IBM FlashSystem vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays comparison

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

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

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe will quickly overcome all the hurdles you face, including network and latency issues."

"The high availability of the product is the most valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its ease of use."

"The initial setup was extremely simple and straightforward."

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

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

"The valuable features for us are the extra add-ons, such as the FIM provisioning, the compression, the disaster recovery capabilities, and the storage pooling functions."

"The Flash core models offer amazing performance."

"The solution is very easy to configure and use."

"The speed and the ease of installation are the most valuable features."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is SCM (Storage Class Memory), which has the lowest latency value in the storage industry."

"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 most valuable features are deduplication and compression."

"Its performance is most valuable. This solution is much faster than other as well as older storage solutions. The performance of the system is very good. We are getting 50 times better experience than the older storages. We are using AFF 300. It also has native cloud integration and most of the features."

"The management software is very good."

"The NetApp EF-Series gave our organization easy access to our data bases."

"One of the most valuable features is the overall performance it provides. You're able to throw a pile of IOPS at it and it will handle that without much issue."

"The hardware and software of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays are easy for us to use."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its speed."

"The stability, speed, and reliability are the solution's best features. The information is also very secure."

"I would have to say performance at this point, because the application it is based on is so diverse."

"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."

"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."

"There are some challenges with data encryption and reduction."

"The tool's portfolio is minimal. It is expensive."

"Many options to check performance, like read, writes, random writes, and random reads, are missing in Pure FlashArray X NVMe."

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

"Every time I think of something that needs to improve, they're one step ahead, which I love. The only area I wish to see improve, I believe is coming, is in the FlashBlade product. Blade implementation fell short on a few of the services."

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

"The security features can be improved such that the encryption does not affect performance in any way."

"They can include Amazon file system S3 protocol in the upcoming releases. It is a cloud file system. IBM FlashSystem doesn't have this feature in the box for high-end or mid-range. We have got requests for this from customers because we need to use S3 for EDI application storage. At the beginning of every year, IBM releases firmware. When I find any bugs in the firmware during the year, I am unable to find any information from IBM regarding the bug. I need to open a ticket, and the IBM engineering team makes a patch only for me. This patch is not public. By creating a customized patch for a client, they don't really solve the issue for everyone. If multiple users have the same bug, IBM should upload the patch on the official website so that we can download it. IBM FlashSystem has a monitoring tool in the box, but it is not advanced. I need a more advanced tool for more advanced equations and monitoring. All top three storage vendors, that is, EMC, IBM, and Pure Storage, don't have a powerful monitoring tool. To monitor our box to show the statistics for I/Os and latency, I need to pay for extra software. The built-in monitoring storage is not mature enough to handle all requests and generate all reports that I need. They can include the functionality to stretch a cluster natively without using any additional boxes. In addition, there are some features that EMC has integrated with the box. These features are not available in IBM FlashSystem."

"If you want to expand, you cannot expand the disc enclosure. You have to buy a total individual node. Sometimes, this is difficult because we are just looking for capacity and not a node."

"It could be easier to implement."

"There could be some extra features added."

"I think the only thing the developers can look at, is that it is limited to 25 gigabytes currently. In the next release they might want to increase that."

"Include an option to upload the support package to the IBM ECuRep when opening an IBM PMR."

"We need a center related to NetApp in Egypt so that we can deal with them directly."

"The support of the product is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."

"They could improve overall scalability through performance. Denser capacity, which is doable, it is what the competition is doing."

"Things like the FlexClones, SnapVault, SnapMirror, all of that. Some of it's available on the EF series, but we like what we have in the FAS system."

"Its pricing should be better. Its price is competitive, but they need to improve the pricing. They have different licensing models, which they need to improve. My expectation was cloud integration, which they have, but it is a different license. Therefore, people cannot enjoy it. If I want to use it, I need to pay extra. There is a cost involved for everything, but it should reach everyone. It is similar to having a Rolls-Royce, but you need to pay extra for the key. If you want the key, you need to pay."

"This solution has limited storage."

"The only major drawback is the replication between EF-Series units."

"It needs a better management tool."

"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 product is expensive."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

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

"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."

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

"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."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe’s pricing is cheaper than other products."

"It pays to go back and get the best price you can from your supplier. The first offer is not always at the best discount."

"The total storage capacity vs price is still quite high for the IBM Flash Array."

"This is an expensive product and if the price were reduced it would be better."

"If five is a good price and one is a high price, I would rate the price a two or three out of five."

"The solution has good pricing, but it is not cheaper."

"The price depends of the technology that our customers need. The price can come at a lower cost but this may increase as storage is added."

"I find the pricing of the solution to be very reasonable."

"The pricing has been very competitive for the last few years. IBM got to the point where they changed the pricing model and we feel very comfortable with the pricing. It's very competitive. Over the last two years, IBM has been coming up with all kinds of interesting promos, especially for the SMB systems. That makes it very competitive price-wise and in terms of performance..."

"One has to opt for a perpetual-based licensing model for one year or three years. After three years, you need to renew the license."

"Price-wise, NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is costlier than Dell. You have to buy a lot of licenses separately."

"It's a lot cheaper than what the other vendors have for the same type of environment. It saves us money."

"Adding more capacity will increase the cost."

"The price point for EF is considerably lower than the alternatives."

"Its cost-effectiveness is a major selling point. Compared to other storage vendors, the EF-Series offers excellent value for its price. It's truly a leading product in the industry."

"The pricing of this solution is competitive with other vendors here in Egypt."

"he price point that we're getting is very competitive in the market. Since we are buying in such a large quantity, they gave us a huge discount."