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IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe comparison

IBM and Pure Storage are both solutions in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category. IBM is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.7, while Pure Storage is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.6. IBM holds a 1.6% mindshare in N, compared to Pure Storage’s 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Pure Storage users who would recommend it.
IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe
Read 21 IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe reviews
  • 555 Views
  • 281 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
Pure FlashArray X NVMe
Read 35 Pure FlashArray X NVMe reviews
  • 873 Views
  • 424 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Pure FlashArray X NVMe and IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe compete in the NVMe storage market. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe has a more comprehensive feature set, but Pure FlashArray X NVMe excels in ease of deployment and customer service, providing better ROI.

Features: Pure FlashArray X NVMe is praised for its simplicity, performance, and efficient data reduction capabilities. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe offers comprehensive data services, advanced replication features, and a broader set of functionalities. Users recognize the data efficiency of IBM FlashSystem as higher, though Pure’s approach is favored for ease of use.

Room for Improvement: Pure FlashArray X NVMe needs enhancements in scalability and integration with third-party cloud services. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe requires simplified configuration options and better documentation. Pure would benefit from enhanced enterprise-level features, while IBM FlashSystem needs to streamline its setup processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Pure FlashArray X NVMe is noted for rapid deployment with minimal configuration. Pure Storage is commended for responsive customer support. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe involves a more complex setup process and receives less favorable reviews for customer service response times.

Pricing and ROI: Users find Pure FlashArray X NVMe more cost-effective for initial setup and long-term ROI. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe's higher cost, despite advanced features, impacts its ROI perception. Pure FlashArray X NVMe’s pricing strategy offers better overall value.

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To learn more, read our detailed IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. Pure FlashArray X NVMe Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. Pure FlashArray X NVMe
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

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe
Ranking in All-Flash Storage
16th
Ranking in NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Pure FlashArray X NVMe
Ranking in All-Flash Storage
15th
Ranking in NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays
6th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category, the mindshare of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is 1.6%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 2.6%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays
 

Featured Reviews

Mohamed-Hassan - PeerSpot reviewer
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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Eugene Hemphill - PeerSpot reviewer
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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its ease of use, performance, and hardware compression is very useful feature."
"The most valuable feature of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is the snapshot. We use it daily for all of the storage units."
"Good performance with a user-friendly UI."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its upgrades, as we don't have to do much homework because of its different controllers."
"It's easy to use, has good stability, and many features."
"The storage serves the virtual environment. Most of our applications run in the virtual environment, and it serves nearly 30% of the bank's capacity."
"IBM FlashSystem provides the same software on each box, including virtualized solutions."
"The features I find most valuable include its use for storage and performance."
More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pros
"FlashArray has some fresh efficiency features. I've never seen a storage solution with a compression rating this high before. It's at least 4-to-1 on Oracle databases. It's the best flash storage for Oracle."
"I appreciate the performance."
"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."
"Technical support has been helpful and responsive."
"The system allows for seamless learning experiences, facilitating quick and easy cloning of environments within minutes."
"Pure Storage has signature security technology, which cannot be deleted, even if you are an administrator."
"We're able to get higher-density workloads on the same infrastructure, and we have a smaller physical footprint. The performance is excellent – during our test the bottlenecks are never on the X array, it just keeps picking up the pace to match what you need. The real-time visibility is a differentiator in my opinion."
"Pure FlashArray X NVMe has low latency and high Ops. It is an evergreen model."
More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros
 

Cons

"I would like to see IBM products become more affordable because they can be quite expensive, which limits their accessibility to a broader customer base."
"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."
"There could be a possibility of not requiring to buy a new box while upgrading to a newer version."
"The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best."
"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.""
"The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best."
"IBM is currently not offering volume-based encryption or compression, while other brands or IBM's competitors are doing it."
"The support could be better."
More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe cons
"Adding some functions to the product would be beneficial. Storage replication should be essential, and the analytics should not incur extra charges."
"I'd like to see the product implement active replication for vehicles such as VMware."
"We would like to see more visibility into garbage collection and CPU performance in the GUI."
"There are some challenges with data encryption and reduction."
"Efficiency improvements would always be welcome, but I'm not sure if they could get more efficient."
"Maybe the price can be reduced since the solution is very expensive."
"The tool's pricing is higher than competitors."
"Many options to check performance, like read, writes, random writes, and random reads, are missing in Pure FlashArray X NVMe."
More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product has an average cost."
"The price of the FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is reasonable."
"It's a lot less costly than cloud storage. People get surprised by the cost of cloud storage, which is extremely expensive and four or five times the cost of storage on-premises. People don't realize what they're spending on storage until they start getting bills from Amazon, Microsoft, and others. This is a good way to reduce your cloud storage expenses."
"Compared to its competitors, IBM's offering is the most cost-effective."
"There are pricing options from the mid-rand to the high-range, of which the suitability depends upon the requirements."
"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."
"The tool's pricing is competitive."
More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pricing and cost advice
"The licensing is on a yearly basis."
"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."
"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."
"The support cost per array is about $20,000 a year for 24/7 support."
"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."
"Pure FlashArray X NVMe’s pricing is cheaper than other products."
"As far as the licensing costs, everything is included in the license."
More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 nearly 30% of the bank's capacity.
See all answers
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 also be improved as it's been difficult to get answers and the support is not of h...
See all answers
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?
Adding some functions to the product would be beneficial. Storage replication should be essential, and the analytics should not incur extra charges. This is one of the main things organizations need.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe Logo
Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe
Compared 36% of the time
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Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe
Compared 31% of the time
Dell PowerMax NVMe vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe Logo
Dell PowerMax NVMe vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe
Compared 18% of the time
HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe Logo
HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe
Compared 15% of the time
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Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe Logo
Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe
Compared 32% of the time
TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe Logo
TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe
Compared 17% of the time
Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe Logo
Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe
Compared 14% of the time
IBM FlashSystem vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe Logo
IBM FlashSystem vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe
Compared 11% of the time
Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe Logo
Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe
Compared 7% of the time
More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe
April 2025
IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe reportDownload IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe product report
Buyer's Guide
Pure FlashArray X NVMe
April 2025
Pure FlashArray X NVMe reportDownload Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report
 

Also Known As

IBM FlashSystem 9100, FlashSystem 9100
Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X
 

Overview

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.

IBM

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
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company
Buyer's Guide
IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. Pure FlashArray X NVMe
April 2025
Free Report: IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. Pure FlashArray X NVMe
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. Pure FlashArray X NVMe and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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