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Scale Computing - Why we ditched VMware and Went to HC3
Updated November 30, 2020

Scale Computing - Why we ditched VMware and Went to HC3

Zach Hightower | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Scale Computing HC3

Our Scale Computing HC3 cluster is used to provide a virtual host farm for the majority of our storage and services across our small college campus. Ultimately, it is utilized by every single faculty, staff, and student with services ranging from department share folders, LDAP connections, SQL databases, and remote desktops.
  • GUI - The interface is leagues above VMware and is very easy to use. It also supports OSX, which is something we value.
  • Ease of VM setup - Once you have the ISOs and drivers loaded, it takes almost no time to spin up a new virtual machine.
  • Overview and system alerts - Scale is excellent with providing a snapshot of your system resources as soon as you log in and also sends out timely emails to notify you when there are issues.
  • Load balancing - Sometimes when a drive goes out, the entire system has to go through a lengthy re-balancing process.
  • Firmware updates - Scale does a great job at improvements on their firmware, getting a swing-cluster to make those upgrades is difficult.
  • Support - Scale has amazing phone support and always has a knowledgeable tech available for critical issues. Smaller issues seem to get lost and it can be difficult to keep track of non-priority tickets.
Excellent phone support and dedicated techs. Smaller issues seem to get shuffled around, but that is not a huge issue.
We run our main LDAP, SQL, and remote desktop services on Scale.

We had an aging installation of SQL server. Because we had it on Scale, we were easily able to make a replacement/upgrade VM and then seamlessly transfer everything over to the new server with no glitches.

We can also spin up test VMs in no time at all. And delete them just as easily once we are finished.
  • We know what scale is going to cost - This has allowed us to focus on other projects.
  • Scale has provided much more value than the cost. We were able to replace 3 older Dell/HP servers and a SAN cluster with less Scale nodes. This saved us thousands of dollars.
  • Scale is expensive, but not unreasonably so. We were easily able to lease their products to fit our budget.
  • Scale does not use the painful licensing of other companies. It is nice paying for hardware and support and not needless proprietary licenses.
  • VMware
VMware works. But it is not pretty and the licensing is awful. We often had to sit around waiting for VMware's clunky interface to load before we could do anything and it would only work on Windows. VMware's licensing was ok (not great, but ok) at 3 nodes. However, it massively spiked after 3 due to our educational pricing. This is ultimately what made us decide to go to Scale Computing and we have not once regretted it. We are currently sitting on 6 nodes and planning to add 2 more. How much have we had to add on for licensing for additional nodes? Nothing.
I think Scale is perfect for small organizations that don't want to buy virtual hosts and storage. They also don't have ridiculous software licensing costs like many other virtual providers.

I am not sure where it would be less appropriate, but they are a lesser known company and there may be scenarios where more known software are compatible with other vendors.

User Experience with Scale Computing

Do you think Scale Computing Platform delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Scale Computing Platform's feature set?

Yes

Did Scale Computing Platform live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Scale Computing Platform go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Scale Computing Platform again?

Yes

Good product. Hardware seems to be a tad lower quality than when they first started. Single-pane management and ease of use between OSX and Windows machines makes it easy to access from any workstation.
Scale support has been rock solid. They are readily available to hop on the line and go over issues.

Using Scale Computing HC3

Usage includes basic departments share, remote desktop servers, SQL servers, and other services for our small Private College.
1 - Basic network and server administration.
  • Cost
  • Ease of use
  • Built-in storage
  • Small form factor
  • More virtualization
While Scale Computing has had some kinks and growing pains, their price point, support, and ease of use ensure that we are more likely than not to continue using their product for the foreseeable future.
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Ellucian PowerCampus

Evaluating Scale Computing HC3 and Competitors

Yes - VMware - the cost of upgrading over 3 servers was too high for us.
  • Advisor recommendation
Price and ease of use. We simply could not afford the VMware licensing and it was clunky at the time.
We would probably do more testing, but otherwise no change.

Scale Computing HC3 Support

ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Quick Initial Response
None

Using Scale Computing HC3

ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
None
  • Logical Layout of the management console
  • N/A