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CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform vs HPE StoreEasy comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

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

CTERA Enterprise File Servi...
Ranking in NAS
9th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
File System Software (2nd), Cloud Migration (8th), Cloud Storage (11th), Cloud Backup (11th), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (8th), Cloud Storage Gateways (3rd), Content Collaboration Platforms (10th)
HPE StoreEasy
Ranking in NAS
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the NAS category, the mindshare of CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform is 1.7%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE StoreEasy is 4.7%, up from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NAS
 

Featured Reviews

Igal Muginstein - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers flexibility, fast performance, and ransomware protection
The platform is releasing new features at a fast pace, which sometimes leads to version updates every three to six months. Although updates are generally not complex, it is challenging to stop the production environment during these updates, even if the downtime is just a few minutes. This is a common challenge across all NAS providers. From my perspective, the most important area for improvement is developing a method to perform updates without affecting customer production environments. Additionally, there are some cache size limitations that might become problematic for future use cases, though they don’t impact current applications. Collaboration for NFS and SMB protocols could also be enhanced. Although this issue isn't specific to CTERA, it is something we are working on together to improve. The quality of the versions has improved, but occasional issues still arise. All solutions face this challenge, but we hope to see a continued reduction in the number of bugs. That said, we haven't had any major production problems in the last four years, and we appreciate how responsive CTERA is to our issues. We engage in brainstorming sessions together, and we value this relationship.
Vinoth Bala - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable, cost-effective, and easy to deploy and manage
I did not have any difficulties in deploying StoreEasy for the customers. It is user-friendly and easy to deploy. It has a Windows Server and a required license built in. For implementation, we follow the HPE documentation. We follow the Configuration guide and the Installation guide. For all HPE products, we follow the HPE documentation. For a single box, it takes a maximum of two days. It depends on the customer's availability. For different configurations, it can take two to three days. The number of people required varies from customer to customer, but generally, it requires three people. For mounting the storage, we always have three people to unbox, mount, and do other things. It does not require any maintenance. From the data center perspective, maintaining StoreEasy is very easy. No customer has complained about any difficulty in maintaining StoreEasy.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform is a hybrid solution that supports both on-premises and cloud environments."
"CTERA is a very scalable product, allowing us to grow."
"CTERA has been particularly capable of keeping all of our workstations backed up. That became a critical feature for us during the pandemic when computers were rarely in the office. Everybody went off-site with their computers, and we were accustomed to working with a centralized storage infrastructure where people would come to the office and connect to the server to use, create, and modify files. Everything was done directly to that server."
"The features I find most valuable are in the gateways themselves. They have done a great job over the years of providing insight into what is happening with our products, with the batches that come through that are scanned. I enjoy that part of it, and it is fairly easy to use from our standpoint once we get to know the product."
"CTERA stood out due to its ease of use and superior security features."
"It is a three-in-one solution for us. It is a file-sharing platform, an archiving solution, and also a backup solution."
"I like that the glass is always half full with CTERA file services. It keeps the data hot for users on location and then tiers off older data. If you need it, the stub is still there. You can click on it, and it's back on the device."
"CTERA has out-of-the-box data protection capabilities."
"StoreEasy is a better solution for backup purposes."
"This solution allows me to better and more easily manage user data without impacting my primary storage."
"I like the user quotas, integrations, and separations for storage."
"I can use both the on-premises and cloud storage options. I need to have an APR extension from StoreEasy, and it's that simple."
"I like the tool's provisioning feature and OneView."
"It is easy to manage. There is a management console that comes with StoreEasy. It simplifies managing storage permission. There is snapshot scheduling as well. The updates and everything else is good."
"HPE StoreEasy is a stable and high-performing solution that HPE supports effectively."
"The tool's data protection capabilities are robust."
 

Cons

"One suggested improvement for the CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform is the ability to distribute data across multiple active backend storage nodes rather than the current limitation of a single active node."
"One of the bigger things that I would like to see is additional logging. There are logs in there. They provide us with the initial logs on what is happening on our CTERA device. I appreciate that, but they do not give us any further information. I would like to have more information on the logs themselves."
"More monitoring from the platform would be good. There is some monitoring, but it is paid. It is a chargeable service. It would be good for that to be included in the base."
"One suggested improvement for the CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform is the ability to distribute data across multiple active backend storage nodes rather than the current limitation of a single active node."
"Stability-wise, we just went through one issue that they addressed. We were having cloud sync issues."
"However, in some cases, they could improve performance."
"One area for improvement is the migration tool, which at times does not work as designed, necessitating the use of alternative solutions like Robocopy."
"I am looking for a process where version upgrades do not impact the customers. There is no downtime."
"I would like to improve the tool's technical support. I would also like to see the product's hybrid cloud version."
"The areas of HPE StoreEasy that need improvement are scalability and migration."
"The support of HPE StoreEasy can improve its responsiveness. Dell support is better."
"There are some SKUs in StoreEasy that are built to order, and there are only limited options, such as StoreEasy 1670 and 1870, which can be configured to order based on customer preferences."
"There is a default Windows installation. Sometimes, when it crashes, the HPE support team asks the customer to reinstall it. That is the only issue customers are facing."
"It would be better if it were more scalable. In the next release, I would like to access some Microsoft Windows storage server features. I guess the newest version of Windows Server has some restrictions."
"When I configure the StoreEasy in a complex environment I have problems finding compatibility with all the software."
"The cluster service is not available in the latest version of HPE StoreEasy."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I find the pricing reasonable. They offered us deals that helped us. Especially with the upgrade to a bigger unit last year, they were helpful with the deal."
"It is fairly priced. I am not too involved in the pricing of what we used to pay, but it would have reduced the cost of ownership. I cannot give a figure, but the EMC solution was very expensive compared to CTERA."
"CTERA's pricing model is competitive compared to other companies that achieve the same thing. Their closest rival is Nasuni, and CTERA is significantly more affordable than Nasuni."
"CTERA's pricing seems to be on par with some of the other players, such as Nasuni and Azure. They all have benefits, but CTERA is competitive for its features."
"It is hard to compare the costs if we want to retain the same model of a separate high-performance storage or certain things, but it is one of the cheapest solutions available in Israel."
"So far, pricing seems to be fine."
"I am not directly involved in the pricing aspects, but I understand that CTERA's pricing is competitive and within industry standards."
"Based on what I hear from our customers, it is not very expensive. From the cost perspective, I see nobody complaining about its cost."
"This is an economical solution for the company and I am satisfied with the pricing."
"The price of HPE StoreEasy is approximately $15,000 to $20,000 and it is a one-time purchase. The price is similar to competitors, such as Dell."
"I would rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten. You need to pay additional costs for the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
70%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Educational Organization
4%
University
3%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform?
I am not directly involved in the pricing aspects, but I understand that CTERA's pricing is competitive and within industry standards.
What needs improvement with CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform?
One area for improvement is the migration tool, which at times does not work as designed, necessitating the use of alternative solutions like Robocopy. AI and automation features could enhance the ...
What is your primary use case for CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform?
We use it as a hosted cloud solution. We had initially tried Azure File Sync, but that did not work. Due to certain security concerns, I was tasked with researching alternatives. I evaluated severa...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StoreEasy?
HPE StoreEasy is competitively priced compared to competitors. It offers configuration options, such as different processor powers, to adapt to the client's needs.
What needs improvement with HPE StoreEasy?
The product is stable, running on Windows Server ( /products/windows-server-reviews ) with updates from HPE, including those for iLO. There could be improvements in providing more hardening options...
What is your primary use case for HPE StoreEasy?
I use HPE StoreEasy ( /products/hpe-storeeasy-reviews ) to provide file sharing to our business users. We are a logistics business, specifically a port.
 

Also Known As

No data available
HP StoreEasy
 

Interactive Demo

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

McDonald's, WPP, US Navy, Gore, Festo, Stryker, Bezeq, PERI
John Lewis, HPE IT, Comline AG, AmeriPride Services
Find out what your peers are saying about CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform vs. HPE StoreEasy and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.