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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Intersight

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/ACisco Intersight is an operations platform that helps IT operations teams control and automate Cisco UCS, converged, and hyperconverged infrastructure. Intersight consolidates and automates infrastructure lifecycle management from data centers to the edge in one solution delivered as-a-service.N/A

    VMware ESXi

    Score7.4 out of 10
    N/AA bare-metal hypervisor that installs directly onto a physical server. With direct access to and control of underlying resources, VMware ESXi partitions hardware to consolidate applications and cut costs.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco IntersightVMware ESXi
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco IntersightVMware ESXi
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco IntersightVMware ESXi
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    VMware by Broadcom
    Chose VMware ESXi
    Azure workstations are made to run windows. Running Linux on top of a windows server just doesn't seem like the right thing to do. The Azure platform is also very hard to learn and become familiar with. A Microsoft licensing platform is much harder to understand as compared to …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    93%
    Would buy again
    43 Answers
    98%
    Would buy again
    93 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    91%
    Delivers good value for the price
    39 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    86 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    42 Answers
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    94 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    34 Answers
    99%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    82 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    87%
    Implementation went as expected
    39 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    91 Answers
    Features
    Cisco IntersightVMware ESXi
    Server Virtualization
    Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Cisco Intersight and VMware ESXi
    Feature
    Cisco Intersight
    -
    Ratings
    VMware ESXi
    8.2
    128 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Virtual machine automated provisioning00 Ratings8.0116 Ratings
    Management console00 Ratings9.0128 Ratings
    Live virtual machine backup00 Ratings8.0112 Ratings
    Live virtual machine migration00 Ratings8.0116 Ratings
    Hypervisor-level security00 Ratings8.0117 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco IntersightVMware ESXi
    Small Businesses
    Rackspace Fabric
    Score6.3 out of 10
    Proxmox VE
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Turbonomic
    Score8.5 out of 10
    VMware vSOM (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM Turbonomic
    Score8.5 out of 10
    IBM PowerVM
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco IntersightVMware ESXi
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (46 ratings)
    9.0
    (129 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.3
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    6.1
    (8 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Availability
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.3
    (46 ratings)
    10.0
    (55 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    8.3
    (4 ratings)
    5.1
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Professional Services
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco IntersightVMware ESXi
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    It is highly suited for an organisation pushing for a standardised and centralised configuration of settings using policies, profiles and templates. It is highly suited for customers used to legacy UMM that need to refresh their environment, but instead of deploying them in UMM (which is still possible), to take the time and effort to learn Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service and IMM as well as familiarise themselves with the differences between UMM and IMM, and the issues in UMM which IMM addresses and improves upon. We deployed in UMM initially then transitioned to IMM with the transition too. I cannot think of a scenario where Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service would not be suited. Even for small-scale deployments, it provides significant benefits. Maybe if you come from another server vendor management environment, the learning curve may feel steep (e.g. many new concepts and constructs that one has to master).
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    VMware by Broadcom
    If you're looking for the industry standard in server virtualization, I would recommend ESXi. After decades of expertise in the field, VMware continues to provide a strong product, production-ready, with an easy-to-learn interface that allows for quick management along with less costly upfront onboarding and training. Grab the free personal-use license and install in your homelab to start!
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • Intersight can consolidate Infra management on a single dashboard such as UCS Server, Hyperflex, Fabric Interconnect, UCSM.
    • Device policy and configuration can be deployed from Intersight.
    • Firmware and software upgrade for all devices can be done from Intersight.
    • No impact to DC production if Intersight connection is interrupted.
    • Apps workload data is not passed through Intersight, only the control plane.
    • TAC can be opened via Intersight.
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    VMware by Broadcom
    • Resource management. The automatic load balancing works very well to ensure no host is taxed disproportionately compared to the others.
    • Templates and cloning. It is very easy to set up a template and spin up new servers based on a specific setup. This makes server management very streamlined.
    • VM management. The vSphere interface is very easy to use and navigate. Everything is responsive and it works when you need it to. The options are also robust while also being arranged in a straightforward manner.
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    Cons
    Cisco
    • It would be great to not having to create EVERY profile within a deployment. since some items can be done be default, the defaults should be set and the deployment can be much faster.
    • When adding Rack servers, indicating that the CIMC interface should not being connected before powering on the system and they it will be managed by Cisco Intersight can reduce down times. We had to manually reset our CIMC after disconnecting from our OOBM switches.
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    VMware by Broadcom
    • VMware ESXi can improve on the UI that is installed on the bare metal machine. The menus can be hard to navigate when looking for simple configuration items.
    • VMware ESXi can improve on the stability of their overall hypervisor. There have been a few times we had to reinstall due to corruption of VMware ESXi.
    • I would like to see VMware ESXi do better at adding more standard free features in their consumer version of VMware ESXi. For example, having the ability to back up virtual machines is good practice and something that would be very nice if offered in their free version.
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    Been using Cisco Software as a service (SaaS) platform in a production environment for a large medical and health professionals that has critical healthcare and patients care dependency.
    Support team is very helpful getting system updated as needed, and vendor support is fantastic. Also get a dedicated Cisco networking engine to review and advise system health and recommendations.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    It is critical to our business, what started out as a way to do certain functions, it has now become core to ensuring our product is available to our customers and reducing our costs to operate and reduce our recovery time and provisioning servers. Their support is great and the costs to renew is reasonable.
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    Usability
    Cisco
    Usability of Cisco Intersight is highly dependent on the licensing purchased. The default (free) license level provides a lot of value for the minimal amount of effort to implement. The paid license levels provide additional features (detailed inventory, configuration management and deployment, etc.)
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    VMware by Broadcom
    The interface is fairly intuitive for most things, and the areas that are a little less obvious usually have fantastic documentation in the online knowledgebase. In 3-4 years of managing our ESXi hosts, I think that I have only opened 4-5 support cases for things that I could not figure out myself or find answers to on the website.
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    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    So far over the past 4 years we have not experienced any issues with the servers being available.
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    VMware by Broadcom
    Without the need to patch the servers with bug fixes and enhancements we whave not experienced any downtime with VMware issues. Even the bug fixes and updates do not cause of downtime as we just migrate the servers to the opposite node and update the one and then move servers back. Very simple and painless.
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    Performance
    Cisco
    Could need some more refinement. It takes some time getting used to where different settings are being defined.
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    VMware by Broadcom
    We do not notice any difference between a physical and virtual server running the same workload. In fact we can scale quicker with the virtual server than we can with the physical.
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    I have had servers TAC cases open for issues with Cisco Intersight. Some have yet to be resolved. One case that is still open is where the HCL status ( Hardware Compatibility List ) shows not validated when It should be. We have several servers that have the exact same hardware, OS, and the same firmware. One server will show the HCL is not validated but all others will
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    VMware by Broadcom
    I can't say enough good about VMware's support team. To an individual they take ownership of the case, provide thorough answers, and follow up regularly. On one occasion, a problem we experienced with NSX Endpoint was escalated to development for a permanent resolution after a workaround was found. In my experience, most companies would have tried to find a way to close a case like that instead of taking it all the way. Most importantly, when production is down and every second counts, they VMware teams understand that urgency and treat your issue as if it were the only one they had to deal with. You can't ask for better.
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    Online Training
    Cisco
    You really need a lab to get hands on but it was useful
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    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    Very smooth process and we did it for 2 data centers
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    VMware by Broadcom
    Jsut read and follow anything your storage provider may require to allow the integration of VMware with storage operations, outside of that VMware jsut works.
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    I personally think that Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service is at the top of its class when it comes to managing data center hardware. The cloud-connected design feels very modern and easy to use. The mobile app is something I wouldn't expect to get in a server management tool. The way it can update, monitor, and manage our servers is very nice. Overall, we are very happy with it.
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    VMware by Broadcom
    As long as you're using Nutanix AOS on Nutanix hardware and are paying their software support fees, AOS is a valid competitor to VMware and can save money due to not needing a license and having their server management system built into the base host management system. If you aren't using Nutanix hardware, however, VMWare is in most cases the best way to go. I cannot comment on HyperV, but most IT people I know either use it because they have to (most) or they like it better (not many).
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Cisco
    Contract terms is similar to other Cisco subscription model, option from 1 year till 5 years. Billing frequency can be monthly, quarterly, annual or prepaid. I think I would not suggest anything regarding contract terms
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    VMware by Broadcom
    it has been fair and easy to understand. I know VMware is looking at wanting to change from CPU to core pricing so we will see what that looks like when it happens.
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    Easy to add new services into it. Having everything policy driven makes it a lot easier to add new hardware into the solution and get setup.
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    VMware by Broadcom
    We started out with a two-server cluster and adding a third or fourth is very straightforward and simple with no issues. You just need to be aware of the size of your Vcenter Server to handle the workload, but still the resources needed is very minimal
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    Professional Services
    Cisco
    We're not using professional service for Intersight
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    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • The negative thing is that we prefer to use the UCS Manager in our company because this bare metal is integrated into the FI and no extra appliance is required. SaaS is generally not viewed favorably in Germany.
    • Telling the user that they have to buy Intersight licenses even if they use UCS Manager annoys our customers.
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    VMware by Broadcom
    • VMWare ESXi licensing is affordable for our business - and the licensing model is simplistic. Not like that of Microsoft with having to keep track of server licenses and CAL licenses for users.
    • VMWare ESXi also has hardware-monitoring built-in, so that further saves us money from having to be spent with another vendor.
    • As much as I hate the saying "a single pane of glass" does fit for this product. You can manage your servers, monitor hardware status, create and export backup snapshots, manage virtual NICs, connect to various storage devices. We're very happy with this product.
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    ScreenShots

    Cisco Intersight Screenshots

    Screenshot of the Intersight dashboard, which provides out-of-the box summaries of real-time health and performance data across data center and edge infrastructure. Users can customize the dashboard with a library of widgets to quickly see information that's most important to them.Screenshot of the security advisories and field notices that alert users about endpoint devices in their environment that are impacted along with recommended resolution.Screenshot of the Topology Views that let users quickly identify any UCS domain connectivity issues thorugh a visual representation.Screenshot of an example of the automated workflows that users can create, using Intersight's drag-and-drop workflow designer and library of tasks and workflows.Screenshot of an example of the aggregated and visualized metrics that are collected for fabric interconnects, chassis, and servers to monitor devices, optimize performance, identify bottlenecks, and proactively address any potential issues.