines, then destroy them if they don't work out. We test a lot of use cases that may or may not play out. We can build all types of scenarios into virtual machines that we may or may not use. If we don't use them, we just turn them off, no using up resources."

"I would recommend VxRail, it works for most of the use cases."

More VxRail pros

Cons

"Upgrades are always scary because you just don't know. Nobody has six or seven different systems sitting around that you can test on before you go into production data."

"One touch upgrades would be nice."

"The initial setup is complex because it has to be done in a certain way."

"The cost may be high compared to other solutions."

"I'd like to see some more Ansible integration for automation purposes. We automate everything else with Ansible, so it would be great if we could automate our FlexPod with Ansible as well."

"I would like to see drag and drop connectivity to Azure and Amazon."

"The only support call that we have had in six years was related to an ONTAP upgrade, where one of the controllers didn't patch properly."

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

More FlexPod XCS cons

"The tool needs to improve its price."

"We have some issues, but they are possibly out-of-the-box issues. There was a host that was dead on arrival, and there were some file issues on other hosts. We're currently working actively with Dell to resolve all these issues. Once they are resolved, the product should be stable."

"Having a native replication would be an improvement."

"I would like better integration with VCF from VMware, which is the Cloud Foundation tool set, so we can easily provision servers very quickly."

"It's not really flexible with different use cases."

"You cannot install another operating system such as Microsoft or Hyperflex or Nutanix. We have also had a hardware problem."

"We have issues at times with the one-click upgrade, which is bugging us. At times, the one-click upgrade does not work or does not work well."

"While VxRail offers compatibility with AMD processors, its capabilities in this area could benefit from further development."

More VxRail cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"It is expensive. My company is small. When you look at the price point, this is a big thing for us to invest in."

"Storage is very expensive. To buy MIC cards and additional storage either on-prem or in the cloud, the IT department does not have money for it, so you need a more niche product or a more flexible way to store your data. That is the benefit that you get from this product."

"We purchased FlexPod though Datalink."

"We have reduced our manpower with the solution."

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

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

"Cost is the primary factor behind why I would not give this product a perfect rating."

More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice

"VxRail is very cost-effective and affordable in the long term. It is more recommended when it comes to financial life, but it may depend upon the license. VxRail comes with VMware licensing, which may not be that cost-effective as compared to others. With VMware, it's an auto check competition. VMware is an expensive solution, especially for Nutanix. Nutanix have their own hypervisor called Acronis, which is very cost-effective against the VMware. Nutanix is cheaper for the hardware but not for the software. If you ask the Nutanix partners to deploy Nutanix over Cisco servers or Dell EMC servers, the cost will be higher. Nutanix wants to compete financially. Therefore, they propose their software over the Supermicro server, which is a very cheap Chinese server. In fact, I don't like their terms of service. HyperFlex has the highest price, and it is very expensive. I don't know why. It may be because this is a UCS system, which comes from Cisco and is already expensive. When it comes to HyperFlex, they need the labor to deploy Hyper-V, Citrix, or any other hypervisor."

"VxRail has a subscription model usually tagged with the appliance box only."

"When compared with others, the price is very reasonable."

"There is an administrative cost savings. Instead of having seven to 15 separate boxes that someone has to administer on 15 different terminals, you can do the majority of it from one interface. Therefore, it saves on manpower costs."

"VxRail is still more expensive than its competitor solutions."

"We made a one-time purchase of the solution and the price is expensive."

"Price is a bit of a challenge, particularly if you want extra features or higher performance."

"Compare it to what you spent on your last solution."

More VxRail 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

20%

Performing Arts

10%

Educational Organization

Transportation Company

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

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	42
Midsize Enterprise	43
Large Enterprise	56

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

How does HPE Nimble Storage compare to VxRail?

HPE Nimble Storage dHCI Vs. VxRail One of the best things about the HPE Nimble Storage dHCI is the three, two, one, zero rule. That means I need three copies of my data on two different types of me...

See all answers

What Is The Biggest Difference Between vSAN And VxRail?

While both run on the vSAN technology from VMware, vSAN needs to be deployed on vSAN ready nodes while VxRail is an engineered system. The choice to choose which technology depends on two major fac...

See all answers

What are the major differences between VxRail and Dell EMC PowerFlex?

VxRail vs. Dell EMC PowerFlex VxRail provides stable solutions for technical problems while at the same time not being too expensive for a company to invest in. Even if the user is working with a l...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerFlex vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 17% of the time

HPE ConvergedSystem vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 10% of the time

Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 8% of the time

AMAX CloudMax OpenStack vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 6% of the time

More FlexPod XCS Competitors

VMware vSAN vs VxRail

Compared 22% of the time

Dell PowerFlex vs VxRail

Compared 20% of the time

HPE SimpliVity vs VxRail

Compared 18% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs VxRail

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Hyper Converged vs VxRail

Compared 5% of the time

More VxRail Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS

January 2026

Download FlexPod XCS product report

Buyer's Guide

VxRail

January 2026

Download VxRail product report

Also Known As

No data available

VCE VxRail

Overview

FlexPod XCS is the secure platform your applications need from edge to cloud. Easily manage your suite of cloud-native, edge, and enterprise apps. Integrate advanced cloud services without compromising performance, security, reliability, or scale.

NetApp

VxRail is a hyper-converged infrastructure appliance co-engineered by Dell Technologies and VMware, designed to optimize VMware environments by simplifying compute, storage, virtualization, and management.

Built on VMware vSAN software, VxRail ensures high performance, reliability, and flexibility. It supports a broad array of workloads, from business-critical applications to next-generation use cases. VxRail simplifies infrastructure management with powerful integration and seamless scalability, offering centralized management and user-friendly interfaces. Streamlined updates, robust lifecycle management, and one-click upgrades facilitate a user-centric experience that minimizes deployment complexity and staffing needs. However, its performance with disk deduplication, integration with public clouds, and processor support can be enhanced, along with pricing and licensing improvements.

What features define VxRail?

High Performance: Optimized for superior efficiency in VMware environments.
Seamless Scalability: Scales effortlessly to accommodate growing demands.
Centralized Management: Simplifies control through unified interfaces.
Effortless Integration: Easily integrates with VMware tools and services.
Automated Updates: Ensures ongoing system availability through streamlined updates.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Resource Efficiency: Reduces staffing requirements and optimizes resource use.
Flexibility: Supports a variety of use cases and workloads.
Reliable Support: Provides robust support to ensure operational continuity.
Reduced Complexity: Facilitates ease of deployment and minimized setup times.

Organizations across sectors such as finance, telecommunications, education, and manufacturing utilize VxRail for its scalability, ease of deployment, and infrastructure management capabilities. It aids in server and application hosting, storage, and virtualization management, often employing VMware integration. The platform is valued for its ability to consolidate IT components, support VDI solutions, and enhance cloud readiness and resource allocation.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

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

World Wide Technology Inc, Renault Sport Formula One Team, 8x8 Inc, Brownes, Canadian Pacific, Canopy, Denton, EDF, Unilin, Xerox

Buyer's Guide

Converged Infrastructure

January 2026

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