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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco UCS Manager

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ACisco UCS Manager supports the entire Cisco UCS server and Cisco HyperFlex Series hyperconverged infrastructure portfolios. It enables server, fabric, and storage provisioning as well as, device discovery, inventory, configuration, diagnostics, monitoring, fault detection, auditing, and statistics collection.N/A

    VMware vSAN

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AVMware vSAN is an enterprise-class storage virtualization software that provides a simple path to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and multi cloud. VMware vSAN is no longer sold as a standalone product and is now available as a part of VMware Cloud Foundation.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco UCS ManagerVMware vSAN
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco UCS ManagerVMware vSAN
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco UCS ManagerVMware vSAN
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    VMware by Broadcom
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    20 Answers
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    13 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    19 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    14 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    15 Answers
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    12 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    18 Answers
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
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    Cisco UCS ManagerVMware vSAN
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    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco UCS ManagerVMware vSAN
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (23 ratings)
    10.0
    (17 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.2
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    7.5
    (5 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco UCS ManagerVMware vSAN
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    It [Cisco UCS Manager] is extremely well suited to large virtual infrastructure environments with resource dense blades. This solution is also great if you want to consolidate a large number of servers (if they are servers that need to stay physical, but can fit in the profile of a blade) - this would reduce data center space utilization as well as power and cooling. Cisco UCS Manager is also great if you're looking for centralized management of a larger number of servers. This would not be a great solution if you have a very small shop - it's not cheap and probably wouldn't give you a ROI if you only have a couple dozen servers total. I'd say it would be overkill for small shops, but if you have the money and don't care, you'll still like it.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    The product is a must for enterprise & SMB segments as this gives a good value for money and the licensing policy is very well defined and cost effective for the feature set it provides. This is very well suited for organization which have multiple brand storage systems and would like to consolidate them all together, thus providing a huge storage capacity for the organizations data growth. The product becomes less appropriate in organization where they have single storage platform as the service provider would have the ability to consilidate all the storage systems. Hence this products may be under utilized.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • It is very all inclusive for management of every part our our Cisco blade center.
    • It allows us to directly connect to a hardware-based server in the blade center as though we were physically at the console.
    • It allows us to monitor the entire system for faults.
    • It lets us manage connectivity.
    • It is set to alert us via email if a fault occurs.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    • VMware runs VSAN certification programs to make sure the OEM sells validated nodes. It helps customers to select appropriate certified ready nodes like Lenovo ThinkAgile VX which comes factory configured and easy to set up.
    • Hyperconverged solutions reduce real estate space and networking costs when compare with shared storage. The host overhead also less.
    • Supports All-Flash (SATA and NVMe SSDs) and Hybrid vSAN with HDD and SSD. So customers can choose cost-effective solutions appropriate to their workloads.
    • Supports different storage policies, RAID and duplication, and compression features and it makes a complete storage solution.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Cisco
    • Automation: There is a simple power-shell CMD lets, but it leaves more to be desired.
    • Navigation: Navigating the interface can be confusing.
    • Integration: Integration with ESXi hosts while doing FW upgrades would be hugely beneficial without the need for additional tools.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    • We were a fairly early adopter of VMware vSAN and as such experienced several growing pains.
    • We experienced a few bugs that took a few software versions upgrades to go mostly away.
    • The biggest issue we had overall was with host drivers. Even with vSAN ready node compatible hosts, you have to be very careful that the drivers for NIC and RAID controllers are right.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    Cisco UCS Manager allows for integrated management of all UCS components, streamlining processes like server provisioning, networking, and storage configuration
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cisco
    The automation capabilities of Cisco UCS Manager help streamline tasks such as provisioning, configuration, and monitoring, leading to increased efficiency
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    Deploying and configuring VSAN is a relatively simple process for people that are already used to working in virtual environments, primarily for those that are familiar with vSphere. The compatibility of those two products is amazing. You shouldn't really encounter any issues and if you do, you surely did something wrong.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    Cisco UCSM Support has been very quick to reply and address our concerns, issues, and questions. We have found that Cisco's documentation is clear and concise and fairly easy to find. With Cisco support's help, we are able to quickly and safely meet the demands of our end-users, consistently.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    Support is (as always forVMware) top notch and easy to work with. The majority of computer companies are outsourcing their tech staff, and it seems they do as well. But their guys know the product well and are quick to respond to your ticket (if the severity is right!).
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    I think UCS Manager would be able very comparable to other vendors offerings when it comes to server configuration. I think Cisco did a good job in giving you full access to many options that you might not see with Dell or HPE. Every manufacturer would need a similar tool to control their server environment, but I think what Cisco has built into their Manager is a little better than others I've used. You can just see and change so many settings. I would say that is also a bit of a negative by a little bit because sometimes it is hard to dig in and find what you need to change and often might need to reach out to TAC or take a training course to understand all of the interface.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    Our VMware solution is built in-house for the organization's private application, we don't want to put our data on cloud premises. Also, vSAN is a cost-effective solution for our environment. We have done the POC with both products to understand the Flexibility, Management, and cost. After the successful POC, we have chosen the VMware vSAN.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • The positive is I was able to consolidate my small server infrastructure from 3 racks to one rack giving me space back and much power savings
    • The negative would be it could feel a little daunting to manage as there are many tabs and pieces to the interface.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    • we have realized savings in the licensing compared to traditional storage (over $500,000 over the last 5 years)
    • we have realized ROI through efficiencies in our staff of approx $1MM (over the last 5 years)
    • also, positive impact on the time to value/speed of implementation allowed us to realize business objectives (Over $1MM of ROI)
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots