I have been working with IBM for 20 years. Many people are scared of cloud solutions. They do not want to use it, so they use the products on-premise. I recommend the tool to my clients. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
I rate IBM FlashSystem nine out of 10. It's the best active-active solution for the money. I recommend finding a partner who has expertise in the product. Don't use a team that only installed the product once.
Depending on your use case, I recommend looking at models that include compression and deduplication features to ensure the required level of UI performance. We dedicate the solution to one particular application so we do not face performance issues. An environment with a shared storage array across multiple applications or databases may need high performance storage, more memory, and powerful controllers. I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
My company sells IBM FlashSystem to customers. I'm a salesperson. My company sold six IBM FlashSystem to three customers. One was large-scale, while the other two were small-scale. The customers use the solution on production and deal sites. The capacity of my customers is sufficient at the moment, so there's no plan to increase the usage of IBM FlashSystem. I'd tell people looking into implementing IBM FlashSystem that installing and managing it is straightforward. The solution also has excellent performance. My rating for IBM FlashSystem is nine out of ten. My company has a partnership with IBM.
UNIX Security Consultant at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
2022-10-06T12:15:27Z
Oct 6, 2022
IBM is a good vendor with an excellent product, but the software side of the company still needs improvement. I rate the solution a seven out of ten. All top-tier solutions have room for improvement so I never rate them higher than a seven.
If someone wants a robust, scalable, and consistent behavior for their site, then they should use IBM FlashSystem. I rate IBM FlashSystem a nine out of ten.
Manager - Information Technology Infrastructure and Development Support at Royal Ceramics
Real User
2022-01-23T17:00:03Z
Jan 23, 2022
I would advise users of this solution to ensure they have the correct licensing and continue to maintain the product while using it. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Head of IT Infrastructure at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
2021-12-27T19:24:37Z
Dec 27, 2021
This is definitely a product I can recommend based on its performance and reliability. I don't know whether it is cost-effective compared to other similar products because we are an IBM shop from end to end. We chose IBM because the products have been well suited for our setup, and the performance and reliability are excellent. I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
In my experience, IBM doesn't need maintenance at all. Every year, there is a microcode update to get a new feature or fix a bug, but I know some customers who have had the box for more than five or six years without updating it and it still runs well. To anyone who's looking into implementing IBM FlashSystem, I would advise you to read the instructions on the box. If you follow the instructions, implementation will be very smooth and easy, even if you're not a professional. I would rate this product a ten out of ten.
BT Area Champion/Trainer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
2021-02-19T21:00:59Z
Feb 19, 2021
We are a customer and end-user. We are using the V9000, and currently, we have deployed SS9100. This is a financial Institute. As per regulatory compliance, we cannot share our customer data. We keep our confidential customer data on the cloud that is deployed on-premises. Overall, we have been happy with the solution. I would rate it at a nine out of ten.
Deputy Chief Technology Officer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Real User
2021-01-08T18:06:01Z
Jan 8, 2021
Currently, on the market, I see a lot of different vendors who are offering the same functionalities or even better options for the same or less money. They should try to be more competitive. Overall, I would rate the solution at a six out of ten. If it was less expensive and a bit more stable, I would likely rate it higher.
Storage Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 5
2020-12-20T08:05:22Z
Dec 20, 2020
I would advise others to get somebody to do it for you. Don't do it yourself, or read the book carefully. Our implementation was complicated, so we ended up doing it multiple times. Other colleagues I know in other institutes have much smaller systems than the one we bought. They implemented it in four hours. So, for complex and big implementations, either get an expert to do it for you or read the documentation multiple times before you start, which we didn't. I would rate IBM FlashSystem an eight out of ten.
Director Technical at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
2020-11-16T14:50:24Z
Nov 16, 2020
My basic advice is to work with partners who really understand what they're talking about. Anybody who sells one of these boxes doesn't necessarily have the capability to supply or support them. Be very clear that you're dealing with organizations that have the experience to actually deploy and support you. That would be what is critical. Because it's not something that we just rack it up and switch it on and it works. There are many things involved. Also, initially, before purchasing, the sizing is very critical. There has to be enough time spent on performance metrics, analyzing the workload requirements, and things like that. Before the purchase and after the purchase and the deployment, there needs to be quite a bit of involvement. This is why I would advise the customer to work with partners of IBM or Hitachi. Whoever you're talking about, and who has experience. Not somebody who just comes and says, "I'll do anything, and for the price, I'll give you the best deal." The best deal is not always the best deal. Once you buy it and it doesn't work for you, ultimately you are paying more. I would rate IBM XIV and eight out of ten.
Infrastructure Architect Supervisor; Solution Delivery Supervisor at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2020-11-01T09:22:09Z
Nov 1, 2020
I work only on high-end storage. Before recommending a solution, I need to know about the workload, that is, application workload, backup workload, and database workload. IBM provides a free workload script that can be applied to any environment, such as Windows, Unix, or Linux. I need to see the I/O performance, and after which, I can provide the best solution for a customer from Pure Storage, EMC, or IBM. I would rate IBM FlashSystem a nine out of ten.
VP - Head Enterprise Technology Infrastructure at MCB Islamic Bank Ltd.
Real User
Top 10
2020-08-26T07:13:26Z
Aug 26, 2020
Before purchasing this product, I recommend that everyone should do a PoC because there are multiple flash drive systems now available. All storage vendors are now making flash drives because it is a new technology that replaces existing hybrid systems. I would suggest doing some analysis and some R&D because Huawei, for example, is doing well. EMC is also top of the line, with IBM. There are slight differences in features, however, so it is important to do a comparison before making any decision. I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Storage Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 5
2019-09-15T16:44:00Z
Sep 15, 2019
My advice to others would be to go for the big one, the A9000. It is a little bit more expensive but it offers a better total cost of ownership. In the next version, I would like to see external virtualization. We are currently using LVC for external virtualization, and then we are using the boxes under LVC. If IBM embeds the LVC feature inside the box, I will only need to use the box and then virtualize the smaller boxes behind it. It will simplify my issues. I rate this solution a nine out of ten.
The biggest lesson we've learned so far is that hyper-converged storage is good for smaller workloads, but the re-syncing after a failure will be a problem for big workloads. The IBM System is top-notch and offers all the features we need to keep going for another 5 years.
My advice to anybody who is considering this system is not to do it. I do not recommend it. It is a big no. The biggest complaint that I have about this solution is the support. It is important to have responsive support. We had a RAM issue, and the RAM is the heart of the server. I had to escalate the ticket and wait for thirty days. During that time, my server was totally down, which caused our productivity to suffer. It was a big disaster. The hardware may be good, but I cannot rate this solution very high because of the support. I would rate this solution a five out of ten.
Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
2019-08-12T05:55:00Z
Aug 12, 2019
We use the on-premises deployment model of the solution. In terms of advice, I would give to others, I would say that you need to have the proper training for the solution. You need to train your staff on this product because it's not a straightforward implementation or a straightforward product, so you need to have some knowledge about the storage and how it works. Then plan and size your infrastructure prior to your deployment. We planned for five years in advance, and we are happy with the solution because we did our homework prior to implementation. I would rate this solution eight out of ten.
IT Manager at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Real User
2019-07-10T12:01:00Z
Jul 10, 2019
Almost all vendors are offering data reduction functionalities (deduplication, compression, thin provisioning etc.) in their newest products. Reduction techniques are offering up to 10 times reduction in data but this ratio is not more than 2 or 3 in real life for mixed type of data. Therefore, customers should test the products with their real and different type of data to measure the reduction rates properly. Otherwise, vendors may offer smaller sizes in their proposal and there might be conflict in between two parties after setup of the product in the live environment.
COO at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
Reseller
2018-08-19T09:34:00Z
Aug 19, 2018
IBM is really open and available to those who want to find out what kinds of solutions will fit their needs. More than that, if it becomes more serious, with potential, IBM can provide you almost everything you need to see in its labs, to show you that the numbers they talk about are not only on paper but in real life. They are real and they can get to these performance levels. IBM does a lot of customer setups in their labs and they invite the potential customers in and show them. But it's not for everyone. When we have a real potential customer and they demand it, that's what we do for them. There are no 10s in the market right now. Everybody is evolving. As far as where we see storage going, it's not only hardware, it's also software-defined, and everybody is trying to reach a higher and very comprehensive level. And that takes time. It's not IBM, they need others to get to that higher level so we can have a comprehensive solution. It's not because IBM is an eight out of 10 and somebody is a nine or 10. It depends on the solution and application. In some cases, they would rate a 10, in others you might only give them seven.
IBM FlashSystem products are enterprise computer data storage systems that store data on flash memory chips. Unlike storage systems that use standard solid-state drives, IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. This hardware provides performance, reliability, and efficiency benefits versus competitive offerings.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
I have been working with IBM for 20 years. Many people are scared of cloud solutions. They do not want to use it, so they use the products on-premise. I recommend the tool to my clients. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.
I rate IBM FlashSystem nine out of 10. It's the best active-active solution for the money. I recommend finding a partner who has expertise in the product. Don't use a team that only installed the product once.
I recommend the solution and rate it a ten out of ten.
Depending on your use case, I recommend looking at models that include compression and deduplication features to ensure the required level of UI performance. We dedicate the solution to one particular application so we do not face performance issues. An environment with a shared storage array across multiple applications or databases may need high performance storage, more memory, and powerful controllers. I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten. The solution is good, but its marketing awareness can be improved.
I rate this solution an eight out of ten. I recommend this solution to others.
I would rate IBM FlashSystem an eight out of ten.
I would recommend this solution to others because it is reliable, high performing and user friendly. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
My company sells IBM FlashSystem to customers. I'm a salesperson. My company sold six IBM FlashSystem to three customers. One was large-scale, while the other two were small-scale. The customers use the solution on production and deal sites. The capacity of my customers is sufficient at the moment, so there's no plan to increase the usage of IBM FlashSystem. I'd tell people looking into implementing IBM FlashSystem that installing and managing it is straightforward. The solution also has excellent performance. My rating for IBM FlashSystem is nine out of ten. My company has a partnership with IBM.
IBM is a good vendor with an excellent product, but the software side of the company still needs improvement. I rate the solution a seven out of ten. All top-tier solutions have room for improvement so I never rate them higher than a seven.
If someone wants a robust, scalable, and consistent behavior for their site, then they should use IBM FlashSystem. I rate IBM FlashSystem a nine out of ten.
We provide this solution to many customers. I rate IBM FlashSystem an eight out of ten.
I would rate this solution 6 out of 10.
I would advise users of this solution to ensure they have the correct licensing and continue to maintain the product while using it. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
This is definitely a product I can recommend based on its performance and reliability. I don't know whether it is cost-effective compared to other similar products because we are an IBM shop from end to end. We chose IBM because the products have been well suited for our setup, and the performance and reliability are excellent. I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
In my experience, IBM doesn't need maintenance at all. Every year, there is a microcode update to get a new feature or fix a bug, but I know some customers who have had the box for more than five or six years without updating it and it still runs well. To anyone who's looking into implementing IBM FlashSystem, I would advise you to read the instructions on the box. If you follow the instructions, implementation will be very smooth and easy, even if you're not a professional. I would rate this product a ten out of ten.
If you have the funds and you require speed, this product is the answer. I would rate this solution as nine out of ten.
I rate IBM FlashSystem an eight out of ten.
I rate IBM FlashSystem a nine out of ten.
I recommend this solution to others. I rate IBM FlashSystem a nine out of ten.
I would rate IBM FlashSystem a nine out of ten.
I rate IBM FlashSystem a seven out of ten.
We are a customer and end-user. We are using the V9000, and currently, we have deployed SS9100. This is a financial Institute. As per regulatory compliance, we cannot share our customer data. We keep our confidential customer data on the cloud that is deployed on-premises. Overall, we have been happy with the solution. I would rate it at a nine out of ten.
I would recommend this solution. I would rate IBM FlashSystem an eight out of ten.
Currently, on the market, I see a lot of different vendors who are offering the same functionalities or even better options for the same or less money. They should try to be more competitive. Overall, I would rate the solution at a six out of ten. If it was less expensive and a bit more stable, I would likely rate it higher.
I would advise others to get somebody to do it for you. Don't do it yourself, or read the book carefully. Our implementation was complicated, so we ended up doing it multiple times. Other colleagues I know in other institutes have much smaller systems than the one we bought. They implemented it in four hours. So, for complex and big implementations, either get an expert to do it for you or read the documentation multiple times before you start, which we didn't. I would rate IBM FlashSystem an eight out of ten.
In summary, this is a good product and I absolutely recommend it. I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
My basic advice is to work with partners who really understand what they're talking about. Anybody who sells one of these boxes doesn't necessarily have the capability to supply or support them. Be very clear that you're dealing with organizations that have the experience to actually deploy and support you. That would be what is critical. Because it's not something that we just rack it up and switch it on and it works. There are many things involved. Also, initially, before purchasing, the sizing is very critical. There has to be enough time spent on performance metrics, analyzing the workload requirements, and things like that. Before the purchase and after the purchase and the deployment, there needs to be quite a bit of involvement. This is why I would advise the customer to work with partners of IBM or Hitachi. Whoever you're talking about, and who has experience. Not somebody who just comes and says, "I'll do anything, and for the price, I'll give you the best deal." The best deal is not always the best deal. Once you buy it and it doesn't work for you, ultimately you are paying more. I would rate IBM XIV and eight out of ten.
I work only on high-end storage. Before recommending a solution, I need to know about the workload, that is, application workload, backup workload, and database workload. IBM provides a free workload script that can be applied to any environment, such as Windows, Unix, or Linux. I need to see the I/O performance, and after which, I can provide the best solution for a customer from Pure Storage, EMC, or IBM. I would rate IBM FlashSystem a nine out of ten.
Before purchasing this product, I recommend that everyone should do a PoC because there are multiple flash drive systems now available. All storage vendors are now making flash drives because it is a new technology that replaces existing hybrid systems. I would suggest doing some analysis and some R&D because Huawei, for example, is doing well. EMC is also top of the line, with IBM. There are slight differences in features, however, so it is important to do a comparison before making any decision. I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
I would rate it a nine out of ten. Engineers think that Dell EMC has better storage than Storwize.
I would rate it an eight out of ten.
My advice to others would be to go for the big one, the A9000. It is a little bit more expensive but it offers a better total cost of ownership. In the next version, I would like to see external virtualization. We are currently using LVC for external virtualization, and then we are using the boxes under LVC. If IBM embeds the LVC feature inside the box, I will only need to use the box and then virtualize the smaller boxes behind it. It will simplify my issues. I rate this solution a nine out of ten.
The biggest lesson we've learned so far is that hyper-converged storage is good for smaller workloads, but the re-syncing after a failure will be a problem for big workloads. The IBM System is top-notch and offers all the features we need to keep going for another 5 years.
My advice to anybody who is considering this system is not to do it. I do not recommend it. It is a big no. The biggest complaint that I have about this solution is the support. It is important to have responsive support. We had a RAM issue, and the RAM is the heart of the server. I had to escalate the ticket and wait for thirty days. During that time, my server was totally down, which caused our productivity to suffer. It was a big disaster. The hardware may be good, but I cannot rate this solution very high because of the support. I would rate this solution a five out of ten.
We use the on-premises deployment model of the solution. In terms of advice, I would give to others, I would say that you need to have the proper training for the solution. You need to train your staff on this product because it's not a straightforward implementation or a straightforward product, so you need to have some knowledge about the storage and how it works. Then plan and size your infrastructure prior to your deployment. We planned for five years in advance, and we are happy with the solution because we did our homework prior to implementation. I would rate this solution eight out of ten.
Almost all vendors are offering data reduction functionalities (deduplication, compression, thin provisioning etc.) in their newest products. Reduction techniques are offering up to 10 times reduction in data but this ratio is not more than 2 or 3 in real life for mixed type of data. Therefore, customers should test the products with their real and different type of data to measure the reduction rates properly. Otherwise, vendors may offer smaller sizes in their proposal and there might be conflict in between two parties after setup of the product in the live environment.
IBM is really open and available to those who want to find out what kinds of solutions will fit their needs. More than that, if it becomes more serious, with potential, IBM can provide you almost everything you need to see in its labs, to show you that the numbers they talk about are not only on paper but in real life. They are real and they can get to these performance levels. IBM does a lot of customer setups in their labs and they invite the potential customers in and show them. But it's not for everyone. When we have a real potential customer and they demand it, that's what we do for them. There are no 10s in the market right now. Everybody is evolving. As far as where we see storage going, it's not only hardware, it's also software-defined, and everybody is trying to reach a higher and very comprehensive level. And that takes time. It's not IBM, they need others to get to that higher level so we can have a comprehensive solution. It's not because IBM is an eight out of 10 and somebody is a nine or 10. It depends on the solution and application. In some cases, they would rate a 10, in others you might only give them seven.