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

2,462 Views
2,413 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, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM and others in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network).

To learn more, read our detailed Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

June 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

HPE MSA

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (3rd)

VNX [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Jacques Petit

Administrative Assistant at EUIPO - European Union Intellectual Property Office

Ease of management and seamless storage optimization empower effective data handling

The user web interface is a bit slow, but it is really easy to use, although you still have to wait a bit when you send an operation. We have had some drive failures, but with the redundancy, we had no data loss. We just had to replace the disk, and it goes automatically well. The main difficulty is the firmware upgrade of disks, as it means stopping all the servers to make the upgrade. It would be beneficial to have it done in the background, stopping a disk and upgrading it while keeping the system running. Regarding responsiveness of the web interface, the same issue exists with iLO on the servers, where the interface is also a bit slow. However, with the new servers, it is always faster. The small CPU dedicated to that task does not have a lot of power since it is not the main task of the machine, making it less of a real problem and just a question of responsiveness.

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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.

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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

"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."

"The integration with Veeamware, with VAM for backup, is improved with the new version."

"The speed and performance of HPE MSA are admirable."

"So far, our experience with this product has been great."

"The most valuable features are the storage levels and snapshot features."

"This is a good product and everything I needed it to do, it did and still does."

"We use the MSA outside of our data center, and it's a nice robust platform that we can use without buying a whole enterprise SAN, so it gives us the flexibility we need."

More HPE MSA pros

"I have worked on CLARiiON and all series of VNX."

"I think it's a good solution; it has many benefits and features that are of interest for many customers."

"EMC storage has the best performance and functions."

"It has a good, high-level of storage."

"We moved from CX with FC/SATA to VNX with SSD, SAS, NL-SAS and using SSD as Fast Cache we have seen huge performance gains in certain operations."

"Integration with VMware"

"Depending on how simple the customer needs it to be, might sway my recommendation one way or the other, but in terms of functionality, VNX is very very good."

"In one cabinet, we have many environments: VMware, Oracle, Adabas, NAS (CIFS and NFS resources), and mix disks on tier configurations Tier configuration with different disks (SAS, SATA, Flash) The software for management is very user-friendly Snapshots for backup and refresh development on test environments"

More VNX [EOL] pros

Cons

"It's a fairly simple product to set up as well, but it's a little bit more entry level; for those customers that can't afford something larger or whatnot, but would still like to get that shared storage or that SAN functionality."

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

"The support contract is expensive, although they are very responsive."

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

"HPE StorageWorks MSA could maybe include a pay-top of texture feature or something like job replication."

"The solution could improve by adding configuration tools."

"Some clients have suggested room for improvement in expanding storage capacity beyond the base traces."

"GUI can be improved Firmware updates need improvement Hardware could use a little refinement. (The fiber ports on one controller pushed through the case causing us to replace that controller under warranty."

More HPE MSA cons

"Poor connection to FC."

"Oracle is never the cheaper solution. Compared to others, it is always among the most expensive."

"There were scalability issues, the scalability options are limited due to supported SSD."

"So far we haven't had many issues with the VNX. However, the Data Mover (that manages CIFS/NFS) part needs some improvements."

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

"There is an easy replication process between distinct data centers via VPLEX and/or RPA. But I hope in the future that EMC/Dell could replicate this with other types of storage."

"It is not the easiest product to implement and manage, especially on the NAS side, but that is now fixed in its successor product from Dell EMC called Unity."

"They don’t quite provide enough security in the data centre."

More VNX [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The solution can be a bit expensive."

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

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."

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

"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."

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

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

"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."

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

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

"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, the yearly EMC is more expensive"

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	23

Questions from the Community

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

I did not compare the cost of HPE MSA with others because we buy with a framework contract, and HP is the only brand available on that contract, so we have no comparison.

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What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for HPE StorageWorks MSA?

We use HPE MSA as storage for the VMware servers, and we will try to use Proxmox server later on, but currently, we use VMware.

See all answers

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Comparisons

NetApp FAS Series vs HPE MSA

Compared 25% of the time

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs HPE MSA

Compared 18% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs HPE MSA

Compared 11% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs HPE MSA

Compared 10% of the time

Infortrend ESVA Storage Array vs HPE MSA

Compared 9% of the time

More HPE MSA Competitors

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs VNX [EOL]

Compared 31% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs VNX [EOL]

Compared 20% of the time

Oracle Sun ZFS Storage Appliance vs VNX [EOL]

Compared 14% of the time

More VNX [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE MSA

June 2026

Download HPE MSA product report

Buyer's Guide

VNX [EOL]

May 2026

Download VNX [EOL] product report

Also Known As

HP StorageWorks MSA

VNX

Overview

HPE MSA is a reliable storage solution offering dual controllers and easy management, ideal for SMBs. Known for stability, scalability, and affordability, it is user-friendly with features like autonomic tiering and robust disaster recovery, serving virtualization environments and data centers.

With dual controllers and simplified setup, HPE MSA is tailored for ease of management and high reliability. Its design supports scalability and cost-effective operation, catering well to SMBs. Autonomic tiering, snapshots, and data deduplication enhance its performance, while strong integration and flexibility solidify its role in robust operations. Despite benefits, users note expensive support contracts and desires for improved features like synchronized replication and cloud connectivity. Improvements in data security and integration, along with better firmware updates and monitoring tools, are suggested. Its functionality spans NAS, SAN storage, managing VMware clusters, and hosting varied workloads, fitting well into infrastructures like hotels and hospitals.

What are the key features of HPE MSA?

Dual Controllers: Facilitates high availability by allowing seamless failover.
Simple Management: User-friendly interface for easy configuration and monitoring.
Autonomic Tiering: Automatically optimizes data placement for performance.
Snapshots and Data Deduplication: Enhance data protection and storage efficiency.
Transparent Operations: Ensures minimal disruption during operations.
Flexible Integration: Offers adaptability with power and network options.
Disaster Recovery: Reliable with global spare support.

What should users expect in terms of benefits and ROI?

Cost-Effectiveness: Affordable for SMBs, providing excellent ROI.
Scalability: Flexibility to grow with organizational needs.
Performance Stability: Consistent performance, even during power outages.
Easy Configuration: Simplifies setup and management to save time and resources.

HPE MSA finds applications in virtualization, data centers, and CCTV systems. Organizations leverage it for NAS and SAN storage, making it suitable for VMware clusters and workloads like file servers and databases. Its scalability makes it adaptable for hotels, hospitals, and government projects, integrating with server services for centralized management.

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)

June 2026

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