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Works Well for Virtualization!
September 09, 2016

Works Well for Virtualization!

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Modules Used

  • Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco UCS Series

We needed a system that would save us rack space and provide us the power we needed for our virtual environment. We chose the Cisco UCS platform due to the space it would save us by using a blade system. For about 14Us of space we could have 8 blade servers to handle our 150 virtual servers.
  • Space savings - saving space means less cabinets. That saves money especially in a colocation.
  • Powerful - fast processors and can hold up to 768GB of memory all in small blade.
  • Quiet and efficient operation. Compared to other vendors' blade servers there is a noticeable difference in noise.
  • Price - typically a little higher priced compared to similar hardware.
  • This product could be improved if it allowed other memory choices besides Cisco memory. You cannot simply add more memory that is not from Cisco. You have to purchase their memory which is more expensive than other memory choices.
  • Setup is a little complicated at first. Once set up and running there isn't much to configure later.
  • Space savings - more hardware for less space - saves the reoccurring cost of colocation space and power.
  • Less power consumption which saves cost of power.
  • Less management hassle. Set it and forget it for the most part.
  • Saves time on installing new servers.
  • Managing multiple servers/networks easily.
  • Upgrading firmware on multiple servers is simple.
Cisco UCS seems to work great. Power consumption is a lot more efficient. Cooling fan technology seems to be better. Everything can be hot swapped. Pricing is higher for the UCS, but it isn't as high as some. I do believe there is a better product from Cisco. The management console seems to be designed better. Cisco UCS may be a little difficult to configure at first. Once you get everything set up it is pretty much set it and forget it.
The Cisco UCS blade system is great for environments where you need speed, but do not have the room for full size servers. You can get 8 blade servers in less than 14U of space. This setup is great for virtualized applications and servers. You can squeeze a lot of virtual servers on a blade. The CPU and memory perform very well. If you need a dedicated server for an application, like graphics processing, you may want to look at other solutions. The blades do not have a PCI slot, or a way to add a graphics processor, there may be other ways around that, but that is worth noting. The blade series was made for those who are constantly needing to add a server. If your company adds a new server every week, or month I think it is beneficial. You save time configuring the server. If you add a server or two once a year you will have to relearn how to set it up, or go through your documented steps. Yes it saves time in bulk, but one offs here and there I do not see much of a time savings. Managing firmware is a breeze.