HPE MSA vs VNX [EOL] comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category. Additionally, 92% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

HPE MSA

Read 26 HPE MSA reviews

1,413 Views
1,385 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

VNX [EOL]

Read 36 VNX [EOL] reviews

87% willing to recommend

HPE MSA

VNX [EOL]

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HPE MSA and VNX [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about NetApp, IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network).

To learn more, read our detailed Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

July 2025

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Helped 861,490 peers since 2012

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

HPE MSA

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (5th)

VNX [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Pragnesh Sachania

Deputy Manager IT at La Gajjar

Scalable, easy to manage, and used for virtualization environments

We didn't face any issues with the technical functionality. However, we faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration. The HPE support person who did the installation was very technical. He answered all the queries, and we resolved the entire setup. We set up the storage as per our requirements. We previously used a physical server instead of virtualization. With the help of an HPE engineer and partners, we prepared a strategy for migrating the entire physical servers to our virtualization infrastructure. It took two days to deploy the solution. Six people were involved in the solution's deployment, including two from HPE and four from our IT team.

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Alireza Zabihi

Works at AIT

The Nimble CS-Series has proven to be reliable with 100% uptime

When we started the process of looking for a SAN vendor I had four primary criteria: reliability, performance, cost, and simplicity. We were really looking for a unicorn and were fully expected to have to make compromises in one of those areas. The Nimble CS-Series was recommended by our solutions provider, and we were blown away. Not only was it the most affordable option, but it was the easiest to deploy, had the best performance, and has proven to be reliable with 100% uptime.

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 for customers is the autonomic tiering, which enhances their storage scalability as easily as possible."

"The product is very easy to deploy."

"It has notably provided scalability benefits."

"HPE StorageWorks MSA is an entry-level, cost-effective solution for SMB customers."

"The cost to performance for HPE StorageWorks MSA is good."

"The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility."

"The most valuable features were the dual controllers and being able to expand it."

"Monitoring is a very big thing. Other great features include block storage; volume creation and the data reliability scalability, which makes the solution really good."

More HPE MSA pros

"FAST (auto-tiering): Doesn't require configuration and is managed by the array itself."

"Integration with VMware"

"It is very stable, even during multiple power failures."

"One of the best features of the VNX is the ability to combine drives of different types into a virtual Storage Pool. By combining small but fast flash drives, SAS drives, and high-capacity but slower NL-SAS drives, the VNX can intelligently move data to the different tiers of storage based on usage."

"The implementation of both block and file system storage in a single GUI provides is better situated than most other storages."

"The most valuable feature is the tight VMware integration, due to the migration from bare metal to virtualized environments and then on to the cloud."

"High availability including non-disruptive updates: We cannot afford downtime windows."

"The most valuable feature is the auto-tiering, which helps in the speed of data access."

More VNX [EOL] pros

Cons

"HPE should reintroduce customizable ports as they were in Gen 5, allowing customers to use both iSCSI or SC on a single controller."

"It would be beneficial to have an add-on feature to improve analytics or insight capabilities inside the app."

"Synchronized replication is very important for MSA; however, HPE StorageWorks MSA doesn't provide synchronized replication."

"The solution's license should be integrated and not separate."

"The solution could improve by adding configuration tools."

"The solution requires hardware."

"I rate HPE support four out of 10. I'm not happy with them. We purchased mission-critical support, and we're supposed to get a response in four hours. Instead, I'm waiting days for them to replace the drive. They asked me to send back the failed one, and I don't know the address. After I sent it back, they told me they haven't received it. It's a nightmare."

"We faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration during installation."

More HPE MSA cons

"The scalability is average because the storage has some hardware limitations and, obviously, operating system limitations."

"The CLI could be better documented, like with VMAX."

"Intel Xeon processors with under 2 GHz processing speeds could be replaced with more recent ones."

"The administrative console (Navisphere/Unisphere) needs some improvement, especially on their Java-based GUI. The updated version of Java is not compatible."

"There is no easy way to defrag a RAID group. It would be nice to be able to reduce the size of a storage pool if the storage is not needed anymore."

"It would be very helpful to get an automated report that shows you the size of the checkpoints and get warnings when a checkpoint is reaching either maximum capacity per a file system or hitting the ceiling on the SavVol pool consumption."

"Poor connection to FC."

"The management software used for the VNX is Unicenter. While it is an improvement over Navicenter, used in older EMC SANs, it still feels outdated in comparison to other SAN management software."

More VNX [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is a little high and they should provide more competitive pricing. If you want to increases the storage size there are additional fees."

"This solution is quite expensive; they should lower the cost."

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."

"The solution can be a bit expensive."

"This solution involves a one-time CapEx payment, followed by warranty extensions."

"When we bought this solution it was very reasonably priced and they were willing to deal."

"HPE StorageWorks MSA's licensing is perpetual and not integrated."

"I would rate the pricing as nine out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"Make sure you understand how the licensing works and that you are getting the right set of licenses if you need array-to-array replication."

"Over time, VNX has become pricier than its competitors, and we have turned enthusiastically to Unity."

"The initial pricing and licensing are reasonable, the yearly EMC is more expensive"

"While EMC tends to be on the expensive side, the stability and support of their products are top-notch and I feel are worth the cost."

"The initial pricing and licensing are reasonable. Yearly EMC is more expensive."

"Pricing is somewhat higher, especially in Zambia, perhaps due to the low sales volume."

"Reducing dependency on JavaServer Pages (JSP) could improve the administrative overhead."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Construction Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HPE StorageWorks MSA?

The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StorageWorks MSA?

The pricing of HPE MSA is not deemed reasonable, though their licensing costs compare similarly to other brands. The initial cost is where differences are more apparent.

See all answers

What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?

If it could be a hybrid with SSDs and hard disks, then it would be more economical and efficient.

See all answers

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Comparisons

NetApp FAS Series vs HPE MSA

Compared 43% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs HPE MSA

Compared 27% of the time

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs HPE MSA

Compared 20% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs HPE MSA

Compared 7% of the time

Dell EqualLogic PS series vs HPE MSA

Compared 3% of the time

More HPE MSA Competitors

No data available

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE MSA

July 2025

Download HPE MSA product report

Buyer's Guide

VNX [EOL]

June 2025

Download VNX [EOL] product report

Also Known As

HP StorageWorks MSA

VNX

Overview

Whether you need best-in-class performance or are looking to get the most capacity for your investment, MSA has a fast, affordable solution for you. And every MSA comes with an intuitive setup and management interface anyone can master.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

With EMC VNX you'll have the right blend of flash, capacity, and application-aware software. Scale up storage for midrange workloads, optimized for virtual applications and cloud environments.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank

Samsonite, Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Kindred Healthcare

Buyer's Guide

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

July 2025

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