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CTO6499 - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at a individual & family service with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Significantly reduced our storage volume, while being administered by just one person
Pros and Cons
  • "The first year, we started out with one or five terabytes and it took what was 20 terabytes of storage down to less than one terabyte."

    What is most valuable?

    The first year, we started out with one or five terabytes and it took what was 20 terabytes of storage down to less than one terabyte. Then we added another one and I think the total storage is five terabytes now.

    The UI is pretty good.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    One to three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's absolutely a stable product.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It's scalable. We started with a very small storage array and now we're in a much larger one. I think we're up to 40 terabytes.

    Buyer's Guide
    Pure Storage FlashArray
    March 2025
    Learn what your peers think about Pure Storage FlashArray. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
    842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    How are customer service and support?

    We only use tech support infrequently. We don't need to call them. It's easy to use, straightforward. Once it's set up, it does what we need it to do.

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

    Price is about the only thing that's wrong with it. A little bit better pricing would be great. The client environment for a non-profit 501C3 organization makes it much harder for us to come up with the dollars and to cover the increased cost of hardware support, but we do like the way the product runs. It's perfect for us.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would definitely recommend this product to a colleague because of what it can do. I've already done that. I've already referenced several other nonprofits, human service organizations, and long-term care facilities. We've spoken highly of Pure. For an organization, it can take storage from 40 terabytes down to five terabytes. It's excellent.

    Our user base consists of 3,000 people but it takes just one person to manage it - ease of use.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Director of MIS at Watson Clinic
    Real User
    Gives us better compression than our previous solutions, and it's easier to manage
    Pros and Cons
    • "Pure gives us better compression, it's easier to manage, a lot less hands-on."

      What is most valuable?

      Pure gives us better compression, it's easier to manage, a lot less hands-on, and the biggest selling point for me was the replacement of the hardware, the controllers, without any major expense to the clinic.

      What needs improvement?

      I don't deal with the day-to-day management of it. I'm sure that, from a technical perspective, the ones who manage it would be able to tell about you something that needs improvement. From my perspective of the acquisition and ongoing support, I don't see any.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      One to three years.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      It's a stable product. 

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      It's scalable. We've grown the product two or three times since we got it. We've actually purchased two more storage arrays since then that are not used for Epic, so we're expanding it. We'll be using this for many years in the future.

      How are customer service and technical support?

      Tech support is helpful when needed.

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

      We had multiple platforms beforehand. We had HPE, IBM. 

      How was the initial setup?

      To me, the installation is easy. I'm not the one who put it together, their techs came out and helped us. I don't remember anything momentous about it.

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

      I'm good with the licensing. Of course, pricing can always be less. That's standard business. It's actually not a bad pricing model, considering I don't have to rip-and-replace. That's huge for me.

      What other advice do I have?

      I would recommend this product to colleagues in the same field.

      It makes life easier for me.

      I rate the product at nine out of ten. We're very happy with it. We purchased the product for our Epic implementation. I had such minimal issues with it. Ten out of ten is a stretch, but it's pretty close. We're pretty happy.

      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
      March 2025
      Learn what your peers think about Pure Storage FlashArray. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
      842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.
      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
        SeniorMa0c72 - PeerSpot reviewer
        Senior Manager of IT Infrastructure at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
        Real User
        It is the fastest storage that we have available, and it is easy to manage
        Pros and Cons
        • "It is all-flash. This makes it a lot faster than the rest of what we have, as it is able to drive high I/O loads, which is big for us."
        • "It is easy to manage. You don't have to have the same people who used to manage the Dell EMC arrays because the solution is more intuitive."
        • "With scalability, I have run into a little problem with our last upgrade. There were some undocumented limitations to the number of drives that our controller could run on. So, instead of putting in a new data pack as we had anticipated, we had to keep adding and removing to get up to the capacity that we needed to be. What should have been a one day process (or a few hours) turned into a month and a half process."

        What is our primary use case?

        Our primary use case is a big bucket of storage for VMware. We run our virtual machines mostly to make sure that we have our SQL databases sitting on Pure Storage, because it's the fastest storage which we have available.

        How has it helped my organization?

        It is easy to manage. You don't have to have the same people who used to manage the Dell EMC arrays because the solution is more intuitive.

        I like the fact that, by default, we encrypt at REST. So, with database encryption, we no longer have to layer it using Transparent Data Encryption, we can use the native storage. This helps lessen the performance impact and simplify configuration.

        What is most valuable?

        It is all-flash. This makes it a lot faster than the rest of what we have, as it is able to drive high I/O loads, which is big for us. 

        We are going to start using it as a filer. In January, we're going to migrate away from NetApp and use Pure Storage as file service. 

        What needs improvement?

        What is interesting, because we're moving mostly to the cloud, Pure Storage may be the one storage appliance which will stay after we are done with our migration.

        For how long have I used the solution?

        Less than one year.

        What do I think about the stability of the solution?

        Stability has been great. We just put in a new data pack recently. One drive failed, but other than that, it was very stable. I haven't seen a whole lot of problems. Also, when it comes to upgrading shelves and the evacuation process, which sound a lot scarier than they are, everything has gone smoothly. I am very happy with how it works.

        What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

        With scalability, I have run into a little problem with our last upgrade. There were some undocumented limitations to the number of drives that our controller could run on. So, instead of putting in a new data pack as we had anticipated, we had to keep adding and removing to get up to the capacity that we needed to be. What should have been a one day process (or a few hours) turned into a month and a half process.

        How is customer service and technical support?

        I contact technical support from time to time. They have been pretty good. I have the mobile phone for one of the tech support guys, so I call him. He usually gets the ground troops rallied if need be, so the support has been good.

        How was the initial setup?

        I wasn't part of the initial setup.

        What about the implementation team?

        We used a reseller for the deployment: Bridge Data. They provided good expertise and timely services, so we were happy with them.

        What was our ROI?

        We get about a 3.3 data reduction, which is good. That is not the total reduction, just dedupe and compression.

        What other advice do I have?

        I would give Pure Storage a high recommendation. Go with Pure (or a flasher rate which is similar) because of the ease of management and performance. It makes life a lot easier, especially if you're a smaller shop it could be prohibitive to have a storage engineer on staff. So, get a systems engineer who can do storage. This is more common with Pure Storage, then with Dell EMC.

        I have not used the predictive performance analytics all that much.

        I really like the end-to-end VM monitoring. I will be putting that on pretty soon.

        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
        it_user302121 - PeerSpot reviewer
        Information Systems Analyst at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
        Real User
        It's got good speed for the price, as it uses eMLC, but it doesn't provide enough performance analytics.

        Valuable Features

        • It has a small footprint, as the current system is only four units per rack.
        • It's got good speed for the price, as it uses eMLC, an advanced type of SSD.
        • It's very scalable, and we're not paying for capacity.
        • We get free controllers every three years.

        Improvements to My Organization

        For VDI, there's a consistent user experience. Users don’t switch to VDI if it's not at the same speed as a laptop or desktop, and Pure Storage provides that.

        Room for Improvement

        It doesn’t provide enough information on performance analytics. For example, Nimble Storage has Infosight, which provides data; Pure Storage doesn’t have an equivalent. It has every other feature, but more data would be the only thing missing.

        Deployment Issues

        No issues with deployment.

        Stability Issues

        It's really good and we've never had problem.

        Also, it's very simple to use, and one of our customers described it as, “If you know how to use Facebook, you know how to use Pure Storage.”

        I think it's actually easier than Facebook.

        Scalability Issues

        It scales very well. A new box contains three units, and uses the power of a toaster oven.

        Customer Service and Technical Support

        We haven’t had to use it. We ran into some issues, but found their technical engineer not as good as Nimble Storage's.

        Initial Setup

        The setup is easy, but not as easy as Nimble. It took about five hours to setup.

        Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing

        There's no additional licenses needed, as everything is included.

        Other Advice

        Once you try it, you’ll realize how easy it is to use. It has almost every feature.

        Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
        PeerSpot user
        it_user649044 - PeerSpot reviewer
        it_user649044Chief Information, Facility, Purchasing and Services Manager at Roma Metropolitane S.r.l.
        Real User

        I'm an happy Pure User, and after 2 non-disruptive upgrade I agree with this comment, the bad side is the reporting (used space, performance etc.)

        See all 6 comments
        Chief Technology Officer at perfekt
        MSP
        High performance, efficient deduplication, and maintenance is not difficult
        Pros and Cons
        • "The most valuable feature of Pure Storage FlashArray is the all-flash storage performance, low latency, and efficiency of their de-duplication technology. Additionally, the ease of use is good compared to other storage systems. The features in data protection, snapshotting, and replication between data centers and sites are superior to other solutions."
        • "Pure Storage FlashArray could improve the recent file storage capabilities because it is lacking a lot of features."

        What is our primary use case?

        Pure Storage FlashArray is used for hosting applications, such as Vmware, HyperV, and virtualized applications.

        What is most valuable?

        The most valuable feature of Pure Storage FlashArray is the all-flash storage performance, low latency, and efficiency of their de-duplication technology. Additionally, the ease of use is good compared to other storage systems. The features in data protection, snapshotting, and replication between data centers and sites are superior to other solutions.

        What needs improvement?

        Pure Storage FlashArray could improve the recent file storage capabilities because it is lacking a lot of features.

        The integration with other vendors, such as antivirus and security vendors they are lacking.

        For how long have I used the solution?

        I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for approximately seven years.

        What do I think about the stability of the solution?

        The stability of Pure Storage FlashArray is good.

        What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

        Pure Storage FlashArray is scalable.

        How are customer service and support?

        I have used the support from Pure Storage FlashArray.

        I rate the support from Pure Storage FlashArray a nine out of ten.

        How would you rate customer service and support?

        Positive

        How was the initial setup?

        The initial setup of Pure Storage FlashArray is very simple and it takes four hours for a new system.

        What about the implementation team?

        Pure Storage FlashArray is not difficult to maintain.

        What was our ROI?

        My customers have received a return on investment.

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

        The price of Pure Storage FlashArray could always improve. They are still more expensive than some alternative offerings. Cost is always a concern and when there is a battle they tend to be more expensive.

        There are no licenses outside of the storage. When you buy the solution, you receive all the software capabilities and license with the box.

        Which other solutions did I evaluate?

        One of the advantages of Pure Storage FlashArray to other solutions is the Evergreen Program. The program allows you to never have to purchase storage that you already purchased again. For every terabyte that you purchase, you don't have to purchase it again, they will replace it. As you maintain the solution, even if the old storage becomes at the end of life, it will replace with newer technology as part of the maintenance.

        What other advice do I have?

        My advice to others is they should try the solution, it works well.

        I rate Pure Storage FlashArray a nine out of ten.

        Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

        On-premises
        Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
        PeerSpot user
        Director at Engage
        Real User
        Evergreen policy means we receive an upgrade of the storage software every three years, without charge
        Pros and Cons
        • "There was a dramatic improvement in operating costs just as a result of the environmentals and space, let alone the cost of the unit itself."
        • "One thing I'd like to see in a future release is integration between their main storage array and what they call their FlashBlade product; to be able to snapshot directly from the primary array into multiple different backup copies on FlashBlade."

        What is our primary use case?

        We have a lot of MEDITECH electronic health records systems running on it, as well as some other ancillary applications, but it's core hospital EHR, predominantly.

        How has it helped my organization?

        We've seen a significant reduction in the total cost of ownership. When we bought this product, the arrays that it replaced were just shy of about $1,000,000 apiece and they were the size of big refrigerators. The product that we replaced them with is a couple of rack units, like the size of a stack of a couple of pizza boxes, consuming way less power. There was a dramatic improvement in operating costs just as a result of the environmentals and space, let alone the cost of the unit itself.

        What needs improvement?

        Everything could be cheaper. Other areas where we would always like to see improvement with products like this are in compression and deduplication. Increasing the overall storage efficiency of the platform would be great.

        One thing I'd like to see in a future release is integration between their main storage array and what they call their FlashBlade product; to be able to snapshot directly from the primary array into multiple different backup copies on FlashBlade. That would be an intriguing and interesting feature for us. Other than that, we've not had any big needs or demands.

        For how long have I used the solution?

        More than five years.

        What do I think about the stability of the solution?

        It's been a stable product. In six years, we've never had downtime as a result of it. It's been very stable that entire time.

        What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

        I believe it will scale nicely. We've not had reason to push that limit yet. We just haven't had a need to do that. I believe they've got a very broad portfolio so that we could scale it fairly dramatically beyond where we're at right now.

        What was our ROI?

        The approach that Pure takes is what they call it their Evergreen policy, where they will upgrade the brains of the storage array every three years at no additional charge. Many of the competing systems would require big forklift upgrades and fairly significant reinvestment to do the same thing. We are on our third Evergreen lifecycle upgrade so far, and it's been exactly as they advertised. 

        When we look at return on investment over time, we've not had to replace or upgrade it during the timeframe that we've had it. As long as it's supported under maintenance, that continues to be an Evergreen process.

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

        It was less expensive than some of the alternatives. It's not as though it was a premium price to get that kind of quality. It's a very competitive product from a price perspective, but I would say better than many in terms of performance and service.

        What other advice do I have?

        The product is an easy ten out of ten. We've been very happy with it. We've found them to be a great value. Service and support is phenomenal. It's really hard to find reasonable things for them to actually improve it on.

        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
        Owner at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
        Consultant
        Ease of use means our customers don't need special training or integrators to use it
        Pros and Cons
        • "The ease of use. That's what our customers love. They say it's very easy, they don't need special training, they don't need to call us or any other company or integrator to help them do their job. That's the main reason they purchase Pure."

          What is our primary use case?

          Pure has become the main storage solution for our customers. It is mainly used for our customers' Oracle databases.

          How has it helped my organization?

          We are a Pure partner. What Pure has brought to us is a solution that our customers see has a lot of value. For the last ten years, there hasn't been a lot of differentiation between storage brands. We also deal with other products, other manufacturers, which are good products, but Pure is a different solution. It has allowed us to go with a different approach for our customers. When compared to different providers - I won't name them - there are other great companies out there, but Pure has managed to have a very different product with a differentiation that customers value.

          Also, the guys who normally spend hours, or days, or weeks working with storage, trying to get something done, can do it in minutes with Pure. They save a lot of time, and they can do other stuff instead of managing storage.

          What is most valuable?

          The ease of use. That's what our customers love. They say it's very easy, they don't need special training, they don't need to call us or any other company or integrator to help them do their job. That's the main reason they purchase Pure.

          Also, performance. The box gives them extreme performance, but ease of use is the main reason they love Pure.

          What needs improvement?

          Pure will probably have to move to other layers of the stack, not only storage but, maybe, hyperconverged. That's one thing they might have to look at because, if you are looking for storage, Pure is the player and the winner. But, if you are looking at HCI, Pure does not play in that area and that may prevent them from getting some deals.

          What do I think about the stability of the solution?

          With the customers that we have, and the references we have read from them, the stability is great. I have only seen 100 percent. I haven't had any failures, none of my customers has had any problem with the platform. So far, it's great. 

          Technology, in general, is very good now, you don't have a lot of problems. But Pure is even better.

          What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

          So far, the scalability is great. As a partner, what we want is to keep selling more and more products to our customers. One feature that Pure has is that it gives you even more storage as the company develops new functionality or does software upgrades. Even though it doesn't allow us to sell as much as we would like, our customers appreciate that. They have more capacity without investing any money. So the scalability is great.

          How is customer service and technical support?

          Compared with other products, Pure's technical support is as good as anyone's, probably better. They have tools where the customer can see for themselves the performance and the statistics from the solution, so support is first-class. There are some third-party companies, that evaluate the technical support of different companies, and Pure ranks number one.

          How was the initial setup?

          The initial setup is very simple. As a partner, we like to have products that need a lot of service because we make more money on the service than on the hardware. But with Pure being so simple, there is not a lot of consulting that is needed. That's one of the reasons why customers would rather buy Pure than other brands. While Pure does not allow us to make a lot of money on consulting, it is a very simple and easy sell to customers.

          What about the implementation team?

          It's so simple that there is not much that an integrator or a partner needs to do on the Pure platform.

          What was our ROI?

          Pure is not a cheap product. It is not something that is inexpensive. But, the total cost of ownership tends to be lower than with other solutions, because you don't need a lot of expertise, you don't need a lot of training or very expensive engineers or very expensive consultants. I don't have the exact figures, but roughly, in a five-year span, you would save at least 20 to 25 percent, especially on labor, on specialized people and training.

          As to whether the TCO of flash is lower than SSD implementations, I don't have any specific metrics, but again, the implementation of Pure is, by far, simpler than other technologies. I wouldn't say we have lower implementation costs because of flash or because of SSDs, rather it's because of the software and technology of Pure.

          Which other solutions did I evaluate?

          Normally, when we go to compete for a customer, they are looking at all the most important brands. Dell EMC is part of most storage bids. There is NetApp and sometimes we face IBM. In our territory there is Hitachi, which is a great product, but usually it's not on the shortlist. Finally there is HPE. Those are the brands that we normally find we're competing with when we offer Pure.

          In the end, so far, haven't lost one deal where we involved Pure. We have won deals against NetApp, which is a great product, we have won deals against Dell EMC - and that is the brand to beat. But when customers compare Dell EMC with Pure, there is no competition. Pure is, by far, better.

          What other advice do I have?

          My advice is to buy Pure. I am very excited about this product. I would recommend that anybody who is looking at storage should really look at and consider Pure, and they will probably buy Pure.

          The performance is great. In terms of latency, you can have failures in the system, and the system can keep performing as if nothing happened. It is a great product with great performance. For me, right now, it is the best storage solution in the market, by far.

          I would rate Pure a ten out of ten and even 11. I have been in the business for 31 years. In the technology sector, most products are the same, they offer the same functionalities. Maybe 30 years ago, when EMC came out with their storage solution, it was something very different, but in the end, everybody offers the same thing. If you look at a Dell EMC box, or you look at HPE, or you look at Hitachi, they offer a SAN with certain performance, they have replication, they have Snapshots. Everybody has more or less the same thing. Pure has a different offer, because of the simplicity, the performance, and all the functionality that Pure is offering. It's a very simple package, it's what makes Pure different. That's why most customers choose Pure.

          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. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
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          Updated: March 2025
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