IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800 comparison

IBM and NetApp are both solutions in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category. IBM is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.7, while NetApp is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.6. IBM holds a 1.8% mindshare in N, compared to NetApp’s 3.1% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

The NetApp NVMe AFF A800 and IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe are two leading data storage solutions, competing in the high-performance enterprise storage category. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe has the upper hand due to its superior features and scalability.

Features: NetApp NVMe AFF A800 provides robust data management, ease of integration, and reliable performance. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is recognized for its high performance, scalability, and advanced data protection features.

Room for Improvement: NetApp NVMe AFF A800 needs better hybrid cloud integration, simplified updates, and more competitive pricing. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe could benefit from an easier setup process, improved technical documentation, and more intuitive management tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is noted for straightforward deployment and responsive support. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe deployment can be complex, but the customer service is highly rated.

Pricing and ROI: NetApp NVMe AFF A800 users find the setup cost reasonable with solid ROI. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe has higher initial costs but offers better long-term ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 Report (Updated: November 2024).

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

November 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 2.4%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is 1.8%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is 3.1%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

Featured Reviews

Paul Pearson

Storage and Backup Architect at Concentrix

Works well, is easy to implement, and has upgrade analysis capabilities

We love the product. Pure Storage works really well. The CAT tool and also the ability to upgrade the unit's place grades are great. It allows for in-place control or upgrades. It's a very simple implementation. They have a good tool to analyze upgrades. The stability is good. Technical support has been excellent.

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Mohamed-Hassan

Microfinance at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Steady performance, responsive support, and high availability

If we add a shell, the scalability depends on a legacy protocol and not the IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe which is a setback. At the previous bank, I worked at we had approximately 9,000 users. We are using the solution at its full capacity. I rate the scalability of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe a seven out of ten.

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Tanveer Rahman

Chief Technical Office at Novotel Ltd.

A scalable solution that serves as a storage for the cloud services opted by organizations

My company uses NetApp NVMe AFF A800 as storage for our cloud The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a product that is fast and provides a fast I/O. The product's performance has some shortcomings, making it an area that could be a little better. I don't expect to see additional…

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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

"The most valuable features of Pure FlashArray X NVMe are its superior performance compared to other flash tiers, as well as its ease of use, with an intuitive user interface that is simple to deploy and use."

"The latency is good."

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

"The standout features for us in Pure FlashArray X NVMe are its robust DDoS protection, seamless transparent failover, and failback capabilities ensuring high availability."

"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."

"The initial setup was extremely simple and straightforward."

"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 solution uses newer technology for deduplication and compression."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"Its ease of use, performance, and hardware compression is very useful feature."

"What I like about the product are its high availability, maximum efficiency in performance, and its ability to handle a high level of I/O operations."

"The features I find most valuable include its use for storage and performance."

"The FlashCore modules support more value to the architecture due to their unique characteristics."

"The most valuable feature is the speed."

"IBM FlashSystem provides the same software on each box, including virtualized solutions."

"It is a very stable product. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten because we did not face any issues in the last three years."

"It's easy to use, has good stability, and many features."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pros

"We find the product to be very flexible."

"Over the eight years, we've been using NetApp with ONTAP, we've never lost a bit of data, and we've only experienced a few minutes of downtime in that entire time."

"Low latency is the most valuable feature."

"During the use cases of the solution, its reliability and suitability are the best."

"The most valuable features are stability and performance."

"The product can be scaled vertically as well as horizontally."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a product that is fast and provides a fast I/O."

"You can easily scale up, and scale-out."

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 pros

Cons

"I'd like to see the product implement active replication for vehicles such as VMware."

"It is on the expensive side."

"They could add more support for file storage and different types of storage."

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

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

"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."

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

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"The tool's architecture is complex. It also needs to add data utilization reports."

"IBM's support is not good. I experienced a big problem where I opened the console IBM Storage and would see that something was broken. I called the call centers, and I said, "I have a problem. My drive is not working." They want me to give them the serial number, I gave it to them and they told me "I cannot find your product. Your product is not here.""

"I'd like to be able to connect to tape drives behind the storage device to back up the tape if need be. We have all of our storage running in all-flash, and we make a copy on tape. Currently, when we want to hook up tape drives, we have to add some extra equipment, which is a little bit complex. We want IBM to add a feature where we could install a tape into the storage so that we can connect it through a single pane of glass. We'd like to have a feature in the IBM flash storage system so that we can connect backup tape drives through the IBM storage system and we can manage the backup tape from the storage system."

"The solution's compression feature could be better."

"The pricing should be more competitive."

"The ZIO interface could be improved."

"The support could be better."

"I would like to have replication functionality built directly in the product, rather than having to use a separate device for this."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe cons

"Sometimes, it takes a while to get somebody competent on the other end of the line. They do have engineers in multiple time zones around the world. However, their level-one support is not always the best."

"The initial setup is complex."

"The cost of the solution is quite high. It would be ideal if they could adjust it so that it's a but less."

"The product’s UI could be better."

"The product's performance has some shortcomings, making it an area that could be a little better."

"Increasing the RAM, and including physical cords would be beneficial."

"The initial setup should be easier, and more like a plug-and-play approach."

"Stability is an area with a certain shortcoming where the solution needs to improve"

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

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

"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."

"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."

"With Pure Storage, we would like to continue seeing price reductions with flash storage. I don't think we're any different than anybody else when we continue to look to the industry for price reductions of both NVMe and traditional SSD storage. We would like to see these prices continue to decline and erode, even displacing large spinning disks."

"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."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"The price of the FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is reasonable."

"Compared to its competitors, IBM's offering is the most cost-effective."

"The price of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is less than Dell. For upgrades, the Dell solutions are more expensive."

"Compared to other solutions, the cost of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is reasonable, with a one-time payment of around $70,000. However, additional support is available for $25,000 for three years. The overall maintenance cost is steep."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing an eight."

"Price-wise, the solution offers excellent pricing to its users. In short, the prices offered by the solution are competitive compared to similar solutions."

"The product has an average cost."

"There are pricing options from the mid-rand to the high-range, of which the suitability depends upon the requirements."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pricing and cost advice

"There are licenses for the use of this solution, such as commercial licenses."

"Considering the requirements and the situation, I don't feel that this is an expensive product."

"Though NetApp NVMe AFF A800 may seem like a highly-priced product, it is not extremely expensive."

"I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten."

"The solution is expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

21%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

21%

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Educational Organization

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?

After implementation, there are limitations, such as the number of paths, file systems, and replication options. It f...

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What do you like most about IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The storage serves the virtual environment. Most of our applications run in the virtual environment, and it serves ne...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The tool is expensive, though I do not know the specific licensing costs.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best. Furthermore, support from the partner could al...

See all answers

What do you like most about NetApp NVMe AFF A800?

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a product that is fast and provides a fast I/O.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp NVMe AFF A800?

Though NetApp NVMe AFF A800 may seem like a highly-priced product, it is not extremely expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp NVMe AFF A800?

The product's performance has some shortcomings, making it an area that could be a little better. I don't expect to s...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 37% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 14% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 12% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 12% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

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Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 50% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 22% of the time

Dell PowerMax NVMe vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

HPE Primera vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 14% of the time

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NetApp ASA vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 27% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 21% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 16% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 14% of the time

Dell PowerMax NVMe vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 9% of the time

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

November 2024

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

November 2024

Download IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

November 2024

Download NetApp NVMe AFF A800 product report

Also Known As

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

IBM FlashSystem 9100, FlashSystem 9100

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Pure Storage

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IBM

NetApp

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.

IBM FlashSystem 9100 combines the performance of flash and Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) end-to-end with the reliability and innovation of IBM FlashCore technology and the rich features of IBM Spectrum Virtualize - all in a powerful 2U enterprise-class storage system. Providing intensive data driven multicloud storage capacity, FlashSystem 9100 is deeply integrated with the software defined capabilities of IBM Spectrum Storage allowing you to easily add in the multicloud solutions that best support your business.

Your data is a gold mine. Get the most out of it - faster - with AFF A800. Designed for NVMe media, further accelerated with NVMe/FC connectivity to the host, AFF A800 all-flash systems deliver an incredible sub-200 microsecond latency. Providing more than 11.4M IOPS and 300GB/s throughput in a single cluster, AFF A800 redefines the limit of what’s possible with artificial intelligence and deep learning.

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

November 2024

Free Report: IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 and other solutions. Updated: November 2024.

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