Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs Pure Storage FlashBlade comparison

Lenovo and Pure Storage are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. Lenovo is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.0, while Pure Storage is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.9. Lenovo holds a 2.7% mindshare in AFS, compared to Pure Storage’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 60% of Lenovo users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Pure Storage users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Pure Storage FlashBlade and Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series are top contenders in the data storage market. Pure Storage FlashBlade has an edge in deployment simplicity, while Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series stands out for its feature richness, making it worth the investment despite higher setup costs.

Features: Pure Storage FlashBlade features high performance, scalability, and simplified management. Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series offers extensive data management capabilities, versatility, and unmatched backup solutions.

Room for Improvement: Pure Storage FlashBlade needs better integration capabilities, enhanced advanced analytics, and optimized disaster recovery options. Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series should improve administrative complexity, cost structure, and user interface simplification.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Pure Storage FlashBlade is known for straightforward deployment and reliable customer support. Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series involves a more complex setup with varied satisfaction in customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Pure Storage FlashBlade offers favorable setup costs and strong ROI. Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series, although more expensive, delivers high value with comprehensive features and satisfactory ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. Pure Storage FlashBlade Report (Updated: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. Pure Storage FlashBlade

October 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 0.8%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is 2.7%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 2.2%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage

Featured Reviews

Paul Pearson

Storage and Backup Architect at Concentrix

Apr 25, 2022

Works well, is easy to implement, and has upgrade analysis capabilities

Currently, it's our tier-one storage. We use it mostly for our Oracle databases It has drastically improved the performance of our high-end Oracle databases and allows us the ability to replication to a DR location with ease. We love the product. Pure Storage works really well. The CAT tool and…

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Mark Richmond

Chief Technology Officer at Next Level Communications

Oct 10, 2024

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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Eric Black

Solutions Architect at Recovery Point Systems

Oct 15, 2024

The ability to leverage multi-tenancy along with immutability is a huge benefit for us

The only thing I feel FlashBlade is missing is the SOS API. If it had SOS API, that would put it well over the top. Veeam Backup specifically has started to streamline their API, and they are doing that with SOS API. They have optimized it. Any of the S3 devices out there that support this SOS API can have far more API calls at once. On our side, that translates to better restoration. With SOS API, it can leverage far more restorations at a single given time or read from the device in simple terms. That results in maximizing the output and throughput from the device itself.

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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

"The most valuable features of Pure FlashArray X NVMe are its superior performance compared to other flash tiers, as well as its ease of use, with an intuitive user interface that is simple to deploy and use."

"It's incredibly easy to use and greatly simplified our ability to both deploy and manage our storage subsystems."

"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."

"The solution is very straightforward to set up."

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

"The tool's valuable features are speed, security, data compression, and reliability. Its data compression feature is the best that we have ever seen. It helps us to save money and resources."

"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."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe has low latency and high Ops. It is an evergreen model."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"Scalable and stable storage array."

"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is its ability to store data well."

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

"The servers are fast and affordable."

"It has been a perfect fit for the workload that our customer is doing."

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

"The price of this solution is good."

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

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series pros

"We can capacity plan at a greater level than we used to."

"The snapshots, replication, and the ability to have immutable blades are the most valuable features. You're putting data snapshots out in those blades, and they cannot be touched. Its performance is great."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is performance."

"The initial setup is pretty easy and simple."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the rewrite speed and the nonstop services."

"The product is scalable and easy to expand."

"The tool's most valuable features are data warehousing, speedy recovery, and analytics. Its latest release is cost-effective."

"The main feature I have found to be product replication."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the pricing of the product."

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

"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."

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

"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."

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

"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."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

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

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

"The tool's pricing is high."

"The solution should change the licensing model and allow customers to choose features based on their requirements."

"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."

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

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

"The Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series was very hard to configure. Installation of the product was very hard. These are its areas for improvement."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series cons

"In the realm of micro-services, I think that Pure Storage can do well if they start getting in there and making their arrays more micro-services ready."

"I would like to see more deduplication."

"Compared to, for example, Hitachi NAS, the solution is not mature at all. It's just in its infancy as far as technology goes."

"Recently, while upgrading the version code, one of the controllers failed. Replacing the controller took between 14 to 20 days."

"An area for improvement in Pure Storage FlashBlade is its price. It could be reduced. The technical support for Pure Storage FlashBlade also needs improvement. It used to be good, with more experienced engineers. Nowadays, it isn't, and it takes longer for support to solve problems."

"It would be nice if you could store file-based in the same box with the same technology."

"I would like to see better integration."

"The solution is expensive."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

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

"The product is expensive."

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

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"The solution is highly-priced."

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

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

"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."

"I rate the tool's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."

"I understand that it is competitively priced compared to other brands."

"Our customers have seen a reduction in TCO."

"The product is very expensive."

"The pricing is relatively expensive due to the FlashBlade technology. However, for companies needing quick and reliable data access, the cost is justified."

"The price could be cheaper."

"Licensing fees are paid yearly."

"The price of this solution could be made more affordable."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

21%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

37%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

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?

After implementation, there are limitations, such as the number of paths, file systems, and replication options. It f...

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 Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power out...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The pricing for FlashBlade is between cheap and moderate. FlashBlade is worth the money due to the experience and per...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The documentational aspect of FlashBlade needs improvement. It’s important for documentation to be comprehensive for ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 37% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 13% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerMax NVMe vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

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NetApp AFF vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 36% 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 11% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 2% of the time

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Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 18% of the time

VAST Data vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 14% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 12% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 2% of the time

More Pure Storage FlashBlade Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

November 2024

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

All-Flash Storage

November 2024

Download Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

November 2024

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Also Known As

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

ThinkSystem DM Series

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Pure Storage

Lenovo

Pure Storage

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.

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.

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. Pure Storage FlashBlade

October 2024

Free Report: Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. Pure Storage FlashBlade

Find out what your peers are saying about Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. Pure Storage FlashBlade and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.

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