Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

DataCore SANsymphony vs NetApp ONTAP comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

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
56
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (4th), HCI (7th), Storage Performance (1st)
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 August 2025, in the Storage Software category, the mindshare of DataCore SANsymphony is 26.4%, down from 28.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp ONTAP is 41.4%, down from 44.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Storage Software
 

Featured Reviews

OliverPalz - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides efficient synchronous mirroring capability and dynamic data management functionality
The initial setup is relatively easy but requires a certified DataCore implementation engineer to deploy the solution in a production environment. The deployment following the qualified procedure, typically takes about a week, depending on the amount of storage and the specific environment. With my experience, I can set up the system within two to four hours; however, the qualification process, which includes detailed planning and testing, adds additional time. It involves gathering the customer's requirements, preparing comprehensive documentation for validation, and conducting tests in collaboration with the customer. This documentation includes a site planning checklist, a pre-installation checklist, and a functional test plan to ensure everything is in order before deployment. Overall, I rate the process an eight.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's a software storage solution that can scale as we like. There is also has a parallel feature that enhances the performance of the storage solution. We can separate storage and computing, and we can scale these two parts of the platform to meet business needs efficiently."
"An advantage of SANsymphony is its ease of use, especially when installing or upgrading the system."
"The most valuable feature for us is that we can adjust the size of the storage very easily, without stopping production."
"The DataCore system has been rock solid since we have been using it - from 2007 on."
"Continuous data protection (CDP), can be used to "protect" again ransomware by recording all write on disk in a log. You can recover your data with incredible time granularity."
"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."
"Our system is designed to be scalable and flexible, so it can grow and adapt to meet the changing needs of our clients."
"Clustered ONTAP makes it very easy to manage large amounts of data, measured in petabytes. One person can manage all that."
"NetApp ONTAP has absolutely been a game changer for our organization. We support and use different storage services, but this is the first time we have a service and storage that supports multiple protocols, such as SMB, NFS."
"The most valuable feature is the very high IOPS rating which you can achieve with it."
"You can scale the product up or out."
"What I appreciate the most about the product is its resiliency."
"We can recover data quickly. We are able to failover to remote sites. We can do that within minutes."
"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."
"They have very good tech support who always answers our questions and troubleshoots our issues. They're great."
 

Cons

"DataCore should integrate its own file server into SANsymphony."
"The main problem is there is no DataCore OS."
"I would like to see reporting added, such as a monthly connectivity report."
"I would like for it to improve into a more ergonomic management console and a translation into the French language. It should have some process for a shutdown of a VM properly in case of a problem."
"The solution is constantly evolving."
"DataCore needs a more efficient and better way to keep track of metrics and counters so that we can do baseline analysis to measure performance."
"There is room for improvement in the graphical interface."
"The solution could be better packaged and marketed."
"One of the challenges we have is the ability to tag data with ownership for internal billing and chargeback. We have to utilize some third-party tools for that. It would be good if they were integrated with NetApp ONTAP. Everything else is pretty good."
"I would like to see FlexGroup volumes come to parity in terms of software features with Flex volumes. It seems like FlexGroup volumes have massive scalability, but their features set is not the same as Flex volumes, so we are currently unable to use it."
"The config could be a little easier. It's not entirely difficult, but it could be a somewhat easier. I have seen other vendors make it easier."
"With NetApp ONTAP, the technology is all there, but its management process needs some simplification."
"Sometimes, we have had some delays, on holidays and weekends, getting the right resource for a specific problem."
"I could see the GUI being a little bit more refined, the presentation layer being a little stronger, a little less sluggish."
"I need to be able to validate how the host is performing from the storage, as I am concerned about the host performance and storage connectivity to the host."
"One area where they could improve NetApp ONTAP is their ability to migrate to and from different enterprise storage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is at the same level as other storage solutions and it is easy to understand the licensing."
"This product has a good ratio between quality and price. In many cases, it's less expensive to work with DataCore than other storage systems."
"Make sure you are made aware of the annual subscription cost when purchasing."
"This solution allows the use of off-the-shelf hardware and charges by the TB of storage."
"The pricing and licensing are better with DataCore."
"The solution is cost effective."
"In my case, the licensing per terabytes is very high and it must be licensed for each extra functionality."
"It is relatively expensive, and the additional costs for hardware and storage can make it a significant investment for customers."
"NetApp ONTAP is moderately priced."
"Recently, we have seen ROI."
"We have seen ROI, especially with the deduplication. We have a high ratio of deduplication and are way past 70 percent of our VDI, as we have almost 400TBs on our VDI. We have been able to save at least a quarter of a petabyte of space."
"The price could be a little bit cheaper, but you get what you pay for."
"With the duplication and compression, we have been about a one and half to two times savings since we are not running all-flash."
"It has been cost-efficient. Compared to our legacy Dell infrastructure, we have realized cost savings. It is good."
"NetApp is streamlined, reducing costs."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Storage Software solutions are best for your needs.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
23%
Computer Software Company
14%
Transportation Company
5%
Construction Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
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).
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...
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 ...
What do you like most about NetApp ONTAP?
We do not face any glitches or downtime.
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...
 

Also Known As

DataCore Virtual SAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about DataCore SANsymphony vs. NetApp ONTAP and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.