HPE Synergy vs Lenovo Flex System comparison

HPE Synergy

Read 87 HPE Synergy reviews

4,545 Views
3,279 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Lenovo Flex System

Read 7 Lenovo Flex System reviews

612 Views
464 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

HPE Synergy

Lenovo Flex System

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HPE Synergy and Lenovo Flex System based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Blade Servers solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed HPE Synergy vs. Lenovo Flex System Report (Updated: June 2024).

Buyer's Guide

HPE Synergy vs. Lenovo Flex System

June 2024

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Categories and Ranking

HPE Synergy

Ranking in Blade Servers

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Composable Infrastructure (1st)

Lenovo Flex System

Ranking in Blade Servers

9th

Average Rating

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the Blade Servers category, the market share of HPE Synergy is 26.8% and it increased by 14.9% compared to the previous year. The market share of Lenovo Flex System is 3.2% and it increased by 42.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Blade Servers

Unique Categories:

No other categories found

Featured Reviews

Petr Student

Senior Technical Architect at Tietoevry

Nov 3, 2022

The composable infrastructure allows you to build and stack shared capacity

The hardware is fine but OneView needs additional event management and filtering options. Documentation could better describe the solution's configuration possibilities. Sometimes there are firmware or software difficulties when connecting between networks or with storage. The solution is a hardware that is defined by its software so management issues can occur on servers or within the software running the hardware. For example, an electric car depends on its software. If the software is bad, then you can expect issues and problems that might not allow you to start the car. A technician might have uploaded the wrong code into firmware or a software developer might have make code mistakes and these things cause issues. The solution can only be as reliable as the software used to run it.

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Syed Ibrahim

Assistant Manager Systems - IT Infrastructure at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

Jun 7, 2022

Provides a high initial ceiling before upscaling is required, user-friendly and rich in resources, but has occasional stability issues

The solution should come with cloud native applications to prepare for cloud based solutions. Forced restarts due to free upgrades is an issue that needs to be resolved. We can manage this as we have high availability and redundancy, but without that it could be a real problem. The level of customer support needs to be improved. There is currently an issue with Lenovo switching out SAN switches from the chassis, which will cause problems for people who already have a set up with the SAN switch connected to the central storage. This could require an entirely different network, adding an additional cost for the user.

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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

"As we purchase and install more Synergy chassis, then we will be able to manage them together as one entity, as opposed to multiple separate cabinets."

"The initial setup is straightforward. The infrastructures as code enables you to fill out the configuration before you even deploy it, then it is just a one-touch deployment."

"The most valuable features of HPE Synergy are the two composers."

"The most valuable feature is its composable infrastructure. Everything I need is in the box. Manageability is through OneView, so I can get all the information about the box itself at any time I want."

"The wireless mounting system is excellent. We can use the monitor over the Internet and perform troubleshooting remotely with the connection to SQL. It includes a comprehensive monitoring tool. It offers many features, allowing us to update, manage, maintain, and troubleshoot the system efficiently."

"We build out a whole stack at one time, so we don't have to worry about it until that stack is full, then that gives us time to get the next one ready."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the ease of management and the integration with OneView."

"The solution helps us to implement new business requirements quickly, by using the Composer for efficiency. It has also improved the productivity of our development team due to the efficiency of being able to deploy via Composer."

More HPE Synergy pros

"One of the most valuable features of this solution is its ease of use."

"The Lenovo Flex System is very stable."

"The product is very user-friendly and has many resources at the enterprise level."

"Flex System's best features are its performance and stability."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo Flex System is the storage system."

"The stability and speed are always good. The processor is good and it's still working with our loads."

Cons

"A big thing for me is moving InfoSight for ProLiant into OneView, or at least connecting it. Today we have to use the iLO Amplifier Pack and that would require us to reconfigure iLO on every single one of the servers, independently, to get that data into InfoSight. We're really looking for a single control and management plane."

"The pricing can be improved as it is a costly solution due to sanctions in Iran."

"The performance could be better. The converged network cards initially didn't work. However, later on in the newer version, they came up with 50 GB network cards to replace the 20 GB ones, and it's perfectly fine now. At times, it could also be more stable."

"The update is problematic. When you want to update the firmware, or when you want to update software on Composer, it takes a lot of time. A lot."

"I would like the ability to take the storage tray that is in a chassis and share it out to multiple chassis, not just the servers within the same chassis. This would be more efficient with resources."

"There is always room for improvement. Based on our use cases, I don't believe there are any additional features required."

"HPE Synergy could improve its remote support."

"We had some challenges during the implementation and a few issues afterward, but they were all sort of related to how Synergy interacts with Nexus. Our Nexus on the network side is managed by another group, and they had just gotten Nexus, so they weren't really familiar with how Nexus even worked. Getting these two to interact well was the majority of our issues. It really didn't have anything to do with Synergy. It points to know the environment that you are putting it in and making sure you are dotting all your i's and crossing all your t's when you are figuring out what their requirements are to communicate."

More HPE Synergy cons

"Flex System's integration with the XClarity Management System could be improved."

"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo Flex System is the storage system."

"The solution could improve by providing more integration with other platforms."

"It does not have the same module flexibility that was present in IBM Blade. On the Blade System, I was able to choose between the Cisco module, or BMC module. Since the switch to Lenovo, I have not had the same choice of modules, only the BMC modules."

"The product could improve its integration capabilities."

"Forced restarts due to free upgrades is an issue that needs to be resolved. We can manage this as we have high availability and redundancy, but without that it could be a real problem."

"The user-interface needs improvement, because they have an application from which we have to manage the whole system and all the infrastructure. This application is not working at our premises, because of some problem with the hardware itself. So although we brought it with our systems, and we used it to manage all the systems: the storage, the switches, and everything, nevertheless we have to support every part alone and enter the interface in one-by-one."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Synergy has lowered our total cost of ownership significantly. I would say ballpark around 25 percent, maybe more."

"It costs us around $60,000 a year."

"VMware is part of the cost. We bought the chassis, we bought the solution. The blades are roughly running us $60,000 a pop right now."

"The hardware licensing cost is reasonable."

"We don't have to pay for Synergy because it's part of our plan."

"We do CAPEX."

"The solution has reduced our IT infrastructure costs by 50 percent."

"We bought everything outright to start with. We don't do much consumption-based stuff."

More HPE Synergy pricing and cost advice

"The is an annual license cost to use the Lenovo Flex System. If the price was less expensive and flexible overall and for additional features, our customers would be happier."

"We have the whole maintenance for the 3 years, starting the deployment. We also have the VMware license for 3 years and I think we have another license to buy. There are no additional costs besides licensing."

"The 14 blade server allows significant room for upscaling before having to invest in another chassis. You would have to purchase another chassis much sooner in the case of an eight or nine blade server."

"The price is interesting. I am able to quote a client based on their needs and offer them either Lenovo or Dell."

"There is a one-off payment to buy the equipment and the support is purchased annually."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

16%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

How would you choose between HPE's Bladesystem and Synergy?

For me, choosing between HPE’s Bladesystem and Synergy came down to which solution was more powerful, reliable, and stable. It turns out Bladesystem was the winner. Bladesystem is excellent because...

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What do you like most about HPE Synergy?

It is a good product for hypervisors.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Synergy?

Synergy is a bit pricier. When we compared it with Dell during the migration to this Synergy unit, our client also sought quotes from another provider. Ultimately, although we were slightly more ex...

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What do you like most about Lenovo Flex System?

Flex System's best features are its performance and stability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo Flex System?

The is an annual license cost to use the Lenovo Flex System. If the price was less expensive and flexible overall and for additional features, our customers would be happier.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Lenovo Flex System?

Flex System's integration with the XClarity Management System could be improved.

See all answers

Comparisons

HPE BladeSystem vs HPE Synergy

Compared 34% of the time

Dell PowerEdge M vs HPE Synergy

Compared 22% of the time

Cisco UCS B-Series vs HPE Synergy

Compared 12% of the time

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Synergy

Compared 8% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs HPE Synergy

Compared 2% of the time

More HPE Synergy Competitors

HPE Superdome X vs Lenovo Flex System

Compared 42% of the time

Dell PowerEdge M vs Lenovo Flex System

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco UCS B-Series vs Lenovo Flex System

Compared 11% of the time

More Lenovo Flex System Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE Synergy

June 2024

Download HPE Synergy product report

Buyer's Guide

Blade Servers

May 2024

Download Lenovo Flex System product report

Also Known As

No data available

Flex System Blade Servers, Flex System SN Series

Learn More

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Lenovo

Overview

HPE Synergy, the first platform built from the ground up for Composable Infrastructure, offers an experience that empowers IT to create and deliver new value instantly and continuously. It is a single infrastructure that reduces operational complexity for traditional workloads and increases operational velocity for the new breed of applications and services. Through a single interface, HPE Synergy composes physical and virtual compute, storage, and fabric pools into any configuration for any application. As an extensible platform, it easily enables a broad range of applications and operational models such as virtualization, hybrid cloud, and DevOps. With HPE Synergy, IT can become not just the internal service provider but the business partner to rapidly launch new applications that become the business.

Flex System is Lenovo’s proven, 2nd generation blade, that efficiently runs your infrastructure applications with up to 80% better density than standard rack server deployments.

Sample Customers

HudsonAlpha, Virgin Media, EMIS, United

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

HPE Synergy vs. Lenovo Flex System

June 2024

Free Report: HPE Synergy vs. Lenovo Flex System

Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Synergy vs. Lenovo Flex System and other solutions. Updated: June 2024.

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