DataCore SANsymphony vs SteelFusion comparison

DataCore and Riverbed are both solutions in the HCI category. DataCore is ranked #8 with an average rating of 9.5, while Riverbed is ranked #29. DataCore holds a 2.9% mindshare in HCI, compared to Riverbed’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of DataCore users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Riverbed users who would recommend it.

DataCore SANsymphony

Read 59 DataCore SANsymphony reviews

7,306 Views
3,434 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

SteelFusion

Read 2 SteelFusion reviews

1,087 Views
1,000 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

DataCore SANsymphony

SteelFusion

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

DataCore SANsymphony and SteelFusion compete within the data management segment. DataCore SANsymphony holds the advantage in pricing and support, while SteelFusion's advanced features and perceived value stand out.

Features: DataCore SANsymphony offers comprehensive storage virtualization with features like synchronous mirroring, auto-tiering, and high availability. SteelFusion emphasizes WAN optimization, centralized data storage, and edge infrastructure consolidation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: DataCore SANsymphony provides straightforward deployment and robust support services, ensuring simple integration. SteelFusion, requiring more intricate setup due to complex networking needs, provides detailed guidance and strong support options.

Pricing and ROI: DataCore SANsymphony is recognized for its cost-effective setup, delivering significant ROI through efficient resource utilization. SteelFusion may have a higher initial setup cost but offers considerable long-term benefits in efficiency and system consolidation.

To learn more, read our detailed HCI Report (Updated: July 2026).

Buyer's Guide

HCI

July 2026

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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 HCI

8th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Storage Software (2nd), Software Defined Storage (SDS) (4th), Storage Performance (1st)

SteelFusion

Ranking in HCI

29th

Average Rating

9.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the HCI category, the mindshare of DataCore SANsymphony is 2.9%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SteelFusion is 1.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

HCI Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
DataCore SANsymphony	2.9%
SteelFusion	1.3%
Other	95.8%

HCI

Featured Reviews

SigfridCecillon

CEO at Arsium

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.

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it_user866178

Chief Technology Officer at MAZZETTI+GBA

Sync to Central and edge protection mitigate my risk in our branch offices

The level of tech support depends on who you get. There are some techs that just read the script and ask you if you’ve rebooted, but once you get past that - or if you have a very technical issue - the support is great. They really know the product and get you up and running again ASAP.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"DataCore SANsymphony has improved our organization in terms of performance, data security and maintenance plan."

"When we migrated from our physical SQL server hardware storage to SANsymphony's software-defined storage, with its clever caching mechanism, we saw a huge increase in performance."

"SANsymphony is flexible, with many potential options for implementation."

"Excellent performance and reliability, and very low cost using home hardware."

"An advantage of SANsymphony is its ease of use, especially when installing or upgrading the system."

"During the maintenance periods, on any part of the storage or VMware migration, we have had no downtime."

"It is a well-proven, automated management tool in all dynamic provisioning, auto-tiering, great performance, parallel I/O, cache speed mechanism, etc."

"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."

More DataCore SANsymphony pros

"Sync to Central and edge protection mitigate my risk in our branch offices. All services that need to be local to the user exist on local servers. Users run applications and access data locally while the data is constantly being synced to Central, and protected. If an edge device fails, we can recover quickly."

"That is why Riverbed SteelFusion has delivered a masterclass technology that not only abstracted and virtualized the storage vendors’ unique logical storage structures, it has made it logically closer and seamless to the branch applications from a performance and experience perspective."

Cons

"DataCore SANsymphony should integrate file servers at a good price into the solution."

"One area where the solution could improve is its software platform. Many customers have expressed dissatisfaction with the software running on Microsoft Windows."

"It's a very expensive solution, and the licensing costs should be lower."

"I still see room for improvement with DataCore SANsymphony in the area of alarm and task management."

"The client console should be improved. It starts slowly and heavily."

"The so-called hyperconverged infrastructure edition, sometimes known as vSan, should be addressed."

"The cost is becoming prohibitive since they moved to a subscription model."

"The main problem is there is no DataCore OS."

More DataCore SANsymphony cons

"Setting up disks for use is a multi-step process that could use some refinement. Setting up a core-to-core replication or DR strategy is also cumbersome."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is at the same level as other storage solutions and it is easy to understand the licensing."

"In my case, the licensing per terabytes is very high and it must be licensed for each extra functionality."

"Pricing has improved but it is still expensive."

"DataCore SANsymphony's pricing is very high and should be much cheaper."

"It is relatively expensive, and the additional costs for hardware and storage can make it a significant investment for customers."

"The pricing and licensing are better with DataCore."

"Make sure you are made aware of the annual subscription cost when purchasing."

"The solution is cost effective."

More DataCore SANsymphony pricing and cost advice

"Price is an issue – this is expensive stuff. My advice is to beat up Riverbed as much as possible on price. These things are expensive and there is room for negotiation."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

13%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	37
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	22

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DataCore SANsymphony SDS?

I am saying that the pricing is reasonable. It's not that expensive, and the product is also pretty stable. It's a good solution and the price is okay regarding the other products.

See all answers

What needs improvement with DataCore SANsymphony?

It's difficult to know how DataCore SANsymphony can be improved. I think DataCore SANsymphony could be deployed on Linux environments, which could be a great thing for clients. I would like to see ...

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What is your primary use case for DataCore SANsymphony?

I usually recommend DataCore SANsymphony for companies in the domain of research, energy, governmental, and education.

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Comparisons

StorMagic SvSAN vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 5% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 4% of the time

Scality RING vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 4% of the time

StarWind Virtual SAN vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 4% of the time

QoreStor vs DataCore SANsymphony

Compared 4% of the time

More DataCore SANsymphony Competitors

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs SteelFusion

Compared 14% of the time

HPE SimpliVity vs SteelFusion

Compared 11% of the time

Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure vs SteelFusion

Compared 8% of the time

Pivot3 vs SteelFusion

Compared 7% of the time

StarWind HyperConverged Appliance vs SteelFusion

Compared 6% of the time

More SteelFusion Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

DataCore SANsymphony

August 2026

Download DataCore SANsymphony product report

Buyer's Guide

HCI

July 2026

Download SteelFusion product report

Also Known As

DataCore Virtual SAN

No data available

Overview

DataCore SANsymphony enhances storage environments with features like synchronous mirroring, scalability, and flexibility. It optimizes performance through parallel I/O, ensuring high availability, efficiency, and protection against data loss with hardware independence and user-friendly management.

DataCore SANsymphony offers a robust platform for managing storage in VMware environments and beyond, enabling high-performance storage with disaster recovery features and synchronous mirroring. With hardware independence and real-time data replication, SANsymphony supports virtualization and data protection across distributed data centers, ensuring seamless data access. Users benefit from its ease of use, storage pooling, and auto-tiering, managing different storage speeds efficiently and maximizing uptime. DataCore's hardware-independent active-active setup and management tools add value, though improvements in container support, web capabilities, API robustness, and Linux support are needed. Pricing, licensing, tech support, backup integration with Veeam, iSCSI connectivity, and performance reporting are areas for enhancement.

What are the key features of DataCore SANsymphony?

Synchronous Mirroring: Ensures data protection with high-availability mirroring.
Scalability and Flexibility: Adapts to changing storage needs efficiently.
Parallel I/O: Boosts speed significantly through enhanced performance.
Storage Pooling: Simplifies management across different storage resources.
Auto-Tiering: Manages storage speeds efficiently for optimized performance.

What benefits should users consider in DataCore SANsymphony?

High Availability: Ensures continuous data access with synchronous mirroring.
Disaster Recovery: Provides robust data protection strategies.
Performance Optimization: Parallel I/O boosts overall system speed.
Ease of Use: User-friendly features enhance management and operational efficiency.
Hardware Independence: Offers flexibility in choosing storage hardware.

DataCore SANsymphony finds application in industries focusing on high-performance storage requirements, particularly those in VMware environments. Utilized for managing storage across virtual machines and applications, it supports seamless data access within distributed data centers. The platform's real-time data replication, synchronous and asynchronous mirroring, and auto-tiering contribute significantly to optimizing performance and maintaining business continuity.

DataCore

SteelFusion is a high-performance converged infrastructure solution designed to streamline and secure data management in branch office environments, combining server, storage, and network functionalities in a single platform.

SteelFusion enhances efficiency in remote IT operations by integrating with existing IT systems to deliver seamless data centralization and protection. Its architecture supports diverse applications without compromising on performance, making it essential for enterprises looking to optimize their remote branch office operations. Organizations can reduce data footprint, improve resiliency, and ensure data compliance across dispersed locations.

What are the key features of SteelFusion?

Edge Servers: Deliver high-speed performance with robust compute capabilities.
FusionSync: Offers real-time data replication to maintain data consistency.
Virtual Services Platform: Simplifies branch IT with centralized management.
Branch Recovery: Minimizes downtime with rapid recovery options.
Hybrid Cloud Support: Integrates seamlessly with cloud services for extended scalability.

What benefits can users expect in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces overall IT costs by consolidating infrastructure.
Data Security: Enhances data protection through centralized monitoring.
Operational Simplicity: Lowers complexity in management and deployment.
Performance Optimization: Ensures consistent application delivery across branches.
Risk Mitigation: Decreases risk with improved disaster recovery processes.

SteelFusion is prominently implemented in industries such as finance, healthcare, and retail, where secure data access and rapid recovery are critical. These environments benefit from its robust data management capabilities, enabling them to maintain continuous operations while reducing operational burdens. Its deployment allows businesses to adapt quickly and remain competitive in fast-paced markets.

Riverbed

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.

Roxtec, Engen, Bobst, CBP, IUCN, Mahoning County, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

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