Overall Satisfaction with Scale Computing HC3
We implemented Scale clusters in both of our offices as a replacement for the prior HyperV-Based VM infrastructure. We utilize Scale's built-in snapshot and replication technology to provide VM-level backup & DR protection. All of our primary storage is now managed as part of the Scale environment. Scale integrates VM operations, management, and protection into a unified system that provides more capability at lower cost than the multi-vendor collection of products we used previously.
- Scale's hyperconverged environment presents a single pool of resources that support our VMs. It intelligently handles decisions related to storage provisioning and load balancing across nodes.
- Snapshots and replicas are created in a few clicks within a simple to use web interface. Gone are layers of settings found in some other products we've used.
- The 'at-a-glance' dashboard tells me everything I need to know about the current status and utilization of the Scale cluster.
- The ability to cut, copy, and paste into a console in a browser tab would be wonderful.
- I appreciate the ability to click on the storage gauge on the dashboard and drill down into detail. Shouldn't that be available on every gauge?
- The ability to schedule exports, restarts, etc from the management interface would be useful.
Our environment is 100% virtualized and entirely on Scale Computing. This includes Main file servers; Active Directory domain controllers, SQL servers; speech processing systems; print servers; security management servers; e-discovery hosts; RDS server farms; legal application servers. Our experience is that, no matter what we ask Scale to do, it does it very well. We P2V moved our primary file server on to the Scale cluster with zero issues.
- Our Scale investment will pay for itself in 2 years with the reductions we're seeing in server licensing, management software, backup software, and online backup services.
- We've had zero downtime attributable to Scale.
- Nutanix Acropolis and StarWind HyperConverged Appliance (HCA)
Nutanix could not compete on price. Not even close. It is a much more complex environment to configure and manage. While this probably means it has a few additional features, we did not encounter any that were relevant to us. It's lone advantage was onsite hardware support. Starwind turned out to be the most expensive solution we considered. It relies heavily on underlying Microsoft technologies (such as clustering) which we saw as a potential point of failure that Starwind did not control.
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
We originally had Scale nodes it 2 different offices. When the smaller office closed, we brought those back to the main office for incorporation into our main cluster. Scale's assistance with this effort made it a simple task. .
Using Scale Computing HC3
125 - Professional staff, administrative, clerical.
2 - Any server/network admin with a general understanding of server builds in a VM environment will quickly understand operations in Scale Computing.
- Active Directory, print servers, Application servers
- Data Protection (snapshots, offsite replication)
- Redundancy
- Leveraging LeoStream to provide Remote Desktops during the pandemic
- Full VDI environment