HPE BladeSystem Reviews

For an x86 infrastructure. 

• Databases
• Virtualized environment
• Application servers
• Exchange and analytical applications

Linux and Windows are the OSs.

• Ease of use
• Reliable
• Scalable
• Simple 

This has drastically reduced our datacenter space, has good cooling and power consumption. Cabling complexity and volume have been reduced.

• Reliable backplane
• Excellent throughput
• Virtual Fabric and interconnects are easy to configure and maintain. 
• Wide choice in mixing SAN and LAN.

• Storage capacity could be enhanced.
• Higher bandwidth interconnects could be introduced.
• OA updates and upgrades have to be made simpler.

Our primary use case of this solution is for VMware. It performs well.

Consolidation.

Virtual Connect.

We are looking for a new product more inline with our goal. We are looking to switch because of the size formatting and the datacenter. 

It is really stable, however the motherboard sometimes crashes.

No issues with scalability. We can scale by adding another enclosure.

The technical support is helpful. They changed the PCs when the motherboards crashed. I feel like I reach the right person whenever I call them.

The initial setup was straightforward.

HPE provided support during the implementation.

The price could be cheaper.

SimpliVity and Dell.

Buy it. I recommend it.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: scalability and durability.

By implementing VMware on our systems, we increased the utilisation of resources, and the hardware is highly performant with no failures.

The C7000 Blade System is an all-in-one; I like blades.

No issues with stability.

No issues with scalability.

Tech support is good to very good.

We have been using the same products. No switch.

Initial setup is straightforward and easy.

Use top technology and spare yourself the problems and money lost from hardware failure.

We did not really consider any other options.

Go ahead and implement it.

We are very happy with flexible NIC configuration features which are possible if you combine the BladeServers with HPE flex switches in the enclosures. You can mix and match the speed of your servers' NIC ports. Its also very easy and fast to deploy new servers.

It hasn't really made a big impact on our organization. We are not that big, only three people in the server operations group. The use of blade servers has had no impact on organization.

Non-disruptive firmware upgrades in all areas of blade technology.

No issues. They have been running very stable through all these years. Of course we have seen memory module, disk, and power supply failures, but not more than we would expect.

No issues.

Tech support is very effective and fast but it depends on the level of your support agreement. We had the P24 level and HPE are very responsive.

We did not have a previous solution.

It was quite straightforward. You have to decide the right power supply option for your enclosure. The best solution is to have PDU in the racks and let the enclosures get power from them. We made the wrong decision with our first enclosures, which were delivered with 3Ph power supplies built in, which made the initial preparation and later relocation more expensive for each enclosure. Today, you can’t buy the 3Ph power supplies.

None.

• It’s advisable to maintain and operate an updated HPE management solution along with the BladeSystem, which will assist in failure alerting, operations, automation, etc. 
• Remember that blades are most cost effective if you can fill all the bays in the enclosures. 
• It's advisable to use HPE networking switches, if your networking department can accept this.

OA management: Easy to manage from one console.

• Management
• Diagnostic
• Monitoring installed servers becomes easier
• HW maintenance and management becomes easier 

• Management
• Monitoring

More than 10 years.

None at all.

None at all.

I would rate technical support at a nine out of 10.

Yes, HPE DL Servers. We switched to blade for scalability, optimization, and to improve our datacenter power, networking, space, etc.

It was straightforward.

Consult and check with the HPE pre-sales team before ordering and selecting the best products needed for your applications.

No.

Check your actual needs before ordering and starting with fewer number of servers and higher interconnect switches, and then having to add items according to your needs.

BladeSystem is a way to consolidate in a datacenter the maximum system in a small space because are company is in the middle of Paris, so space is a premium.

It is also good way to run VM, that is the way that we are using BladeSystem. 

It's also a way to manage with our specific tools, to run with it.

It's improved the factor, increased the number of VMs easily.

I would like to see lower consumption of electricity and there are some problems in our computer room regarding the cooling. The power supply and the power unit could, perhaps, be improved, but it's very stable is the main point.

It's really stable because we have been using the C2-7000, for a long time. Of course we increased the version of the blade itself, but the rack is still the same. It's a good value.

We can have, if I remember correctly, 16 blades or something like that. We can have a half blade or full-size blade, so it's a way to manage our rack with the maximum scalability according to the power that we need.

We're using it. It's really good because the engineers that support our infrastructure are really good and, fortunately for them, there aren't problems very often.

It was not really complex. Straightforward.

We considered Cisco but it's not really a good idea for us because we have worked with HPE for a long time. Hardware is one thing but support, and the people behind the support, is another thing. We are happy with HPE.

It is a good solution. Reliable, stable. Try it and you will see.

Ease of use.

Our requirement is 99.9999% uptime. That is what we have experienced from these servers.

With the technology advancements, both the OEMs improve their products for best performance. I would also prefer additional improvements in thermal design and management of servers.

HPE Servers for seven years (HP ProLiant SL6000) and HPE Blade for five years (BL460c & Rack). 

All in working condition

No issues.

No issues.

The technical support is the best.

We have used SGI, Sun, and IBM and now Fujitsu. The procurement is thru open or limited tender only.

The initial setup is mixed between being straightforward and complex.

We have well-defined process for the technical evaluation of pricing.

We evaluate all the responses to our requirements. After the selection is made for two to three products. Then commercials are checked and the best price solution is selected.

Check the literature and reviews available for the product. Ask and clarify all the queries before freezing on the requirements.

Customer installations for 10 years.

• Virtual Connect
• FlexFabric

Simple and easy installation.

Networking.

We have been installing it for customers for 10 years.

No issues.

Some bugs, which were solved by a firmware update.

No issues.

Good.

No.

It is straightforward. We followed the procedures.

We are the vendor team.

Excellent.