FlexPod XCS vs Vblock [EOL] comparison

NetApp and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the Converged Infrastructure category. Additionally, 96% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 84% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

FlexPod XCS

Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews

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859 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Vblock [EOL]

Read 24 Vblock [EOL] reviews

84% willing to recommend

FlexPod XCS

Vblock [EOL]

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between FlexPod XCS and Vblock [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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Converged Infrastructure

October 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

FlexPod XCS

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

295

Ranking in other categories

Converged Infrastructure (3rd)

Vblock [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

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.

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Fred Armantrout

Senior System Specialist at Burns & McDonnell

A reliable and highly-available solution with good technical support

It's difficult to think of anything that needs to be improved because it's a good stable system, but paid support is expensive so the cost of operation could be lowered. In the next release, I would like to see a smaller footprint in the data center and have improvements to disk performance.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is easy to deploy, works well, the reps are good, and the support is great."

"For anyone who needs the flexibility of moving around profiles from physical device to physical device, it really adds an additional layer of virtualization."

"We found FlexPod to be innovative when it comes to compute, storage, and networking. We've taken advantage of their storage optimizations to obtain better use out of the space. We upgraded to All Flash FAS (AFF), which has provided a huge performance increase that we haven't barely scratched the surface of. We have plenty of overhead, so that's always nice when taking on tasks which might have otherwise taxed a smaller system."

"For our DR, we rely heavily on SnapMirror technologies to accomplish our disaster recovery in VMware SRM."

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

"Our data center rack space collapsed and our manpower decreased."

"When you open the box, they give you a very nice diagram. Which was my initial guide through setting up any NetApp SAN. It worked itself out pretty well."

"With the components that come in FlexPod, it has enabled us to reduce connectivity down to one wire, whereas before, we had eight, 12, or 20 wires going to one server."

More FlexPod XCS pros

"Capability for scale and growth within a single rack brings strong possibilities for capacity planning."

"VMware NSX: Provides the ability for our organisation to deliver true DR."

"Access to VMs is now faster due to the centralized management console."

"Systems run solidly."

"The component integration means I don't have to worry about technology mismatches."

"It's an integrated box Mac solution, so it's a plug and play. The deployment and build is pre-made and ready to deploy. It makes it easy to apply."

"The XtremIO All-Flash array delivers performance, reliability, and deduplication."

"Some of the key features are the ease of operation and access, without constraining actions. The tool is available to actually move things around, do things quickly quickly."

More Vblock [EOL] pros

Cons

"One of the things that I've wanted would be availability of a health status, similar to Active IQ from my converged platform, on an app. I have dashboards so I can see the health of the system when I'm in the office, but when I'm not in the office I can't."

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

"Setting up a Cisco USC environment can be complex."

"I want to use the expansion to its fullest extent, scaling by deploying 10 to 15 virtual missions in a given FlexPod."

"I would like to see more cloud-centric modules that are specific to applications and more software-based solutions. That's all that is missing."

"We would like to have more monitoring and reporting, because today some of the reporting, and if you purchase it separately is expensive. We use OnCommand Unified Manager today, which is great, but we are looking for more of that."

"Something that we struggle with because we're a relatively small scale organization and the administrative effort is spread across so many different pieces of infrastructure, it would be nice to have a set of tools that enables us to get a little bit more information out of our system."

"The networking configurations with UCS need improvement."

More FlexPod XCS cons

"VCE tools, like Vision or AMP were not stand alone, and depended too much on other management consoles."

"In the next release, I would like to see a smaller footprint in the data center and have improvements to disk performance."

"RCM upgrades were not scripted, and you needed to roll on your own. We were led to believe this would be otherwise."

"While most public clouds are deployed on Linux, there is current no certified Vblock working on KVM hypervisors."

"With respect to the technical support, there is room for improvement."

"Tighter alignment could simplify and speed up the configuration and delivery process."

"OEM services requires too much planning and low availability of certified engineers."

"Troublesome relationships with VCE at the beginning of our use came undone quickly after we went live."

More Vblock [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"We have seen our data center rack space collapse about 90 percent. We have a data center which only has two racks now out of the 20 that were there previously."

"FlexPod has saved data center costs, due to the fact that we reduced our footprint for storage in a big way. We went from three complete racks down to a 2U storage array for more than 300 terabytes of storage."

"We have saved time with Snapshots, SnapMirrors, and backup and DR capabilities versus other platforms that we have looked at in the past."

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

"The scalability is very good. I wish it was a more cost-effective, but you get what you pay for."

"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."

"The scalability is very expensive."

More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice

"The paid support for Vblock is expensive."

"Related to tech support: I believe it is too expensive."

"I think the pricing is on the higher end of the spectrum. There could be some adjustments that could be made there. Regarding licensing, watch compatibility with external products that you run on Vblock. It has got to be properly architected, otherwise, you will run into licensing issues."

"It is not cheap."

"Vblock appears from the first while to be very expensive. There are more items you cannot see in the BOQ: customer service, support, delivery short time, and highly experienced VCE engineers."

"Strive for a consolidated ELA."

"Vblock is priced at a premium because people don't want the headache of managing and deploying different products."

"I would not say the pricing is not good value. It is still on the expensive side, near the top-end of cost compared to what's available now. Also, the licensing has to be improved. There has to be a clear definition of the licensing from the initial set-up so the customer knows what they are paying for, without being hit later on with extra licensing. The licensing definitions should be clearer and, perhaps, have one set of licenses rather than multiple licenses."

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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

22%

Educational Organization

11%

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

No data available

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	10
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	15

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

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Comparisons

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Compared 30% of the time

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 14% of the time

Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 13% of the time

HPE Hyper Converged vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 12% of the time

HPE ConvergedSystem vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 11% of the time

More FlexPod XCS Competitors

Dell VxBlock System vs Vblock [EOL]

Compared 100% of the time

More Vblock [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS

October 2025

Download FlexPod XCS product report

Buyer's Guide

Vblock [EOL]

September 2025

Download Vblock [EOL] product report

Also Known As

No data available

VCE Vblock

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

VCE Vblock Systems is an all-in-one virtualization platform that integrates the leading storage, network, and compute technologies from the likes of EMC, VMware and Cisco. VCE Vblock allows organizations to easily and securely deploy cloud computing and virtualization in their environments, supporting these multiple technologies and providing flexibility and agility for changing business needs.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

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

Xerox, ACS, and Columbia Sportswear.

Buyer's Guide

Converged Infrastructure

October 2025

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