FlexPod is a single product that you can manage. It has very good scalability. We can scale our UCS Servers. We can carry 12 storage nodes in the FlexPod. The main benefit is its single, all in one solution from server switch to storage.
FlexPod Review
Its scalability is innovative for both compute and storage
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
It is enterprise storage. The latency is about five billion milliseconds, which is coming from the cloud servers.
We have seen an 80 percent improvement in application performance.
What is most valuable?
If there are any failures, or anything needs to be addressed, we can make one call to support for assistance.
No matter how busy the data is, we can put the data in the right place at the right time.
What needs improvement?
We would like to see a new design that comes with more productivity or graphics. Currently, the vendors, like HPE and Dell EMC along with NetApp, all have very similar products. We want more diversification.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is resilient, because it has good scalability, and other products in the market don't have this. It has scalable storage and service.
The scalability is innovative for both compute and storage. With other products, we can't scale the storage space, we have to buy more storage. E.g. with Dell EMC, if we want more storage with VxBlock, we have to purchase another VxBlock.
How is customer service and technical support?
The technical support is good. I have been working with NetApp for the last two to three years, and they have solutions readily available for bug and code fixes.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex. It is user-friendly since it is a single solution with all the components delivered in one package.
What about the implementation team?
NetApp does some of our installations on some products, like SolidFire. However, they pass the data on to us, and we have to do the configuration.
What was our ROI?
It saves a lot of time because it is a single product. We also save time with the installation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is cheaper than other products. For example, Dell EMC VxBlock is more expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We also evaluated EMC VxBlock, which has a similar design. Both products have flexibility.
The difference is NetApp's response time of 0.5 milliseconds, which we felt was very good.
What other advice do I have?
This flexible is very good for private cloud solutions.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
Nov 26 2018
Author
Jegan Chinnu
Storage Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Highlights
Pros
The solution is resilient, because it has good scalability, and other products in the market don't have this. It has scalable storage and service.
The initial setup is not complex. It is user-friendly since it is a single solution with all the components delivered in one package.
Cons
We would like to see a new design that comes with more productivity or graphics. Currently, the vendors, like HPE and Dell EMC along with NetApp, all have very similar products. We want more diversification.
Pricing Advice
We have seen an 80 percent improvement in application performance.
It is cheaper than other products. For example, Dell EMC VxBlock is more expensive.