Cisco UCS Manager vs. Hitachi Command Suite

It [Cisco UCS Manager] is extremely well suited to large virtual infrastructure environments with resource dense blades. This solution is also great if you want to consolidate a large number of servers (if they are servers that need to stay physical, but can fit in the profile of a blade) - this would reduce data center space utilization as well as power and cooling. Cisco UCS Manager is also great if you're looking for centralized management of a larger number of servers. This would not be a great solution if you have a very small shop - it's not cheap and probably wouldn't give you a ROI if you only have a couple dozen servers total. I'd say it would be overkill for small shops, but if you have the money and don't care, you'll still like it.

Incentivized

Even as a non-IT employee, this software helps me to see how I am using the organization's digital resources. At a larger scale, where Hitachi Command Suite excels, this software allows an organization to monitor and analyze their resources and how employees and customers are utilizing them. I find this is best used when dealing with sensitive information (such as medical records), or with consumer-facing content.

Incentivized

• It is very all inclusive for management of every part our our Cisco blade center.
• It allows us to directly connect to a hardware-based server in the blade center as though we were physically at the console.
• It allows us to monitor the entire system for faults.
• It lets us manage connectivity.
• It is set to alert us via email if a fault occurs.

Incentivized

• measure
• analyze
• visual representation
• up to date numbers. real-time metrics

Incentivized

• Automation: There is a simple power-shell CMD lets, but it leaves more to be desired.
• Navigation: Navigating the interface can be confusing.
• Integration: Integration with ESXi hosts while doing FW upgrades would be hugely beneficial without the need for additional tools.

Incentivized

• Pool management (still best done through SVP)
• Support for tags/attributes for storage resources would be a wonderful addition
• Reporting is minimal and difficult to use.
• Capacity planning (historical baselining + projection of organic growth) is a missing feature

Incentivized

Cisco UCS Manager allows for integrated management of all UCS components, streamlining processes like server provisioning, networking, and storage configuration

Incentivized

The automation capabilities of Cisco UCS Manager help streamline tasks such as provisioning, configuration, and monitoring, leading to increased efficiency

Incentivized

The interfaces are well designed and not overly populated with extraneous detail. Disparate but related feature sets are supported via separate interfaces that share a UX look and feel so that it doesn't feel like completely different panes of glass. Copy data management activity is still a bit clunky as it is accomplished via a re-purposed backup tool that was written to handle replicas, images and snapshots) but over all it is useable and has an interesting interface where elements are dragged onto the workflows.

Incentivized

Cisco UCSM Support has been very quick to reply and address our concerns, issues, and questions. We have found that Cisco's documentation is clear and concise and fairly easy to find. With Cisco support's help, we are able to quickly and safely meet the demands of our end-users, consistently.

Incentivized

I think UCS Manager would be able very comparable to other vendors offerings when it comes to server configuration. I think Cisco did a good job in giving you full access to many options that you might not see with Dell or HPE. Every manufacturer would need a similar tool to control their server environment, but I think what Cisco has built into their Manager is a little better than others I've used. You can just see and change so many settings. I would say that is also a bit of a negative by a little bit because sometimes it is hard to dig in and find what you need to change and often might need to reach out to TAC or take a training course to understand all of the interface.

Incentivized

Command Suite / Ops Center are the native tools to the Hitachi Vantara storage systems. Operating Hitachi Vantara products including VSP (370,1000,1500,5500), Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) they are paramount in leveraging the full use of the product families. The interfaces may be a bit less friendly than some of the newer green-field storage systems that have 'point and click' / 'click-click-done' management interfaces but the power and the engine-room access for deep configuration that Hitachi Vantara gives make it worth the extra effort to run some of the absolute most rock-solid and fastest/faster storage systems available.

Incentivized

• The positive is I was able to consolidate my small server infrastructure from 3 racks to one rack giving me space back and much power savings
• The negative would be it could feel a little daunting to manage as there are many tabs and pieces to the interface.

Incentivized

• Provisioning is now a very easy task
• Managing replication now has an interface (as opposed to old HORCM RAIDCOM command line stuff - which is still available_
• HPA gives end to end and sparkline views of all elements in the storage path

Incentivized