DataCore SANsymphony Reviews

We use it to ensure the availability and reliability of our clients' storage. It's deployed in environments with VMware, tech servers, and other equipment to establish a highly available infrastructure for our clients.

I find its high performance, total cost of ownership, strong availability, and simplicity to be the most valuable features.

The pricing could be improved.

I have been using this solution for 15 years.  Initially, we started with version 4.0, and now we're on version 10, PSP 16.

It is a very stable solution. 

It's scalable and works well in that aspect. We have around 20 customers using this solution. 

The customer service and support are quite fast. However, it is not a ten on ten because the support was unable to help with a functional program of the solution. The functionality was there, we struggled with it, but the support was unable to help us. 

Positive

The setup process is okay. Training is required for deployment, which is standard. It's not overly complicated.

The deployment process involves analysis, configuration, reception of configuration, and testing with the client.

Analyzing the installation is a very important step. It is important to analyze the installation, the infrastructure, the target, and after that configuration.

We require a team of engineers for deployment and maintenance of the solution. We have ten in-house staff members, along with some freelancers. Globally, we have eight professionals dedicated to DataCore services.

The licensing cost is reasonable, a bit on the expensive side but manageable.

Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.

My advice is to define the solution before deploying it because DataCore is indeed a good solution, but it's not the only one available. There are various other solutions in the market. 

Additionally, DataCore might not be suitable for all projects. Therefore, conducting a comprehensive analysis and careful consideration of the project's needs is crucial. Choosing this solution and deploying it should be approached with utmost importance. For instance, if you're dealing with big databases or transactional databases, it might not be the best-suited solution. The design of DataCore's solution isn't oriented towards this type of data. It's important to recognize this aspect.

My primary use case for DataCore SANsymphony is SAN rapid storage for virtual machines and the high availability for infrastructure.

The feature I found most valuable was the high availability with mirroring.

There is room for improvement in the graphical interface. 

I have been using the DataCore solution for about 12 years.

My impression is that it is a very stable solution. However, I did have one encounter with this solution's crash as the result of a wrong action taken by a user. The crash resulted in some data being lost. We had to restore some data.

My opinion is that it's a very easy solution and that it's very scalable. I am very happy with this product's ability to adapt, increase, and modify existing infrastructures.

We have about 20 clients who are using this solution.

I would rate DataCore's technical support a nine, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best. Each time I requested help, they would call me back in 20 minutes or less.

Positive

I think that the initial setup is quite simple.

The deployment of DataCore depends on many factors, but for us, it took about one day for each server.

The license is paid twice per year.

This solution is quite fluent and stable and very easy to administer and use. I would recommend it to other people.

• We use DataCore SANsymphony as our primary storage solution replicated on two hosts since October 2012. In July 2018, we dispatched them to the two server rooms.
• Each DataCore node consists of a server and two storage bays connected in SAS.
• We use this SAN to store our VMware datastore (300 virtual machines) for our 10 ESXi servers.
• Each server is connected to storage via two fiber channel links 8Gbps.

Previously, we had some Windows and Linux servers with direct-attached storage. Our server's farm increases faster than our server room. So, we thought about virtualizing our applications. We chose to use VMware ESXi and DataCore SANsymphony to create our new infrastructure and then began to deploy our infrastructure on one server room. Then in 2018, we chose to dispatch them for more security in two server rooms.

• The better features are the synchronous replication and the management console.
• The synchronous replication gives us the ability to make business continuity planning.
• I like the management console which is very easy to use.

DataCore is currently working with Veeam software for a better integration; this is my only desired missing feature today.

With this feature, Veeam do a snapshot on Virtual Machine, then snapshot the storage.
When storage snapshot is done, Veeam remove the Virtual Machine snapshot to avoid long period snapshot.
With a VMware snapshot period smaller, consolidate will be faster and production will be less impacted.
Then Veeam save VMs directly from storage snapshot without VM performance impact.

When Backup Job is done, veeam ask to Datacore to remove Storage snapshot without any VM interruption or impact performance.

I'm working on a SanSymphony infrastructure. I use it for my company, and this is also what we install for our clients.

All of the clients have to do maintenance operations during business hours, and they have to schedule it never to disturb their users. Thanks to San Symphony, they can do whatever they want, whenever they want.

I really like to dissociate virtual volumes from any virtual machines. It allows you to manage granularly the storage of your virtual machines. I separated VMs and files on different volumes in my case

Before using San Symphony, I had to work late to improve my IT infrastructure. Now, I can do it at any time of day.

We also won on availability. When one of the servers crashes, there is no effect on our production. It rarely happens; however, we would have been out of production with our previous infrastructure.

We do things differently now. We use our backup solution to backup storage rather than to backup machines, and I find it has less impact on the performance of our virtual infrastructure.

I really like the Rollback option, which is like a video of my storage. Administrators benefit from being able to return to a single previous point as precisely as they want.

I also find that the support team is a real quality of the Datacore SanSymphony environment. Opening a case is very simple, and the answers of support are always detailed with precision.

The dashboard is very intuitive, and there are many counters to diagnose what happens during a short period (like when a backup is in progress).

The product can be improved by making better filters to search event logs. When everybody shows the last event at the top of their board, San Symphony does it at the bottom, and sometimes, we don't see an alert that needs to be checked.

The service is still available every day and at every time of the day, yet only in English. For customers or technicians who don't speak and understand English, it would be great to have other language support, all the more so given the number of countries in which SanSymphony is used.

I've used the solution for three years.

I'm working on a San Symphony Infrastructure. I use it for my company, and this is also what we install for our clients. 

All of the clients have to do maintenance operations during business hours, and they have to schedule it never to disturb their users. Thanks to San Symphony, they can do whatever they want, whenever they want. 

I really like to dissociate virtual volumes from any virtual machines. It allows you to manage granularly the storage of your virtual machines. I separated VMs and files on different volumes in my case

Before using San Symphony, I had to work late to improve my IT infrastructure. Now, I can do it at any time of day. 

We also won on availability. When one of the servers crashes, there is no effect on our production. It rarely happens, but we would have been out of production with our previous infrastructure.

We do things differently now. We use our backup solution to backup storage rather than to backup machines, and I find it has less impact on the performance of our virtual infrastructure.

I really like the Rollback option, which is like a video of my storage. The benefit is for administrators because they can return at a single previous point, as precisely as they want.

I also find that the support team is a real quality of the Datacore SanSymphony environment. Opening a case is very simple, and the answers of support are always detailed with precision.

The dashboard is very intuitive, and there are a lot of counters to diagnose what happens during a short period (like when a backup is in progress).

The product can be improved by making better filters to search event logs. When everybody shows the last event at the top of their board, San Symphony does it at the bottom, and sometimes, we don't see an alert that needs to be checked.

The service is still available every day and at every time of the day, but only in English. For customers or technicians that don't speak and understand English, it could be great to have other languages support, all the more so given the number of countries in which SanSymphony is used.

I've used the solution for six months.

I have never heard one of my customers complain about the stability of San Symphony.

I knew about San Symphony six months ago, and this is the second update that I can see. Developers are working in line with what customers are asking for.

Every time I needed support, they gave me a solution.

Positive

I did not use a different solution previously.

The initial setup is very simple. There are documents to send to Datacore Support, and these were a little bit difficult to fill.

We are the vendor team, so for our use, we did it ourselves

The ROI is difficult to estimate.

I did not evaluate other options; my company already has a partnership with Datacore.

The primary use case is the provisioning of high-performance and redundant storage for our VMware platform. With the help of auto-tiering, the data lands on the optimal storage tier for it. Furthermore, integration into the backup system is very important to us. We use Veeam B&R, which, with SANsymphony integration, is able to work much more efficiently via storage snapshots. 

We use SANsymphony within a data center distributed over two locations. This was very easy to implement. This also includes settings that optimize the data traffic between the locations.

With SANsymphony, we were able to set up fully redundant storage across two locations. We use SANsymphony as the main storage for our cloud and dedicated customer environments. 

We were impressed by the integration into virtualization and the backup system. SANsymphony integrates seamlessly into our VMware platforms. Auto-tiering enables us to keep the storage content on the optimal storage tier easily. 

Synchronous mirroring ensures very high availability for us and our customers. In the event of maintenance or failure, an automatic failover takes place. The automatic failback is the cherry on top of the cake.

Integration with Veeam Backup & Replication has enabled us to improve our backup infrastructure significantly. 

The use of storage snapshots and backup via Fibre Channel reduces the load on the productive infrastructure.

It is the sum of the many, often outstanding, individual functions that help us to ensure economical and safe operation for us and our customers. The most important functions for us are

The synchronous mirror allows us to operate a fully redundant storage solution that is distributed across two sites. It can even cover the failure of an entire site. This also benefits us during complex maintenance work, as no downtime is required.

Auto-tiering enables us to store the data on the storage tier that is optimal for it. This also works within a vDisk, so old or cold data ends up on cheaper data carriers than the new or hot data accessed more frequently.

SANsymphony is being continuously developed. This makes it easier for us to respond to new challenges.

I see potential here in the support of NVMeoF, both as a target and in the backend. In addition, there should be new ways to improve the redundancy of the pools created with it - e.g. through extended RAID functionality (RAID5 or RAID6) or erasure coding.

Management could be improved. The management console sometimes reacts very slowly.

In the area of the HCI solution, I could imagine a different mode of operation. For example, a group of servers form a pool in which the data can be stored. 

Protection could also be guaranteed here via replication and erasure coding.

We have been using Datacore SANsymphony since 2007.

The systems are very stable. No great administrative effort is required to keep the system in good condition. Provided it is well-sized, it optimizes itself.

SANsymphony is very adaptable. Increasing the storage capacity and/or improving performance through faster systems in the backend are no problem.

Datacore support is one of the best in the industry. They offer a fast response and competent answers or even remote sessions. Support is always available 24/7/365.

Positive

We used StoreAge SVM with Dothill storage systems. 

SANsymphony has more and better functions. The TCO is also better.

The setup is quite simple if you are familiar with the storage environment. Certification as a DCIE is required. This ensures that you are sufficiently familiar with the system to install and administer it.

We did implement it in-house.

I can't give an exact ROI. The stability, availability, and performance pay for themselves immediately.

Good sizing is the basis for a stable and high-performance environment. It is important to plan in sufficient reserves.

It can make sense to license a higher number of TB if this puts you in a better price category.

We did not evaluate other options.

SANsymphony is best in class. It's flexible, like a Swiss army knife.

I am an infrastructure engineer for a partner and 95% of the infrastructure that I recommend and/or install and maintain for my clients are based on the triptych: SANsymphony/vSphere/Veeam.

I have often succeeded in convincing clients to add security to their storage by replacing an old single-site infrastructure while providing a Business Continuity Plan solution.

Of all the customers where I installed the DataCore solution, only one decided not to keep it; however, it was for reasons of political strategy following a change of CIO.

The main feedback from my customers concerns the performance of the DataCore SANsymphony - thanks to the embedded Auto-tiering technology which avoids users purchasing an expensive physical storage when the majority of their data is no longer active beyond a few weeks and do not need to be stored.

They have a quality support team, which offers assistance in French when necessary (particularly for Public Service customers who do not speak English fluently). They respond very quickly to engage with any serious problems encountered.

Auto-tiering to obtain performance at a lower cost without the customer having to purchase ultra-fast storage is great. The ease of increasing the volume of storage without interruption of services and without impact on users is helpful. At the same time, they are leaving the choice to adapt storage technology according to a user’s needs. The abstraction of the hardware layer, especially when it is necessary to change the brand and/or model of equipment during infrastructure renewal is good. The possibility of installing the solution in HCI mode for small structures makes it possible to address large accounts as well as small businesses.

I would like to see SMPA (Shared Multi-Port Array) technology developed with the aim of allowing a configuration identical to other storage arrays: instead of having a single storage controller per site, competing arrays all have 2 controllers for redundancy and securing data access (3Par, Unity, MSA, etc.) It would be necessary to automate the operation of two nodes managing the same storage per site and no longer be obliged to manage it by a system of scripts which must be revalidated each time the product is updated.

I've used the solution since 2002.

There will always be problems with a software solution; the responsiveness of the support and developers allows them to be corrected very quickly, and even sometimes individually, in relation to a specific problem for a particular client.

In the majority of cases, the failures that I encountered with my clients had their origin in one of the other components of the infrastructure (hypervisors or switches).

Scalability is one of the many advantages, as the evolution of the solution is simple and does not interrupt services.

Of all the software that I use in my job, it is the one that has the best support. When the problem is not with DataCore, they often help me and sometimes even directly provide the solution to modify the settings on the other components of the infrastructure causing the problem.

Positive

Sometimes some customers use other storage solutions, but whenever possible; I advise them to switch to DataCore

The initial training and accompanying certification made it simple and practical to implement the solution.

I am not able to answer for my clients; however, as long as they do not move to another solution, their ROI should correspond to their expectations.

Most of the time, it is easy to prove that in the long term, this solution is the most advantageous for the client cost-wise; both in terms of equipment renewal and ease of handling.

When I started proposing and installing, I only knew about traditional infrastructures that did not provide security at the data level.

My professional career will end soon; however, as long as the product is available, I will continue to recommend it to more and more new customers and maintain it among those who continue to use it.

SANSymphony is used to provide HA storage block services to the vSphere Streched Cluster. The backend virtualized storage is a mix of internal node storage and SAN (Dell Compellent, IBM Storwize). It can be fiberchannel connected or iscsi or both.

By using this solution we provide a High Availability storage solution.

We can do the running of VMs in classic Windows or Linux workload and Citrix virtual Apps.

This is a software solution, so new functionality does not rely on any hardware.

SANSymphony allows us to separate the storage software from the hardware. That way, we can replace or add any backend in the cluster without downtime.

This ease of adding or removing storage allows us to control costs.

All maintening operations can be done without downtime as well. The team is happy due to the fact that they can do the operational tasks during day without impact on the production.

It helps us control storage costs.

This solution is very flexible. We can have 2 physical DataCore nodes with backend storage virtualized or we can have internal disks on the main site and hyper-converged 2 nodes on Robo sites. All this is managed from the same console and with the same functionnalities.

Continuous data protection (CDP), can be used to "protect" again ransomware by recording all write on disk in a log. You can recover your data with incredible time granularity.

The parallel I/O function is very useful to have good storage performance.

The ability to do asynchronous replication to a third site is a easy way to create a disaster recovery plan. 

Veeam Backup integration is a good new option. Now we can leverage a Datacore storage snapshot to do our backup without VM by using vsphere snapshot.

Datacore is developing a new WebUI with new dashboards. It is a good idea as the classic GUI is lacking dashboards. 

We need a better view to analyze the auto-tiering feature (like in DIS) to easier decide what type of storage we need to add. The current view in the GUI is too simple and we cannot see clearly cold data or hot data.

You can report all you want. There are a lot of counters usable in the console. However, there are too many. They need to create some pre-defined graphs or reports.

We have been using this solution since 2016.

It is a very robust solution. I have never experienced to total crash. I would like it if it continues this way.

Due to the design, the product has unlimited scalability.

The support team is really good. The product is frequently updated.

We previously used IBM Hyerswap and SVC. We had to switch due to the Vendor lock-in and poor flexibility.

The design is the more complex part due to all use case you can address with the product. That said, the setup is simpler if you are a SAN Storage admin.

We did look at vSphere vSan.