FlexPod Archived Reviews and Pricing

Senior product manager at Century Link

Jul 17 2017

The most valuable features are the ACI integration and the Application-Centric Infrastructure.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the ACI integration with overall FlexPod and the Application-Centric Infrastructure. This is especially the case with Vnomic automation software for SAP specific workloads. Those elements are great for us as a service provider. We love the integration with the UCS… more»

How has it helped my organization?

The benefit is the realization of value for our external and internal customers, especially as we are leveraging Vnomic automation. Deployments take a lot of time. Manual deployments of SAP workloads can take months, but with this automation that we have now, we can deploy within weeks or even hours… more»

What needs improvement?

The CVD process requires additional development and validation from each of the vendors involved, which does not allow us to be at the cutting edge of technology. For instance, I'm currently waiting for the next generation of the FlexPod to come out that has the flash integration. As with any… more»

If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?

We leverage 3PAR in some cases. It really depends on our customer base. The advantages of FlexPod over 3PAR are that FlexPod is all integrated. It's a little bit more native, overall. That's really the major difference there. Also, since Netapp is a fully NAS based deployment and 3par being a mix of… more»

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Systems Engineer II at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Nov 30 2016

The hardware and software is disjointed, so we can apply service profiles.

What is most valuable?

We like that the FlexPod is dense; it offers a lot of power in a small package. Specifically, with the Cisco UCS, we like that the hardware and end software is disjointed, so we can apply service profiles and our VMware environment is a little more dynamic that way.

How has it helped my organization?

It's brought management into a manageable situation. We came from a data center full of Dell servers and it was getting out of hand. Cisco UCS and NetApp together in one package makes it much easier to manage. Also, as we roll out new sites, it's a very simple build that we know exactly what we need… more»

What needs improvement?

I'd like to see more modularization with NetApp's management and performance monitoring. I know NetApp has a product called OnCommand Insight that covers everything but we don't necessarily need all those features. That’s made it hard for us to justify the purchase there. So, I’d like to see more… more»

If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?

I wasn't involved in the decision process to invest in a FlexPod. They decided on that before I joined the team. I know they evaluated Dell and IBM, and found that FlexPod was the clear choice. One of the most important criteria for me in selecting a vendor is support; how quick they respond for… more»

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Principal Architect at JWS Consult

Oct 31 2016

We don't have to add new ports every time we add a new server. Everything's already connected.

What is most valuable?

We really like the flexibility. I love that – it doesn't happen a whole lot, but – anytime we have a blade die or even just bad RAM, I grab that service profile, throw it on another blade, and we're… more»

How has it helped my organization?

We actually run one of several private clouds within our company and it is all on FlexPod. We run it as a profit center. We're able to give all our internal clients the fastest response time of any of… more»

What needs improvement?

I haven't really come across a whole lot of areas for improvement. There are features I'd like to see in our deployment that are already available; all-flash trays, and items like that. It's there; I… more»

If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?

With our particular case, our previous company had spun us off without any IT staff, so we were using third-party IT and we were trying to bring IT in house. Because we were having to build our IT… more»

What other advice do I have?

Definitely take advantage of all the training you can, particularly the UCS portion of the setup. It's very much a one time setup if you do it right the first time. I use the reference install guide… more»

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We ran through all the primary vendors, but it was all one-off; there weren’t any converged solutions at the time, six years ago, when FlexPod first came out. It was either work with HP, Dell… more»

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FlexPod Archived Reviews (More than two years old)

What is most valuable?

How has it helped my organization?

What needs improvement?

If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?

What is most valuable?

How has it helped my organization?

What needs improvement?

If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?

What is most valuable?

How has it helped my organization?

What needs improvement?

If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?

What other advice do I have?

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

What is FlexPod?