HPE MSA vs. vRealize Operations (discontinued)

The HPE MSA is best suited for basic SAN requirements. Having dual controllers provides redundancy and allows for firmware upgrades without incurring downtime to the environment. It provides enough IOPS for most workloads be it VMWare or servers requiring storage. For applications such as MS SQL or Exchange, other SAN solutions would be better. Plus the lack of storage snapshot capabilities is also a detriment to the product line. Lack of any reporting capability is also an issue especially when determining workload capabilities.

Incentivized

With the introduction of API-based event alerts, there is no need for a proxy, which is a good option. Its ability to manage infra on a real-time basis is a good option that helps monitor, administer and troubleshoot virtual machines.

Incentivized

• Functions well as a disaster recovery cluster repository
• Since the space is a spinning disk, it is inexpensive
• All of our VMs are stored in a mass storage repository on the system, but we could carve out specific LUNs if needed.

Incentivized

• Shows us where we can save on cost of keeping machines running, or boosting resources on VM's
• the ability to plan deployments with scenario plans that can be customized over a specific timeline
• reports that can be sent and shared with different teams or departments

Incentivized

• Firmware upgrades. We have had major issues on two occasions, causing extended downtime. HP was quick to help and resolve, but I am not sure why our simple implementation caused an issue that should have been picked up by testing prior to release. Once was bad, twice painful. The end result is that we purchased a unit solely to test firmware upgrades on, not really great for us!
• Support life span. Units go end of life support after around 4 years, a little too short for us.

Incentivized

• There are less space for customization.
• Cannot use for OS monitoring.
• Some option are very complex like getting an ideal VM report.

Incentivized

It is a functioning Replication system for us and checks all the boxes that the auditors are looking for. Further, it is inexpensive and the storage we purchased was cheap. HP has a good reputation in the industry that plays into the decision also.

Incentivized

It has a good GUI to monitor real-time logs for cloud applications. This is quite a useful tool and preferred over most of the competitive applications in the market.

Incentivized

The support is pretty good however some of the KB articles still reference different versions of the product so it can be hard to find answers to common questions

Incentivized

The dual controller configuration of the HPE MSA trumps the Synology DiskStation's single controller configuration. For that alone, I would select the HPE MSA. Without that setup, any controller issue or firmware upgrade is disruptive to the systems the SAN is providing storage to. Furthermore, HPE's support is better than what Synology currently provides. The lack of phone support on Synology's part slows down the troubleshooting of issues compared to HPE. Furthermore, HPE's engineers are able to do a remote session and can work on the problems directly compared to Synology's support.

Incentivized

SCOM was quite overwhelming when we first set up a POC for it. There was just too much for one person to handle. With vROPs I can manage the product and provide the support needed for my environment. We also have a Solarwinds environment that provides us with a level of detail and alerting we have come to rely upon. vROPS takes it to another level because it links directly into vCenter to provide you with a complete picture of your virtual environment.

Incentivized

Not involved in purchasing.

Incentivized

• Increased up time. Better user experience.
• Good value for money. ROI high.
• Peace of mind. Just knowing that you rely on the solution to meet storage performance needs is great.

Incentivized

• We believe that the ability to preplan deployments with vRealize has proven its return on investments.
• Our troubleshooting time has been reduced with vrealize because its constantly collecting performance data. typically vrealize will tell us cause of fault before we can determine it ourselves.

Incentivized