NetApp FAS Series Reviews

Name: NetApp FAS Series
Brand: NetApp
Rating: 4.4 (108 reviews)

Vendor: NetApp

4.4 out of 5

108 reviews
96% willing to recommend

2,130 followers

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What is NetApp FAS Series?

NetApp FAS series is an enterprise-level storage system that provides a wide variety of data management services, including data protection, block and file storage, and data management.

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NetApp FAS Series is the #1 ranked solution in top Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) solutions, #3 ranked solution in top Deduplication Software, and #3 ranked solution in top NAS solutions. PeerSpot users give NetApp FAS Series an average rating of 8.8 out of 10. NetApp FAS Series is most commonly compared to Dell PowerStore: NetApp FAS Series vs Dell PowerStore. NetApp FAS Series is popular among the midsize enterprise segment, accounting for 46% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a educational organization, accounting for 40% of all views.

Helped 856,873 peers since 2012

Featured NetApp FAS Series reviews

Paweł Jabłoński

IT Infrastructure Manager at Bricoman Wilanów

We use this solution. I configured and updated it. Of course, I was also a user of applications that store data on that storage. We already have an SSD solution. So, rather than planning to go with an SSD solution, we are focusing on expanding it. If a company wants to deploy something new, it should choose a product with SSD, and NVMe disks. Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten.

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reviewer2689182

System Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

I deployed NetApp FAS Series on-premises. In my organization, we currently have about 12 clusters with HA for NetApp FAS. My clients vary from small to medium and enterprise businesses. The deployment I've done for clients depends on the request and how the client wants to do it. We typically need to have the experience, theory, and practice beforehand, so it's of medium complexity and depends on what they want to achieve. Deploying one cluster of NetApp FAS Series takes at least eight hours or a complete day. Including configuration and cabling, I estimate two days because first, the configuration and cabling to the data center need to be done, followed by the application part. There may be some extra configuration if any compute is involved, but for the cluster, a maximum of two days could be sufficient depending on how fast the client wants to achieve this. The maintenance includes ensuring everything is working fine and updates are done. There is good support from NetApp. The ONTAP updates can be done via CLI or GUI. It usually takes an hour for each cluster.

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Hitesh Thappa

Senior Cloud System Engineer at Atos Poland

In my opinion, the best features of NetApp FAS Series are that it's simple storage. The most valuable aspect is that it still uses the old way of doing things. It is simple, and while it has hard disks that are prone to failure when compared to NVMe, its biggest asset is simplicity. Regarding data protection capabilities, NetApp FAS Series has the same functionality as other NetApp storages products provide, such as RAID protection solutions. We can use RAID one, RAID two, RAID five, RAID six, RAID DP, and RAID tech. The biggest advantage that makes NetApp FAS Series better is that we can use RAID technology on the storage. With larger disks offering ten or fifteen terabytes of storage, RAID tech becomes more cost-effective. While NVMe disks are expensive and require three disks for parity calculations, hard drives in NetApp FAS Series are inexpensive, making it more cost-efficient per GB, even with RAID tech implementation.

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NetApp FAS Series mindshare

Product category:

As of June 2025, the mindshare of NetApp FAS Series in the Deduplication Software category stands at 3.5%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Deduplication Software

PeerResearch reports based on NetApp FAS Series reviews

Type	Title	Date
Category	Deduplication Software	Jun 15, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Jun 15, 2025	Download
Comparison	NetApp FAS Series vs Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain)	Jun 15, 2025	Download
Comparison	NetApp FAS Series vs HPE StoreOnce	Jun 15, 2025	Download
Comparison	NetApp FAS Series vs DD Boost	Jun 15, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Dell PowerStore	4.4	N/A	97%	112 interviews Add to research
Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain)	4.3	28.3%	88%	74 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

NetApp FAS Series is valued for integrated protocols, high availability, data protection, and efficient storage management. Users highlight snapshots, SnapMirror for data replication, deduplication, and compression as crucial. Flexibility with multiple protocols like NFS and CIFS is emphasized. Users appreciate ease of management, performance under heavy loads, excellent support, and integration with virtualization platforms like VMware. Cost-efficiency and reliability are key, benefitting from unified storage, robust RAID capabilities, and adaptability for both SAN and NAS environments.

"The biggest advantage that makes NetApp FAS Series better is that we can use RAID technology on the storage."
"I would definitely recommend NetApp FAS Series to other users because it's stable and really handy for IT personnel who manage it."
"In NetApp FAS Series, I appreciate the visibility."

Room for Improvement

NetApp FAS Series can improve by integrating more SAN support and modernizing its GUI. Customers find ONTAP upgrades cumbersome, and the associated costs are high compared to competitors like Dell. Automation and documentation improvements are needed while ease of management and user experience require attention. Issues with replication features, cloud integration, and configuration flexibility persist. Support is inconsistent and migration from older systems is problematic. Pricing and performance enhancements are also necessary.

"Regarding the stability of NetApp FAS Series, I would rate it seven or seven point five because there are frequent panic messages."
"There was a bug when creating new custom roles that automatically gave volume deletion permission, which was a problem, but they finally fixed it."
"It was not possible to have a custom user inside ONTAP without the delete permission to delete the volume. We wanted others to be able to create a SnapMirror and volume, but have no volume deletion permission. In the newest version, it seems to already be in place, but there was a bug enabling this one in older versions 9.11, 9.10, or earlier."

ROI

Organizations utilizing NetApp FAS Series experience a decrease in operational costs by optimizing power, cooling, and space usage. Even with some infrastructure obsolescing, significant returns become evident within three years. Clients often continue with NetApp due to effective service delivery. Deduplication and compression contribute to cost savings, though disk additions can be costly. ROI is particularly notable when used in VMware environments, enhanced with Allflash FAS. Consolidating storage from various vendors proves time-saving.

Pricing

Enterprise buyers find the pricing of NetApp FAS Series to be on the higher side. Users cite the initial cost as high compared to competitors like EMC VMAX and Huawei but acknowledge the feature-rich offerings and ROI. Licensing costs are generally fair, with optional features available for additional fees. Users appreciate bundled products reducing recurring fees. The solution is seen as offering value, though the need for cost flexibility and more competitive pricing is noted.

"The pricing of NetApp FAS Series is not cheap, but in comparison to other vendors, NetApp FAS Series is affordable because they also have deduplication, compression, and inline compression. They focus on storage only, which is really good; it works."
"NetApp FAS Series is a reasonably high-priced solution, partially because we select the configuration that duplicates the entire system."
"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being expensive. We pay a one-time purchase price."

Popular Use Cases

NetApp FAS Series is primarily utilized for NAS within enterprise environments, supporting unstructured data and applications such as EPIC Systems. Widely employed for block and file storage, virtualization, and database management, it offers robust storage options for VMware, CIFS for Windows clients, and replication via SnapMirror. Organizations appreciate its unified storage capabilities, supporting multiple protocols like NFS and iSCSI, and offering a reliable backup and disaster recovery system.

Service and Support

NetApp FAS Series customer support is praised for efficiency and being knowledgeable. Users report high satisfaction, with many mentioning responsive and effective assistance. However, some encounter delays and insufficient expertise at lower support tiers. Customers often appreciate proactive service and quick resolution capabilities. While responses are generally fast, service quality can vary based on region and support level purchased. Most feedback indicates a positive experience, with room for improvement in tiered support and consistency.

Deployment

NetApp FAS Series's initial setup experience is mostly straightforward, especially with proper planning and best practices. While some users find it easy to implement with good documentation and support, others encounter complexity, particularly with networking and data separation. Experience level plays a role, with those new to the system finding it initially challenging. Support from NetApp or partners can simplify the process. Generally, once understood, users find the setup intuitive and manageable.

Scalability

NetApp FAS Series exhibits robust scalability, particularly with clustered data ONTAP. It accommodates seamless scaling by adding nodes, shelves, and controllers while minimizing downtime. Though highly scalable for enterprises, users acknowledge cost implications and potential complexity in expansion. Most reported easy adaptability for varying workloads, with many praising its ability to handle substantial data growth efficiently. However, some caution about potential limits and challenges in vertical expansion, especially for SMB environments.

Stability

NetApp FAS Series is generally stable with users highlighting its reliability and minimal outages. Many report no significant stability problems, citing high uptime. Some experience minor issues like bugs, conflicting updates, and hardware failures, which are often resolved swiftly. Several users rate stability between eight and ten out of ten, appreciating the built-in redundancy and ability to handle large volumes without data loss. A few mention specific technical challenges like panic messages, but overall satisfaction remains high.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our NetApp FAS Series Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers

By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

40%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

University

Media Company

Healthcare Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Retailer

Insurance Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Wholesaler/Distributor

Transportation Company

Hospitality Company

Legal Firm

Performing Arts

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Outsourcing Company

Consumer Goods Company

Non Profit

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Compare NetApp FAS Series with alternative products

Learn more about NetApp FAS Series

NetApp FAS is designed to be highly scalable, allowing your organization to grow storage capacity on demand. NetApp FAS also supports multiple protocols, including NFS, SMB, iSCSI, and Fibre Channel, as well as various storage architectures, including SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Network-Attached Storage).

The FAS series has multiple data protection and data management features, including snapshots, cloning, replication, and deduplication, to help secure your data and manage it more efficiently. The system integrates with other NetApp products and solutions, to create a unified data management platform. The system can be deployed on-premise, on multi-cloud environments, or hybrid.

NetApp FAS Series Benefits and Features

NetApp FAS series provides its users with several key benefits and features, including:

Scalability: NetApp FAS series is easy to scale, allowing organizations to rapidly grow their storage capacity according to demand.

Security: Protect and manage your data with various data protection and data management tools, including snapshots, cloning, replication, and deduplication.

Seamless integration: Integrate with other NetApp products and solutions to ensure a unified data management platform across on-premise, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.

Reduced costs: Consolidation of multiple storage boxes greatly reduces the data center footprint. From a management point of view, with NetApp FAS you manage a single storage box instead of multiple storage boxes.
Compatibility: Forward and backward compatibility ensures that you don’t have to trade in existing controllers. New controllers can always integrate with previously released controllers.

Multi-protocol support: Support for multiple protocols, including NFS, SMB, iSCSI, and Fibre Channel.

High performance and availability: The solution has high input and output per second performance and ensures that critical data remains accessible in the event of a hardware failure.
Intuitive interface: The FAS series has a user-friendly interface and management dashboard, making it easy to manage your storage systems. With unified management, you can quickly run a single protocol on your entire system
Data cloning and replication: Easily clone databases of any size. Clones occupy a very, very small footprint on the storage until they are severed from the main database. Replications carried out by the system are fast and require very little bandwidth.

Reviews from Real Users

NetApp FAS Series stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Several major ones are its speed, reliability, and a wide variety of features.

Adriano S., IT project and infrastructure service manager, writes, “The replication feature is noteworthy because it's faster than most and it uses little bandwidth. Then there's the friendly interface that the equipment offers. With this interface, it is very easy to manage.”

Temitope O., a NetApp product manager at Hiperdist Ltd, says, “I like the unified management feature because sometimes you end up running a single protocol on the entire system. You rather have a system for a particular protocol and another system for other protocols, especially in a big environment like mine.”

NetApp FAS Series customers

Children's Hospital Central California, Plex Systems, PDF PNI Digital Media, Denver Broncos, PDF KSM Legal, Clayton Companies, Virginia Community College