DataCore SANsymphony vs IBM Spectrum Virtualize comparison

DataCore and IBM are both solutions in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category. DataCore is ranked #5 with an average rating of 9.4, while IBM is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.7. DataCore holds a 6.8% mindshare in SDS, compared to IBM’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of DataCore users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

DataCore SANsymphony and IBM Spectrum Virtualize compete in the storage management software category. DataCore SANsymphony seems to have the upper hand due to its flexibility and rapid deployment, while IBM Spectrum Virtualize is known for its robust disaster recovery and competitive pricing.

Features: DataCore SANsymphony is valued for its ability to integrate with different storage solutions and VMware environments. Key features include high availability with mirroring, seamless auto-tiering, and compatibility with commodity hardware to deliver fast, stable performance. IBM Spectrum Virtualize offers a strong abstraction layer and ease of storage migration. Its important features include thin provisioning, compression, and seamless cloud tiering, making it effective for disaster recovery and multi-vendor storage management.

Room for Improvement: DataCore SANsymphony could benefit from less complex pricing and improved support quality. Users suggest better iSCSI connectivity, enhanced performance reporting, and improved integration with backup solutions like Veeam. IBM Spectrum Virtualize users would like a simplified management interface and improved support for cross-cluster migration. Enhancing data deduplication and scalability features are also recommended.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both products offer on-premises solutions, with DataCore also supporting hybrid cloud deployments. DataCore SANsymphony is praised for its rapid deployment, often within a day, and for its responsive customer service. IBM Spectrum Virtualize is similarly regarded for its straightforward deployment process and excellent technical support, though the consistent updates and customer-centric support from DataCore are highlighted.

Pricing and ROI: DataCore SANsymphony's pricing is perceived as high due to a shift to subscription models, despite its long-term cost-effectiveness from hardware flexibility and efficient storage use. IBM Spectrum Virtualize provides competitive pricing with bundled licensing options, offering a balance between enterprise features and affordability. Users see positive ROI with high availability and cost savings over time.

To learn more, read our detailed DataCore SANsymphony vs. IBM Spectrum Virtualize Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

DataCore SANsymphony vs. IBM Spectrum Virtualize

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 850,671 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category, the mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 4.2%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DataCore SANsymphony is 6.8%, up from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Virtualize is 1.5%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

Featured Reviews

Eric Black

Solutions Architect at Recovery Point Systems

The ability to leverage multi-tenancy along with immutability is a huge benefit for us

The only thing I feel FlashBlade is missing is the SOS API. If it had SOS API, that would put it well over the top. Veeam Backup specifically has started to streamline their API, and they are doing that with SOS API. They have optimized it. Any of the S3 devices out there that support this SOS API can have far more API calls at once. On our side, that translates to better restoration. With SOS API, it can leverage far more restorations at a single given time or read from the device in simple terms. That results in maximizing the output and throughput from the device itself.

Read full review

TempreviewerD

Architecte Principal at Orange

Robust with good replication and access protection

The solution is constantly evolving. Recently, deduplication and compression have been further improved to meet customer needs, and updates are easily implemented without stopping production. The update assistant checks the state of health before using good practices, during checks that the data is still presented for service continuity, and afterward, if the actions carried out are indeed active. Technical support is truly available even without a production incident. This is really essential right now.

Read full review

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

Built-in compression enhances data management efficiency

I have noticed that the technical support for software issues, such as with Spectrum Protect, needs improvement. The case logging process is efficient, but resolving software problems takes too much time. This delay can hinder customers and strain vendor relationships. For hardware issues, IBM handles them efficiently, but software-related support requires enhancement. Overall improvement in support for software cases is necessary.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"What I like best about Pure Storage FlashBlade is its object storage functionality, plus it has fast underlying hardware. Pure Storage FlashBlade is also very stable. I find its stability one of its valuable features."

"The onboarding and integrated monitoring tools are pretty good."

"It has absolutely simplified our storage because the dashboards on the consoles show a clear understanding of where you are, and it is also very easy to provision. This been a big help for our teams."

"It is very easy to use, and it is very fast."

"I like its size. It is smaller than the other competitors. We can plug in many blades, and we can have data up to one terabyte."

"Speed and ease of use are the two most valuable features."

"The tool's most valuable features are data warehousing, speedy recovery, and analytics. Its latest release is cost-effective."

"We can capacity plan at a greater level than we used to."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

"Continuous data protection (CDP), can be used to "protect" again ransomware by recording all write on disk in a log. You can recover your data with incredible time granularity."

"Auto-tiering to obtain performance at a lower cost without the customer having to purchase ultra-fast storage is great."

"The DataCore system has been rock solid since we have been using it - from 2007 on."

"Our central storage has very high availability. DataCore SANsymphony ensures high business continuity."

"I am very happy with this product's ability to adapt, increase, and modify existing infrastructures."

"DataCore SANsymphony's stability is okay."

"The interface is user-friendly."

"Our system is designed to be scalable and flexible, so it can grow and adapt to meet the changing needs of our clients."

More DataCore SANsymphony pros

"When we add storage behind it, the product is good for the customers because their customers do not notice that anything is happening due to the virtualization."

"We can failover easily, because a lot of our data is replicated from family to the second replication."

"IBM provides exceptional technical support, which I rate as the best along with Cisco."

"I like that it can virtualize more than three hundred storage providers."

"The most valuable features are the simplicity of use, the flexibility, and the options included. I mean, it's just a big time saver."

"In my opinion, the quick restore, the low latency, and the ease of use are some of the most valuable features."

"We are happy with the support that IBM provides us."

"It has the ability to seamlessly move hardware in and out as we refresh technology."

More IBM Spectrum Virtualize pros

Cons

"In terms of scalability, it doesn't expand out quite as robustly as some of the others, but it covers 90% of the market in what it does."

"The solution is expensive."

"It would be nice if you could store file-based in the same box with the same technology."

"I want efficiency. FlashBlade doesn't have efficiency now."

"The features provided for SMB customers are limited."

"The documentational aspect of FlashBlade needs improvement."

"Compared to, for example, Hitachi NAS, the solution is not mature at all. It's just in its infancy as far as technology goes."

"I would like to see the licensing fees improved as well as the price per terabytes."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

"It would be ideal if they were providing archive licensing with the ability to create a second pool on existing storage nodes."

"I'd like to see the company make the renewal of the software cheaper."

"I still see room for improvement with DataCore SANsymphony in the area of alarm and task management."

"I think an easier way to open a service call, right through the DataCore GUI, would be an improvement, especially when there is an urgent issue."

"There is room for improvement in the graphical interface."

"We'd like to manage the raid on the disk directly in SanSymphony."

"I would like to see SMPA (Shared Multi-Port Array) technology developed with the aim of allowing a configuration identical to other storage arrays."

"I found it a little unnecessary to have to rename the configurations within the graphics console in order to have unique names."

More DataCore SANsymphony cons

"t is limited in terms of a single system to eight nodes or four, what they call IO groups."

"The integration would be an option that we would like, but I understand that's not how it's going to be implemented."

"IBM could improve IBM Spectrum Virtualize by bundling Storage Scale and Storage Virtualize into a single appliance. This would provide a more appealing and cost-effective solution."

"There are things that occur when you get to this size and capacity. We're very large, i.e., petabytes. When you get to that sheer volume of the numbers of things, it is too big for people to keep track of."

"The Storwize port is not so stable."

"Level 1 technical support needs improvement."

"Adding features for data deduplication is one area of improvement."

"Anything which improves performance and the ability of our systems would be a nice."

More IBM Spectrum Virtualize cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I have seen ROI. It has allowed me to increase the density of my VMs without having to purchase anything additional."

"The price of this solution could be made more affordable."

"I rate the tool's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."

"Our licensing is renewed annually."

"Licensing fees are paid yearly."

"Our customers have seen a reduction in TCO."

"Support is a separate line item. Support is a different cost, but whatever your support is now, that's what you're going to pay forever. If your support's $100 today, six years from now it's $100. It doesn't fluctuate unless you upgrade it, or change it, etc."

"The price could be cheaper."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

"This solution allows the use of off-the-shelf hardware and charges by the TB of storage."

"Make sure you are made aware of the annual subscription cost when purchasing."

"DataCore SANsymphony's pricing is very high and should be much cheaper."

"The pricing and licensing are better with DataCore."

"Pricing has improved but it is still expensive."

"In my case, the licensing per terabytes is very high and it must be licensed for each extra functionality."

"It is relatively expensive, and the additional costs for hardware and storage can make it a significant investment for customers."

"We have licensing costs on a yearly basis. They charge per terabyte, so in terms of cost, it can be very costly. They have three different features, and you have to pay extra for those."

More DataCore SANsymphony pricing and cost advice

"Generally the bundled licensing is more cost effective and gives flexibility to the solution. Linking into the Spectrum Suite can also be advantageous, but depends on the scale of the enterprise."

"This solution came as an additional cost for the TSM package we chose."

"The entry point of pricing for this product is the most amazing price ever in the industry."

"I think it is a good value for the price."

"We would like the CPU cycle to save more on the licensing costs for us."

"I am very happy with the pricing. There is no comparison when it comes to pricing. I have looked at all solutions from EMC, Veritas, Hitachi, Dell, etc. None of them compares to IBM when it comes to pricing. I get great pricing from them."

"Do a proof of concept, if you are not comfortable jumping in, but do it."

"It has a lot of advanced functions for a reasonable price."

More IBM Spectrum Virtualize pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Software Defined Storage (SDS) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

850,671 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

27%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

21%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

12%

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power out...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The pricing for FlashBlade is between cheap and moderate. FlashBlade is worth the money due to the experience and per...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

Its configuration should be easier. There should be easier language for the configuration.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DataCore SANsymphony SDS?

The cost changed from a perpetual license to a subscription model, and it seems reasonable. I am technical personnel ...

See all answers

What do you like most about DataCore SANsymphony?

The dashboard is very intuitive, and there are a lot of counters to diagnose what happens during a short period (like...

See all answers

What needs improvement with DataCore SANsymphony?

In my opinion, there should be improvements in how to get and filter logs. However, this is not a frequent need becau...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Virtualize?

IBM Spectrum Virtualize is not an expensive product. It offers flexibility with different flavors, whether appliance-...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Virtualize?

IBM could improve IBM Spectrum Virtualize by bundling Storage Scale and Storage Virtualize into a single appliance. T...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Spectrum Virtualize?

I primarily use IBM Spectrum Virtualize ( /products/ibm-spectrum-virtualize-reviews ) when I have different hardware ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 21% of the time

VAST Data vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 8% of the time

More Pure Storage FlashBlade Competitors

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 13% of the time

VMware vSAN vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 11% of the time

HPE SimpliVity vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 10% of the time

StorMagic SvSAN vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 10% of the time

StarWind Virtual SAN vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 9% of the time

More DataCore SANsymphony Competitors

VxRail vs IBM Spectrum Virtualize

Compared 32% of the time

Dell VPLEX vs IBM Spectrum Virtualize

Compared 26% of the time

VMware vSAN vs IBM Spectrum Virtualize

Compared 21% of the time

IBM Spectrum Scale vs IBM Spectrum Virtualize

Compared 21% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Virtualize Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

April 2025

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Buyer's Guide

DataCore SANsymphony

May 2025

Download DataCore SANsymphony product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Virtualize

April 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Virtualize product report

Also Known As

No data available

DataCore Virtual SAN

No data available

Overview

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

Experience peace of mind with DataCore SANsymphony, the ultimate software-defined storage solution alleviating storage management challenges. Say goodbye to the complexities of managing different storage tiers and disruptions with SANsymphony's block-level storage virtualization technology, empowering you to automate capacity provisioning and data placement across diverse storage environments including SAN, DAS, HCI, and JBOD. Break down silos, control data placement, meet business continuity objectives, boost performance, and seamlessly expand or refresh hardware with SANsymphony. Benefit from features like asynchronous replication for disaster recovery, minimizing data loss, accelerating application responsiveness, and integrating new technology non-disruptively. Trusted by industry leaders like NASA, Thorntons, Inc., and TUI Cruises, DataCore SANsymphony guarantees unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and reliability, ensuring uninterrupted data access and application availability while reducing storage costs and inefficiencies.

DataCore

IBM Spectrum Virtualize is a dependable solution that improves data value, security, and simplicity for new and existing storage infrastructure. Proven over 12 years in thousands of deployments, its innovative virtualization capabilities help organizations achieve better data economics by supporting new workloads that are critical to their success. IBM Spectrum Virtualize software helps make new and existing storage more effective and standardizes functions traditionally deployed separately in disk systems for greater flexibility and potentially lower costs.

IBM

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

Volkswagen , Maimonides Medical Center, NASA, Thorntons, Inc., TUI, ISCO Industries, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, United Financial Credit Union, Derby Supply Chain Solutions, Mission Community Hospital, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Colby-Sawyer College, Mount Sinai Health System, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Quorn Foods, Bitburger, University of Birmingham, Stadtverwaltung Heidelberg, NetEnt to name a few.

Pelephone, Sprint IT Enterprise Services

Buyer's Guide

DataCore SANsymphony vs. IBM Spectrum Virtualize

April 2025

Free Report: DataCore SANsymphony vs. IBM Spectrum Virtualize

Find out what your peers are saying about DataCore SANsymphony vs. IBM Spectrum Virtualize and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

850,671 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our DataCore SANsymphony vs. IBM Spectrum Virtualize report.

See our list of best Software Defined Storage (SDS) vendors.

We monitor all Software Defined Storage (SDS) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.