Any pros and cons for Lenovo x3650 vs HPE DL380?

[atariguy]

We're a small shop, with 6 IBM x3650 hosts running VMware Essentials. We're thinking of getting an additional host. We recently went from using only IBM storage to trying out an HPE MSA 1040 and really liked the simplicity of it compared to the V3700s and DS3524s that we've been using. We're wondering how we might like the HPE DL380.

For those that have had experience with both, which do you prefer and why?

[vijayrana968]

I haven't use these servers but something I found here, check if this is what youre looking for... https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/5dfklu/dell_r710_vs_hp_dl380_g7_ibm_x3650_m3/

[RyanHardy]

I think it's really more personal taste, but I prefer Dell servers over Lenovo and HP. Having used all three of them over several years, I feel at home most on Dell servers - beginning from the configuration options before buying them to the management of the servers... it just never felt that easy on Lenovo and HP. Try finding the right firmware updates on their websites - it is just horrible with HPE (always has been) and not much better with Lenovo.

On another note: 6 hosts with Essentials? Isn't it limited to 3 hosts accross a company? Just to make sure you don't run into licensing problems with VMware.

[atariguy]

We actually have 3 Essentials licenses, since not all 6 are in the same place. I am not aware of a limitation beyond 3 hosts per license. (Although Veeam unfortunately puts a limitation on their Essentials license, so I have to use a different product to backup some of them.)

[RyanHardy]

Oh, I must have mixed that up with Veeam then I guess - sorry.