Snapshot doesn't work well when you're already backing up data with another software. For example, if a customer has backup software in their environment and wants to use Snapshot alongside it, that won't work effectively. It will bubble up back-end storage space. Also, if a customer frequently deletes data, Snapshot will take up a lot of space. For example, if they write one terabyte of data and delete it at the end of the day, and then rewrite it the next day, scheduling a snapshot in that scenario will cause it to take up a lot of space. So, in scenarios where you need data protection, you have to use NetApp Snapshot exclusively and not use any other product for that. Secondly, where there's a lot of data deletion or overwriting, NetApp's Snapshot will not be an effective way to provide backup and recovery. I've told a lot of my customers this because I've seen the problems firsthand. They call me saying their storage is full, and I find that they are deleting and then copying the data repeatedly. I ask them why they're doing it, and they say it's their daily work to archive, delete, and copy. So I have to disable the Snapshot and tell them that if they're already copying the data with other tools and deleting it, then the data isn't important, and they don't need a snapshot or backup of it. For additional features: NetApp is already a visionary company. They analyze their deployed products and change them according to customer requirements. To me, it's not about technical improvement, but the price factor is important for selling the product. So, the price factor is challenging. Snapshot is a ten out of ten. If the whole product needs improvement, I think one feature they could add is an alarm or notification in the NetApp management console if you're frequently deleting data or using a volume for backups. The alarm would indicate that you don't need to enable Snapshot in that case. That kind of alarm, notification, or indication could be added. If a customer is deleting data very frequently, there should be a mechanism to notify the administrator. A message should be triggered if the customer has enabled Snapshot, advising them to disable it, as it will use unnecessary storage. This would be a helpful feature. Otherwise, administrators or deployers should know to discuss this with the customer during deployment. They should advise the customer not to enable Snapshot on volumes where they frequently delete and copy or archive data.
Owner - Sales Manager / IT Enterprise Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
MSP
Top 5
2024-06-05T22:00:00Z
Jun 5, 2024
The solution should have a snapshot mode using AI to decide when to create the snapshot, depending on the workload. For instance, if there are a bunch of transactions, it could create snapshots faster, allowing the system to decide the optimal times for snapshots.
I would like some sort of notification that lets me know when a snapshot is done or not done. Currently, when a job schedules a snapshot, there's no notification unless you check manually. So, some sort of notification would be helpful.
The next release should include developments on the step center for purpose or bandwidth. The hardware has the capability of the hardware Snapshot. But if you want to integrate it for applications such as WIEM or databases with better purposes, it will be perfect.
Manager - Data Center Services at TTi Power Equipment
Real User
Top 10
2020-12-20T08:03:32Z
Dec 20, 2020
It would be ideal if snapshots were searchable. It's a very manual activity. If I have to go looking for a file in a stack of snapshots, it's mount one and look, mount another and look, etc. That's one of the things that traditional backup products bring to the table, that to my knowledge, NetApp does not. I'm not sure whether or not they ever will. They are very tightly partnered with backup vendors like Rubrik, so they may leave searchability as a third-party option. I can't say with certainty. I don't necessarily have all the software that Netapp makes available, so for us, some parts, like grabbing files, is very manual. I'm more focused in the coming year on adding better management tools and cloud than I am worrying about occasionally having to go get a file by hand. The UI is probably their biggest weakness. There are always glitches in the HTML UI, but those are minor annoyances. They're not functional problems.
The dashboards are in need of improvement. The configuration could be improved by providing more options, in particular, during the initial setup phase. It would be helpful if more functionality could be built around migrating files from on-premises to Azure because we have had issues when using Snapshot with very large database files, from 18 TB to 32 TB.
In the FlexClone, I currently have not seen a need for any particular improvements because it is already so flexible and so robust. I do not think that most of my customers have actually exercised the features that are already embedded within the design of FlexClone. I am not seeing how these features that the customers already have but do not often need to take advantage of really need to be improved. They are very useful when needed, but just are not often used. We are talking about clients in demanding industries like in banking and financial industries, and also in oil and gas. If they do not need more functionality and can perform the tasks that they need without interruption because of the current feature set, there is really nothing to add. There is one thing about documentation. The documentation is always very good. But you know, there are some people who are very lazy when it comes to reading documents. This is more of a problem than the application. If there is a problem with the product itself, I don't know what it is. If NetApp wants to have a bigger share of the market, I would suggest they look at the pricing in comparison to the competition and make the appropriate change. The pricing should be lowered. If the pricing could be made more attractive, then without a doubt they are going to have more customers and they will advance in the marketplace. No doubt about that.
The solution could include more databases and make it accessible to the DBAs. The automation process should be run in a way where it could be run from the database itself.
System Administrator at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2019-10-27T06:19:00Z
Oct 27, 2019
For improving the product, I would suggest that NetApp update their products more often. It's possible that I might only get one update in a two-year period. Other products seem to have more regular updates. Also, we use two controllers in our company. If I have a hard disk in the first controller, it can't be used in the second one to virtualize. There will be a motion but it's not a new motion. It isn't synchronized. If I use a SATA (computer bus interface) in the first controller, I can't use it in the second.
Head of Unit at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2019-10-15T05:02:00Z
Oct 15, 2019
The solution has already updated the one thing I didn't like about it. At the last update they maximized the count of Snapshots. It used to be 255, and now it's 1000. The price could be a bit lower.
Solution Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
2019-09-15T16:43:00Z
Sep 15, 2019
Because the product is so mature — it was developed 25 years ago — every major feature that should be added to the product is already added. It doesn't seem that this product can be improved upon in significant ways. It is used to make a snapshot of the current data, that is what it needs to do and it does exactly that. I don't think that it can be improved at all. It is like a wheel: it is a round wheel and it is doing its job. You can make a wheel with a different shape, but it won't be better than the round one. Rather than the product itself, the one thing that could possibly be improved is that NetApp global support is not very efficient. I had some issues that I contacted support about and sometimes they react to issues slowly. But the reaction time may be according to the exact product in the NetApp line and the hardware being used. There are different products in the NetApp Snapshot line, built with different approaches. Some are more difficult to use. But from my experience and what I have heard from other users, the level of support in general for NetApp should be improved for better global coverage.
NetApp Snapshot is a data replication software that works through snapshot copies, crucial for the recovery of data. These copies are used as safe points for rollback before upgrades or patches. NetApp Snapshot provides prompt data replication which is also highly space-efficient, and provides users with the full management and control of their data and its copies. Through the various solutions the Snapshot technology has introduced, companies receive enhanced stability, functionality, and...
Snapshot doesn't work well when you're already backing up data with another software. For example, if a customer has backup software in their environment and wants to use Snapshot alongside it, that won't work effectively. It will bubble up back-end storage space. Also, if a customer frequently deletes data, Snapshot will take up a lot of space. For example, if they write one terabyte of data and delete it at the end of the day, and then rewrite it the next day, scheduling a snapshot in that scenario will cause it to take up a lot of space. So, in scenarios where you need data protection, you have to use NetApp Snapshot exclusively and not use any other product for that. Secondly, where there's a lot of data deletion or overwriting, NetApp's Snapshot will not be an effective way to provide backup and recovery. I've told a lot of my customers this because I've seen the problems firsthand. They call me saying their storage is full, and I find that they are deleting and then copying the data repeatedly. I ask them why they're doing it, and they say it's their daily work to archive, delete, and copy. So I have to disable the Snapshot and tell them that if they're already copying the data with other tools and deleting it, then the data isn't important, and they don't need a snapshot or backup of it. For additional features: NetApp is already a visionary company. They analyze their deployed products and change them according to customer requirements. To me, it's not about technical improvement, but the price factor is important for selling the product. So, the price factor is challenging. Snapshot is a ten out of ten. If the whole product needs improvement, I think one feature they could add is an alarm or notification in the NetApp management console if you're frequently deleting data or using a volume for backups. The alarm would indicate that you don't need to enable Snapshot in that case. That kind of alarm, notification, or indication could be added. If a customer is deleting data very frequently, there should be a mechanism to notify the administrator. A message should be triggered if the customer has enabled Snapshot, advising them to disable it, as it will use unnecessary storage. This would be a helpful feature. Otherwise, administrators or deployers should know to discuss this with the customer during deployment. They should advise the customer not to enable Snapshot on volumes where they frequently delete and copy or archive data.
The solution should have a snapshot mode using AI to decide when to create the snapshot, depending on the workload. For instance, if there are a bunch of transactions, it could create snapshots faster, allowing the system to decide the optimal times for snapshots.
The licensing cost could be improved.
I would like some sort of notification that lets me know when a snapshot is done or not done. Currently, when a job schedules a snapshot, there's no notification unless you check manually. So, some sort of notification would be helpful.
The price could be improved a little bit.
The initial setup process of NetApp Snapshot is not easy and needs improvement.
The next release should include developments on the step center for purpose or bandwidth. The hardware has the capability of the hardware Snapshot. But if you want to integrate it for applications such as WIEM or databases with better purposes, it will be perfect.
NetApp Snapshot's price could improve to allow them to capture more market shares.
It would be ideal if snapshots were searchable. It's a very manual activity. If I have to go looking for a file in a stack of snapshots, it's mount one and look, mount another and look, etc. That's one of the things that traditional backup products bring to the table, that to my knowledge, NetApp does not. I'm not sure whether or not they ever will. They are very tightly partnered with backup vendors like Rubrik, so they may leave searchability as a third-party option. I can't say with certainty. I don't necessarily have all the software that Netapp makes available, so for us, some parts, like grabbing files, is very manual. I'm more focused in the coming year on adding better management tools and cloud than I am worrying about occasionally having to go get a file by hand. The UI is probably their biggest weakness. There are always glitches in the HTML UI, but those are minor annoyances. They're not functional problems.
The dashboards are in need of improvement. The configuration could be improved by providing more options, in particular, during the initial setup phase. It would be helpful if more functionality could be built around migrating files from on-premises to Azure because we have had issues when using Snapshot with very large database files, from 18 TB to 32 TB.
In the FlexClone, I currently have not seen a need for any particular improvements because it is already so flexible and so robust. I do not think that most of my customers have actually exercised the features that are already embedded within the design of FlexClone. I am not seeing how these features that the customers already have but do not often need to take advantage of really need to be improved. They are very useful when needed, but just are not often used. We are talking about clients in demanding industries like in banking and financial industries, and also in oil and gas. If they do not need more functionality and can perform the tasks that they need without interruption because of the current feature set, there is really nothing to add. There is one thing about documentation. The documentation is always very good. But you know, there are some people who are very lazy when it comes to reading documents. This is more of a problem than the application. If there is a problem with the product itself, I don't know what it is. If NetApp wants to have a bigger share of the market, I would suggest they look at the pricing in comparison to the competition and make the appropriate change. The pricing should be lowered. If the pricing could be made more attractive, then without a doubt they are going to have more customers and they will advance in the marketplace. No doubt about that.
The solution could include more databases and make it accessible to the DBAs. The automation process should be run in a way where it could be run from the database itself.
For improving the product, I would suggest that NetApp update their products more often. It's possible that I might only get one update in a two-year period. Other products seem to have more regular updates. Also, we use two controllers in our company. If I have a hard disk in the first controller, it can't be used in the second one to virtualize. There will be a motion but it's not a new motion. It isn't synchronized. If I use a SATA (computer bus interface) in the first controller, I can't use it in the second.
The solution has already updated the one thing I didn't like about it. At the last update they maximized the count of Snapshots. It used to be 255, and now it's 1000. The price could be a bit lower.
I think the automation needs some improvement. It is not very user-friendly and could therefore be adapted a little.
The solution needs to ensure it has higher availability or business continuity.
I would like to see cloud features added to the next release of this solution.
Because the product is so mature — it was developed 25 years ago — every major feature that should be added to the product is already added. It doesn't seem that this product can be improved upon in significant ways. It is used to make a snapshot of the current data, that is what it needs to do and it does exactly that. I don't think that it can be improved at all. It is like a wheel: it is a round wheel and it is doing its job. You can make a wheel with a different shape, but it won't be better than the round one. Rather than the product itself, the one thing that could possibly be improved is that NetApp global support is not very efficient. I had some issues that I contacted support about and sometimes they react to issues slowly. But the reaction time may be according to the exact product in the NetApp line and the hardware being used. There are different products in the NetApp Snapshot line, built with different approaches. Some are more difficult to use. But from my experience and what I have heard from other users, the level of support in general for NetApp should be improved for better global coverage.