SDS and HCI comparison & reviews

Summary
Rank
4th 8th
Score
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
User Reviews
Question?
Not Enabled Not Enabled Not Enabled
Analysis expand by Herman Rutten by Herman Rutten by Herman Rutten
Select All
General expand
  • Fully Supported
  • Limitation
  • Not Supported
  • Information Only
Pros
  • + Broad range of hardware support
  • + Strong VMware integration
  • + Policy-based management
  • + Fast streamlined deployment
  • + Strong VMware integration
  • + Policy-based management
  • + Strong Cisco integration
  • + Fast streamlined deployment
  • + Strong container support
Cons
  • - Single hypervisor support
  • - Very limited native data protection capabilities
  • - Dedup/compr not performance optimized
  • - Single hypervisor and server hardware
  • - No bare-metal support
  • - Very limited native data protection capabilities
  • - Single server hardware support
  • - No bare-metal support
  • - Limited native data protection capabilities
  Content  
  •  
Content Creator
  Assessment  
  •  
Overview
Name: vSAN
Type: Software-only (SDS)
Development Start: Unknown
First Product Release: 2014
Name: VxRail
Type: Hardware+Software (HCI)
Development Start: 2015
First Product Release: feb 2016
Name: HyperFlex (HX)
Type: Hardware+Software (HCI)
Development Start: 2015
First Product Release: apr 2016
NEW
  •  
Maturity
GA Release Dates:
vSAN 7.0 U1: oct 2020
vSAN 7.0: apr 2020
vSAN 6.7 U3: apr 2019
vSAN 6.7 U1: oct 2018
vSAN 6.7: may 2018
vSAN 6.6.1: jul 2017
vSAN 6.6: apr 2017
vSAN 6.5: nov 2016
vSAN 6.2: mar 2016
vSAN 6.1: aug 2015
vSAN 6.0: mar 2015
vSAN 5.5: mar 2014
NEW
GA Release Dates:
VxRail 7.0.100 (vSAN 7.0 U1: nov 2020
VxRail 7.0 (vSAN 7.0): apr 2020
VxRail 4.7.410 (vSAN 6.7.3): dec 2019
VxRail 4.7.300 (vSAN 6.7.3): sep 2019
VxRail 4.7.212 (vSAN 6.7.2): jul 2019
VxRail 4.7.200 (vSAN 6.7.2): may 2019
VxRail 4.7.100 (vSAN 6.7.1): mar 2019
VxRail 4.7.001 (vSAN 6.7.1): dec 2018
VxRail 4.7.000 (vSAN 6.7.1): nov 2018
VxRail 4.5.225 (vSAN 6.6.1): oct 2018
VxRail 4.5.218 (vSAN 6.6.1): aug 2018
VxRail 4.5.210 (vSAN 6.6.1): may 2018
VxRail 4.5 (vSAN 6.6): sep 2017
VxRail 4.0 (vSAN 6.2): dec 2016
VxRail 3.5 (vSAN 6.2): jun 2016
VxRail 3.0 (vSAN 6.1): feb 2016
NEW
GA Release Dates:
HX 4.0: apr 2019
HX 3.5.2a: jan 2019
HX 3.5.1a: nov 2018
HX 3.5: oct 2018
HX 3.0: apr 2018
HX 2.6.1b: dec 2017
HX 2.6.1a: oct 2017
HX 2.5: jul 2017
HX 2.1: may 2017
HX 2.0: mar 2017
HX 1.8: sep 2016
HX 1.7.3: aug 2016
1.7.1-14835: jun 2016
HX 1.7.1: apr 2016
NEW
  Pricing  
  •  
Hardware Pricing Model
N/A
Per Node
Bundle (ROBO)
  •  
Software Pricing Model
Per CPU Socket
Per Desktop (VDI use cases only)
Per Used GB (VCPP only)
Per Node
NEW
Per Node
  •  
Support Pricing Model
Per CPU Socket
Per Desktop (VDI use cases only)
Per Node
Per Node
Design & Deploy expand
83.3%
66.7%
83.3%
  Design  
  •  
Consolidation Scope
Hypervisor
Compute
Storage
Data Protection (limited)
Management
Automation&Orchestration
Hypervisor
Compute
Storage
Network (limited)
Data Protection (limited)
Management
Automation&Orchestration
Compute
Storage
Network
Management
Automation&Orchestration
  •  
Network Topology
1, 10, 40 GbE
1, 10, 25 GbE
1, 10, 40 GbE
  •  
Overall Design Complexity
Medium
Medium
Low
  •  
External Performance Validation
StorageReview (aug 2018, aug 2016)
ESG Lab (aug 2018, apr 2016)
Evaluator Group (oct 2018, jul 2017, aug 2016)
StorageReview (dec 2018)
Principled Technologies (jul 2017, jun 2017)
ESG Lab (jul 2018)
SAP (dec 2017)
ESG Lab (mar 2017)
  •  
Evaluation Methods
Free Trial (60-days)
Online Lab
Proof-of-Concept (POC)
Proof-of-Concept (POC)
vSAN: Free Trial (60-days)
vSAN: Online Lab
Online Labs
Proof-of-Concept (PoC)
  Deploy  
  •  
Deployment Architecture
Single-Layer (primary)
Dual-Layer (secondary)
Single-Layer
Single-Layer (primary)
Dual-Layer (secondary)
  •  
Deployment Method
BYOS (fast, some automation)
Pre-installed (very fast, turnkey approach)
Turnkey (very fast; highly automated)
Turnkey (very fast; highly automated)
Workload Support expand
92.3%
76.9%
73.1%
  Virtualization  
  •  
Hypervisor Deployment
Kernel Integrated
Kernel Integrated
Virtual Storage Controller
  •  
Hypervisor Compatibility
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0 U1
NEW
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0 U1
NEW
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0U3/6.5U2/6.7U2
Microsoft Hyper-V 2016/2019
NEW
  •  
Hypervisor Interconnect
vSAN (incl. WSFC)
vSAN (incl. WSFC)
NFS
SMB
  Bare Metal  
  •  
Bare Metal Compatibility
Many
N/A
N/A
  •  
Bare Metal Interconnect
iSCSI
N/A
N/A
  Containers  
  •  
Container Integration Type
Built-in (Hypervisor-based, vSAN supported)
Built-in (Hypervisor-based, vSAN supported)
Built-in (native)
  •  
Container Platform Compatibility
Docker CE 17.06.1+ for Linux on ESXi 6.0+
Docker EE/Docker for Windows 17.06+ on ESXi 6.0+
Docker CE 17.06.1+ for Linux on ESXi 6.0+
Docker EE/Docker for Windows 17.06+ on ESXi 6.0+
Docker EE 1.13+
  •  
Container Platform Interconnect
Docker Volume Plugin (certified) + VMware VIB
Docker Volume Plugin (certified) + VMware VIB
HX FlexVolume Driver
  •  
Container Host Compatibility
Virtualized container hosts on VMware vSphere hypervisor
Virtualized container hosts on VMware vSphere hypervisor
Virtualized container hosts on VMware vSphere hypervisor
  •  
Container Host OS Compatbility
Linux
Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016
Linux
Windows 10 or 2016
Ubuntu Linux 16.04.3 LTS
  •  
Container Orch. Compatibility
VCP: Kubernetes 1.6.5+ on ESXi 6.0+
CNS: Kubernetes 1.14+
VCP: Kubernetes 1.6.5+ on ESXi 6.0+
CNS: Kubernetes 1.14+
Kubernetes
  •  
Container Orch. Interconnect
Kubernetes Volume Plugin
Kubernetes Volume Plugin
HX-CSI Plugin
NEW
  VDI  
  •  
VDI Compatibility
VMware Horizon
Citrix XenDesktop
VMware Horizon
Citrix XenDesktop
VMware Horizon
Citrix XenDesktop
  •  
VDI Load Bearing
VMware: up to 200 virtual desktops/node
Citrix: up to 90 virtual desktops/node
VMware: up to 160 virtual desktops/node
Citrix: up to 140 virtual desktops/node
VMware: up to 137 virtual desktops/node
Citrix: up to 125 virtual desktops/node
Server Support expand
96.2%
76.9%
80.8%
  Server/Node  
  •  
Hardware Vendor Choice
Many
Dell
Cisco
NEW
  •  
Models
Many
5 Dell (native) Models (E-, G-, P-, S- and V-Series)
9 storage models:
HX220x Edge M5, HX220c M4/M5, HX240c M4/M5, HXAF220c M4/M5, HXAF240c M4/M5
8 compute-only models: B2x0 M4/M5, B4x0 M4/M5, C2x0 M4/M5, C4x0 M4/M5, C480 ML
NEW
  •  
Density
1, 2 or 4 nodes per chassis
1 or 4 nodes per chassis
HX2x0/HXAF2x0/HXAN2x0: 1 node per chassis
B200: up to 8 nodes per chassis
C2x0: 1 node per chassis
  •  
Mixing Allowed
Yes
Yes
Partial
  Components  
  •  
CPU Config
Flexible
Flexible
Flexible
NEW
  •  
Memory Config
Flexible
Flexible
Flexible
NEW
  •  
Storage Config
Flexible: number of disks + capacity
Flexible: number of disks (limited) + capacity
HX220c/HXAF220c/HXAN220c: Fixed number of disks
HX240c/HXAF240c: Flexible (number of disks)
NEW
  •  
Network Config
Flexible
Flexible (1, 10 or 25 Gbps)
Flexible: M5:10/40GbE; M5 Edge:1/10GbE; FC (optional)
  •  
GPU Config
NVIDIA Tesla
AMD FirePro
Intel Iris Pro
NVIDIA Tesla
NVIDIA Tesla (HX240c only)
AMD FirePro (HX240c only)
NEW
  Scaling  
  •  
Scale-up
CPU
Memory
Storage
GPU
Memory
Storage
Network
GPU
HX220c/HXAF220c/HXAN220c: CPU, Memory, Network
HX240c/HXAF240c: CPU, Memory, Storage, Network, GPU
  •  
Scale-out
Compute+storage
Compute-only (vSAN VMKernel)
Compute+storage
Compute+storage
Compute-only (IO Visor)
  •  
Scalability
2-64 nodes in 1-node increments
3-64 storage nodes in 1-node increments
vSphere: 2-32 storage nodes in 1-node increments + 0-32 compute-only nodes in 1-node increments
Hyper-V: 2-16 storage nodes in 1-node increments + 0-16 compute-only nodes in 1-node increments
NEW
  •  
Small-scale (ROBO)
2 Node minimum
2 Node minimum
2 Node minimum
NEW
Storage Support expand
91.7%
87.5%
91.7%
  General  
  •  
Layout
Object Storage File System (OSFS)
Object Storage File System (OSFS)
Distributed File System (DFS)
  •  
Data Locality
Partial
Partial
None
  •  
Storage Type(s)
Direct-attached (Raw)
Remote vSAN datatstores (HCI Mesh)
NEW
Direct-attached (Raw)
Remote vSAN datatstores (HCI Mesh)
NEW
Direct-attached (Raw)
SAN or NAS
  •  
Composition
Hybrid (Flash+Magnetic)
All-Flash
Hybrid (Flash+Magnetic)
All-Flash
Hybrid (Flash+Magnetic)
All-Flash
  •  
Hypervisor OS Layer
SD, USB, DOM, HDD or SSD
SSD
Dual SD cards
SSD (optional for HX240c and HXAF240c systems)
  Memory  
  •  
Memory Layer
DRAM
DRAM
  •  
Memory Purpose
  •  
Memory Capacity
Non-configurable
Non-configurable
  Flash  
  •  
Flash Layer
SSD, PCIe, UltraDIMM, NVMe
SSD; NVMe
SSD, NVMe
  •  
Flash Purpose
Hybrid: Read/Write Cache
All-Flash: Write Cache + Storage Tier
Hybrid: Read/Write Cache
All-Flash: Write Cache + Storage Tier
Hybrid: Log + Read/Write Cache
All-Flash/All-NVMe: Log + Write Cache + Storage Tier
  •  
Flash Capacity
Hybrid: 1-5 Flash devices per node (1 per disk group)
All-Flash: 40 Flash devices per node (8 per disk group,1 for cache and 7 for capacity)
Hybrid: 4 Flash devices per node
All-Flash: 2-24 Flash devices per node
Hybrid: 2 Flash devices per node (1x Cache; 1x Housekeeping)
All-Flash: 9-26 Flash devices per node (1x Cache; 1x System, 1x Boot; 6-23x Data)
All-NVMe: 8-11 NVMe devices per node (1x Cache, 1x System, 6-8 Data)
NEW
  Magnetic  
  •  
Magnetic Layer
Hybrid: SAS or SATA
Hybrid: SAS or SATA
Hybrid: SAS or SATA
NEW
  •  
Magnetic Purpose
Persistent Storage
  •  
Magnetic Capacity
1-35 SAS/SATA HDDs per host/node
3-5 SAS/SATA HDDs per disk group
HX220x Edge M5: 3-6 capacity devices per node
HX220c: 6-8 capacity devices per node
HX240c: 6-23 capacity devices per node
Data Availability expand
70.0%
70.0%
58.3%
  Reads/Writes  
  •  
Persistent Write Buffer
Flash Layer (SSD;PCIe;NVMe)
Flash Layer (SSD, NVMe)
Flash Layer (SSD, NVMe)
  •  
Disk Failure Protection
Hybrid/All-Flash: 0-3 Replicas (RAID1; 1N-4N), Host Pinning (1N)
All-Flash: Erasure Coding (RAID5-6)
Hybrid/All-Flash: 0-3 Replicas (RAID1; 1N-4N)
All-Flash: Erasure Coding (RAID5-6)
1-2 Replicas (2N-3N)
  •  
Node Failure Protection
Hybrid/All-Flash: 0-3 Replicas (RAID1; 1N-4N), Host Pinning (1N)
All-Flash: Erasure Coding (RAID5-6)
Hybrid/All-Flash: 0-3 Replicas (RAID1; 1N-4N)
All-Flash: Erasure Coding (RAID5-6)
Logical Availability Zone
  •  
Block Failure Protection
Failure Domains
Failure Domains
Not relevant (1-node chassis only)
  •  
Rack Failure Protection
Failure Domains
Failure Domains
N/A
  •  
Protection Capacity Overhead
Host Pinning (1N): Dependent on # of VMs
Replicas (2N): 100%
Replicas (3N): 200%
Erasure Coding (RAID5): 33%
Erasure Coding (RAID6): 50%
Replicas (2N): 100%
Replicas (3N): 200%
Erasure Coding (RAID5): 33%
Erasure Coding (RAID6): 50%
Replicas (2N): 100%
Replicas (3N): 200%
  •  
Data Corruption Detection
Read integrity checks
Disk scrubbing (software)
Read integrity checks
Disk scrubbing (software)
Read integrity checks
  Points-in-Time  
  •  
Snapshot Type
Built-in (native)
Built-in (native)
Built-in (native)
  •  
Snapshot Scope
  •  
Snapshot Frequency
GUI: 1 hour
GUI: 1 hour
GUI: 1 hour (Policy-based)
  •  
Snapshot Granularity
Per VM or VM-folder
  •  
Backup Type
External (vSAN Certified)
External (vSAN Certified)
External
  •  
Backup Scope
N/A
N/A
N/A
  •  
Backup Frequency
N/A
N/A
N/A
  •  
Backup Consistency
N/A
N/A
N/A
  •  
Restore Granularity
N/A
N/A
N/A
  •  
Restore Ease-of-use
N/A
N/A
N/A
  Disaster Recovery  
  •  
Remote Replication Type
Built-in (Stretched Clusters only)
External
Built-in (Stretched Clusters only)
External
Built-in (native)
  •  
Remote Replication Scope
VR: To remote sites, To VMware clouds
VR: To remote sites, To VMware clouds
To remote sites
  •  
Remote Replication Cloud Function
VR: DR-site (VMware Clouds)
VR: DR-site (VMware Clouds)
N/A
  •  
Remote Replication Topologies
VR: Single-site and multi-site
VR: Single-site and multi-site
Single-site
  •  
Remote Replication Frequency
VR: 5 minutes (Asynchronous)
vSAN: Continuous (Stretched Cluster)
VR: 5 minutes (Asynchronous)
vSAN: Continuous (Stretched Cluster)
5 minutes (Asynchronous)
  •  
Remote Replication Granularity
VM
  •  
Consistency Groups
VR: No
VR: No
No
  •  
DR Orchestration
VMware SRM (certified)
VMware SRM (certified)
HX Connect (native)
VMware SRM (certified)
NEW
  •  
Stretched Cluster (SC)
VMware vSphere: Yes (certified)
VMware vSphere: Yes (certified)
vSphere: Yes
Hyper-V: No
  •  
SC Configuration
3-sites: two active sites + tie-breaker in 3rd site
NEW
3-sites: two active sites + tie-breaker in 3rd site
NEW
vSphere: 3-sites = two active sites + tie-breaker in 3rd site
  •  
SC Distance
<=5ms RTT
<=5ms RTT
<=5ms RTT / 10Gbps
  •  
SC Scaling
<=15 hosts at each active site
<=15 nodes at each active site
2-16 converged hosts + 0-16 compute hosts at each active site
  •  
SC Data Redundancy
Replicas: 0-3 Replicas (1N-4N) at each active site
Erasure Coding: RAID5-6 at each active site
Replicas: 0-3 Replicas (1N-4N) at each active site
Erasure Coding: RAID5-6 at each active site
Replicas: 2N at each active site
Data Services expand
58.6%
58.6%
50.0%
  Efficiency  
  •  
Dedup/Compr. Engine
All-Flash: Software
Hybrid: N/A
All-Flash: Software
Hybrid: N/A
Software
  •  
Dedup/Compr. Function
Efficiency (Space savings)
Efficiency (Space savings)
Efficiency and Performance
  •  
Dedup/Compr. Process
All-Flash: Inline (post-ack)
Hybrid: N/A
All-Flash: Inline (post-ack)
Hybrid: N/A
Deduplication: Inline (post-ack)
Compression: Inline (post-ack)
  •  
Dedup/Compr. Type
All-Flash: Optional
Hybrid: N/A
NEW
All-Flash: Optional
Hybrid: N/A
NEW
Always-on
  •  
Dedup/Compr. Scope
Persistent data layer
Persistent data layer
Read and Write caches + Persistent data layers
  •  
Dedup/Compr. Radius
Disk Group
Disk Group
Storage Cluster
  •  
Dedup/Compr. Granularity
4 KB fixed block size
4 KB fixed block size
4-64 KB fixed block size
  •  
Dedup/Compr. Guarantee
N/A
N/A
N/A
  •  
Data Rebalancing
Full
Full
Full
  •  
Data Tiering
N/A
N/A
N/A
  Performance  
  •  
Task Offloading
vSphere: Integrated
vSphere: Integrated
vSphere: VMware VAAI-NAS (full)
Hyper-V: SMB3 ODX; UNMAP/TRIM
  •  
QoS Type
IOPs Limits (maximums)
IOPs Limits (maximums)
N/A
  •  
QoS Granularity
Per VM/Virtual Disk
Per VM/Virtual Disk
N/A
  •  
Flash Pinning
Cache Read Reservation: Per VM/Virtual Disk
Cache Read Reservation: Per VM/Virtual Disk
Not relevant (global cache architecture)
  Security  
  •  
Data Encryption Type
  •  
Data Encryption Options
Hardware: N/A
Software: vSAN data encryption; HyTrust DataControl (validated)
NEW
Hardware: N/A
Software: vSAN data encryption; HyTrust DataControl (validated)
NEW
Hardware: Self-encrypting drives (SEDs)
Software: N/A
  •  
Data Encryption Scope
Hardware: N/A
Software vSAN: Data-at-rest + Data-in-transit
Software Hytrust: Data-at-rest + Data-in-transit
NEW
Hardware: N/A
Software vSAN: Data-at-rest + Data-in-transit
Software Hytrust: Data-at-rest + Data-in-transit
NEW
Hardware: Data-at-rest
Software: N/A
  •  
Data Encryption Compliance
Hardware: N/A
Software: FIPS 140-2 Level 1 (vSAN); FIPS 140-2 Level 1 (HyTrust)
Hardware: N/A
Software: FIPS 140-2 Level 1 (vSAN); FIPS 140-2 Level 1 (HyTrust)
Hardware: FIPS 140-2 Level 2 (SEDs)
Software: N/A
  •  
Data Encryption Efficiency Impact
Hardware: N/A
Software: No (vSAN); Yes (HyTrust)
Hardware: N/A
Software: No (vSAN); Yes (HyTrust)
Hardware: No
Software: N/A
  Test/Dev  
  •  
Fast VM Cloning
No
No
Yes
  Portability  
  •  
Hypervisor Migration
Hyper-V to ESXi (external)
Hyper-V to ESXi (external)
Hyper-V to ESXi (external)
ESXi to Hyper-V (external)
  File Services  
  •  
Fileserver Type
Built-in (native)
External (vSAN Certified)
NEW
Built-in (native)
External (vSAN Certified)
NEW
N/A
  •  
Fileserver Compatibility
Windows clients
Linux clients
NEW
Windows clients
Linux clients
NEW
N/A
  •  
Fileserver Interconnect
SMB
NFS
NEW
SMB
NFS
NEW
N/A
  •  
Fileserver Quotas
Share Quotas
Share Quotas
N/A
  •  
Fileserver Analytics
Partial
Partial
N/A
  Object Services  
  •  
Object Storage Type
N/A
N/A
N/A
  •  
Object Storage Protection
N/A
N/A
N/A
  •  
Object Storage LT Retention
N/A
N/A
N/A
Management expand
82.1%
85.7%
75.0%
  Interfaces  
  •  
GUI Functionality
Centralized
Centralized
Centralized
  •  
GUI Scope
Single-site and Multi-site
Single-site and Multi-site
Single-site and Multi-site
  •  
GUI Perf. Monitoring
Advanced
NEW
Advanced
NEW
Basic
  •  
GUI Integration
VMware HTML5 vSphere Client (integrated)
VMware vSphere Web Client (integrated)
VMware vSphere Web Client (integrated)
VMware vSphere Web Client (plugin)
  Programmability  
  •  
Policies
Full
Full
Partial (Protection)
  •  
API/Scripting
REST-APIs
Ruby vSphere Console (RVC)
PowerCLI
REST-APIs
Ruby vSphere Console (RVC)
PowerCLI
REST-APIs
CLI
  •  
Integration
OpenStack
VMware vRealize Automation (vRA)
OpenStack
VMware vRealize Automation (vRA)
Cisco UCS Director
  •  
Self Service
N/A (not part of vSAN license)
N/A (not part of VxRail license bundle)
N/A (not part of HX license)
  Maintenance  
  •  
SW Composition
Partially Distributed
Partially Distributed
Partially Distributed
  •  
SW Upgrade Execution
Rolling Upgrade (1-by-1)
Rolling Upgrade (1-by-1)
Rolling Upgrade (1-by-1)
  •  
FW Upgrade Execution
Rolling Upgrade (1-by-1)
1-Click
1-Click
  Support  
  •  
Single HW/SW Support
Yes (most OEM vendors)
Yes
Yes
  •  
Call-Home Function
Partial (vSAN Support Insight)
Full
Full
  •  
Predictive Analytics
Full (not part of vSAN license)
Full (not part of VxRail license bundle)
Partial

Matrix Score

  •  
  •  
  • VMware
  • Dell EMC
  • Cisco
  •  
  • 4 th
  • 8 th
X
Login to access your personal profile

Forgot your Password?
X
Signup with linkedin
X

Registered, but not activated? click here (resend activation link)

Login to access your personal profile

Receive new comparison alerts

Show me as community member

I agree to your Terms of services

GDPR

Mpgyi