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HPE MSA vs NetApp FAS Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

HPE MSA
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetApp FAS Series
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (4th), NAS (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of HPE MSA is 18.7%, up from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp FAS Series is 17.7%, up from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
 

Featured Reviews

Pragnesh Sachania - PeerSpot reviewer
Scalable, easy to manage, and used for virtualization environments
We didn't face any issues with the technical functionality. However, we faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration. The HPE support person who did the installation was very technical. He answered all the queries, and we resolved the entire setup. We set up the storage as per our requirements. We previously used a physical server instead of virtualization. With the help of an HPE engineer and partners, we prepared a strategy for migrating the entire physical servers to our virtualization infrastructure. It took two days to deploy the solution. Six people were involved in the solution's deployment, including two from HPE and four from our IT team.
Paweł Jabłoński - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for VMs with replication a feature, but need upgraded SSDs
We use this solution. I configured and updated it. Of course, I was also a user of applications that store data on that storage. We already have an SSD solution. So, rather than planning to go with an SSD solution, we are focusing on expanding it. If a company wants to deploy something new, it should choose a product with SSD, and NVMe disks. Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The cost to performance for HPE StorageWorks MSA is good."
"The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility."
"MSA performs exceptionally well, particularly in regions with frequent power outages."
"HPE StorageWorks MSA is an entry-level, cost-effective solution for SMB customers."
"The most valuable feature for customers is the autonomic tiering, which enhances their storage scalability as easily as possible."
"The simple configuration feature is great. It is very simple, allowing you to set up MSA very easily."
"The solution is very easy to use, it is not really complex for any user, such as non-technical individuals."
"The most valuable features are data deduplication and snapshot replication."
"This solution provides us with easy management and great vendor support."
"The support is very good."
"The most valuable feature of the NetApp FAS Series is the snapshot and the FlexClone for Oracle and Microsoft SQL environments. Additionally, the integration can be done with most all on-premise and cloud providers."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its absolute reliability."
"It changed the way we do Disaster Recovery (DR) around NetApp replication."
"The most valuable features are the NAS features and NetApp's excellent support."
"Has rock solid reliability and is easy to use."
"The replication feature protects us from data loss."
 

Cons

"The solution could improve by adding configuration tools."
"This product is getting a little bit older, so new features like deduplication are not included."
"We faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration during installation."
"The support contract is expensive, although they are very responsive."
"It would be beneficial to have an add-on feature to improve analytics or insight capabilities inside the app."
"The platform’s monitoring capabilities could be enhanced."
"Synchronized replication is very important for MSA; however, HPE StorageWorks MSA doesn't provide synchronized replication."
"It would be ideal if there was a better management interface."
"When we were going through all the MFA hardening and the anti-ransomware setup, I gave some feedback to our executive. The MFA process for getting that set up on the AFF systems was cumbersome compared to some of our other systems."
"The AutoSupport could be improved to be more proactive in certain cases."
"Interfacing with the cloud environment could be better. I want to be able to move some cloud volume and integrate it seamlessly with my home on-premise storage. Sometimes I have issues with port permissions. NetApp probably needs to improve more on the integration side from on-premise to the cloud."
"The biggest issue we face is parts delivery. There's no local warehouse in Myanmar, so if a customer encounters a technical problem like an IMEI issue, they have to wait a long time for replacement parts."
"Cluster mode needs to be more ubiquitous."
"The high cost of the product is an area of concern, so from an improvement perspective, the tool needs to be made cheaper."
"NetApp could improve costs while making the solution more straightforward to use and deploy."
"NetApp is costly when compared to Dell."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution can be a bit expensive."
"I would rate the pricing as nine out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"This solution is quite expensive; they should lower the cost."
"The price of the solution is a little high and they should provide more competitive pricing. If you want to increases the storage size there are additional fees."
"HPE StorageWorks MSA's licensing is perpetual and not integrated."
"This solution involves a one-time CapEx payment, followed by warranty extensions."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"When we bought this solution it was very reasonably priced and they were willing to deal."
"The licensing cost is on yearly basis."
"NetApp FAS Series' pricing is competitive."
"If we want a ransomware solution with the product or other extended features, we need to pay an extra cost."
"Low-priced product, but pricing could still be made more attractive."
"It’s difficult for us to get money, so make sure you get everything in order, because there’s no going back and saying “oh, I missed this or that”, so make sure you plan well and well in advance."
"The tool is expensive."
"The price of the NetApp FAS Series is reasonable and it provides value for the money with the feature sets. NetApp FAS Series are competing with Huawei storage which has an office and does aggressive marketing with a discount. However, we found that if our customers do a technology refresh they are happy with the performance of the NetApp FAS Series."
"The scalability is pretty good, but it's too expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
8%
Healthcare Company
6%
Educational Organization
62%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HPE StorageWorks MSA?
The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility.
What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?
It needs more details on how to integrate with the cloud for backup scenarios. It should show more options for cloud backup support.
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?
Cost is a big factor in our decision-making process. When we're buying storage, the first thing we look at is how much we're paying per gigabyte. Cost has been the driving factor when choosing this...
 

Also Known As

HP StorageWorks MSA
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank
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 HPE MSA vs. NetApp FAS Series and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.