IBM SAN Volume Control vs NetApp OnCommand comparison

IBM and NetApp are both solutions in the Storage Management category. IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.5, while NetApp is ranked #1 with an average rating of 7.5. IBM holds a 5.6% mindshare in SM, compared to NetApp’s 8.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

IBM SAN Volume Control

Read 5 IBM SAN Volume Control reviews

385 Views
153 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

NetApp OnCommand

Read 6 NetApp OnCommand reviews

335 Views
231 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

IBM SAN Volume Control

NetApp OnCommand

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM SAN Volume Control and NetApp OnCommand based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Storage Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM SAN Volume Control vs. NetApp OnCommand Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM SAN Volume Control vs. NetApp OnCommand

March 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 SAN Volume Control

Ranking in Storage Management

4th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetApp OnCommand

Ranking in Storage Management

1st

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Storage Management category, the mindshare of IBM SAN Volume Control is 5.6%, down from 7.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp OnCommand is 8.5%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Storage Management

Featured Reviews

Slav Trifonov

Head of Database Administration, SAN and Storage Infrastructure at United Bulgarian Bank AD

Easily configurable, and easy to upgrade, manipulate, and add new storage

Currently, we are trying to improve our SAN infrastructure to go from SAN-based directors. We are trying to upgrade and go on generation seven, which supports the VME protocol for some communication. Currently, we are on generation five, and we want to go to the next generation. Generation seven is a great benefit with monitoring and following workflows easily to resolve problems on our fibre channel. I would like to see the usage of virtualized storage boxes improved. I'd like to see this feature fixed, especially for SVC controller, and to be able to hold more storage.

Read full review

Henry Aragon

Storage Administrator at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees

Versatile data protocols improve efficiency while execution capabilities need enhancement

The ease of configuring NetApp FAS series is noteworthy, as they support multiple standards like iSCSI, NFS, Fibre Channel, and NVMe. NetApp's data efficiency protocols are unmatched in the industry. ActiveIQ offers significant improvements in data monitoring and error notification. It provides crucial data management features and has versatile support for various protocols and standards, making it a one-size-fits-all storage solution.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The virtualization layer has been great."

"The most valuable features of IBM SAN Volume Control are the copy services, performance metrics, and analysis. Additionally, they have upgraded and introduced visual volumes."

"The product has an ultra-low latency."

"The solution is easy to use, easily configurable, and easy to upgrade, manipulate, and add new storage."

"With SVC it is very easy to manage and to use for migration, meaning that when we want to move or to keep control of the volume or update a server database, it is very easy. That's why we use it."

"One of the main features is the ability to run the block and file storage from the same system."

"The ease of configuring NetApp FAS series is noteworthy, as they support multiple standards like iSCSI, NFS, Fibre Channel, and NVMe."

"Snapshot is a valuable feature."

"I am impressed with the product's ability to warn us whenever something is wrong with the system. It is connected with Active Directory and Exchange. Whenever there is anything wrong with NetApp, the solution will alert you to an event error, post which you can start to troubleshoot."

"In OnCommand Unified Manager, we can monitor the entire cluster as well as configure data protection through Unified Manager."

Cons

"They just need to put in the snap volume because now they use what is called a flash copy. This means that you have to take all the volume instead of NetApp which uses their snapshot."

"I would like to see the usage of virtualized storage boxes improved. I'd like to see this feature fixed, especially for SVC controller, and to be able to hold more storage."

"IBM support can be very slow."

"Patch management and upgrades must be made easier."

"IBM SAN Volume Control could improve by better integrations with other vendor systems. IBM SAN Volume Control can store the environment and are able to integrate with Veeam, but I don't know if they can integrate as well with SVC or other vendors' systems."

"ActiveIQ only provides read access and does not allow making changes directly."

"There could be better performance in block storage and the GUI could be improved because not every operation is available. You need some operations in the CLI."

"The tool is not intuitive and the menus are confusing, especially the snapshot view."

"The solution lacks the ability to generate reports from Snapshot."

"At present, OnCommand Unified Manager has just the monitoring and data protection features. It would be better to add some features for entire cluster management and storage management. Automation should also be included so that instead of separately accessing Unified Manager and OnCommand Workflow Automation, we can work in a single window. It is very much required."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"With SAN Volume Controller, we need to license by terabyte."

"The initial price of IBM SAN Volume Control is steep."

"When we compare with other similar kinds of products from Dell EMC and HP, the price of NetApp OnCommand is reasonable."

"The tool is cheaper than EMC but more expensive than HP and Pure Storage. I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Energy/Utilities Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

20%

Manufacturing Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM SAN Volume Control?

The product has an ultra-low latency.

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What is your primary use case for IBM SAN Volume Control?

Heterogenous Storage management.

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What advice do you have for others considering IBM SAN Volume Control?

Initially, we had some challenges with massive amounts of customer data. We have an airport segment where the passenger data are required, and it’s huge data. We needed a system that could store bu...

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What do you like most about NetApp OnCommand?

I am impressed with the product's ability to warn us whenever something is wrong with the system. It is connected with Active Directory and Exchange. Whenever there is anything wrong with NetApp, t...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp OnCommand?

NetApp collaborates with us to provide deals when possible, optimizing storage based on business requirements, allowing us to save on costs for unnecessary storage space.

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What needs improvement with NetApp OnCommand?

ActiveIQ only provides read access and does not allow making changes directly. Making it capable of executing changes to NetApp would be beneficial.

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell VPLEX vs IBM SAN Volume Control

Compared 100% of the time

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NetApp OnCommand Insight vs NetApp OnCommand

Compared 61% of the time

NetApp BlueXP vs NetApp OnCommand

Compared 39% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Storage Management

March 2025

Download IBM SAN Volume Control product report

Buyer's Guide

Storage Management

March 2025

Download NetApp OnCommand product report

Also Known As

IBM SVC

NetApp Operations Manager, NetApp SANscreen

Overview

Built with IBM Spectrum Virtualize software—part of the IBM Spectrum Storage family—IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC) is an enterprise-class storage system that helps organizations achieve better data economics by supporting the new large scale workloads that are critical to success. SVC systems can handle the massive volumes of data from mobile and social applications and enable flexible hybrid multicloud deployments and deliver the performance and scalability needed to gain insights from the latest analytics technologies.

IBM

NetApp OnCommand data management software allows you to gain a new level of control over your shared storage infrastructure, and gives you the visibility you need to achieve common data management across resources in the Data Fabric.

This suite of industry-leading management products unleashes the power of the ONTAP software, to help maximize system utilization, meet storage SLAs, minimize risks, and boost performance. Use the OnCommand portfolio’s intuitive graphical user interfaces, automation, and integration to simplify data management of your on-premises and hybrid cloud environments.

NetApp

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Norfolk County Council, Yahoo Japan, Sheridan College, Citrix Systems, Avanade, Quasar Data Center, DG Khan Cement Co. Ltd.

Buyer's Guide

IBM SAN Volume Control vs. NetApp OnCommand

March 2025

Free Report: IBM SAN Volume Control vs. NetApp OnCommand

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