We use this storage device for databases, storing databases, and VMware. When it comes to databases ,we have Oracle, SQL, and mission-critical applications. Therefore, we need very good response times, and we get very good response times from NetApp All Flash systems.
Storage Manager at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Queries are being completed in less time, but the initial setup is too complex
Pros and Cons
- "Queries are being completed in less time. For example, we have seen a three times improvement when it comes to running a query. If query used to take an hour, now it takes 10 to 20 minutes."
- "The compression works well. We get a 3:1 ratio."
- "We would like to be able to provide feedback immediately after receiving technical support."
- "The initial setup is too complex. It should be one click. Anyone with basic knowledge of storage should be able to set it up. Instead, there are too many moving pieces."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Queries are being completed in less time. For example, we have seen a three times improvement when it comes to running a query. If query used to take an hour, now it takes 10 to 20 minutes.
What is most valuable?
- It does both file and block storage.
- The compression works well. We get a 3:1 ratio.
What needs improvement?
- We would like to be able to provide feedback immediately after receiving technical support.
- Make it a simpler. Our entire industry is moving towards simplicity or automation, we spend a lot of time doing storage allocation. It's too complex.
- Have integration with other storage providers.
- I would like cloud integration where we can send data to the cloud. Engineers should be able to click on one button (integrated with their phones), and move the data from NetApp to cloud.
Buyer's Guide
NetApp ONTAP
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about NetApp ONTAP. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a stable product. So far, we have not seen any issues. It has worked as expected, meeting our expectations.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It scales up, so I don't see any issues with scaling the system.
How are customer service and support?
When it comes to support, we usually go into NetApp chat and request help. Most of the time, our interaction with their support is nice and they are willing to help.
Sometimes, you have a team of people, where 10 or 15 people are working, and you are not going to get the same result from everyone. It happens when we call support sometimes that we do not get what we need, then we work with the manager.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
ONTAP has helped us reduce the cost of storage by a lot. We were using IBM XIVs (hybrid system) and were paying high costs, except for the maintenance. Now, we are on all-flash and we pay less than what we used to pay.
ONTAP is an operating system, but we also wanted to invest in all-flash. We evaluated multiple products and we liked ONTAP's performance and its cost.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is too complex. It should be one click. Anyone with basic knowledge of storage should be able to set it up. Instead, there are too many moving pieces. You have to do plaster configuration, north configuration, and port configuration, and these things should be fully automated. Customers should be answering a few questions and system should be ready for application on user portals.
What about the implementation team?
The overall implementation was done by a reseller, IS.
What was our ROI?
We see ROI, but I was expecting more. Right now, what happens is I have a team of 10 or 12 people, and the investment is going into managing them instead of doing something new.
Moving to all-flash from hybrid, we brought the response time down from 10 milliseconds to some milliseconds.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Pure Storage and NetApp. Cost was a value factor in selecting NetApp.
What other advice do I have?
We are in a testing phase at this moment for machine learning, AI, and real-time analytics . We have a team who is testing Docker on this.
In future, we will be using NVMe over Fabric. At the moment, we are still immature.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Server and Storage consultant at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
A very user-friendly and stable tool that provides features like deduplication and data protection to its users
Pros and Cons
- "Deduplication, data protection, and NetApp block are some of the valuable features of the product."
- "The GUI of NetApp ONTAP is an area with certain shortcomings that need to be considered for improvement."
What is most valuable?
Deduplication, data protection, and NetApp block are some of the valuable features of the product.
What needs improvement?
The GUI of NetApp ONTAP is an area with certain shortcomings that need to be considered for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using NetApp ONTAP for over three years. I am using the solution's latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
My company has a dozen users of NetApp ONTAP.
How are customer service and support?
I rate NetApp ONTAP's support a ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
I rate my experience with NetApp ONTAP's setup phase a ten out of ten.
The product is deployed on-premises.
The deployment process took a day to two to be completed.
Two people look into the software part during the deployment process of the product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I rate NetApp ONTAP's pricing a seven out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
In NetApp ONTAP, both the hardware and the software are the same. The only thing with NetApp ONTAP is that you can't buy it separately because it comes with the box, which is its hardware.
I definitely recommend the solution to those planning to use it. It's a very friendly and usable tool with lots of features, majorly storage.
Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
NetApp ONTAP
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about NetApp ONTAP. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Infrastructure engineer at a logistics company with 10,001+ employees
Video Review
Enables us to automate and I can use Ansible via API to automate our day to day tasks
Pros and Cons
- "We've seen return on investment for ONTAP specifically on the performance recently. Where we had our file storage solution sitting on a hybrid storage solution and we were having continuous performance issues, as our workloads went up we were able to put in an 8300 all-flash array. Since we've put that in, we've been under one-millisecond latency, and that's allowed us to not have delays in some of our EDI transactions. Our end customer integrates and interfaces with that technology. Fewer outages equal more business, more profit, more revenue, and immediate ROI. We've been really happy with the new All Flash hardware solutions."
- "Some of their products have been really good for us, on certain versions. We've run into a bunch of verts, though. That's NetApp's word for their bugs. Stability has been the main complaint that I've had with the product. Because it's so feature-rich and has so much software related to it, it does come with a decent amount of bugs so we do a lot of upgrades to patch bugs."
What is our primary use case?
My primary use case for ONTAP is for VMware. We also use it for exchange and file storage.
How has it helped my organization?
ONTAP's improving my organization by allowing us to automate. The ability to automate day to day tasks, when using NetApp storage, frees up more time for forecasting, troubleshooting, and more planning.
What is most valuable?
The primary features that are most important to me, currently for ONTAP, are stability, first and foremost, and the ability to automate. ONTAP offers me PowerShell cmdlets and I can use Ansible via API to automate our day to day tasks. Previously, it was all the other software like, SnapManager, and Snapshotting, which a lot of other vendors didn't have.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see them have a continued focus on stability because there's so much software involved that it'd be really nice to just continue to have developers focus on that. It's the most important thing in the end, and other than that, I think they're working on a lot of the stuff that I personally am looking for, as well as more Ansible modules, and PowerShell modules.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Some of their products have been really good for us, on certain versions. We've run into a bunch of verts, though. That's NetApp's word for their bugs. Stability has been the main complaint that I've had with the product. Because it's so feature-rich and has so much software related to it, it does come with a decent amount of bugs so we do a lot of upgrades to patch bugs.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability, for us, has been pretty good with ONTAP, since they went from 7-mode to ONTAP. Now that we can cluster environments, and have multiple nodes in the cluster, we've been able to scale to the point that our organization requires, as far as the capacity and performance.
How are customer service and technical support?
We don't go directly to NetApp, but when we do interface with NetApp directly, we've had a pretty good support experience. There have been times where it's been difficult, depending on who's on staff at that time, and how long it takes to escalate. Recently, we've worked with our account reps, to nail down how to escalate immediately, and since we did that, we've had a lot better experience.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We knew we needed a new solution because I've always worked with NetApp, although we had another solution with a different company, and it came down to feature set. The solution we had didn't have SnapMirror, Snap plug-ins, and integration with VMware at the time, and SRM. At that point, it was the feature set that made us switch over to ONTAP. At my current company, it's more of deciding to stay with the technology, and that's because of the existing feature set and ability to automate with it.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was pretty straightforward. That's where the reseller provides a lot of value. They have access to NetApp tools. NetApp would also have access to that, but we tell them the requirements, and what we're looking for, and what we're using it for. They come up with config, we look over it, maybe make some changes, go back and forth, and then, come up with the final config. We've had a good experience with that.
What about the implementation team?
We used Datalink, and it's been okay. Mixed reviews with that. Delay in escalation is the only complaint there. Otherwise, they do provide additional stuff that NetApp wouldn't provide out of the box such as architecture and design help. In that aspect, it's been really great, but for support, it's kind of been easier just to go direct.
What was our ROI?
We've seen return on investment for ONTAP specifically on the performance recently. Where we had our file storage solution sitting on a hybrid storage solution and we were having continuous performance issues, as our workloads went up we were able to put in an 8300 all-flash array. Since we've put that in, we've been under one-millisecond latency, and that's allowed us to not have delays in some of our EDI transactions. Our end customer integrates and interfaces with that technology. Fewer outages equal more business, more profit, more revenue, and immediate ROI. We've been really happy with the new All Flash hardware solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate ONTAP as an eight. From 7-mode, they've come a long way, and I really like the features that they include. I'll give it an eight and not a ten because we run into a lot of bugs which have resulted in some issues, like outages, so I have to dock it there. As far as feature set and automation go it's a great product.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Storage Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Scalability is awesome with a cluster node, not only can you scale up, but you can also scale out
Pros and Cons
- "It has multiple uses. It does everything in one box."
- "Scalability is awesome with a cluster node, not only can you scale up, but you can also scale out."
- "While the data efficiency features are great, I want to see more efficiency and compression type of technology."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for everything, like the NAS and SAN functionality. It's a back-end for the host VMs and the Microsoft SQL Database, which is directly attached to them. We also use all-in-one file servers.
How has it helped my organization?
We got rid of about 25 Windows file servers, which is great. We don't have to patch them every month anymore. We now have an all in one solution, which are virtual storage machines (SVMs). For example, previously, executives would try to use presentation material on the file server and the screen would not come up for a long time. Now it come up instantly.
We use it for our mission-critical applications, such as SQL Databases and NetApp AFF.
What is most valuable?
It has multiple uses. It does everything in one box.
What needs improvement?
I would like them to support NetApp All Flash in upcoming NVMe versions. We have an AFF8040 and NVMe version 9.4 does not currently support it.
I would like to have an easier connection to the cloud on the back-end. Something that brings the cold data out to the cloud and brings it back when needed. We want ONTAP to do this.
While the data efficiency features are great, I want to see more efficiency and compression type of technology.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It works. It is great and reliable. We haven't had any issues. Hardware failure is rare. We have no performance issues with our AFF.
When a disk failed, it was automatically detected. They sent me a disk and I wasn't even aware of it. It happened on Sunday and they sent me a disk on Monday morning.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is awesome with a cluster node, not only can you scale up, but you can also scale out.
How are customer service and technical support?
ONTAP tech support needs some improvement, but it has improved quite a bit.
Previously, the support center was in India and Asia. They had some communication problems but their technical skills were not up to par. Then, they pulled the technical support back into North Carolina, as this helped a lot. I can talk to a Level 1, which most of the time I don't need. When I have an issue, I know exactly what I'm talking about. I know there's a bug and need to go to Level 2. Also, our large corporation global team gets involved as soon as I open a case, and they put me through to Level 2 or Level 3, which helps a lot.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were previously using Hitachi with NetApp. However, Hitachi is lacking in all the features. Our companies chose Hitachi because it was cheaper, but this was back in the early 2000s. Hitachi doesn't have any NAS functionality. File systems could not be migrated unless we connected to a Windows system, then Windows provided the file system function.
We looked into this solution because of its high availability and disaster recovery. We are in a dangerous business because something could blow up and everything would be lost. So, offsite backup replication, SnapMirror, and SnapVault are very important.
How was the initial setup?
It was extremely easy to set up from day one.
What about the implementation team?
I implemented everything myself.
What was our ROI?
It has helped us reduce the overall cost of storage. Replacing the Windows license alone provided us savings.
We have been able to save a lot of space because there is deduplication and compression.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Just buy ONTAP and go for it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
When we were considered products, we also looked at Dell EMC. Previously, Dell EMC products only provided SAN functionality. We had to buy separate Celerra as NAS heads to attach to the SAN back-end.
NetApp has much smarter way of doing everything. Their Snapshot technology, by just copying the index, is much better than Dell EMC, which forces you to cut a snapshot, taking up I/O.
Data Domain has a lot better deduplication technology than NetApp, and that is bad for NetApp.
What other advice do I have?
We have been using Fibre Channel, but we are planning on moving over to NVMe. We're on a 32G Gen 6 switches and HBA cards. We need to convert it to see how it will affect the speed, but it should drastically increase the performance of the connection.
NVMe over Fabric with existing Fibre Channel infrastructure is wonderful. It is easy to convert. We don't have to do much at all. It's just a matter of how we present. Instead of using WWPNs, we use an IQN number. So, it's connecting the same volume over iSCSI and Fibre Channel mixed. We just have another means to talk to the hosts.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Storage and Backup Manager at Vodafone
The cluster version is flexible and easy to use
Pros and Cons
- "The cluster version is flexible and easy to use."
- "Stability and performance have been great."
- "In Africa, especially in West Africa, NetApp doesn't chat with their customers. Therefore, we always have to go through the local partners or vendors."
- "Because most of us were new to the product, the initial setup was a bit cumbersome. Once we were trained, it was fine."
- "I would like it to be more user-friendly. When you open the main dashboard, anyone should be able to know exactly what is going on, even without a tech background. Minimal training should be required."
What is our primary use case?
ONTAP is the OS for NetApp storage controllers. We use it to provision storage or line volumes for our internal customers requesting storage either for databases, the storing of flat files, etc.
How has it helped my organization?
ONTAP 7-mode is a bit archaic, but with the clustered mode, it is straightforward. Also, if you add OnCommand Unified Manager, it is awesome.
We have a lot of mission critical systems, so we normally use ONTAP for all of them along with our databases and applications, e.g., Oracle Databases, like the BI and the CRM. We also have a VMS, which takes care of our virtual management systems.
It's easy to use. So, we don't have much stress.
What is most valuable?
- SnapMirror
- Snapshot
- FlexClone volume: Cloning of volumes, volume move, and volume create.
What needs improvement?
I would like it to be more user-friendly. When you open the main dashboard, anyone should be able to know exactly what is going on, even without a tech background. Minimal training should be required.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability and performance have been great.
Sometimes it takes a while for us to upgrade. We need to ensure the applications running are compatible with the upgrades that we will be running. So, it takes us a little time to upgrade. However, all the upgrades, including the latest one (ONTAP 9.4), have been awesome.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Its scalability is good.
How are customer service and technical support?
I'm here at NetApp Insight because I needed to talk to a few of the NetApp customer representatives about cost. In Africa, especially in West Africa, NetApp doesn't chat with their customers. Therefore, we always have to go through the local partners or vendors.
I just spoke to a woman on the technology team. She's promised to be in touch and have somebody come to Ghana to speak to the high-end customers, like Vodafone, MTN, etc.
ONTAP's technical support is awesome and always ready to help.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not have a solution before NetApp, and NetApp was the first, but now we have Huawei as well.
We first used the NetApp 7-Mode version. Now, we use the cluster version. The cluster version is more flexible and easier to use.
How was the initial setup?
Because most of us were new to the product, the initial setup was a bit cumbersome. Once we were trained, it was fine.
What about the implementation team?
We used a local vendor for the deployment with professional support from Nigeria. Our experience with them was good.
What was our ROI?
We have seen ROI.
It doesn't help reduce the overall cost of storage.
We have been able to save about 3TB to 5TB of storage. We still need to do more on the compression bit, then provisioning, to save more going forward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product costs an arm and leg; it's expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked at NetApp, Dell EMC, HPE, and Huawei.
We chose NetApp because of efficiency and performance. Its product is up-to-date.
What other advice do I have?
Fabric is good. I have yet to experience NVMe.
Sometime in the future, we will look at AI and machine learning.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Storage Manager at mEKOROT
Stable, easy to deploy and just works
Pros and Cons
- "The product is stable, easy to deploy and it just works."
- "We had a few small issues with setup, but once everything was done it just worked."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for Hyper-V, VMware, SQL, Enterprise Vault, and Commvault.
How has it helped my organization?
This product has improved the way our organization functions because everything is working so well and we don't have any disasters. Everything is perfect. Our SLA (Service Level Agreement) is in RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective). Everything just perfect.
What needs improvement?
What I would like to see in the next release is the ability to combine all the clusters. Make it so that they will work not just pairs. If I have a four-node cluster, I want it to work for four and not just four pairs of clusters. This is what I am expecting as an enhancement.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
My impression of the stability of the solution is very high. We don't have any problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think the scalability of this solution is excellent.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is amazing. Amazing-plus. Technical support always answers. Whenever I need them, they are there. I don't have to wait or waste my time to get the answer by email. I just call them and they answer, and they immediately try to help us. So, if there is a 1 to 10, the technical support is an 11.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We switched to this solution because we always believed that NetApp is the best company for storage solutions. I don't think they have a real competitor because they have the perfect solution that is what the end-user really needs. Everything from the software to the hardware is very good. Other competitors have similar solutions, but not the same solution or quality. They have the hardware, they have the technology, they have a protocol, but not all the protocols. NetApp actually thinks about what the user really needs to dive in deep. They know why, how to make the customer satisfied.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. The technical guys came and deployed all of our operating systems. It was easy and maybe sometimes, not always, there was some small issue but in the end, everything is working very well.
What about the implementation team?
We did not use outside help. We did the deployment ourselves.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost of licensing for our company is really not that much. We are a big company but we only use Fibre Channel SAN (Storage Area Network) storage. We don't use the others. So actually we did not need to use all of the licenses. So, the cost is really average for us.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Other competitor solutions that we were thinking about was mostly Nimble Storage. But it is not like NetApp.
What other advice do I have?
We use the InLine Encryption solution for SnapMirror, SnapManager, SnapCenter, SnapMirror data protections, SnapVault, and that's all.
The Snapshot copies and Bin Clones solutions affected our application development speed because we run all this at the nights so we actually don't have any effects on performance. Even if we do it in the middle of the day, the users don't feel any latency. So everything is going well.
This solution has helped to reduce our organization's data footprint and reduced our organization's cloud costs by up to 100 K.
On a scale of one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate this product as a ten. There is no competitor like NetApp. You cannot compete with them because we have what we need and what we want and we are so satisfied that we are sure NetApp is the best solution for us.
The advice I would give to someone considering this solution is first to ask him what exactly the solution is that they are searching for. If I can see that they are using or considering a different solution that they think is like my solution, I prefer to invite them to come to our company and see how NetApp works. I would show them how the solution works and how it runs without any problems. If they want they can get full protection — the full self-confidence we call it. It is confidence that you are actually choosing the right tool and not just the vendor. They need to know the product is actually working.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Manager at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The product is stable and reliable. We always have access to our files.
Pros and Cons
- "It most valuable feature is its stability. A product has to be stable."
- "The product is reliable. We always want to have access to the files, and the system has to be up 99.9 percent of the time."
- "It should release more cloud-centric products as compared to some of its competitors. We would like it to have the ability to run or manage a solution in the cloud. This would allow us to migrate our data on-premise to off-premise in cloud solutions."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case is for storing flat files. The secondary use case is as a conduit for long-term archiving.
How has it helped my organization?
The product is reliable. We always want to have access to the files, and the system has to be up 99.9 percent of the time.
What is most valuable?
It most valuable feature is its stability. A product has to be stable.
What needs improvement?
It should have the ability to be very agile and release more cloud-centric products as compared to some of its competitors. We would like it to have the ability to run or manage a solution in the cloud. This would allow us to migrate our data on-premise to off-premise in cloud solutions.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability has been good so far. We haven't had any major issues, which is what we want.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Our environment is large. We are managing over 10 petabytes of data, in terms of storage.
How is customer service and technical support?
The support has been very good. Anytime that we have had an issue, they have been able to have a resource available to help walk us through problems.
How was the initial setup?
The integration and configuration were fine.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We also evaluated Dell EMC VNX, as a storage solution. We did not chose them because of cost.
We chose NetApp ONTAP because the price was most attractive and the support team was very good.
What other advice do I have?
Make sure you can to do a PoC onsite (or offsite) to ensure the product works for you.
We are using the on-premise version, though we are looking for off-premise solutions from NetApp.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Systems Architect at University of San Diego
It is very reliable. We have not lost one byte of data.
Pros and Cons
- "My experience with NetApp is its very easy to learn and intuitive. I can figure out just about everything."
- "I wish tech support would be better. I wish I could talk to somebody more easily and qualified, because this is way it is supposed to be.."
What is our primary use case?
I have about 500 volumes that I manage, and I love it.
How has it helped my organization?
It's a good thing to have a reliable storage. Our whole business relies on it. Our two main mission-critical systems, which are EBS system (Oracle Financials) and Banner, which is our database for student services, are stored on NetApp. We need it to be reliable, efficient, and quick, which it is.
They run on AIX and are stored on ONTAP.
What is most valuable?
My experience with NetApp is its very easy to learn and intuitive. I can figure out just about everything.
I love the System Manager. I don't even need to remember commands. I love its ease of use.
What needs improvement?
I wish tech support would be better. I wish I could talk to somebody more easily and qualified, because this is way it is supposed to be. At the moment, you talk to an entry level people, and sometimes they know less than you. You waste two to three hours with them. Finally, they send you to a higher level person who knows something. This is something many companies need to improve.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very reliable. We have not lost one byte of data. There was even an occasion about three months ago where one of my nodes went down. It was recovered and nobody even noticed.
I don't worry about stability. Even when a disc goes bad, I know it will replace itself. NetApp will send me an email, “We'll send you this tomorrow.”
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is very good. Now that we have an AFF A300, it will be even better. You can add more to storage on live. Before, when we had the 3220s, you only had two nodes, so you had to buy another two nodes to scale.
How are customer service and technical support?
Sometimes, tech support is slow to answer. However, I'm seeing this as a trend in all companies, even IBM.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've been using ONTAP for about ten years. I started with the 3140s, then went to the 3240s, and now, I just upgraded to the AFF A300.
How was the initial setup?
I went from an 8.17 node to 9.3 cluster nodes. This was a big change. I still have a lot of things to learn. For example, the migration was done using the 7-Mode migration tool, which was tough.
What about the implementation team?
We used a reseller for NetApp for the deployment. They were good.
What was our ROI?
I have been able to save space using ONTAP, particularly now on the new system. By default, you get compression, deduping, etc. We have saved at least 20 percent in terms of space.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We received a super deal for our new machine, so we were happy with the price.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not consider anyone else. I love NetApp.
There are some new companies out there, but you take a chance on them. With mission-critical systems, you need a stable company. You cannot play around. NetApp systems will work when things go wrong.
What other advice do I have?
My experience with ONTAP has been very good. It is very reliable.
I might use ONTAP for machine learning. AI. and real-time analytics in the future. Next year will be very interesting as we upgraded to an AFF A300, so that's a new ballgame. I wouldn't mind getting into the cloud.
I am not using NVMe yet. Maybe next year, I will venture into that. I am only using Fibre Channel and iSCSI right now.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Dell PowerPath
StorONE Storage-as-a-Service
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