Huawei OceanStor vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

Huawei and IBM are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. Huawei is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.8, while IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.5. Huawei holds a 2.2% mindshare in AFS, compared to IBM’s 6.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Huawei users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

IBM FlashSystem and Huawei OceanStor compete in the data storage solutions category. IBM FlashSystem is preferred for its pricing and support, whereas Huawei OceanStor is chosen for its superior features.

Features: IBM FlashSystem offers performance, reliability, and easy integration. Huawei OceanStor includes advanced data protection, high scalability, and rich functionalities.

Room for Improvement: IBM FlashSystem needs more scalability flexibility, better reporting tools, and enhanced adaptability. Huawei OceanStor would benefit from a more intuitive configuration process, reduced complexity for new users, and easier management.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM FlashSystem provides straightforward deployment and robust customer service. Huawei OceanStor requires a steeper learning curve, indicating IBM offers a smoother deployment experience, whereas Huawei's support may need to be more accessible.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FlashSystem is cost-effective with satisfactory ROI. Huawei OceanStor requires higher upfront investment but delivers strong ROI through its extensive capabilities. Each product appeals differently based on user priorities for initial setup costs versus long-term return.

To learn more, read our detailed Huawei OceanStor vs. IBM FlashSystem Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Huawei OceanStor vs. IBM FlashSystem

April 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 April 2025, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 0.8%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Huawei OceanStor is 2.2%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 6.7%, down from 6.8% 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.

Read full review

ChukwuemekaOnyemelukwe

Infrastructure Administrator - Server, Storage & Virtualization at MicroAccess Ltd

Uses a proprietary technology with simple interface and has easy deployment

If you are not generating a substantial amount of data, the available storage space might suffice, making scalability less of a concern. However, if your data generation increases and you require more storage, Huawei OceanStor offers solutions to expand your storage capacity. Expanding storage resources can involve additional costs and configuration efforts. Acquiring more storage solutions and ensuring their integration with your existing setup might require a significant investment of time and resources. While this process can be complex, it allows for seamless scalability as your data storage needs grow. I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

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Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

Offers cost-effective storage for small companies with budget constraints

IBM FlashSystem 5300 is offered at a very low cost in Israel, which is advantageous for small companies. However, other features like deduplication and compression do not perform effectively. The price sensitivity makes it a viable option for clients with budgetary constraints, as it allows us to secure deals based on the cost rather than advanced performance.

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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

"I use the tool for Oracle databases, Oracle virtual machines, and Oracle Linux databases. I'm on the storage side, not a database administrator."

"It's incredibly easy to use and greatly simplified our ability to both deploy and manage our storage subsystems."

"Overall stability is very good. It is a very stable solution."

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

"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."

"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."

"I appreciate the performance."

"It offers competitive performance, and the Evergreen storage model of Pure fits well with my organization."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"The most valuable feature of Huawei OceanStor is the hybrid applications."

"The solution is scalable."

"The pricing is very reasonable."

"The most valuable feature is the availability."

"Huawei OceanStor offers good IOPS and is reliable and energy-efficient."

"The setup and the price are the most valuable and not the features related."

"OceanStor can be used as NAS and SAN storage at the same time, with both file and block features in the same box."

More Huawei OceanStor pros

"The initial setup is straightforward and can be done in an hour and a half by one person."

"FlashSystem offers proven technology in a compact package."

"The feature I find most valuable, is the deduplication, because the nature of the data that we are using in our current environment, has a lot of replicated data."

"The speed, performance, and stability are the best features of IBM FlashSystem."

"It is simple to make an update."

"The most valuable feature is that is supports a high IOPS rate."

"Over the years, it has become increasingly user-friendly."

"The initial setup was really straightforward. It was not complex. Deployment took one month, due to the data migration duration."

More IBM FlashSystem pros

Cons

"Our use cases require more multi-tenant capabilities and additional VLAN interfaces for separating different customers. We currently use it to provide storage, sometimes shared storage, to different customers, but it is less flexible in comparison to a dedicated solution."

"I would like to see some AI features that would allow arrays to intelligently identify threats or unusual behavior in the data pattern and give an alert."

"In the next release, I would like to see real-time analytics for further insight into consumption models."

"It's more multi-tenant functionality in their Pure1 manage portal that is lacking."

"I would like to see replication and DR features in the next release of this solution."

"In terms of what needs improvement, the dashboard and management could be simplified."

"It feels more suitable for small and medium-sized businesses rather than enterprises."

"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."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"Huawei is not that cheap."

"The deployment took a little longer."

"The management is not a good feature in all of Huawei products. It's not easy or simple. Huawei has some problems with management and handling storage information from one interface."

"Based on what we were quoted, the stated capacity was not a true reflection of the actual capacity. The data store ran out of space, and Huawei had to send a new unit."

"The solution needs to improve the compression side of the application."

"Unfortunately, this product doesn't support Flash Disks, but it's IOPS capacity is a great compromise."

"Its storage capacity could be better."

"Could have a more stable, lighter Metro and better logging system."

More Huawei OceanStor cons

"The customer's expectations are what they get on the cloud, they're expecting even in the on-premises deployments, going forward."

"It is slightly more expensive, however, it all depends on your supplier."

"Product support is restricted to IBM only. It must be decentralized to IBM partners as well."

"There could be some extra features added."

"With regards to the IBM V7000 storage system, where we have multiple tiers of storage, a heat map would show I/O distribution across the tiers of storage."

"IBM FlashSystem 5300 needs improvement in its deduplication and compression features."

"The technical support in my region is satisfactory but it could improve. Support is very important for customers and downtime is very critical for us. We would like onsite or complete technical support which can help us to minimize our downtime or if problems occur."

"I would like to have a larger disk. Right now, you can get 57 terabytes in a shelf. Once they get the larger disk and you get larger capacities, it'll be even better."

More IBM FlashSystem cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Given its price, Pure is not the first option."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"Our licensing fees are $500,000+ USD."

"Its price could be better. It is not too expensive, but it is the high-end cost. It is kind of a Rolls-Royce. You pay a lot, but you get a lot out of it. So, the price pressure on the way down would be great, but at the end of the day, if you need to do the work, you just pay for it."

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

"The product is expensive."

"The support cost per array is about $20,000 a year for 24/7 support."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"Huawei OceanStor is priced very well but is a bit complicated."

"We pay a monthly licensing fee for this solution. The price could be less expensive."

"This product value matches its price."

"Payment is determined by the amount of storage capacity required, and we have paid 50,000 euros for our usage."

"The pricing depends on the features the customer wants, such as storage, RAM, and processors, but in general, Huawei is much cheaper compared to Dell and Cisco."

"Huawei's prices are very good compared to those of its competitors."

"I am satisfied with the tool's pricing, which is in the middle. It is overpriced. I rate it an eight out of ten."

"Its price is affordable."

More Huawei OceanStor pricing and cost advice

"Our customers would like IMB FlashSystem to be less expensive."

"I'd rate the basic licensing and the Virtualize software a ten out of ten, and the extra Spectrum and other an eight out of ten."

"The price of IBM FlashSystem is a little high because you pay a premium because the solution is from IBM. We had paid for the SLA prior to using the solution."

"I would rate the pricing of this solution a four out of five."

"The integration is already included in the license cost of IBM FlashSystem. The integration is very easy. You get the IBM storage core with all software, firmware, and upgrades. EMC provides the features in the box, but they are not free for customers. There is a licensing cost for features. We have yearly licensing, but IBM has also provided a new option where you pay as you go. They provide a big box, and I pay, for example, for 10 terabytes. If I exceed 10 terabytes, IBM will charge for the new storage after 10 terabytes. It is a good opportunity in the market for using the storage as a cloud and paying as you go."

"The price is a little bit high so is rated a six out of ten."

"Among IBM, Dell EMC, and Pure Storage, IBM is the cheapest. The price is also based on our location, the size of our entity, and our regular annual purchases from them. We are a very big IBM customer, so we normally get very high discounts. We are not a big customer of Pure Storage. We don't buy that much from Pure Storage per year. Everything is included in the price. There is no extra license for different functions."

"For a yearly license, it is about $100,000. There are no additional costs. The entire system is included."

More IBM FlashSystem pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

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.

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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.

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What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Adding some functions to the product would be beneficial. Storage replication should be essential, and the analytics ...

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What do you like most about Huawei OceanStor?

Huawei OceanStor has the capability of SSDs, high-performance disks, and higher disk support.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Huawei OceanStor?

Huawei OceanStor's pricing is very aggressive, making it highly competitive.

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What needs improvement with Huawei OceanStor?

Huawei currently lacks a solution for high-performance AI, unlike other companies like DDN, WekaIO, or IBM BlueStore....

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What do you like most about IBM FlashSystem?

It is simple to make an update.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem?

Many factors affect purchasing directly from IBM, often involving a multi-step process. Customers, especially in bank...

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What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?

The GUI needs some improvement. An additional function that could be helpful is reducing the time it takes to delete ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 32% 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 14% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 7% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 7% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 23% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 21% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 14% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 6% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 5% of the time

More Huawei OceanStor Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 24% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Primera vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 2% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

March 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

Huawei OceanStor

April 2025

Download Huawei OceanStor product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem

April 2025

Download IBM FlashSystem product report

Also Known As

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

OceanStor Dorado V3 All-Flash Storage System, OceanStor 18000 V3 Series Storage Systems, OceanStor 6800 V3 Storage System

IBM Storwize

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.

Pure Storage

OceanStor Dorado V3 is the industry's first all-flash storage that puts NVMe into commercial use. It is specially designed for enterprises' mission-critical businesses, meeting the most-demanding performance and reliability requirements of databases, VDI, server virtualization, and SAP HANA.

Huawei

IBM FlashSystem products are enterprise computer data storage systems that store data on flash memory chips. Unlike storage systems that use standard solid-state drives, IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. This hardware provides performance, reliability, and efficiency benefits versus competitive offerings.

IBM

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Piraeus, Clinique Univeritaires Saint-Luc

Celero, Friedhelm Loh Group, Clarks, Mingkang Natregro Health Food Group, Sofia, Etisalat Fights Fraud, UF Health Shands Hospital, Generali, Elecon Engineering Company Limited, Ventiv , Technology, CPFL Energia, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., SciQuest, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Paddy Power, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Interconnect Services, Severstal IP-Only AB, PVU Group GmbH

Buyer's Guide

Huawei OceanStor vs. IBM FlashSystem

April 2025

Free Report: Huawei OceanStor vs. IBM FlashSystem

Find out what your peers are saying about Huawei OceanStor vs. IBM FlashSystem and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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