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FreeNAS vs NetApp FAS Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

FreeNAS
Ranking in NAS
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetApp FAS Series
Ranking in NAS
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Number of Reviews
100
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (5th), Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the NAS category, the mindshare of FreeNAS is 3.0%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp FAS Series is 16.2%, up from 15.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NAS
 

Featured Reviews

Vincenzo D'Aniello - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 31, 2023
Open-source with great disk management and task synchronization
We mainly use the 'jail' service. In our company we develop javaEE software with deployment on a Tomcat server, then some nodejs services, relational databases such as Mysql and NoSQL such as Mongo, a GitLab environment like corporate code repository, corporate chat with rocketChat, and a Maven…
Arnaud Salmon - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 17, 2023
Offers good performance and
Once, I've been in a program, but they stopped supporting protocols like HTTP, STP, and that kind of stuff. All of the DIP supports at the beginning were kind of support when it was just Python and just five storage. And it happened a few times that the customer required the STP and HTTP protocol for storage. And I was surprised I couldn't do it anymore with NetApp. So, it would be beneficial for them to support both kinds of protocols. The only little black points that I would put on top of NetApp FAS Series. There is room for improvement in deployment and configuration processes. The thing with ONTAP is that we have a lot of layers, from the raw disks to the volumes we present to servers and configure. There are quite a lot of things to configure. Probably NetApp should ease the way to install that. In NetApp products, such as ONTAP and FAS, a solid understanding of storage is still necessary to handle configurations in larger systems. It's not the same with Pure Storage or Huawei. Even someone less familiar with storage could manage it, making it more accessible.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution has been very stable so far."
"What I like about it is that I can work on it from any computer or any device. The initial setup is very simple. The setup wizard is really helpful."
"The ease of use of the 'jail', the management of backups, and copies to easily create test and pre-production scenarios have speeded up the development and distribution of business apps."
"FreeNAS is much simpler and easier to use than other solutions, but we don't have the complete range of features that come with the full version."
"It integrates well into either Windows or Linux environments."
"It has the best storage capacity."
"Its stability is the most valuable. It is reliable, and we don't have to worry too much about it."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its absolute reliability."
"This solution provides us with easy management and great vendor support."
"The strong point is that our clients like this are RadLV (Radiology Low-Value). They also use SnapMirror and MetroCluster."
"Data consolidation and visualization."
"At the moment, we use NetApp SnapMirror to replicate data to another filer at an offsite location for backup. So, I like this feature."
"It is good to have a unified storage where you can have block and file level protocols."
"The SnapMirror is a good tool because, as long as you're going NetApp to NetApp, it's ultimately the fastest way to move data. We replicate everything to another site for disaster recovery."
"The most valuable features are compression and dedupe."
 

Cons

"The latest version of the dashboard doesn't work as good as the previous version."
"FreeNAS should be better prepared for clustering."
"If you find the documentation, it is always incomplete and fragmented."
"They can improve the integration with PSA systems. This functionality could be better."
"They should include clustering for the solution."
"The support for S3 needs to be improved."
"The one thing that I find difficult to do which is very time-consuming is that I like to have a backup of the important files."
"Replication should ideally be part of the ONTAP base bundle."
"NetApp FAS Series should improve its price, which is expensive."
"The solution can improve on the replication features."
"Installation of the additional switches and ETP could be improved."
"Needs to ​add wizards for newer, inexperienced users."
"The solution’s pricing is expensive."
"Dedicated storage efficiency accelerators could improve the overall performance of the system."
"We have some experience with older equipment end-of-life. For example, when warranty support stops or updates stop – it can be frustrating. Not all clients can buy a new filer every year or two, and NetApp ending support a bit quickly can be a concern."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price is okay. It suits our needs."
"Its licensing cost is based on the hardware capacity."
"For our configuration, we pay a little bit less than €10,000 ($12,000 USD) per year."
"We use the free version of the program."
"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being expensive. We pay a one-time purchase price."
"We have considered upgrading to an All-Flash solution but when we evaluated the cost-benefit we discovered that we don't have enough money to invest in it. To maintain the same technology with All-Flash would be too expensive for us."
"It is expensive."
"We are on a perpetual license."
"There are products available in market with comparatively lower costs."
"The price it not low, but comparing features to other vendors, the price can be balanced."
"The NetApp FAS series price is very competitive compared to other solutions on the market it is a good choice."
"The licensing cost is on yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Government
10%
Educational Organization
9%
Performing Arts
6%
Educational Organization
61%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about FreeNAS?
The ease of use of the 'jail', the management of backups, and copies to easily create test and pre-production scenarios have speeded up the development and distribution of business apps.
What needs improvement with FreeNAS?
The system itself allows you to add any feature. The only bad thing is that this maybe depends on FreeBSD, and sometimes finding documentation is difficult. For example, we knew that previous versi...
Which SAN product would you choose: IBM FlashSystem (FS9500) vs PureFlash Array/X NVMe vs PureFlash Array/XL NVMe?
Have you considered a NetApp FAS Storage for your NAS needs? I am sure it fits very well.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp FAS Series?
The pricing depends on the disks we choose. We got quite a good price compared to Huawei Dorado because we compared the prices between NetApp SSD and Dorado, and the price was quite similar.
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Morroni Technologies Inc., Creative Integrations
Children's Hospital Central California, Plex Systems, PDF PNI Digital Media, Denver Broncos, PDF KSM Legal, Clayton Companies, Virginia Community College
Find out what your peers are saying about FreeNAS vs. NetApp FAS Series and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.