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IBM FlashSystem vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
IBM FlashSystem customer service is efficient, but support quality varies by location, with premium options gaining more satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.8
Users praise Pure FlashArray X NVMe's responsive customer support despite occasional delays in engineer access and spare parts.
Customers of alternatives like Dell and Hitachi enjoy more reliable and comprehensive support services directly from vendors rather than third-party subsidiaries.
IBM customer support is responsible, efficient, and responsive, though it is expensive.
Rather than Pure just saying it's Cisco's problem, call Cisco, they actually got on with a TAC engineer and talked us through it.
The guys in South Africa, and they're very, very good.
What I like about Pure Storage technical support is that when you enter a request, you immediately get a response.
 

Room For Improvement

Sentiment score
4.9
IBM FlashSystem needs improvements in scalability, GUI navigation, storage capacity, pricing, cloud integration, and technical support.
Sentiment score
5.2
FlashArray X NVMe needs pricing, deduplication, UI, replication, and security improvements, plus SMB options and enhanced cloud offerings.
Despite marketing promises, these features do not function effectively and can impact performance.
There is room for improvement in the troubleshooting part, specifically related to IBM Spectrum for Insight.
I want to see Pure Storage not only be for fast storage, but I want to see it be for the entire data center.
We've seen that when we create a POD in synchronous mode, it increases the latency.
We would like to see VNC integration or be able to use Pure Storage with VNC.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
IBM FlashSystem's scalability is praised for flexibility and expansion, though some note cost and hardware limitations for larger firms.
Sentiment score
7.6
Pure FlashArray X NVMe excels in scalable workload handling, praised for simplicity and adaptability despite customization and cost limits.
For larger enterprises, scalability is an issue as the price becomes prohibitive.
The problem arises when migrating data to a later IBM FlashSystem version due to issues with firmware compatibility.
We also have an X90R2 with two petabytes of NVMe in it which fits in about six rack units of space.
We are able to push the X70 way past our current needs from a throughput and IOPS perspective – without any degradation on latency.
We have also performed storage and controller upgrades live with zero downtime.
 

Setup Cost

Sentiment score
5.6
IBM FlashSystem offers competitive pricing often discounted, with costs varying by storage size, features, and advanced options.
Sentiment score
7.8
Pure FlashArray X NVMe's pricing, though high, is seen as a cost-effective investment with competitive and reasonable annual support fees.
To install or upgrade any software features, the cost is high, which makes it challenging for smaller companies who do not require advanced features like deduplication or compression typically needed by larger organizations.
While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits.
The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there.
We pay approximately $50,000 USD per year in licensing fees.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
IBM FlashSystem is globally reliable, offering stability with consistent performance despite occasional hardware challenges and frequent enhancements.
Sentiment score
8.3
Pure FlashArray X NVMe is highly reliable, offering excellent performance and support, with most users rating stability 9-10.
Customers have infrastructure that is 100% stable.
We have gone through multiple software upgrades, as well as completely non-disruptive hardware upgrades.
During the eight years, there have been no problems such as hardware failure or stopping.
There was one minor issue when the M70s were first released – but they have been 100% stable since.
 

Valuable Features

Sentiment score
8.3
IBM FlashSystem is valued for high performance, ease of use, scalability, reliability, and cost-effective management of demanding workloads.
Sentiment score
8.1
Pure FlashArray X NVMe offers high performance, ease of use, and efficiency, with robust support and VMware integration.
There is built-in compression, a data reduction feature, and artificial intelligence-driven insights that calculate warnings and errors to redirect to customers automatically.
IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is offered at a very low cost in Israel, which is advantageous for small companies.
Going from a legacy vendor to Pure Storage, we saw reductions in MRP reports previously running at six hours going to 30 minutes.
The most valuable features of this solution are its ease of use and performance.
The most valuable feature of this solution is its ease of use.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM FlashSystem
Ranking in All-Flash Storage
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
109
Ranking in other categories
NAS (4th), Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (3rd)
Pure FlashArray X NVMe
Ranking in All-Flash Storage
16th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 7.6%, up from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 0.7%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
All-Flash Storage
 

Q&A Highlights

reviewer1942008 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2022
 

Featured Reviews

Raanan Sitton - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Paul Pearson - PeerSpot reviewer
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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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
6%
 

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

Also Known As

IBM Storwize
Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM FlashSystem vs. Pure FlashArray X NVMe and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
823,795 professionals have used our research since 2012.