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Network Manager at Macc 911
Real User
The solution has reduced our power usage
Pros and Cons
  • "We have tons of capacity on it."
  • "It is fast and reliable. It works."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use virtual servers on there.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We have tons of capacity on it.

    What is most valuable?

    It is fast and reliable. It works. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using it for three years.
    Buyer's Guide
    Pure Storage FlashArray
    December 2024
    Learn what your peers think about Pure Storage FlashArray. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
    824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    For three years, we haven't had any trouble with it. It is reliable. Once it is installed, off it goes.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is handy. You can just add more drives. They automatically synchronize. You don't have to do anything but snap them in there. It is pretty easy.

    How are customer service and support?

    I can't even remember dealing with technical support. 

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We had tons of old physical servers and needed the storage room. It was more cost-effective to set this solution up for running our VM environment off it.

    The solution is bigger and faster than what we had before.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was pretty straightforward and simple. 

    What about the implementation team?

    We used Compunet for the deployment. Our experience with them was good.

    What was our ROI?

    The solution has reduced our power usage.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The solution could be cheaper.

    There should be quite a bit of reduction of TCO with just licensing (and stuff) because we run the VM environment off it.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend to go with this solution.

    We have integrated the solution with VMware, and the process was seamless. We've never had any trouble with it.

    Flash drives make an amazing difference.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    CTO6a2e - PeerSpot reviewer
    CTO at a wellness & fitness company with 201-500 employees
    Real User
    Simplifies my upgrade paths, and the support I have received has been outstanding
    Pros and Cons
    • "The sales and executive support have been outstanding compared to the rest of the market... My upgrade paths have been simple on the Pure... It's a lot simpler to implement and a lot simpler to manage."
    • "In some cases, we get into very in-depth conversations around movement of specific data and, what's more, chunk sizes. The documentation lacked any description or information on that."

    What is most valuable?

    The sales and executive support have been outstanding compared to the rest of the market. I replaced another couple of vendors that I had in place for storage, who over-promised and under-delivered on their technical expectations, and who certainly over-promised on their ability to do conversions from one array to another. My upgrade paths have been simple on the Pure.

    What needs improvement?

    The documentation has gone along with the idea of "it's simple to use." In some cases, we get into very in-depth conversations around the movement of specific data and, what's more, chunk sizes. The documentation lacked any description or information on that.

    It wasn't until we got to a point where we had changed out everything front-ending the platform, and got past that conversation and we rose up past helpdesk and fact sheets and documentation, and before we actually got to somebody who knew about it, there was community knowledge within Pure that knew that problem existed. Having that front and center, where we could have searched and looked for that information, would have answered our questions and caused me to rate it as a ten.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    One to three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I've never had an outage.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It's very scalable. I probably run about 10 million patient visits a year through the system. I've never had a problem. It's back-ending my entire medical record platform. It's a very stable platform.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Prior to Pure, the original implementations that we had for other vendors had been in place for about 15 years. This actually replaces another all-flash array product that had been in place for the three years previous.

    What was our ROI?

    From an investment standpoint, the support staff I require for it is greatly reduced, so I don't have the in-depth requirements that I had on other products. The challenges of getting into the product and manage it and moving away from older platforms for systems management disappeared, so that reduced my cost and expense for support. It's a lot simpler to implement and a lot simpler to manage, so I'm able to divert those resources onto other projects, so it's a pretty decent return on investment.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I definitely like the licensing model. It's a lot better than being "piecemealed" as a customer. I've been extremely happy. Cost-wise, it's been very effective. We're a nonprofit-based organization, so pricing is at the forefront of every conversation we have, and it's been a good marriage between the technical capability of the product, the software that we get, the service and support that we get. From a price standpoint, it's been very effective.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    I looked at a half a dozen other products and Pure won over across the board.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would absolutely recommend this product to a colleague. And I have done that already.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Pure Storage FlashArray
    December 2024
    Learn what your peers think about Pure Storage FlashArray. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
    824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    SysAdm3408 - PeerSpot reviewer
    System Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Gives us pure speed and low latency with a small data center footprint
    Pros and Cons
    • "We like the speed. It's very low latency. In virtualization, you can mask lots of problems, and even in code you can mask lots of problems, with low latency. It's just pure speed and low latency."
    • "We also like the compactness, the small footprint. It takes up very little space in a data center and uses little power."
    • "We would like to see more cloud support, which we know is coming, although it's not out yet. It's going to be released in the next versions. That would be the biggest win, if additional cloud support is built into the array."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it for VMware virtualization.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We have VDIs, virtual desktops, which users log into every day. On the old storage, they would sometimes have three, four, or five-minute delays; it just because useless for five minutes. They couldn't do anything when they were logged in, because of the slowness. Now, with Pure Storage, we have totally eliminated that problem. This was the primary reason we purchased it and it has performed very well. We're very pleased.

    It has helped simplify our storage. It's small, it's fast, and it's very simple to manage.

    In one of our arrays we had a 35-to-1 data reduction, which is very outstanding. Not many places have that kind of benefit.

    What is most valuable?

    We like the speed. It's very low latency. In virtualization, you can mask lots of problems, and even in code you can mask lots of problems, with low latency. It's just pure speed and low latency.

    We also like the compactness, the small footprint. It takes up very little space in a data center and uses little power.

    Finally, we love the predictive performance analytics. It's an excellent tool. It's something we were asking for in the past. When they rolled it out, it made a difference.

    What needs improvement?

    We would like to see more cloud support, which we know is coming, although it's not out yet. It's going to be released in the next versions. That would be the biggest win, if additional cloud support is built into the array.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Both the stability and scalability are excellent. It's a very stable environment.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    You can scale easily. You can extend it online, change controllers online. Scalability gets five out five stars.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Technical support is very good. We are very pleased with support. We think that it's probably one of the best vendors we work with, as far as support goes; compared to NetApp, for example. Pure storage support people are very responsive and knowledgeable.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    The old systems we had were just not doing the job, so we knew we had to change.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was very easy to set it up. No complexity at all.

    What about the implementation team?

    We deployed it ourselves.

    What was our ROI?

    We haven't analyzed it in terms of numbers, but we have definitely seen a very good ROI. There has been a reduction in our total cost of ownership.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We looked at Pure Storage vs Dell EMC, but we thought Pure Storage has newer, better technology developed from the ground up, whereas Dell EMC is a patchwork solution. In addition, the price was more favorable.

    What other advice do I have?

    Give it a try. Get a system in on a trial basis, make a deal, and try it to see if it's something you can use.

    I rate Pure Storage at ten out of ten. We're very satisfied with Pure Storage. They are a very good company, doing very good things.

    Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
    PeerSpot user
    Red Hsu - PeerSpot reviewer
    Project Manager at Logicalis
    MSP
    Reasonably priced, reliable, and easy to install
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is always out of the box, and ready to use."
    • "Automation could be simplified."

    What is our primary use case?

    I help our customers build FlashArray. 

    What is most valuable?

    It is always out of the box, and ready to use. 

    It is very simple to set up, and very simple to use.

    The interface is easy to use.

    It is very easy to implement.

    What needs improvement?

    It falls far short of protocol support. Our customers frequently ask us how we can use NFS or if we can use it as a copy or something similar. If you have any suggestions, I believe they could use more protocol, and have easier automation.

    Automation could be simplified. For example, we can ask the storage to create a folder and then monitor it automatically.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with Pure Storage FlashArray for three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Pure Storage FlashArray is a very stable product.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Pure Storage FlashArray is a scalable solution.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I am also working with Pure FlashArray X series and Pure Storage FlashBlade.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is straightforward.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price is very reasonable when compared to other solutions.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray a nine out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
    PeerSpot user
    Technical Consultant at Injazat Data Systems
    MSP
    Has a unique shutdown process, high availability, and is user-friendly
    Pros and Cons
    • "FlashArray has many valuable features. It's very user-friendly and it has high availability, so there is comparatively less downtime. During maintenance, there is no shutdown procedure, so you can directly power off the Array and manage the shutdown process without any data loss, which is a unique feature. Managing replication and data migration is also very easy."
    • "FlashArray's capacity for forecasting should be improved because it needs to be a bit more current. I think it's bundled with the deduplication and other compression factors. We need more user interfaces for forecasting in this software and more interfaces need to be integrated with this array management tool."

    What is our primary use case?

    My primary use case of this solution is array management. 

    What is most valuable?

    FlashArray has many valuable features. It's very user-friendly and it has high availability, so there is comparatively less downtime. During maintenance, there is no shutdown procedure, so you can directly power off the Array and manage the shutdown process without any data loss, which is a unique feature. Managing replication and data migration is also very easy. 

    What needs improvement?

    FlashArray's capacity for forecasting should be improved because it needs to be a bit more current. I think it's bundled with the deduplication and other compression factors. We need more user interfaces for forecasting in this software and more interfaces need to be integrated with this array management tool. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with FlashArray for the past two years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Compared to other products, this solution is more stable. We haven't had any performance issues. Oracle RAC and most of the Microsoft applications perform well on the block storage. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This solution is easy to scale. 

    FlashArray is best suited to a large company. We provide any kind of hosting service in our region, so we have multiple customers hosted in our data center. The environment is large and we have more than 25 different customers and terabytes of data. 

    How are customer service and support?

    I'm satisfied with the support. Comparatively, it matches with Windows. I don't see any difference in the levels of technical support. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial configuration, the base configuration, is really simple. Compared to other products, it's really easy. The racking and stacking will take time, but that has more to do with the data center operations, not specifically the Pure Storage configuration. I'll say this: once the base configuration of the storage array is connected with those cables, once the IP is assigned, the setup process won't take long. It won't take more than 30 to 45 minutes to complete the base configuration, and then it will be ready for provisioning the contract data. 

    What about the implementation team?

    We implemented through an in-house team. We are the service providers in this region, so we did it ourselves. We only engage vendors and their local partners if there is any hardware issue or hardware replacement we need delivered. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I think that the pricing is less expensive compared to other standard products in the market today. Even the support contract and maintenance services cost less when compared to market-leading products like EMC.  

    What other advice do I have?

    Overall, this is a good product and I would recommend it. I rate it an eight 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.
    PeerSpot user
    ITsuper677 - PeerSpot reviewer
    IT Supervisor at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    An easy user interface that has helped us be able to manage our data better
    Pros and Cons
    • "They have really good baked in analytics to show you trends for growth history, so it does help with future planning for data growth."
    • "I would love to see a true one click upgrade solution. Right now, you have to click and schedule an appointment with Pure Storage to be able to upgrade. I would love for it to automatically download, install, and fall-over every controller as it updates."

    What is our primary use case?

    We have all-flash for our SQL environment.

    How has it helped my organization?

    The product added speed to our SQL environment, so we receive a bit better compression. It did give us a little more space when I moved my SQL environment off the competitor onto Pure Storage. Therefore, I obtained a bit of space and saw an increase in performance.

    They have really good baked in analytics to show you trends for growth history, so it does help with future planning for data growth.

    What is most valuable?

    I like the five-year controller upgrade, easy-to-use interface, and performance.

    They do a good job at ease of use for the interface. I don't have a big team, so its easy user interface has helped us be able to manage our data better.

    What needs improvement?

    I would love to see a true one click upgrade solution. Right now, you have to click and schedule an appointment with Pure Storage to be able to upgrade. I would love for it to automatically download, install, and fall-over every controller as it updates.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    The product has been in my environment for over a year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The product has not gone down in a year. So, I would say that it is stable. We haven't seen any high spikes in read/write latency.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability seems pretty simplistic. You just buy more drives and slap them in the box, then tack it onto your current storage pool. It seems like it would be pretty easy to scale out.

    However, I don't know about scaling up. I don't think they do extra data shelves, so you would have to buy a whole new unit.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We have only used the technical support for upgrades. They respond very quickly and are efficient at what they do.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    A local VAR was talking about our challenges and some different solutions to take care of it. Pure just seemed like it could fit the bill.

    We have Tegile and HPE 3PAR in our environment.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was very straightforward. We were about to get the installation done within two hours.

    We have done a firmware upgrade for the OS. We clicked the button to place the call in with support. They remote in with a time that we agreed upon to upgrade the solution. We have never had any problems with it.

    What about the implementation team?

    We used the reseller for deployment, who came in and worked with our storage guy to deploy the solution. The reseller company was Sirius Computer Solutions. My local rep and his engineer were the ones who came in to install it, and it was a perfect experience. They are whom we have always bought storage through. We have never had any problems with them.

    What was our ROI?

    We watch latency, then our I/Os. We care about how much we're pushing through the box, then what latency the box for read/writes is hitting. I have seen a decrease in read/write latency since moving to Pure Storage by seven milliseconds.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Our licensing is on a yearly basis. So, every year, we renew. We could do a three-year contract, but right now, we only do a one-year.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We looked into a couple other vendors. I am currently still using one of the vendor. Then, with Pure, we looked into some solutions from Dell EMC or HPE. Pure seemed to be a bit more cost-efficient. It also had better reviews from what we could find online and with references.

    Because they do the compression and dedupe on the backside, I have seen better numbers of the Pure Storage box than on the other competitors that I have in my environment.

    What other advice do I have?

    Ensure you are looking at all aspects of what the device can do, what your company needs are, and try to see how Pure Storage can meet all of your company's current needs.

    We have Pure Storage integrated with our vCenter. The integration was very simple and gives us a lot better insight into our virtual environment.

    Pure Storage hasn't increased nor decrease our ability to manage storage, because the solution that we are moving from had a very easy to use interface too.

    I don't really use the predictive performance analytics.

    Biggest lesson learned: Longevity planning. Pure Storage, with their five-year upgrade for controllers, has helped me feel comfortable. Even as the company grows, I will still have a storage solution which will fit the environment.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Head of Infrastructure Architecture at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
    Real User
    They are proactive with support and open cases for us before we notify them of an issue
    Pros and Cons
    • "The job of support for the storage engineers dramatically changed. We know more quickly the automation of the provisioning. We can now focus on things that bring more value to the company than just managing storage."
    • "We would like to integrate it more with our backup solutions."

    What is our primary use case?

    The primary use case is storage for payment platforms.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We don't have anymore performance issues, which is good. 

    The job of support for the storage engineers dramatically changed. We know more quickly the automation of the provisioning. We can now focus on things that bring more value to the company than just managing storage.

    What is most valuable?

    Performance and support quality.

    What needs improvement?

    We would like to integrate it more with our backup solutions.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Three to five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    We have seen through time that it is perfectly stable. It has aged well. We were an early adopter in our company.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is very modular. When you need more storage or power, you change one brick, and you don't have to go through a long process.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Pure Storage has proven to be proactive with support. Even when we have small problems, they open a support case before we even notify them that there has been an actual issue.

    We receive good quality of support from the first line of support, so we don't need to escalate or wait through a long process.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We clearly have seen the difference between having storage on Dell EMC or NetApp versus what we have now on Pure Storage. The investment was a clear win for us.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was very simple. It's basically a few cables with two plugs. Plug it in, and it is that easy.

    What about the implementation team?

    We did the installation in-house.

    What was our ROI?

    We have seen reduction in total cost of ownership.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We would like them to improve the pricing, so we could put them to use some more product, like backup or long-term storage. In the future, if the price goes down, then we could buy different types of products.

    What other advice do I have?

    If you have doubts, do a proof of concept. Pure Storage is very happy to provide you with storage ahead of time that you can test for a couple of months. This way, you can test the performance and bugs, which makes it easier to sell to your company.

    Everything is embedded that is something managed from end-to-end by Pure Storage. This is something really easy for us. We don't have to work with integration and the different subcomponent of the storage that we would have to use if it was SSD.

    We are at about 3.0 to 4.0 in terms of data reduction.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Infrastr0f81 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Infrastructure Manager at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    Robust, stable, and their technical support the best out of any of the vendors we work with
    Pros and Cons
    • "Their technical support is excellent. It's the best out of any of the vendors we work with."

      What is our primary use case?

      We use this solution for storage of critical data and for storage of replicated backups. We use Zerto replication software. We write all of those backups to Pure Storage and then we use those in our disaster recovery scenarios.

      How has it helped my organization?

      It helps us simplify our storage because we use it for a specific use case of replication between sites. We have two data centers: a primary data center and a secondary data center. We got a Pure Storage device in each location and we do backups of critical data in both locations and then replicate them back and forth between the sites. This is the biggest thing it does for us. 

      We have seen a reduction in total costs of ownership. Most of the data that's on the Pure came off of Dell EMC VNX. The money I saved by not renewing maintenance on the Dell EMC devices paid for the Pure Storage devices. I've saved a lot of money and gotten better-performing storage.

      With every update we get, we get a reduction in the space used which has been pretty dramatic with each one of the upgrades that we've gone through.

      What is most valuable?

      The value of the storage in the way that it stores the data is a very valuable feature for us. We also like that it's robust and stable and that we get good support from them when we have an issue. 

      For how long have I used the solution?

      One to three years.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      We put very high stress on this solution and we've almost never had any problems with it. We originally went with a competitor's product and after about eight months and a lot of wrangling, we had them buy it back from us. Then we bought a similar Pure Storage product, and it's been great.

      How are customer service and technical support?

      Their technical support is excellent. It's the best out of any of the vendors we work with. 

      Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

      We decided it was time to switch because the other solution was terrible. We were using Dell EMC Unity and it never worked properly and was full of software bugs. Dell EMC couldn't fix it and they had no intention of fixing it. 

      How was the initial setup?

      The initial setup was easy and we were able to sort data almost immediately. The time from racking to being in production was very short and very simple.

      What about the implementation team?

      We used a third-party for the implementation. We bought it and we built in some professional services. They were great. Everything with Pure Storage is straightforward. 

      What was our ROI?

      The cost of implementing Pure Storage was less than the cost of continuing to maintain the Dell EMC solutions which is ROI for us. In addition to that, the more data we store, the more compression we get, the better it looks.

      Which other solutions did I evaluate?

      We initially looked at Pure Storage and Dell EMC Unity. We made the poor decision of going with Unity and eight months later we went with Pure Storage. 

      What other advice do I have?

      I would rate this solution a ten because of the way the product works. It never blinks. Also because of the progressive support that we get from Pure Storage with updates and opening tickets on the device before we even knew that there was a problem happening. The entire experience of working with them has been great. 

      I would advise somebody considering this solution to buy it. 

      Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
      PeerSpot user
      Buyer's Guide
      Download our free Pure Storage FlashArray Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
      Updated: December 2024
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      Buyer's Guide
      Download our free Pure Storage FlashArray Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.