VxRail Reviews

We primarily use VxRail for small-scale deployments in our organization. Our virtual machines and AD servers run on it, utilizing no more than four nodes due to its high recovery capabilities. We rely on it exclusively for storage and computing needs.

VxRail uses a plug-and-play concept, so you can easily add nodes. While the initial implementation might be complex, you won't need a dedicated team to manage it once it's fully set up. VxRail supports straightforward scaling, allowing you to add as many nodes as needed for upgrades and simplifying the upgrade process.

There's a specific procedure to follow when shutting down a VxRail system. The process can be complex due to the system's configurations and load balancing. Because VxRail uses node-based configurations, handling shutdowns, restarts, or reboots might seem challenging. Simplifying this process could improve the overall user experience.

I have been using VxRail for six to seven years.

The device is stable.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

It is a strong player in the cloud market. While it may sometimes be more expensive, it is well-suited for on-premises needs. 

400 users use this solution, but not everyone is deployed on the VxRail virtual machine because we migrate them to the cloud.

I rate it as ten out of ten.

The initial setup of VxRail can be challenging for someone without a strong background in virtual machines. If a team lacking experience with these systems is tasked with the setup, seeking support from DirectTel for the implementation process may be beneficial. The deployment takes more than six to seven hours.

I rate the initial setup a five out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

It's too expensive.

I recommend that Dell focus on extending the product lifecycle of VxRail to around eight years instead of frequently releasing new products. This approach could lead to a better return on investment.

When comparing large-scale and medium-scale companies to small-scale ones, VxRail is generally more suitable for medium to large enterprises. Small-scale businesses may not require the advanced features of VxRail and might find it less cost-effective for their needs. VxRail can be a good fit for medium and large companies, offering scalability and efficiency that align with their demands. It can be cost-effective in the long run, especially considering total lifecycle benefits.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

The solution is used in our organization for hardware consolidation. VxRail is also used in our company to run compute and database workloads. 

In our organization, whenever we require support from VxRail, we call a single support line where we get the issues resolved over the same call, whether it's a hardware or software issue with VxRail.

The present SaaS model license structure can be improved. Our company prefers perpetual licensing instead of the license that expires along with outdated hardware. Whenever the hardware for running VxRail needs to be replaced in our company, the license must be repurchased. 

In future releases from the vendor, I would prefer that other parts of the VMware environment, such as NSX, be integrated with the VxRail bundle. Presently, the vendor offers NSX as an add-on feature.  

I have been using VxRail for six years. 

I would rate the stability a ten out of ten. The solution is exceptionally resilient. Even when we are doing maintenance on VxRail, it doesn't hinder the product's functionality for end users. Managing system downtime for maintenance is a lot more seamless in VxRail compared to other solutions. 

When there are hardware failures on the system, it doesn't impact the end customers in VxRail. The downtime issues are managed efficiently in VxRail and it gets back to full-scale production without anyone noticing the outage. 

I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten. If nodes are being added to the solution after several years since deployment, a similar type and size of hard drives are required that were primarily used. As processor drives are constantly evolving, it's hard to obtain some specific types of processor drive models, which can be challenging to execute within the cluster. If the ideal hardware equipment can be procured, scaling the cluster is a straightforward process in VxRail. 

In our company, there are hundreds of VxRail users, it's a critical component of our daily operations and is used 24/7. In the future, our organization is planning to migrate more systems to VxRail and increase usage due to its satisfying performance over the past few years. In our organization, we have recently replaced the solution's cluster with hardware that will facilitate expansive use in the future. 

On rare occasions when we have reached out to customer support, we have experienced quick fault identification from the team and resolution over a single phone call. Whatever challenges we face in our company with VxRail, it's quite easy to overcome with the support from the vendor. I would rate the tech support a ten out of ten. 

Positive

We used specific servers prior to using VxRail, in 2018 our company switched to VxRail to virtualize our application. The traditional model of virtualizing at the time was using a standby storage with had a significant cost to enter the virtualizing space.

So, with VxRail, our company was able to start virtualization on a smaller scale and grow as we needed it, whereas traditional three-tier virtualization requires huge storage from the start. In our organization, we also evaluated three-tier virtualization with SAN storage, but we opted for VxRail based on its cost and features. 

I would rate the initial setup a ten out of ten. The Dell support team has done an excellent job with VxRail's documentation. Once the prerequisites of the system installation are met, the deployment process becomes extremely easy. 

The initial setup of VxRail in our organization took around 48 hours to make the complete cluster operational. Planning is the first step in the deployment of VxRail; there's a set of network requirements that need to be implemented. Once the aforementioned step is completed in our organization, we arrange for cabling off of the system.

Then, as part of the deployment process, hardware installation and configuration need to be performed. The integration of VxRail is quite straightforward. VxRail offers a simplified way to fill in key data, unlike network subnet ranges and DNS host names. Once the deployment process of VxRail is completed, the cluster gets auto-created.

In our company, I managed the VxRail deployment process along with one external Dell services professional. Only one person is required for the maintenance of VxRail on an ad hoc basis who can maintain multiple other solutions besides VxRail. The solution's maintenance process is straightforward. 

VxRail offers satisfying integration capabilities based on the VMware platform. The solution also integrates effectively with VMware vCenter and external backup systems. Our company has hyper-converged infrastructures, where sometimes VMs need to be migrated from VxRail to other systems. The aforementioned migration process can be implemented effortlessly using the solution. The VMware API is easily accessible to third parties, and the solution integrates seamlessly with VxRail. 

I would rate the pricing as seven out of ten. It's a highly expensive solution. Our company purchases VxRail with a five-year license agreement. But our organization makes additional payments in between for renewal of support or replacement of equipment. Our company about six years ago paid around five million rands to adopt a four-node VxRail solution. 

The solution allowed our organization to dramatically reduce its overall footprint in the data center from about three racks to less than half a rack. 

VxRail has improved our organization's resilience of hardware footprint. The solution has enhanced our company's operations in terms of frequent backups compared to physical systems. The total time to recover data has also improved by leveraging VxRail in our company. 

The storage virtualization feature of VxRail has been the most vital part of our company's improvement in operations. The solution assisted our organization in achieving the latency we desired. VxRail is a full-time key solution. 

I would recommend VxRail as an excellent turnkey solution to any company focusing on applications rather than the hardware platform. Very limited management or maintenance is required for VxRail, and it's considered a safe solution. I would rate the solution as eight out of ten. I would definitely recommend VxRail to other users. 

We mainly use it for virtualization across all our applications. We also have a DC/DR setup based on the VxRail infrastructure.

It's a trouble-free architecture. We don't have to juggle multiple components like in a traditional three-tier architecture. With VxRail, it's a pre-built solution offering high performance, availability, and more.

I like the caching mechanism. Frequently used data is stored, so it definitely improves performance.

VxRail's integration with VMware environments is very good. Our VxRail is built on VMware, and the integration is seamless. We haven't faced any challenges. We can migrate VMs between servers in real-time and replicate them to our DR site without any problems.

It can be a bit complex for engineers who are new to it. There's a learning curve involved. They have to learn to operate it. 

Moreover, encryption at the OS level isn't available. We'd like to have that feature in future releases. 

It's a good product. I have been using it for five years. 

I didn't experience any performance issues or stability problems with VxRail.

It is a scalable solution.

We've upgraded two or three times – memory, storage, and even added nodes. Currently, we have eight nodes (our requirement), but it can scale up to 92, which is more than sufficient for most organizations. 

So, VxRail's scalability impacted our capacity planning and future IT infrastructure expansion. 

There have been some issues, but Dell and VMware resolved them.

Positive

We also use Microsoft Azure Stack HCI, but it's not as mature as VxRail. 

Features like Kubernetes and Docker aren't currently available. That's something we're missing.

The initial setup is neither too easy nor too difficult. There are two components: the network setup and the VMware setup.

The deployment took two days. Two resources were involved in the process. One engineer handles the maintenance.

Previously, with our three-tier architecture, a single server failure meant manual backups and restores. VxRail has increased application uptime significantly, and that directly translates to better ROI. For us, less downtime of applications equals ROI. 

The cost was cheaper compared to other virtualization solutions. Since VMware was acquired by Broadcom, it's become more costly.

It's a good, reliable, and mature product in the HCI space. So, I would recommend using it.

With HCI, one advantage is that we don't have to worry about single points of failure, whether it's a node or storage. VxRail provides high availability and load balancing, which are great benefits.

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

The tool is an HCI. We use it in our organization. We have implemented the product in our DBC environment.

The solution is good. The solution has simplified our operations. It integrates everything into the same place. All our network, storage, and computing tools are integrated together. It is more easy to manage. The integrated management tools are good.

The support protocols have changed after Broadcom acquired VMware. We are concerned about the support. However, we haven’t contacted support yet.

I have been using the solution for almost six months.

The product is stable.

The product is scalable. We have 500 users in our organization. We need a couple of people for maintenance.

The technical support is good. The responses depend on the criticality of the incidents.

Positive

The implementation took three months.

The implementation was done by the vendor. I rate them a ten out of ten. I did not face any issues.

The tool is expensive. The affordability depends on our requirements. We chose the product because it was comparatively cheaper than other products and provided the required reliability.

At the moment, we cannot scale the solution. It is in our five-year plan. We are underutilizing the product. The system is normally run on VMware. VMware’s support was built-in. VMware has been acquired by Broadcom. Overall, I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

We use the solution to host virtual machines or servers. We host Red Hat Enterprise Linux and other application servers.

We have automated the build of the VMs. We have automated the complete process. If users need a VM, they go to a portal and fill out a form. The automation takes the details and builds a VM for them. Keeping it virtualized on VxRail makes the VM adaptive to scaling. When we have a resource contention, we can easily increase the capacity. It is a valuable aspect for us.

We don't want some of our applications on the public cloud. We want to keep them on-premise in our environment for various security and compliance reasons. VxRail gives us the flexibility that we usually get on the cloud. We can scale as per the demand with a quick turnaround. Once we get familiar with the tool, it is pretty easy to manage and build. The tool is easy to manage and easy to maintain. It provides amazing support and a good return on investment.

The product comes with a certain number of nodes. It is an underlying cluster. If I run a 4-node VxRail cluster, I need to add at least two more nodes to extend the cluster. If I want a certain amount of clusters and add only one node, I do not have the flexibility to do it. The product must provide more flexibility in adding nodes. The UI could be a little more informative.

I have been reselling the solution to my clients for almost three to four years. I am working with the latest version.

The stability is amazing.

The scalability of the product is the biggest selling point. We have 15,000 users in our organization. They use the applications that are running in the VxRail environment. We have many more customers using the tool. We have plans to increase the number of users. The scalability is a bit rigid, though.

The support is amazing if we get premium Dell support. The support is very good, especially in the South Central regions of the USA. We got Dell to come on-site to rack and stack our VxRail. The initial configuration and the management of the support have been excellent.

Positive

The setup is pretty straightforward. It is not complicated. There are specifications of what is required. We have to be ready with our architecture and how we want to design our cluster after the hardware setup. Once the architecture is ready, it is pretty straightforward to implement it in a VxRail environment. The maintenance is not complex. Virtual networking needs a bit of skill to manage. If we have the right resources, it is easily manageable and maintainable.

Dell professionals did the deployment and setup.

VxRail is the best solution in the industry if we want to host things internally in our environment and for applications that are not ready to go to the cloud yet.

We get special pricing since we are partners.

We are partners and resellers. Organizations that want to invest in the solution must investigate which applications are needed and which are not. If we don't make that decision correctly with the required data points, we will go into the cloud and get stuck with a lack of security. Once the user does the research properly, the best option for keeping their things on-premise with a decent cost and return on investment is VxRail. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

We are using VxRail for the whole infrastructure of our company. We are using VxRail E660F.

The most valuable feature is that it is VMware-embedded. VxRail HCI is on VMware, and we can use VMware vCenter and vSphere. Our infrastructure consists of servers and VMware, and by using VxRail, our experience and familiarity have not changed because VxRail HCI is on VMware.

If they continue developing their product regarding VMware, it will be one of the best products in the HCI space. In terms of additional features, there is nothing missing because, for data protection, they also have the CDP option for VM. They can protect the VM at any point in time.

I have been using VxRail for two years.

We never had any problems with stability. It is very stable.

It is scalable. Currently, we have almost 40 VMs on VxRail.

Only the IT admin works with VxRail. Only the IT admin can monitor and configure VxRail.

We create tickets for support. We are using the Dell portal and if we have any problem with VMware or hardware, we just create a ticket with their support. We do not need to go to the vendor hardware, or we do not need to go to VMware. We can contact them through a single point.

I would rate their support a ten out of ten because once I created a ticket in the afternoon and in about half an hour, I got an email from someone about the problem. He wanted to have a phone call with me. I appreciate it.

Positive

We were using the traditional servers and VMware. We moved to VxRail because we wanted availability and 100% uptime. We do not want any downtime in our company. We want everything to be online 24/7.

Its initial setup is very easy as compared to vSAN, traditional models, and VMware vCenter because everything is automated, but you need to prepare your data, for example, your IP address for the cluster and your username and password.

It is expensive as compared to other products in the same category.

You can use it if you are familiar with VMware because VxRail is VMware. Everything is VMware.

I would rate VxRail a ten out of ten. It is more expensive than other products in this category, but because of the performance, experience, and data protection that you get, it is worth the money.

At our company, we work as consultants and offer the VxRail environment to our customers. Sometimes, we work on small remote sites where we propose and escalate a few hosts, like two or three-node blasters. Otherwise, our company uses the solution for handling native HCI capability without VCF. 

One of the solution's most valuable features is its zero-day deployment. The deployment is extremely fast, which our company's customers find very interesting. The lifecycle management feature makes the VxRail environment function quicker than other traditional, discreet environments.

For daily operations, VxRail has a great direct monitoring feature. The solution also offers seamless support to track issues through ESRS premises. 

At our company, when we manage the lifecycle for upgrading from one version to another, sometimes the upgrade gets stuck or the solution doesn't support online upgrades and compatibility.  

The solution's lifecycle management (LCM) should be enhanced. Multiple issues arise when dealing with the LCM feature on hand. The VMware feature can be included in the solution's software layer. Like Nutanix, VxRail should bring some competitive features like inbuilt DR capabilities and cloud hosting. 

VxRail provides an easy-to-scale environment. However, there are some limitations when the product is considered from the VMware perspective. The feature of HCI mesh functioning with Dell EMC VxRail further helps manage the compute-only nodes when needed. At our company, we never faced any challenges while scaling the VxRail environment. 

At our company, whenever we face a challenge or issue with VxRail, we easily resolve it by contacting customer support. Immediate support is available from Dell for any hardware issues. But in some instances, for virtualization issues, there is some dependency on VMware, which leads to a delay in support. 

At our company, we believe VxRail support is proactive and their response metrics are smoother than Nutanix's. I would rate VxRail's customer support an eight out of ten. 

Positive

The product offers easy and fast deployment. 

The hardware cost associated with the tool usage is a bit high. But when a user has been using VxRail for three to five years, the overall hardware cost reduces due to a reduction in orchestration cost. When we compare the CapEx and OpEx costs of VxRail together, they are always lower than those of another type of rack server adoption. 

At our company, we also work with Nutanix. Some of our customers prefer to adopt Nutanix for a few special use cases. Nutanix's performance and underlying operations are sometimes better than VxRail's. But personally, as a tech architect, I would say VxRail is better than Nutanix in terms of daily operations. 

For some technical issues, reaching out to Nutanix support is difficult, whereas similar issues can be easily resolved by reaching out to VxRail support. Troubleshooting articles are not easily available with Nutanix. From the disaster recovery perspective, when a user adopts the Dell EMC VxRail, some dependency on third-party tools like SRM and Hyper-V is required. For Nutanix, a user does not need to bear the cost of external tools as Nutanix holds internal DR capabilities.

Nutanix also offers its own public cloud, where the tool can be used with AWS or Azure to develop a hybrid cloud environment. But VxRail has only an on-prem offering that can be used for discrete HTC and VCF environment operations. 

Users are usually very comfortable executing the workload of data center operations on VxRail. But when a user has to manage heavy workloads for storage, such as HeavyDB and database servers, they prefer to use external storage facilities to gain the maximum benefits of the computed nodes. 

At our company, one of the customers is leveraging around 8,000 servers of VxRail, out of which 50% is native VxRail without VCF, and the rest of ESXi is utilized with VCF. The solution has also helped our company's customers grow their businesses. 

The monitoring tool of VxRail helps improve efficiency. The tool easily integrates with VMware, vSphere and other logging tools. VxRail also allows hardware monitoring and tools within the Dell EMC VxRail are presented as a plugin within the vCenter. Any monitoring executed for hardware failure environment can be easily managed through the operations tool. VxRail also effortlessly integrates with ITSM tools. 

Due to the automation features, cluster scalability, and number of operational days of the tool, VxRail is able to reduce 30-40% of our company's operational costs. Our company's customers' preferences vary depending on factors like quality, cost, and features, choosing VxRail or another competitive solution. Overall, I would rate VxRail an eight out of ten.