HPE Primera vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Lenovo are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.1, while Lenovo is ranked #23 with an average rating of 9.3. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 3.8% mindshare in AFS, compared to Lenovo’s 2.8% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Lenovo users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series and HPE Primera are two competitive storage solutions. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series has an edge in pricing and simplicity, whereas HPE Primera stands out with more advanced features.

Features: Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is known for reliable performance, scalability, and ease of manageability. HPE Primera offers advanced data reduction capabilities, high availability, and comprehensive analytics. HPE Primera's features are deemed more advanced, suitable for high-end needs.

Room for Improvement: Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series could benefit from better integration capabilities and improved firmware updates. HPE Primera could improve by simplifying the initial setup and enhancing the cost-effectiveness of its features. Lenovo's improvements are simpler compared to HPE's setup complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is noted for its straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. HPE Primera is praised for detailed deployment support but marked down for complex setup. Lenovo's easy deployment is a key advantage while HPE's comprehensive support is valued.

Pricing and ROI: Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is valued for competitive pricing and good ROI, making it a cost-effective choice. HPE Primera is seen as expensive, though its robust feature set justifies the higher price. Lenovo's affordability gives it an edge in cost-effectiveness, while HPE Primera is noted for its high value.

To learn more, read our detailed HPE Primera vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

HPE Primera vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

January 2025

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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 FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 0.8%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Primera is 3.8%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is 2.8%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage

Featured Reviews

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

Helps to save money and resources with the data compression feature

One point I'd like to improve is that the tool should start selling small boxes again. It discontinued some products and is focusing on bigger, more capable boxes, neglecting the SMB market. Even though it's not a big market, it shouldn't have removed them. One way to improve the product is to add an operational assistant that doesn't depend on VMware. It could also establish more alliances with other operational systems.

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Taufeeq Rauf

Head of IT at NATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL FACILITATION TECHNOLOGIES (PVT.) LTD.

Offers a simple user interface and is useful for data replication

I use HPE Primera for mission-critical applications. My company uses the product as a storage solution for our machines. The availability of HPE Primera in our company is critical for us, considering that we operate in an HA environment where we can't have downtime since we need to deal with cheque clearance for banks. The product's interface is simple to use. I am satisfied with the user experience provided by the product. The ease of use of the product's interface has directly had an impact on our company's operations, along with the improvement in the availability and performance of machines. Compared to HPE Primera, I work with a much more reliable storage solution like Dell PowerStore. Compared to HPE Primera, Dell PowerStore's features related to deduplication are very good, and it also offers a physical storage capacity of eight TB, which can be expanded up to forty TB. I would recommend the product to others who plan to use it only after taking into consideration their usage and requirements. From the price and performance point of view, Dell PowerStore is a better choice. I rate the tool a seven out of ten.

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Gastone Canali

IT Consultant at Effegibi

Provides good stability and is reliable in terms of performance

The solution is reliable in terms of performance They should include a snapshot feature for the solution. We have been using the solution for two to three years. The solution is stable. We have 60 solution users in our organization. The solution's initial setup process is easy. It takes three…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Everything, especially the VMs inside, is pretty fast."

"The Pure1 component is most valuable at this point in time when comparing it with EMC. Pure1 is where you can have your diagnostics in the cloud, so you can look at things from your mobile phone."

"It is very easy to install and configure. It has got excellent diagnostics. If you really need to see how the box is performing, the console gives you a lot of information. You can set thresholds as well as alerts based on the thresholds, which is a very powerful functionality. They are very proactive. They know how to monitor and manage the systems. They see a problem, and they are all over it before us. They see the problem before we see it, which is very good."

"We are satisfied with the performance as it is significantly faster compared to traditional storage options."

"The most valuable features of this solution are its ease of use and performance."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe has low latency and high Ops. It is an evergreen model."

"The duplication algorithm allows us to get a lot more use out of less storage. We're running a five terabyte array right now and we're running probably about 30 terabytes on it. So the duplication rate is pretty phenomenal, without a cost to performance. It still runs pretty smoothly."

"The system allows for seamless learning experiences, facilitating quick and easy cloning of environments within minutes."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"The most valuable feature of HPE Primera is its performance and simple replication."

"The product's initial setup phase was easy."

"The most valuable feature of HP Primera is that you don't have to buy an additional product for application replication. It's a stable product. The tool is scalable. I recommend HPE Primera because it's one of HP's most stable product."

"The high availability was most valuable because they come with what's called 100% data availability. With special terms, they license and guarantee 100% data availability. That was probably one of the key features or components that HPE was offering with that model."

"We sold Primera to a public university, and they're happy with it. They have been using it for about four months with no significant problems."

"The performance is very good."

"When taking into account the price, maintenance required, and performance of HPE Primera, it is an effective solution."

"HPE Primera is scalable."

More HPE Primera pros

"The solution is very easy to set up."

"Fewer features is not necessarily a negative as it leads to simpler operation and lower price."

"The solution is very easy to troubleshoot. It's one of the most valuable features. It also doesn't take long to deploy and normally it comes with a three-year warranty."

"The most valuable features of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series are the dual controllers, available installation documentation, and the option of multiple host bus adapter interfaces."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is simple to use"

"Its initial setup process is easy."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is highly reliable, especially for block-level storage. It is stable, with minimal downtime and no issues beyond user errors."

"The solution's initial setup process is easy."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series pros

Cons

"Adding some functions to the product would be beneficial."

"The software layer has to improve."

"We have run into a couple of instances recently where we are running out of space. So we have had to buy some more packs for it and they have deployed fine and it has increased smoothly."

"We've seen that when we create a POD in synchronous mode, it increases the latency."

"Efficiency improvements would always be welcome, but I'm not sure if they could get more efficient."

"We would like to see more visibility into garbage collection and CPU performance in the GUI."

"One point I'd like to improve is that the tool should start selling small boxes again. It discontinued some products and is focusing on bigger, more capable boxes, neglecting the SMB market. Even though it's not a big market, it shouldn't have removed them."

"If the customer only needs 500 terabytes and doesn't care how much data they'll put in the server, IBM is cheaper than Pure."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"Increasing the IOPS and throughput values would make the product even better. Improving the scalability of HPE Primera is also recommended."

"HPE Primera's pricing model is an area of concern and can be considered for improvement."

"The interface needs to be more user-friendly in that sense that installation and management are still a bit on the high end."

"On the hardware side, you should have the ability to expand capacity to larger numbers."

"One of the drawbacks of the model we purchased is that it is not running NVMe drives. Even though they say that it is NVMe-ready, it is still on the SSD drives. The model that we purchased has only eight hard drives, and only the ones on the top could work on NVMe. The rest of them are still on the SSD. Its competitors, such as EMC and Pure Storage, are moving or have already moved to NVMe. HPE should improve this solution for NVMe. HPE should also improve IOs in this solution. IOs in HPE are weaker than Hitachi and Pure Storage."

"The initial setup is not straightforward."

"The solution has good performance but it could improve further."

"HPE Primera's deduplication area is not as good as the one offered by Dell PowerStore, making it an area where improvements are required."

More HPE Primera cons

"Improvements can be made to the product's performance."

"In the next release, I would like to see support for Hyper-converged infrastructure."

"The product could support advanced software integrations."

"Its performance could be faster."

"There could be a snapshot feature in the solution."

"The solution could be more scalable, although it suits our present needs."

"ThinkSystem could be better integrated with backup software like Commvault, Veritas, or Symantec."

"In the next release, I would like to see more functionality. But, again, it is an entry-level product."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"The tool is an investment that we've budgeted for. While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits. We don't regret purchasing it."

"With VMware, we pay $300,000 annually."

"The tool's pricing is cheap; I rate it a six to seven out of ten. Most of our sales are not subscription-based. We sell the hardware, and customers keep using it. They only renew the service part annually. The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there."

"Pretty much everything that you need is licensed when you buy the product. Licensing to me is different than the maintenance cost, but they can bleed into one another. We buy the product, and we expect three years of support bundled into what we negotiate on our storage arrays. I would start to see maintenance costs going into the fourth year, but we're not there yet."

"As far as the licensing costs, everything is included in the license."

"They can tout the functionality and cutting edge technology that they have, but that's where the price tag comes in. The cost is high, but I think as they grow their business and get more customers that it will probably go down a little bit."

"We pay approximately $50,000 USD per year in licensing fees."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"The cost is $75,000 for a three-year contract."

"From what I see, this is competitively-priced and HPE are doing their best to stay competitive."

"The pricing for HDD was good."

"HPE Primera is a little bit higher than Dell PowerStore...HPE Primera costs around 80,000 USD."

"HPE Primera service is cost-effective."

"I believe HPE Primera and Pure Storage are similar in price."

"The tool is expensive. I can say that HPE Primera is one of the costliest tools in the market."

"The license for HPE Primera is all-inclusive."

More HPE Primera pricing and cost advice

"All of the features are bundled together, and you can renew the bundle with all of the features included."

"The pricing for this solution is good compared to HP or Dell EMC."

"We have a five-year contract for providing support."

"The price of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is a one-time purchase. There is a global price list available to find the price of the solution."

"The pricing is fair and low compared to other products in this category."

"The solution's price could be better."

"For an all-flash setup, the cost is around $20,000 for a decent configuration."

"It is an expensive solution."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Educational Organization

46%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

18%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

I am an engineer and am not aware of the setup cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Maybe the price can be reduced since the solution is very expensive.

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Which would you choose - HPE Nimble Storage or HPE Primera?

HPE Nimble is a versatile synced WAN San solution. It is easy to use and doesn’t require much training for admins. Th...

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What's the difference between HPE 3PAR StoreServ and HPE Primera?

HPE Primera has many great features but one of the best is that it is very easy to deploy. From an overall perspectiv...

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What do you like most about HPE Primera?

For over a year, I have not seen any downtime in the product.

See all answers

What do you like most about Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series?

The solution's initial setup process is easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series?

For an all-flash setup, the cost is around $20,000 for a decent configuration.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series?

The product could support advanced software integrations.

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 38% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 17% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

Dell PowerMax NVMe vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

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HPE Alletra Storage vs HPE Primera

Compared 29% of the time

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs HPE Primera

Compared 18% of the time

HPE Nimble Storage vs HPE Primera

Compared 12% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs HPE Primera

Compared 9% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs HPE Primera

Compared 5% of the time

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Dell PowerStore vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 33% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 12% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 11% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 11% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

January 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE Primera

January 2025

Download HPE Primera product report

Buyer's Guide

All-Flash Storage

January 2025

Download Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

Primera

ThinkSystem DE Series

Learn More

Pure Storage

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Lenovo

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

HPE introduces HPE Primera, a new storage platform designed to deliver superior simplicity, availability, and performance for mission-critical applications
HPE Primera advances the HPE Intelligent Data Platform, a portfolio of products and solutions designed to help customers transition from delivering storage to unlocking business value with intelligent data

The DE All-Flash Series delivers the performance of more than 2,000 15k rpm HDDs, yet requires only 2% of the rack space, power, and cooling. Because it consumes 98% less space and power, DE Series can significantly improve the overall efficiency of your IT operations while continuing to meet your performance requirements.

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

HPE Primera vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

January 2025

Free Report: HPE Primera vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Primera vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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