Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800 comparison

Lenovo and NetApp are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. Lenovo is ranked #25 with an average rating of 8.7, while NetApp is ranked #19 with an average rating of 8.5. Lenovo holds a 2.3% mindshare in AFS, compared to NetApp’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 60% of Lenovo users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series and NetApp NVMe AFF A800 are two competing storage solutions. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 offers superior features and has higher user satisfaction despite Lenovo's competitive pricing and support.

Features: Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series stands out for its efficient storage management, scalability, and streamlined data protection. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 excels with advanced NVMe capabilities, performance enhancements, and robust data deduplication. Users highly value NetApp's speed and overall functionality.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series could benefit from improved integration capabilities, enhanced support for hybrid cloud environments, and advanced security features. For NetApp NVMe AFF A800, users highlight the need for better cost management tools, more intuitive configuration options, and improved migration support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is praised for straightforward deployment and reliable customer support. NetApp NVMe AFF A800, while also praised for its deployment, receives higher marks for proactive customer service and comprehensive training resources, providing a smoother overall experience.

Pricing and ROI: Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is noted for its competitive initial setup costs, making it an attractive option for budget-conscious buyers. NetApp NVMe AFF A800, though more expensive, offers a higher ROI due to its advanced features and efficiency gains. Users find NetApp's long-term benefits justify the higher investment.

To learn more, read our detailed Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

January 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

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 0.8%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is 2.3%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is 0.9%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage

Featured Reviews

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

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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Mark Richmond

Chief Technology Officer at Next Level Communications

Reliable and fast servers with good support

We use on-premise servers with Lenovo ThinkSystem. We set up Hyper-V and load multiple types of servers including a domain controller, a SQL Server, and application servers The solution provides fast servers that are reasonably priced. We set up RAID ten to ensure drive redundancy, leading to…

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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

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

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

"It offers competitive performance, and the Evergreen storage model of Pure fits well with my organization."

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

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use."

"The duplication algorithm allows us to get a lot more use out of less storage. We're running a five terabyte array right now and we're running probably about 30 terabytes on it. So the duplication rate is pretty phenomenal, without a cost to performance. It still runs pretty smoothly."

"I appreciate the performance."

"Technical support has been helpful and responsive."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"Ability to cluster two storages together with HA availability."

"We are satisfied with the stability."

"The product’s quality of service guarantees the performance of each workload."

"The servers are fast and affordable."

"Last year, I did a DM Series installation with my colleague, and this installation was effortless because we had Lenovo support on the phone, so it was easy to get help if we had any problems."

"The FlexClone feature is the solution's most valuable aspect."

"The price of this solution is good."

"The value we derive from using it is greater than other alternatives like HPE and Dell."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series pros

"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."

"NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is easier to use than some other solutions and the UI is very good to use for day-to-day activities. Overall, the solution has good technology."

"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."

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

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

"The storage features are valuable."

"Low latency is the most valuable feature."

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 pros

Cons

"Right now, the box itself is just strictly working as a backend storage system. It would be fantastic if we could access it directly like a NAS device through network access or SIS drives. I think they have an interface, but I am not sure how good it is. If we could address a box directly on the network without having to go through a server, it would be great. The replication schemas could be improved. We are not using replication on the storage level right now. We use a different type of replication. If their replication would be as good as the one that we have, I would probably run the replication schema because it might be faster, but I don't know that for a fact. So, I cannot say that they have good replication. All I can say is that they need to inform us better."

"In terms of what needs improvement, the dashboard and management could be simplified."

"We would like to see VNC integration or be able to use Pure Storage with VNC."

"It is on the expensive side."

"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."

"You cannot tag a LUN with a description, and that should be improved. What I like on the Unity side is that when I expand LUNs or do things, there is an information field on the LUN. This is the Information field that you can tag on your LUNs to let yourself know, "Hey, I've added this much space on this date". Pure lacks that ability. So, you don't have a mechanism that's friendly for tracking your data expansions on the LUN and for adding any additional information. That's a downside for me."

"We need better data deduplication."

"We've seen that when we create a POD in synchronous mode, it increases the latency."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"It takes a very long time to enter the management console, as well as to restart the system, and these are things that should be improved."

"I would like Lenovo to add a feature like IBM Easy Tier to DM Series. This is a crucial feature for the customers."

"Many people do not realize that Lenovo has a storage solution, so better marketing from the vendor is needed."

"The licensing model needs to be revisited. It needs to be simplified."

"I would rate the support of Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series a four out of five."

"The solution needs a simpler licensing theme around the DM series. The problem is if you only need one of the features, you still have to buy the whole thing. The licensing needs to be more granular or flexible so you have the option to only license FlexCone or Inline Compression features."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series could improve by having a snapshot feature. Additionally, there can be other features added to help restore the data faster."

"There might be improvements needed in drive throughput as disk speed has been a limitation on Windows servers."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series cons

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

"The support can take a few days to have a response. However, the response that we do receive is very informative."

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

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

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

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

"The initial setup is complex."

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

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

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

"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."

"We pay approximately $50,000 USD per year in licensing fees."

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

"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."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"Lenovo offers two software tiers for the DM Series: basic and premium. If you need more features like the MetroCluster, you must buy the premium version. You can stick to the basic software if you don't need MetroCluster or features like asynchronous replication. That makes DM Series a little cheaper."

"The solution is highly-priced."

"The price of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is good."

"The solution's pricing is similar to Dell and HPE."

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

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

"The solution is expensive."

"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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

20%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

22%

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

15%

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.

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 ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series?

The product’s quality of service guarantees the performance of each workload.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series?

The pricing is cost-effective and less expensive compared to HP servers.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series?

There might be improvements needed in drive throughput as disk speed has been a limitation on Windows servers. Althou...

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

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 34% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 14% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 8% of the time

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NetApp AFF vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 40% of the time

NetApp FAS Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 12% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 12% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 9% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 2% of the time

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NetApp ASA vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 34% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 21% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 18% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerMax NVMe vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 6% of the time

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

February 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

All-Flash Storage

March 2025

Download Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series product report

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

February 2025

Download NetApp NVMe AFF A800 product report

Also Known As

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

ThinkSystem DM Series

No data available

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.

Pure Storage

To meet enterprise storage requirements, ThinkSystem All-Flash DM Series systems provide high performance, superior flexibility, and best-in-class data management. DM Series runs on ONTAP data management software, which gives customers unified storage across block-and-file workloads. It accelerates your business while improving the efficiency, flexibility, and reliability of your IT operations.

Lenovo

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.

NetApp

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

January 2025

Free Report: Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Find out what your peers are saying about Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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