Our use case mainly involves running our exchange server 2019 on the SimpliVity, along with other healthcare-related servers that are also on HP, including the domain controller. We are moving away from HP because of their support issues and solutions.
The most valuable function we found in Hyper-Converged is the application version we are currently using, which is HP SimpliVity version 4.1.0.266, although we are not fully satisfied with it. We have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers without issues. We occasionally replace one or two servers, but the majority are still functioning well. We've relied on Dell's EqualLogic storage for over ten years, receiving many alerts but overall having a perfectly functioning setup in the back end.
Dell's support is an area that needs improvement as their product reliability is good, but the support is not as strong as HP's. I suggest that Dell should include a built-in backup solution in VxRail, similar to what we find in Sangfor, where the backup feature is integrated.
We have been working with HP Hyper-Converged for around five years.
We have never faced unplanned downtime with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers.
After HP SimpliVity, the hyper-converged solution, we are not using any more HP servers. We are working with Nutanix and Sangfor, and previously we also worked with Dell. Initially, these servers were with Dell, but we moved them to HP SimpliVity after the hardware expired. Our reason for this shift was based on a technical and financial comparison, as we got a better price from HP.
Dell's pricing has been high for us, which led us to move to SimpliVity.
We are still working with Nutanix products, and we also moved to another vendor called Sangfor. We are using HP SimpliVity as our hyper-converged solution, but we are not satisfied with their services and support. We have 24 nodes of HP SimpliVity, and this year we decide not to renew the contract as we plan for one more solution which could be Nutanix to replace the SimpliVity.
We use Dell's EqualLogic storage technology and Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers R740, R730, R740, and R750 servers. We are also using some applications and one or two servers from HP for Cisco operations. We have been working with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for maybe ten years. We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for our healthcare applications and for running an old version of the exchange server.
The main benefits we receive from Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are stability and reliability. While we occasionally receive complaints about hard disk failures, overall, we find the solution satisfactory. We could not continue with Dell due to high pricing, but we have transitioned to HP and are now moving to Sangfor and Nutanix.
Flexibility-wise, both Dell and HP solutions are okay for us, as we run VMware on Dell hardware, managing around 120 to 130 virtual machines. In the past, we primarily used Dell while paying to Dell and VMware, but given the changes in VMware's pricing after Broadcom's acquisition, we are now transitioning to HCI solutions that provide similar features.
We cannot give a proper estimation of power consumption due to high cooling and availability in our data center, but our HCI solutions consume less electricity now compared to older Dell servers, which had high energy consumption. We are not familiar with AI workloads, as no one has presented this feature to us. We purchased the product from a third-party business partner.
When comparing Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers with HP SimpliVity, we see that they serve different purposes; Dell operates standalone on VMware, whereas HP is a hyper-converged solution. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers stands out as a better option in this context. Overall, we give Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a final rating of six out of ten.