Cisco MDS Series vs NetApp ASA comparison

Cisco and NetApp are both solutions in the Enterprise SAN category. Cisco is ranked #3 with an average rating of 10.0, while NetApp is ranked #5 with an average rating of 9.0. Cisco holds a 6.6% mindshare in ES, compared to NetApp’s 4.9% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Cisco MDS Series

Read 9 Cisco MDS Series reviews

753 Views
723 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

NetApp ASA

Read 3 NetApp ASA reviews

1,727 Views
225 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco MDS Series

NetApp ASA

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

The Cisco MDS Series and NetApp ASA compete in the enterprise storage networking segment. Cisco MDS Series may have the upper hand with its comprehensive support and flexible pricing, while NetApp ASA's advanced features could justify its higher initial investment.

Features: Cisco MDS Series offers a robust and scalable architecture, enhanced security features, and seamless integration with existing systems. NetApp ASA is noted for high-performance data management, efficient storage solutions, and advanced analytics capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco MDS Series offers straightforward deployment and strong customer service with extensive documentation and quick response times. NetApp ASA provides a flexible deployment model but requires more initial configuration effort.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco MDS Series has a flexible pricing structure, typically offering a quicker return on investment due to lower initial setup costs. NetApp ASA involves higher upfront expenditure but delivers long-term ROI through enhanced data management.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco MDS Series vs. NetApp ASA Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco MDS Series vs. NetApp ASA

July 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco MDS Series

Ranking in Enterprise SAN

3rd

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetApp ASA

Ranking in Enterprise SAN

5th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

All-Flash Storage (23rd), NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Enterprise SAN category, the mindshare of Cisco MDS Series is 6.6%, down from 25.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp ASA is 4.9%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise SAN

Featured Reviews

OğuzKalaycı

system engineer at Yaşar Holding

Ensures consistent availability during updates and integrates seamlessly

I am using Cisco MDS in SAN environments for storage connections and server connections The product is very stable and performs well. During the update periods, the devices do not need to reload, ensuring constant availability. It is easy to set up and use. I do not have a central management…

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Punit Waghela

Technical Specialist at Softcell Technologies Limited

Runs smoothly and provides excellent performance and throughput

I love the SnapMirror and autonomous ransomware protection features. SnapMirror is used for replication purposes in a DC/DR setup. If something goes wrong with the data center or production DR, the data automatically gets replicated to the DR site, and the DR site becomes operational, allowing continued access to data. Autonomous ransomware protection helps recover data in case of any threat or ransomware. Ransomware is increasing daily, and according to Gartner, most companies have to pay a ransom if a ransomware attack occurs in their environment. NetApp provides a ransomware guarantee program where they commit that if data cannot be recovered in case of ransomware, NetApp will provide compensation, which adds significant value.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is its reliability, support, and scalability."

"The product is very stable and performs well."

"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is security."

"The product is easy to use."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the devices, databases, and zoning."

"The features I found most valuable are the ease of deployment, it's easy to upgrade, easy to configure and easy to administer. There is no need for vendor professional services which saves project cost. The usage of WebUI for all primary features like hostname, IP address, SNMP traps, zone sets, addition and deletion of zone members or zone sets, backup of switch DB is very simple."

"The issues with these switches are extremely rare, and the whole product line is very predictable and stable."

"SAN switches in Cisco MDS Series are a valuable feature of the solution for our company."

"I love the SnapMirror and autonomous ransomware protection features."

"Their dedupe functionality is probably the best in the industry. We also find their support model to be good. When we purchase something, we have a very good understanding of how long that product will be supported by them. That helps."

"I love the SnapMirror and autonomous ransomware protection features."

Cons

"The GUI client is Java-based and we know that Java is not secure, so everyone disables it."

"The product is very expensive."

"I do not have a central management software to manage these products due to the licensing cost. It would be beneficial to have central management software for easier handling."

"Cisco MDS Series could improve by adding more gigahertz. However, they are doing this over time."

"The solution's management interface and GUI need improvement."

"Cisco MDS Series can improve by having API functionality for automation and programming."

"The licensing model could be less complicated."

"It is quite a stable product. It should be shipped with the latest firmware to avoid download and upload schema at the beginning of the initial setup. There should also be the possibility of downgrading the firmware when required. WebUI needs DCNM instead a web-based GUI should be made available like Brocade san switch."

"From a partner's point of view, the tools that I'm using to create the quote or do the sizing are very slow."

"I would like to see more in terms of replication between storage classes. They provide different lines of storage. They have a lower class. They have a capacity class. They have their enterprise class. Currently, we have interoperability at the same plane with ONTAP, but we would like to see some more mix-and-match features."

"I'm handling pre-sales and post-sales. From a partner's point of view, the tools that I'm using to create the quote or do the sizing are very slow. The tools, such as hardware universe, fusion.netapp.com, and partnerhub.netapp.com, operate very slowly. These tools should be more efficient as they enter a hung state repeatedly."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's perpetual licensing and maintenance is a recurrent cost."

"Pricing cannot be considered an advantageous trait of the solution since it is expensive. I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."

"The price of the Cisco MDS Series is high."

"It's more expensive than other storage vendors such as Dell, Pure Storage, HPE, Lenovo, etc. It provides the value, but some of the customers don't look at the value. They first look at the cost. It should be reduced by 20% to 30%."

"It is pretty good. It is definitely cheaper than Dell EMC. It is cheaper than Pure. It is cheaper than VAST. It is definitely cheaper than HPE. The only one that is on par with NetApp's pricing for enterprise customers is IBM."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

23%

Government

12%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

27%

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco MDS Series?

The product is easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco MDS Series?

The pricing could be improved as the solution is very expensive. I am on a yearly payment basis.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco MDS Series?

I do not have a central management software to manage these products due to the licensing cost. It would be beneficial to have central management software for easier handling.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp ASA?

It's more expensive than other storage vendors such as Dell, Pure Storage, HPE, Lenovo, etc. It provides the value, but some of the customers don't look at the value. They first look at the cost. I...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp ASA?

From a partner perspective, the presales tools could use improvement. I'm handling pre-sales and post-sales. From a partner's point of view, the tools that I'm using to create the quote or do the s...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetApp ASA?

The storage is being used for different workloads, including VMware, databases, and web servers. We are a NetApp partner as well as a user. We are using the NetApp ASA storage for our internal appl...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell Connectrix vs Cisco MDS Series

Compared 49% of the time

HPE B-series SN6000B Fibre Channel Switch vs Cisco MDS Series

Compared 29% of the time

IBM SAN768B vs Cisco MDS Series

Compared 12% of the time

Dell PowerVault vs Cisco MDS Series

Compared 11% of the time

More Cisco MDS Series Competitors

NetApp AFF vs NetApp ASA

Compared 42% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs NetApp ASA

Compared 12% of the time

NetApp E-Series vs NetApp ASA

Compared 7% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs NetApp ASA

Compared 6% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs NetApp ASA

Compared 5% of the time

More NetApp ASA Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise SAN

August 2025

Download Cisco MDS Series product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp ASA

August 2025

Download NetApp ASA product report

Also Known As

Cisco MDS 9100, Cisco MDS 9222i, Cisco MDS 9700

No data available

Overview

Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switches have met and often exceeded the demanding requirements for storage area networks for more than a decade. They offer a combination of performance, non-stop operations, and multiprotocol flexibility.

Cisco

The NetApp ASA is an all-flash SAN storage array that delivers industry-leading availability, superior performance, and simplified data management across your hybrid cloud. It is designed for a wide range of workloads, including mission-critical applications, databases, and virtualized environments. NetApp ASA features a scale-out architecture that can be scaled to meet the needs of your growing business. They also support a wide range of built-in data protection and data security features, including snapshots, replication, disaster recovery, and autonomous ransomware protection.

Benefits

Superior performance for your dedicated SAN environment.
Continuous data access to support your business-critical workloads.
Simple and efficient data management that reduces TCO.
Effortless cloud connectivity with leading integration to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and others.

Features

Ensure mission-critical data is secure and always available: NetApp ASA systems maintain data availability and keep critical applications running with symmetric active-active architecture—backed by NetApp’s Six Nines Data Availability Guarantee.
Safeguard data with built-in application-consistent data protection and achieve business continuity with synchronous disaster recovery.
Superior performance to power your most important applications: Achieve blazing-fast response times across business-critical applications with ASA systems. NetApp supports both NVMe/FC and NVMe/TCP in the ASA A-Series, providing consistent low latency and millions of IOPS in a cluster.
Efficiency and simplicity that drive down TCO: With NetApp ONTAP data management software running on ASA systems, you can enjoy storage savings with 4:1 storage efficiency—guaranteed.

NetApp

Sample Customers

National Rugby League

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Cisco MDS Series vs. NetApp ASA

July 2025

Free Report: Cisco MDS Series vs. NetApp ASA

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