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We provide services and solutions for end customers. The only software-defined storage solution we sell and successfully deploy is DataCore SANsymphony. We primarily use it for small environments, mostly as central storage for VMware customers.

DataCore SANsymphony is hardware-independent and offers active-active, high availability. This is crucial for us. It is a reliable solution which ensures peace of mind due to its independent operation from the hardware. Customers can extend storage with flexibility, as one is not obligated to purchase hard disks or controllers from the same storage vendor.

In my opinion, there should be improvements in how to get and filter logs. However, this is not a frequent need because they have great support that offers quick and knowledgeable assistance. Otherwise, we do not encounter many issues with this solution.

I have been working with DataCore SANsymphony for about fifteen years.

Most of my experiences with DataCore SANsymphony are positive. If you adhere to best practices, you will encounter nearly no issues.

There are no limits to scalability, which is essential for central storage. We primarily deal with small environments, but I'm confident in its ability to scale up as needed.

The support is excellent. I would rate it a ten out of ten. They always help me quickly and with great knowledge, which is essential for central storage.

Positive

The initial setup can be complex due to hardware independence. One must check for any known issues with the hardware, like host bus adapters and firmware. It involves many steps to ensure the best practice installation. However, the setup process itself is very easy if you prepare adequately.

The cost changed from a perpetual license to a subscription model, and it seems reasonable. I am technical personnel and not deeply involved in sales, but the pricing appears fine.

It is great to be independent from the hardware. You are not obligated to buy storage components from a single vendor. The active-active high availability feature is very beneficial. It is a reliable solution. I would rate DataCore SANsymphony as a nine out of ten.

Private Cloud

I am a system integrator, and my customers are using EXAScaler as the de facto parallel file system for Google Cloud. They primarily use it for large AI cluster training.

EXAScaler provides amazing performance in terms of sequential read and random access, and it has a significant scalability advantage as it is scalable to petabytes.

One challenge with EXAScaler is during upgrade time, as it can be problematic when upgrading node by node. Additionally, it is not multi-protocol by nature, requiring additional hardware to support various protocols like NFS or object storage.

EXAScaler is inherently scalable due to its Lustre file system, which can scale to petabytes.

I would rate customer support around eight or nine out of ten. They are specialized and provide fine support.

Positive

EXAScaler is a bit expensive, particularly when comparing the total cost of ownership.

Alternate solutions that have been mentioned include WEKA and VAST, which are modern file systems offering unified storage concepts and supporting multiple protocols in the same storage.

The customers who use DDN EXAScaler are happy, especially when using large AI clusters for training. Despite being expensive, when performance is measured, DDN's solutions are prominent. 

Overall, I would rate the solution at nine out of ten.

Public Cloud

Google