HPE MSA Reviews

We suggest this solution for multiple infrastructures, such as hotels, hospitals, and government projects, are using the solution. For small businesses and other organizations that require a small infrastructure or less scalability, we use any storage solution that meets their needs. However, for organizations that require high scalability and storage capacity, the MSA is the most suitable solution. 

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.

There is room for improvement in terms of scalability. There are times when we need to upgrade the device and the firmware. Sometimes, that can be a struggle.

I have been working with this solution for four to five months. 

It is a stable solution. I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. 

It is a scalable solution. I would rate the solution a ten out of ten. We approximately have more than 35 clients.

If you have proper support paid, you are obviously going to get good support.

There are two main competitors in the market in this space. One is Dell, and the other one is HPE. We faced some problems with Dell's configuration service, which was a bit difficult to use.

In the meantime,  HPE's configuration and build process is easy to use, and its solution is reliable, secure, and has regular firmware and security updates.

I would rate my experience with the initial setup a ten out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy to set up the solution. 

The deployment notdidn't take that much time. YouFor me, it takes about two days, including recording the initial setup and everything. I can provide management IDs and have them up on the website app. We will just be waiting for the user to provide the use cases, which will specify how the volumes need to be and how many volumes are required. According to that, we will create the tools and volumes for them and provide the level of access that they require.

I would rate the pricing as nine out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. The license costs are based on the number of storage units and then the three-year HPE care. 

I will definitely recommend the solution. Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. 

We use StorageWorks for storage.

I like StorageWorks' snapshots for our backup system. We had a pool of SSD and traditional drives. StorageWorks has a feature that transfers the hot data to high-performing drives. 

I have used StorageWorks for nearly 10 years.

StorageWorks is stable. 

The scalability is decent. It's possible to add additional bays for the drives, but I don't know how many you can add. 

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. 

Neutral

I rate HPE StorageWorks MSA five out of 10. 

Our company uses the solution for NAS and SAN storage. We have 30 users who access storage daily. 

We do not plan to increase usage in the short term but plan to do a technology refresh in a few years. 

The solution is pretty transparent and works well. 

The solution requires hardware. 

I have been using the solution for a few years. 

The stability is okay, not too bad. The solution has a very specific use to provide storage so as long as it does not fail, everything is good.

The solution is scalable and you can add additional bays. At some stage, you will need additional TCs.

I have not needed technical support. 

Our company did not previously use another solution. 

The setup is pretty straightforward. 

The solution is hardware so you just have to build the functions of the system including the RAID. It takes a little while, but is straightforward. 

We utilize vendors or system integrators for implementations. 

The solution can be a bit expensive. I rate pricing an eight out of ten. 

I inherited the last generation solution when I joined the team, but am currently looking to move toward hyper-converged solutions. In essence, I want to reduce the footprint and maximize the server.

I am exploring whether HCI can work with the current hardware and reduce the need for additional hardware by using local storage on the server. I want to understand the technology to do a proper comparison. 

I am looking at StorMagic and other options to determine how they reduce the SAN or distribute storage in the ESXI environment. 

The solution is a capable product that does what it is supposed to do. 

I rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

We use HPE StorageWorks MSA as our central storage for our VMware clusters.

The solution is very easy to use, it is not really complex for any user, such as non-technical individuals. We have found it simple to guide our customers when needed. The interface is user-friendly and it is not difficult to configure.

The solution could improve by adding configuration tools.

I have been using HPE StorageWorks MSA for approximately 10 years.

The solution is stable.

I have found the solution to be scalable.

We have approximately 20 customers using this solution.

The support engineers are knowledgeable and resposive.

The installation is straightforward. The time of the installation depends on the environment. However, it typically takes less than one hour.

We use three HPE engineers that do the implementation of the solution.

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 is an entry-level storage system and I would recommend it to others.

I rate HPE StorageWorks MSA an eight out of ten.

We are using virtualization and we use this storage for hosting workloads. We have our own workloads, as well as some for our customers.

It has provided much larger capacities to the existing virtualized environments. we have added 4 additional enclosures as well. 

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

We also use some of the other common features like zoning control, IO metering, and input/output control. 

This product is getting a little bit older, so new features like deduplication are not included. We would like to see the environment updated.

We have been using HPE StorageWorks MSA for more than five years.

This is a very stable product.

We have had hard drives fail, although stability was not an issue because RAID manages situations like this. We simply notify the vendor, they come in and replace it in the background, and the matter is solved.

The scalability is very good. This environment is part of our infrastructure. We are an internet service provider (ISP), so we have our own infrastructure hosted. This includes our link monitoring systems and the authentication service center. We also host a large number of customer workloads on virtual machines, which are all running on this system.

The local HPE support has always been good.

We currently have storage arrays by both HPE and Dell. The product from Dell is the PowerVault system.

We will be purchasing an all-flash array, as well. The requirement is due to the high demand for our customers' environments that are using heavy IO.

The initial setup is straightforward and the deployment is very quick.

We deployed it ourselves, and we had a little bit of support from the vendor. It was not complex because our environment was simple, so we configured it. When we had a doubt about something, we contacted the vendor, but otherwise completed it on our own.

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

HPE was the initial product that we evaluated. We were content with it, so we went straight to implementing it.

So far, our experience with this product has been great. We've had a small number of issues such as a hard disk failure, but that is manageable with RAID so it has not been a problem. This is a product that I recommend for others.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We primarily use this solution for our CCTV cameras and systems.

The solution's most valuable aspect, for our organization, is its stability.

The product is very easy to deploy.

We've found that the solution overall offers very simple management capabilities.

The monitoring capabilities of the product are very good.

The integration capacity is excellent. We were able to easily integrate the solution with both Microsoft and Linux operating systems. 

We are only really using the solution for CCTV purposes. It's very basic. We don't need a lot of bells and whistles. Therefore, for our purposes, we aren't really finding anything that is lacking.

It would be ideal if there was a better management interface. The solution should allow for integration with Java.

We've been using the solution for about five years at this point. It's been a while.

The stability of the product is excellent. It doesn't crash or freeze. There are no bugs or glitches. It's reliable. It's been very good, performance-wise.

We've never tested that scalability. We've never tried to upgrade the service or expand it. Therefore, it wouldn't be possible to comment on its capabilities or our experiences.

We have different IP cameras. There are around 450. In terms of operators, we have just three.

We do plan to continue to use the solution, at least for the next two years or so.

We haven't really contacted technical support too much. We had to reach out once for patching. They were very helpful and the process was very fast. We were satisfied with the level of service provided.

We did not previously use a different solution. This was our first implementation.

The initial setup is quite straightforward. It's very easy to deploy in general. It's not complex at all. A company shouldn't run into any problems during the process.

We were able to integrate it with different operating systems without a problem.

The entire implementation took about one day. It wasn't too long of a process.

I was able to manage the implementation myself. I did not need the assistance of integrators or consultants.

We don't pay monthly or yearly license fees.

I would rate the solution ten out of ten. It's a very good, simple entry-level storage system that allows for the separation of operations. We've been only using basic aspects of the solution, and only for CCTV, however, it has provided us with everything we've need and we are quite satisfied with its performance.

Relating to MSA storage, the simple configuration feature is great. It is very simple, allowing you to set up MSA very easily.

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

I have been using HPE StorageWorks MSA for roughly 15 years.

It's designed for small businesses, not for a large enterprise. The enclosures are enough for this amount of storage. With the sixth generation, we can have nine enclosures and add them to a base chassis.

The scalability could be improved, but it's enough for a small business. If you have a large business, you should opt for HPE Primera or Nimble.

I haven't had to call HP technical support because I am an HP expert and I can set up any HP storage by myself. We have a team of five engineers who handle all maintenance-related issues.

Deployment out-of-the-box until the final configuration took roughly 15 to 30 minutes.

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

HPE OneView is a better solution for managing and monitoring MSA. You can't add MSA Storage to OneView. We can add OneView, but we can't add MSA Storage to OneView for monitoring and management.

Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give HPE StorageWorks MSA a rating of eight. If they improved the central management and lowed the price, I would give it a higher rating.

When we purchased this solution, we work looking to go from a standalone VMware server to a full-fledged host. We have two hosts and we have the SAN, and so it was the most cost-effective at the time for us, as beginners with SAN technology.

We are currently looking to replace this with a newer product because of its age.

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

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

We have been using the HPE MSA 1040 for almost six years.

This is a very stable product.

We have two of these units and we replicate between them with our sister company.

When we purchased it, we had some open drive bays. If we had needed to expand then we could have, but we never had the need to do so.

HP's technical support is great and they helped us with everything.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward.

We paid somebody to take care of the deployment. For both sites, it took about a week to complete.

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

The ongoing support is expensive and they get a good amount of money, but they are so responsive that I don't mind paying for it.

Our shortlist to replace this solution includes products from SimpliVity, Nimble, and Pure Storage.

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

My advice for anybody who is implementing the MSA is to hire somebody to deploy it if you don't have the staff.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

We use HPE StorageWorks MSA for normal servers and as a storage utility.

The cost to performance for HPE StorageWorks MSA is good.

The one feature we value most about HPE StorageWorks MSA is stability.

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

The prices are low. HPE StorageWorks MSA is better than other products.

I would rate HPE StorageWorks MSA eight over 10 because just for our use it is okay.

I guess you'd say it is very durable and reliable, so we use these products in each of our areas. Our company is divided up into different smaller areas, and we use the MSAs to do our data storage and such.

The benefits are definitely reliability and ease of use, because, since we are using the same products, we also know that we can contact HP for assistance if we need it. Basically we use those products because they're small and compact. We can fit them into our racks and we can stack them. So ease of use is a great benefit.

I'm not sure about improvements. I think so far, the way that they're going, the way that the HP roadmap is so far has been pretty good, so I'm happy with what we have, the direction that it's been going so far.

It is a very stable product. Like I say, we use them in all our areas. We have about 30 different program areas and we're using them in most of those program areas due to their reliability and stability.

It is definitely scalable. Like I was saying a little earlier, we use them in all our areas because we know that they're scalable. We can use them to scale up our program area if the area grows.

We always use technical support if we have trouble, like if it breaks and we need to go back on the warranty or if we need assistance with configuration, we do that. We are definitely happy with them.

I was involved in the initial set up. We had to build from scratch, so we had to have all the servers and all the MSAs put into place. It is definitely a straightforward process. Very easy to use and configure.

Our company is basically an HP shop. Cost considerations are definitely important. Reliability and being able to get support from the company are also key issues.

Basically, we have teams, an architect team and senior systems administrative team and we all get together and we discuss the needs of the end-user support. We support a lot of engineers, and they tell us what they're going to be working on and then we do the infrastructure and we figure out the best way to meet their needs.

Basically I would say the same things I said earlier. I would tell him that the products are very easy to use, and there's a lot of online assistance if needed. That's where I always go if I need help, to HP's website for assistance, and if I still really can't figure it out, the customer service is excellent, so that's basically what I would tell them.

Do your own research first on how to configure it and know what you're trying to get out of the equipment prior to trying to install it.