What is our primary use case?
The NetApp E-Series has two models in Hybrid Flash (E2800, E5700), and two in All Flash (EF300, EF600).
Importantly, All-Flash models also support one 24-drive shelf for NVMe disks!
These models (EF300, EF600) also support adding SSD, SAS, and SATA disk shelf(s) later on. However, all models are highly scalable reliable, and cost-effective. For example, E2800 entry-level can be scaled up to 1.8PB!
The primary use case(FC-SAN and IP-SAN only) would be where the customer is looking for native storage performance(low latency) cost-effective solutions. Media and entertainment, Video Surveillance, Oil and gas, and Big Data Analytics would be the best fit for E-Series Storage Solutions. The NetApp E-Series is also the best choice to use as backup and recovery storage.
How has it helped my organization?
NetApp E-Series can improve an organization's productivity by optimizing performance and capacity requirements with minimum cost. They will get an enterprise-grade storage system with the cost of almost buying a disk drive!
If the solution is designed correctly then customers will also get a very low initial cost with a highly scalable, available, and flexible solution. The capacity upgrade is also found significantly cost-effective and at the same time flexible. The storage deployment and management are very simple.
What is most valuable?
The E-2800 and E5700 have built-in storage to storage replication for full capacity!
By that it meant; customers do not need to worry about DRS.
All of the E-Series models offer all RIAD types, 1, 10, 5, 6, etc; so you will get more flexibility to create RAID groups based on your application requirements.
The other thing is that it is almost plug-and-play; it is a good friend for storage support engineers. Secondly, at the same time, it is very simple to create RGs, Volumes, and host mappings; so for customers, it is also simple and easy to perform storage admin-related tasks.
What needs improvement?
Generally, improvement might be required in all human-made products. So, based on my personal experience with reference to NetApp E-Series storage solutions, NetApp should add more models to offer more choices for customers. In particular, there is no midrange model in their E-series portfolio.
Moreover, when designing a cost-effective storage solution, we need to have more choices to accommodate different customers' needs.NetApp also needs to improve hardware failure error handling in the E-Series portfolio . However, FAS/AFF comes with significantly better error handling and reporting.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been selling NetApp Products as partners for the last 10+ years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is very stable.
High availability and reliability are core features of the NetApp E-series storage solution keeping the solution cost-effective too.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product's scalability depends upon the model you pick(E2800, E5700, EF300, or EF600). The solution is scalable, for example, entry-level E2800 can be scaled up to 1.8PB. The scalability depends on the model selected. However, there is no horizontal scalability option in NetApp E-series.
How are customer service and support?
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
No, not exactly, but in most of the cases, it was server-based storage being used previously.
How was the initial setup?
The E series is easier to set up than even the FAS series. One could say that it's already set up storage. There is no complication to the initial configuration or the setup. The product is very simple to deploy.
What about the implementation team?
We are partners, we deploy solutions for our customers.
What was our ROI?
You should design a solution based on the requirements; doing so will surely end up with a very cost-effective solution at the beginning.
The E-Series solution is basically made with less initial cost in mind; in other words, low-cost pet TB of storage space. So, customers already saving money when they buy it.
As per my understanding, the question of ROI stands where the customer is investing a significant amount of money from the beginning.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The E series is cheaper than the FAS series by about 20-30%.
The E series is competitively priced, even compared to Huawei storage, which might be cheaper than any storage.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
NetApp FAS series was evaluated, but the E-Series was found the best fit as the customer(s) was asking for a cost-effective solution with native storage performance.
What other advice do I have?
E-Series is made for SAN environments only, either IP-SAN or FC SAN.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are NetApp reseller/partner
