FlexPod vs. HPE ConvergedSystem 500 for SAP HANA

FlexPod is great for mid to large size companies, where the flexibility and depth of a traditional SAN and high performance servers is required. For smaller companies, it might make more sense to go with a hyper converged solution such as Hyperflex or Nutanix (both of which can still run on Cisco UCS servers, but would not be making use of Netapp storage), to meet the requirements in a smaller footprint.

Incentivized

HP ConvergedSystem 500 for SAP HANA is serving us really well in our organisation and maybe, it is very appropriate in hospitals and healthcare organisations. This is because, so far, it serves our current needs perfectly well since its deployment. However, in situations of fluctuating electric power, where power can go off for hours, it just sits and looks at you, like any other automated system anyway.

Incentivized

• Single Pane of Glass Server Administration.
• Ease of firmware upgrades.
• Incredible support when you have an issue. The Cisco/NetApp/VMware FlexPod support teams work together and drive your issues down to the root cause.

Incentivized

• Architecture includes expansive memory - permits additional memory as to not bog the server.
• Cloud/Server storage is reliable and permits our employees to communicate and access data on the go.
• Client Virtualization allows employee-customer access easily while on site.

Incentivized

• KVM control of the blades still requires Java. Avocent is using HTML5 now, and it would be nice if the KVM console for these UCS blades could too.
• Price - Like any Cisco product, there are cheaper options. They aren't nearly as fully featured, but at times, it would be nice if UCS could be a bit cheaper.

Incentivized

• Too many links to click on
• Can get confusing

Incentivized

Being a Cisco shop already it was a natural fit to go with a solution based on their technology. Then add in VMware which we are were already using - that was two out of the three for the FlexPod. Then factor in NetApp's de-duplication technology and flexibility in configuration and options and it's a match made in heaven. Not to say we haven't had some stumbles and some issues but it works and it works well.

Incentivized

I didn't really work with that.

Incentivized

• FlexPod has allowed our team to be extremely quick to resopnd to new VM build requests. The amount of RAM, CPU and backplane offered by B series blades allows us to go with very high VM density. The quick deployment of service profile templates also means that when we have to add new hosts, it is done quicker.
• FlexPod and the service profile portability (along with VMware) has allowed for full upgrades and migrations from M1/M2 series hardware to M4 hardware without any downtime or outages to the clients. Blades can be moved into new chassis, or service profiles moved to new generation blades, with no impact to the customers' ability to work.

Incentivized

• Lower Overhead, cut man hour costs.
• Greater Return on Investment
• Data reliability is stronger than ever.

Incentivized