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IBM Spectrum Scale pros and cons

Vendor: IBM
4.2 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

IBM Spectrum Scale provides high availability and allows file sharing across multiple environments, even globally, without performance degradation.
It is known for being incredibly scalable, stable, and reliable, handling most heavy loads with ease.
Technical support offers effective solutions, enhancing its reliability and user experience.
GPFS monitoring and parallel file access are highly valued features for enhanced storage management.
The software-based nature allows users to utilize any compatible hardware, adding flexibility and reducing dependency on specific hardware.

CONS

Pricing and licensing are complex, making explanations to customers difficult.
Integration with other vendors is unavailable.
The upgrade process is time-consuming as each node must be updated individually.
Encryption issues arise when trying to use more metrics, leading to performance difficulties.
Block storage is not provided, which is a significant problem.
 

IBM Spectrum Scale Pros review quotes

it_user868245 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
May 6, 2018
Its great servicing high availability. That is what it is used for.
it_user868251 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Unix Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 6, 2018
Allows us to share files across multiple environments.
it_user868248 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Assoc at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
May 21, 2018
It makes our file system sharing a lot easier, even across different continents. We have had file systems shared across different continents with no performance degradation.
Learn what your peers think about IBM Spectrum Scale. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
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it_user868272 - PeerSpot reviewer
Client Server Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 21, 2018
We can have multiple systems within the same file system.
reviewer1249170 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Expert Solution Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Dec 23, 2019
GPFS monitoring is the best feature.
PV
Infrastructure Architect at Getronics UK Limited
Jan 26, 2020
The most valuable feature is the ability to share files across different platforms.
AS
Team Leader at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Mar 19, 2022
We are using it for monitoring all of our storage.
KK
IT Technical Architect at AVALIS
Sep 27, 2020
The high performance of the solution is its most valuable aspect. If you compare it to other storage solutions, it's much better.
Janith Ranasinghe - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager - IT at LankaClear
Nov 14, 2022
The profile share is a valuable feature.
AS
Technical Manager at ASM Computer
Jul 4, 2023
It is a scalable solution.
 

IBM Spectrum Scale Cons review quotes

it_user868245 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
May 6, 2018
This is probably the biggest challenge, getting everything upgraded, because it just takes time. We wish it was a faster solution to be able to do everything at once, but you have do each node individually. The more nodes, the longer it takes.
it_user868251 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Unix Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 6, 2018
Making it a little easier to add bad file sets would help. There is a transition to how you add storage and how you add a file set, so making that a little smoother would probably be my recommendation.
it_user868248 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Assoc at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
May 21, 2018
Maybe it needs integration with HA.
Learn what your peers think about IBM Spectrum Scale. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
879,986 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user868272 - PeerSpot reviewer
Client Server Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 21, 2018
We do have some issues where Spectrum Scale does not work as expected. We have seen our Spectrum Scale servers go down unexpectedly, but because we have a cluster, it does not take out the entire organization.
reviewer1249170 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Expert Solution Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Dec 23, 2019
The biggest problem is that it is not able to provide block storage.
PV
Infrastructure Architect at Getronics UK Limited
Jan 26, 2020
The pricing and licensing model for this solution are complex and it is sometimes difficult to explain it to customers.
AS
Team Leader at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Mar 19, 2022
Integration with other vendors is not available.
KK
IT Technical Architect at AVALIS
Sep 27, 2020
It would be helpful if there was a graphical user interface that could walk you through the deployment process. The instructions surrounding setup aren't the best. They need to be more step-by-step.
Janith Ranasinghe - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager - IT at LankaClear
Nov 14, 2022
I believe there is no graphic user interface, so they should include it.
AS
Technical Manager at ASM Computer
Jul 4, 2023
The solution's pricing could be better.