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DataCore SANsymphony vs NetApp ONTAP comparison

DataCore and NetApp are both solutions in the Storage Software category. DataCore is ranked #2 with an average rating of 9.3, while NetApp is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7. DataCore holds a 24.8% mindshare in SS, compared to NetApp’s 37.7% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of DataCore users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of NetApp users who would recommend it.
DataCore SANsymphony
Read 57 DataCore SANsymphony reviews
  • 3,706 Views
  • 296 Comparison Views
97% willing to recommend
NetApp ONTAP
Read 90 NetApp ONTAP reviews
  • 1,256 Views
  • 955 Comparison Views
98% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

DataCore SANsymphony and NetApp ONTAP both compete in the enterprise storage solutions market. DataCore SANsymphony appears to have an upper hand in flexibility and cost-effectiveness, while NetApp ONTAP excels with integrated data management and robust enterprise adoption.

Features: DataCore SANsymphony's features include auto-tiering, synchronous mirroring, and parallel I/O, which optimize performance and ensure high availability. It is known for its scalability and ease of integration with different hardware. NetApp ONTAP provides data protection and integration through SnapMirror, SnapVault, and deduplication technologies, enhancing disaster recovery and storage efficiency. Its advanced snapshot capabilities ensure robust data protection.

Room for Improvement: DataCore SANsymphony could improve iSCSI initiator connectivity and develop a more user-friendly web console. Enhanced integration with Veeam and a more intuitive management console are also needed. NetApp ONTAP users seek better volume replication in SAN environments and simpler management processes. There's potential for improved cloud integration and GUI enhancements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: DataCore SANsymphony is often implemented on-premises with hybrid cloud deployments, praised for responsive technical support and straightforward setup. NetApp ONTAP supports both on-premises and cloud, offering a consistent deployment experience with reliable customer service. Both platforms provide strong support, with DataCore being noted for proactive service.

Pricing and ROI: DataCore SANsymphony's pricing can escalate with increased storage needs due to its licensing model, yet it offers cost-effectiveness through scalability. NetApp ONTAP's pricing reflects its comprehensive features, offering significant value and total cost of ownership savings. Flexible licensing options, including pay-as-you-go models through AWS, align costs with usage. Both solutions enhance ROI through high availability and operational efficiency.

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To learn more, read our detailed DataCore SANsymphony vs. NetApp ONTAP Report (Updated: September 2025).
Buyer's Guide
DataCore SANsymphony vs. NetApp ONTAP
September 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

DataCore SANsymphony
Ranking in Storage Software
2nd
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (4th), HCI (7th), Storage Performance (2nd)
NetApp ONTAP
Ranking in Storage Software
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Storage Software category, the mindshare of DataCore SANsymphony is 24.8%, down from 28.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp ONTAP is 37.7%, down from 44.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Storage Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
NetApp ONTAP37.7%
DataCore SANsymphony24.8%
Other37.5%
Storage Software
 

Featured Reviews

SigfridCecillon - PeerSpot reviewer
High availability and user-friendliness enhance infrastructure health and redundancy
I would rate technical support from DataCore SANsymphony a 10. Each time I contact the technical support, it's when I don't have a choice because it's very difficult for me on site, and each time, I have good people online who are able to help me solve the problem. Usually, the problems are not very technically difficult, but sometimes they are, and the support team is still there to help us resolve them. The majority of the problems are linked to licensing, so when the license has expired or the number is not correct, they are proactive and change things live, which is very good.
Read full review
Naveen Radhwani - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides good performance, stability, and complete data security
Our upcoming investments would be prioritized around a hybrid cloud solution because we ourselves promote the cloud in the market. We are the premium service provider for AWS, so we have that inclination toward cloud computing. From the experience that we had during the pandemic, we are looking for some kind of hybrid solution for our environment. NetApp should focus on a hybrid cloud solution because none of the media houses are opting for cloud storage. The files are quite heavy, and it becomes quite difficult to maintain them on the cloud. If NetApp can provide such technology and fill the gap of storing media files in the cloud, it would give them an advantage.
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 dashboard is very intuitive, and there are many counters to diagnose what happens during a short period (like when a backup is in progress)."
"CDP is an important feature for avoiding data loss in the event of ransomware attacks. You need more storage capacity, however, you get the possibility to return at any time and use the data saved up to that point. The recovery is much faster than with a classic restore."
"It is a very stable solution."
"It allows data to be available from two DataCore servers."
"An advantage of SANsymphony is its ease of use, especially when installing or upgrading the system."
"The most useful feature of SANsymphony is that it's able to manage any brand of block storage."
"DataCore's ability to seamlessly move virtual volume data between storage pools as well as their synchronous mirroring has made maintenance and disaster recovery planning achievable."
"During the maintenance periods, on any part of the storage or VMware migration, we have had no downtime."
More DataCore SANsymphony pros
"It has the ability to bring up disaster recovery quickly."
"The compression works well. We get a 3:1 ratio."
"It's much easier and faster to deploy our storage with ONTAP than some of the other solutions that we have."
"If you lose connectivity, it has one-sided redundant connectivity on the back-end for shelves, which is good."
"The single management plane in NetApp ONTAP, with BlueXP and Cloud Insights, is valuable. It allows us to see globally all physical and cloud-hosted systems within one management plane, which is a big plus."
"Their SAN storage is great."
"Deduplication, data protection, and NetApp block are some of the valuable features of the product."
"We can recover data quickly. We are able to failover to remote sites. We can do that within minutes."
More NetApp ONTAP pros
 

Cons

"The area of DataCore SANsymphony that has room for improvement is the support."
"It would be ideal if they were providing archive licensing with the ability to create a second pool on existing storage nodes."
"Right now, the version used is run on Microsoft Windows Server. Having a Linux version or even an appliance would be better as it would eliminate the use of additional licensing for another piece of hardware."
"The cloud reporting interface is quite poor compared to other vendors."
"I would like to see reporting added, such as a monthly connectivity report."
"When I sometimes reboot for maintenance, the connectivity from the iSCSI initiator host could be improved."
"Management could be improved. The management console sometimes reacts very slowly."
"SANsymphony is missing some features that vSAN has. For example, vSAN has a special feature called continuous data protection. It provides the ability to go back in time to a given moment. You can see what was on your disk in the past up to two weeks. That's a great feature because ransomware attacks are increasingly common, and that provides you some kind of protection."
More DataCore SANsymphony cons
"ONTAP's GUI does not encompass all the features available in the CLI."
"It would be nice if they make it so that one can operate the console without the need for interface-related comments."
"We had a few small issues with setup, but once everything was done it just worked."
"The lack of an API is a big thing for us that needs to be improved. It needs proper API support."
"If the customer wants to integrate with another product they need deployment guides."
"I would like more diagnostic generation. Right now, it's a pain to go into the controller and do a full diagnostic and export."
"They could lower prices so my management doesn't complain about cost"
"They should make the storage arrays more easily tied to your accounts."
More NetApp ONTAP cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing and licensing are better with DataCore."
"This solution allows the use of off-the-shelf hardware and charges by the TB of storage."
"The cost is at the same level as other storage solutions and it is easy to understand the licensing."
"Pricing has improved but it is still expensive."
"Make sure you are made aware of the annual subscription cost when purchasing."
"In my case, the licensing per terabytes is very high and it must be licensed for each extra functionality."
"We have licensing costs on a yearly basis. They charge per terabyte, so in terms of cost, it can be very costly. They have three different features, and you have to pay extra for those."
"DataCore SANsymphony's pricing is very high and should be much cheaper."
More DataCore SANsymphony pricing and cost advice
"We have seen ROI as we can fit a lot more storage in one rack."
"Our pricing with discounts is reasonable, but it may vary for others."
"Depending on the licensing you choose the price varies. For our company and our needs, the cost is very fair."
"The data compression and deduplication have kept us from buying more disks these past three years."
"Because of its manageability, we have fewer people managing it."
"When you purchase NetApp for the first time they will provide you with the standard license, or a premium license, and even a standard bundle solution license."
"With the duplication and compression, we have been about a one and half to two times savings since we are not running all-flash."
"NetApp ONTAP is a pricey product, but you pay for what you get. I rate NetApp ONTAP a five out of ten for its pricing."
More NetApp ONTAP pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Construction Company
5%
Performing Arts
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise21
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise66
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DataCore SANsymphony SDS?
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.
See all answers
What do you like most about DataCore SANsymphony?
The dashboard is very intuitive, and there are a lot of counters to diagnose what happens during a short period (like when a backup is in progress).
See all answers
What needs improvement with DataCore SANsymphony?
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. Other...
See all answers
How does Azure NetApp Files compare to NetApp ONTAP?
Azure NetApp Files is a Microsoft Azure file storage service built on NetApp technology. The platform combines the file capabilities of Azure and NetApp to move critical file-based applications to ...
See all answers
What do you like most about NetApp ONTAP?
We do not face any glitches or downtime.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp ONTAP?
The pricing is high. That said, we received favorable pricing at Intel due to the company's large NetApp ONTAP deployment across different organizations. While we're not in the IT department (we're...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 13% of the time
VMware vSAN vs DataCore SANsymphony Logo
VMware vSAN vs DataCore SANsymphony
Compared 10% of the time
Red Hat Ceph Storage vs DataCore SANsymphony Logo
Red Hat Ceph Storage vs DataCore SANsymphony
Compared 10% of the time
StorMagic SvSAN vs DataCore SANsymphony Logo
StorMagic SvSAN vs DataCore SANsymphony
Compared 8% of the time
Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct vs DataCore SANsymphony Logo
Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct vs DataCore SANsymphony
Compared 7% of the time
More DataCore SANsymphony Competitors
Dell PowerPath vs NetApp ONTAP Logo
Dell PowerPath vs NetApp ONTAP
Compared 29% of the time
Azure NetApp Files vs NetApp ONTAP Logo
Azure NetApp Files vs NetApp ONTAP
Compared 17% of the time
StorONE Storage-as-a-Service vs NetApp ONTAP Logo
StorONE Storage-as-a-Service vs NetApp ONTAP
Compared 11% of the time
More NetApp ONTAP Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
DataCore SANsymphony
September 2025
DataCore SANsymphony reportDownload DataCore SANsymphony product report
Buyer's Guide
NetApp ONTAP
August 2025
NetApp ONTAP reportDownload NetApp ONTAP product report
 

Also Known As

DataCore Virtual SAN
No data available
 

Overview

Experience peace of mind with DataCore SANsymphony, the ultimate software-defined storage solution alleviating storage management challenges. Say goodbye to the complexities of managing different storage tiers and disruptions with SANsymphony's block-level storage virtualization technology, empowering you to automate capacity provisioning and data placement across diverse storage environments including SAN, DAS, HCI, and JBOD. Break down silos, control data placement, meet business continuity objectives, boost performance, and seamlessly expand or refresh hardware with SANsymphony. Benefit from features like asynchronous replication for disaster recovery, minimizing data loss, accelerating application responsiveness, and integrating new technology non-disruptively. Trusted by industry leaders like NASA, Thorntons, Inc., and TUI Cruises, DataCore SANsymphony guarantees unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and reliability, ensuring uninterrupted data access and application availability while reducing storage costs and inefficiencies.

DataCore

NetApp is the data authority for hybrid cloud. We provide a full range of hybrid cloud data services that simplify management of applications and data across cloud and on-premises environments to accelerate digital transformation. Together with our partners, we empower global organizations to unleash the full potential of their data to expand customer touchpoints, foster greater innovation and optimize their operations.

NetApp
 

Sample Customers

Volkswagen , Maimonides Medical Center, NASA, Thorntons, Inc., TUI, ISCO Industries, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, United Financial Credit Union, Derby Supply Chain Solutions, Mission Community Hospital, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Colby-Sawyer College, Mount Sinai Health System, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Quorn Foods, Bitburger, University of Birmingham, Stadtverwaltung Heidelberg, NetEnt to name a few.
1&1 IONOS, Acıbadem Healthcare Group, Adder Technologies, Aero Vodochody Aerospace
Buyer's Guide
DataCore SANsymphony vs. NetApp ONTAP
September 2025
Free Report: DataCore SANsymphony vs. NetApp ONTAP
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