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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 9.4, while NetApp is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7. DataCore holds a 25.0% 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 58 DataCore SANsymphony reviews
  • 3,606 Views
  • 288 Comparison Views
97% willing to recommend
NetApp ONTAP
Read 92 NetApp ONTAP reviews
  • 1,263 Views
  • 960 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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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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.8
DataCore SANsymphony enhances security and availability, offering high ROI through hardware reuse and cost-effective storage and uptime savings.
Sentiment score
7.6
NetApp ONTAP enhances cost efficiency by optimizing storage through compression and deduplication, improving performance and reducing hardware expenses.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the DataCore SANsymphony report
In the long run, we can see a 10% to 20% return on investment.
This needs to be evaluated by the business, especially considering that NetApp phases out technology after some years and introduces newer technology.
For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp ONTAP report
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
DataCore SANsymphony's support is praised for being rapid, knowledgeable, effective, and highly rated, despite occasional inconsistencies.
Sentiment score
5.9
NetApp ONTAP support is knowledgeable and quick, but initial responses vary, necessitating escalation for effective resolutions.
They always help me quickly and with great knowledge, which is essential for central storage.
I would rate technical support from DataCore SANsymphony a 10.
The customer support is perfect.
For more quotes and insights, download the DataCore SANsymphony report
This includes disk replacement, firmware upgrades, and NetApp ONTAP upgrades, which we handle locally in Nigeria.
The support is top-notch.
For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp ONTAP report
TG
SigfridCecillon - PeerSpot reviewerN Bravi - PeerSpot reviewer
BK
AO
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
DataCore SANsymphony is praised for its scalability, hardware independence, and adaptability to both small and large environments.
Sentiment score
7.6
NetApp ONTAP offers flexible scalability, supporting seamless expansion and integration, enhancing capacity for organizations worldwide, despite minor high-scale limitations.
There are no limits to scalability, which is essential for central storage.
For more quotes and insights, download the DataCore SANsymphony report
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp ONTAP report
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
DataCore SANsymphony is highly stable and reliable, with minimal downtime, requiring proper configuration and minimal maintenance.
Sentiment score
8.1
NetApp ONTAP is praised for high stability, effective bug mitigation, strong support, and reliable performance, enhancing user confidence.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the DataCore SANsymphony report
Both stability and scalability are a 10 out of 10.
If we have a fail-disk, it provides HA, and due to the failover capability, we have not experienced issues recently.
For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp ONTAP report
 

Room For Improvement

DataCore SANsymphony struggles with tech support, pricing, Windows dependence, and needs better integration, interface, and enterprise features.
NetApp ONTAP needs better cloud integration, security, APIs, deduplication, interfaces, performance, power support, and cost efficiency improvements.
there should be improvements in how to get and filter logs
DataCore SANsymphony can be improved with high availability as it offers synchronous mirroring between physical and separate sites to ensure business continuity and disaster recovery.
The area of DataCore SANsymphony that has room for improvement is the support.
For more quotes and insights, download the DataCore SANsymphony report
The support response needs improvement, especially for P1 cases. When critical cases are raised, they should ensure they call the customer and follow up properly.
The interface is very intuitive, and the solution is robust.
For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp ONTAP report
TG
N Bravi - PeerSpot reviewerSigfridCecillon - PeerSpot reviewer
BK
AO
 

Setup Cost

DataCore SANsymphony's pricing is high, but offers favorable price-performance, with careful planning advised to optimize costs.
NetApp ONTAP's high price offers significant value with feature-rich capabilities and cost-efficiency, benefiting larger organizations despite complex licensing.
They have made some improvements regarding the pricing, but it's still too expensive.
The cost changed from a perpetual license to a subscription model.
For more quotes and insights, download the DataCore SANsymphony report
It is cost-effective for the benefits you get.
For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp ONTAP report
SigfridCecillon - PeerSpot reviewer
TG
AO
 

Valuable Features

DataCore SANsymphony enhances storage management, performance, and reliability with high availability, flexibility, scalability, and hardware-agnostic versatility.
NetApp ONTAP offers high availability, data replication, deduplication, ease of use, and integrates well for efficient data management.
Customers can extend storage with flexibility, as one is not obligated to purchase hard disks or controllers from the same storage vendor.
DataCore SANsymphony has positively impacted our organization because it is scalable and has a fundamental concept that aggregates and pools available storage resources, hiding the complexity, which makes it very simple.
DataCore SANsymphony's ability to enhance storage utilization is very good because it's agnostic and it can be deployed on every environment, which is perfect for my clients.
For more quotes and insights, download the DataCore SANsymphony report
NetApp ONTAP has improved our organization through speed, efficiency, and data availability, which ensures business continuity.
It lets you know if you have issues early enough so that you can plan around resolving and mitigating future issues.
For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp ONTAP report
TG
N Bravi - PeerSpot reviewerSigfridCecillon - PeerSpot reviewer
BK
AO
 

Categories and Ranking

DataCore SANsymphony
Ranking in Storage Software
2nd
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
58
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
7.3
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Storage Software category, the mindshare of DataCore SANsymphony is 25.0%, down from 28.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp ONTAP is 37.7%, down from 43.9% 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 SANsymphony25.0%
Other37.3%
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
21%
Computer Software Company
14%
University
7%
Performing Arts
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business36
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?
Before choosing DataCore SANsymphony, I did not evaluate other options.
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?
DataCore SANsymphony can be improved with high availability as it offers synchronous mirroring between physical and separate sites to ensure business continuity and disaster recovery. I do not have...
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 9% of the time
Pure Storage FlashArray vs DataCore SANsymphony Logo
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Compared 7% of the time
Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct vs DataCore SANsymphony Logo
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Compared 6% of the time
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Dell PowerPath vs NetApp ONTAP Logo
Dell PowerPath vs NetApp ONTAP
Compared 30% of the time
Azure NetApp Files vs NetApp ONTAP Logo
Azure NetApp Files vs NetApp ONTAP
Compared 19% 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
October 2025
DataCore SANsymphony reportDownload DataCore SANsymphony product report
Buyer's Guide
NetApp ONTAP
October 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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