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If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?
https://3parug.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2740
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Author:  mujzeptu [ Wed Dec 06, 2017 4:30 pm ]
Post subject:  If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

We are 95% VM's in multiple vCenter environments. We like thin, dedupe, compaction, etc but performance, reliability and support are king.

We have ~2000 VM's running and around 200TB of total data. SSD's are great, but a hybrid would be nice. We run 16Gb FC for connectivity and need to feed blade server enclosures.

Thoughts? Pros/cons?

Author:  mitchellm3 [ Thu Dec 07, 2017 11:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

I'll bite. Obviously I'm a fan of 3PAR today...but If I couldn't go that route I'd look at the following...

1. IBM v9000 - We left IBM because they were falling behind and HPE was on the forefront with VMware integration. Since then, they've caught up for the most part. Their metro-cluster game is tight and their Flash technology is second to none. Next year they will be doing NVMe over fabric.
However, even though they can get you good purchase pricing if you lean hard enough, their maintenance is outrageous. Year 4/5 is plain nuts. (only from XIV/SVC experience). Also, IBM seriously trimmed back their storage teams but now seem to be heading back in that direction. I will never be surprised to hear if they sell of their storage division.

2. Hitachi - They have comparable AFA's with similar copy functions such as metro-clustering. I've heard of many other companies going that route and being very happy with the pricing and performance. I've never used them but I'd give them a hard look if HPE starts messing up.

3. NetApp - Their AFA arrays are pretty good. We use their regular arrays for File. I mention them because they are willing to drop their prices so much that it makes 3par look expensive. However, their metro-cluster technology isn't as advanced as 3par and not as granular...it is all or nothing...not by RCGs. To me their interface is always complicated...but if you're in the NetApp world for a while I'm sure it gets a whole lot easier.

4. Pure - I'd look at them just cause I'm curious. Their company never makes a profit but customers still buy them. I guess that doesn't stop Tesla drivers either.

My 2 cents.

Author:  storsnapper [ Wed Dec 13, 2017 12:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

Depending on the use case we'd most likely look at NetApp AFA's or PURE. Even if I was going to purchase another 3par I'd bring them in for a counter offer just to make the sales team work for it.

Author:  JohnMH [ Wed Dec 13, 2017 1:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

Not really the answer you wanted, but personally outside of the array vendor and hardware with a 95% VM environment then something like InfoSight & VMvision could bring a lot of value. If you're looking for rock solid then I'd probably discount the startups as they tend to sell into their sweet spot rather than more challenging environments. But no harm in bringing in some competition to help with the pricing.

Author:  mujzeptu [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

Thank you for the feedback everyone. We have had nothing but issues with HPE so we have to look elsewhere. Our 17+ year relationship has really gone to crap the past ~3-5 years. We now cannot even get sales to take $200k for some rack servers. They lose our orders, refuse to call us back, etc. Couple that with downtime due to terrible firmware, no Q&A, non-existent support (seriously, how do you guys deal with it?!) we have to move on. We have hundreds of blade servers to replace, dozens of switches and several arrays and HPE sales can't even bother to pick up the phone or answer an email.

With that said, we are currently looking at Tegile, Pure and EMC offerings. I am really liking Tegile's features and am curious to speak with them more.

Author:  JohnMH [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

Tegile were bought by Western Digital pre IPO so I suppose they're in safe hands, but TBH I don't know much about them as I've never encountered them in the field.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/08/29/taken_wdc_buys_tegile_storage_array_business/

Author:  bajorgensen [ Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

If you already are mostly vSphere why not look at vSAN?
Still some blockers if you require specific features, but it is maturing at a fast pace.

Author:  sjm [ Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

I am the infrastructure architect for a cloud service provider I am very surprised to hear your HPE relationship has gone south maybe you are speaking to the wrong people and need to escalate above and beyond.
I have used
IBM
hitachi
EMc
HP(evas)
Dell

storage based sans we run completely HP 3pars now on HP blades and fibre based infrastructure and Nexus fast Ethernet switching.

We have never had an issue from HPE and we we have had issues they were responded too quickly and accurately.

I would look if I had to the newer UNITY sans from emc....as they have many features I would require and one I like is expansion of the front and backend of the arrays.

Cheers

Author:  JohnMH [ Wed Dec 20, 2017 6:32 am ]
Post subject:  Re: If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

You have possibly dropped through the cracks and may no longer be a named account, in which case you can escalate and get someone aligned from within HPE, or you're free to use channel partners who can provide their own expertise or bring in the relevant HPE resource if required. With regular reorgs in the Sales teams to keep things fresh which happens in all companies, this can and does happen on occasion.

Try reaching out to someone like Calvin Zito he should be able to help getting resource aligned. See bottom of page for email.
https://community.hpe.com/t5/Around-the-Storage-Block/Watch-on-demand-Discover-Madrid-videos/ba-p/6990959#.WjpJ5VVl-Uk

Author:  Richard Siemers [ Tue Dec 26, 2017 12:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: If you couldn't go 3PAR/Nimble -- who would you go with?

If 3PAR is not an option... have a look at Kaminario. Smaller company, but they remind me of 3PAR before HP bought them.

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