DDN IntelliFlash vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

DataDirect Networks and IBM are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. DataDirect Networks is ranked #29 with an average rating of 9.0, while IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.4. DataDirect Networks holds a 0.5% mindshare in AFS, compared to IBM’s 6.5% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of DataDirect Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

DDN IntelliFlash and IBM FlashSystem are two leading storage solutions. IBM FlashSystem seems to have the upper hand due to its superior data reduction and scalability, which users find worth the higher price.

Features: DDN IntelliFlash users highlight its high-performance storage, data management capabilities, ease of integration, and versatile configuration options. IBM FlashSystem users value its advanced data reduction features, reliable performance, and scalability.

Room for Improvement: DDN IntelliFlash users mention the need for improved analytics and reporting tools. IBM FlashSystem users highlight the complexity in setup and the initial learning curve.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: DDN IntelliFlash is noted for its straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. IBM FlashSystem offers comprehensive support to mitigate deployment complexities, although the initial setup is perceived as complex.

Pricing and ROI: DDN IntelliFlash users find its lower setup costs and satisfactory ROI appealing. IBM FlashSystem, though pricier with higher setup costs, delivers a higher ROI due to its advanced features and long-term benefits, and users find its higher price justified by its capabilities and performance.

To learn more, read our detailed DDN IntelliFlash vs. IBM FlashSystem Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

DDN IntelliFlash vs. IBM FlashSystem

July 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

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DDN IntelliFlash is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 6.5%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage

Featured Reviews

Jaehoon Oh

Chief Technology Officer at Lambda256

Supports efficient storage management through volume snapshots and offers reliable non-disruptive upgrades

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could be enhanced. I can see the performance statistics in the Pure Storage console, but it does not show the performance by 4K byte unit. It displays IOPS and bandwidth, but IOPS is about real use, and I want to know how many IOPS are currently running in 4K byte units. I cannot see that IOPS because most storage systems report their performance by 4K byte unit. I want to see Pure Storage performance by 4K byte unit to compare with other storage or other internal NVMe SSD.

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Anil Rahulwar

Storage Engineer at Movate

Good customer service and support and suitable for large environments

It is very easy to install. Users don't need to remember anything while deploying IntelliFlash because everything will be taken care of by tech support. They can easily modify the installation or change the password with the help of the tech support. It is very easy to integrate IntelliFlash with other solutions. We have plugins that can be integrated with other solutions. It will require maintenance. It is the same as any other storage solution: updates and upgrades, firmware upgrades, and drive upgrades.

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OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

Offers high performance and dependable support for fast storage needs

The most valuable feature of IBM FlashSystem ( /products/ibm-flashsystem-reviews ) is its robust back code. When integrated properly into the environment and configured according to the guidelines, it provides a very solid infrastructure that does the job on demand. Additionally, IBM FlashSystem offers competitive pricing and reliable performance. The hardware is dependable, ensuring that it functions effectively when the setup is done correctly.

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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

"One of the best features is the support, which is excellent."

"The solution is very straightforward to set up."

"The high availability of the product is the most valuable feature."

"Technical support has been helpful and responsive."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe will quickly overcome all the hurdles you face, including network and latency issues."

"The solution uses newer technology for deduplication and compression."

"Everything, especially the VMs inside, is pretty fast."

"It has good, reliable, fast storage."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"It provides a combination of all the protocols that you need, without losing deduplication and compression."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"We use IntelliFlash products for larger environments, like Qatar Airways."

"It's very fast. We were seeing read latencies of less than one millisecond. It is robust."

"It performed great originally, and when it performed great, it was awesome."

"High performance and ease-of-management are the most valuable features."

"EasyTier/hotcaching: Valuable because it allows greater performance than standard SAS disks"

"Data Compression: Up to 80% space reduction in the database"

More DDN IntelliFlash pros

"The price-performance ratio is most valuable."

"The most valuable features in IBM FlashSystem are IOPS, performance, duplication, and compression."

"The most valuable features are flexibility and performance."

"IBM FlashSystem has been stable in our operations."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is replication...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."

"This solution is really user friendly. It also offers good performance and is highly reliable."

"The initial setup was really straightforward. It was not complex. Deployment took one month, due to the data migration duration."

"No queuing and high ops, speed, and performance."

More IBM FlashSystem pros

Cons

"Right now, the box itself is just strictly working as a backend storage system. It would be fantastic if we could access it directly like a NAS device through network access or SIS drives. I think they have an interface, but I am not sure how good it is. If we could address a box directly on the network without having to go through a server, it would be great. The replication schemas could be improved. We are not using replication on the storage level right now. We use a different type of replication. If their replication would be as good as the one that we have, I would probably run the replication schema because it might be faster, but I don't know that for a fact. So, I cannot say that they have good replication. All I can say is that they need to inform us better."

"In terms of what needs improvement, the dashboard and management could be simplified."

"In the next release, I would like to see real-time analytics for further insight into consumption models."

"Adding some functions to the product would be beneficial."

"We have run into a couple of instances recently where we are running out of space. So we have had to buy some more packs for it and they have deployed fine and it has increased smoothly."

"Many options to check performance, like read, writes, random writes, and random reads, are missing in Pure FlashArray X NVMe."

"They could add more support for file storage and different types of storage."

"Adding some functions to the product would be beneficial. Storage replication should be essential, and the analytics should not incur extra charges."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"We had just one small stability problem with power flapping and it did not start up again automatically. We had to access service ports and manually restart the storage processors."

"Technical support is bad. It'd grade them at 30% or 40%. The response time is terrible."

"They need to offer better integration for a virtual platform to enable you to create hyper-converged solution."

"Snapshots are not as easy to access as on a NetApp device."

"Performance is horrible now. Our original intent was to buy new storage in about two years. But since it became a critical urgency for us, we decided to purchase a new one in two or three months."

"It only keeps one hour of real-time data without the ability to do deep analysis of each element."

"In the proxy section you can’t choose a user account and password, so it is not allowed at the moment to go out, if customer has such constellation."

"It's somewhat scalable, but maybe not so much as some of the competition."

More DDN IntelliFlash cons

"With regards to the IBM V7000 storage system, where we have multiple tiers of storage, a heat map would show I/O distribution across the tiers of storage."

"The support could improve by allowing you to speak to someone when you call rather than them calling you back. However, once we do have contact with one of their technicians they are excellent."

"Cloud file sharing is an area that needs improvement."

"The only issue my team faced was transferring the data from the old system to IBM FlashSystem, which is an area for improvement in the solution."

"A big area for improvement is that the data reduction pool feature is not recommended for use in a production environment because it has stability and performance issues."

"The data reduction pool feature sucks and is not recommended for use with heavy workloads."

"Enterprise data storage needs improvement. They should create a feature for data and file storage."

"Their technical support needs improvement in terms of reachability for the clients and response times. They should be more responsive and have more online platforms for support. They should make more technical information available online. There could be some kind of documentation community."

More IBM FlashSystem cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Given its price, Pure is not the first option."

"The tool is an investment that we've budgeted for. While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits. We don't regret purchasing it."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"With Pure Storage, we would like to continue seeing price reductions with flash storage. I don't think we're any different than anybody else when we continue to look to the industry for price reductions of both NVMe and traditional SSD storage. We would like to see these prices continue to decline and erode, even displacing large spinning disks."

"The product is expensive."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe’s pricing is cheaper than other products."

"We pay approximately $50,000 USD per year in licensing fees."

"Our licensing fees are $500,000+ USD."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"I think we pay around 100 grand per year for three arrays or four arrays."

"I recommend the full bundle software in order to have all the functionality. It is more expensive to purchase it one by one."

"It pays to go back and get the best price you can from your supplier. The first offer is not always at the best discount."

"If five is a good price and one is a high price, I would rate the price a two or three out of five."

"You purchase it as a bundle and the price is comparable."

"The pricing is competitive in our country."

"For a yearly license, it is about $100,000. There are no additional costs. The entire system is included."

"This is an expensive product and if the price were reduced it would be better."

"Its price is very good."

"I find the pricing of the solution to be very reasonable."

More IBM FlashSystem pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

The price of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is very expensive, though I do not know the actual price because I am using the E...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IntelliFlash?

It is a bit cheaper than other products, 10% to 20% cheaper.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IntelliFlash?

DDN IntelliFlash should improve in terms of sales. In future releases, I look forward to more features about AI and M...

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What is your primary use case for IntelliFlash?

We use IntelliFlash products for larger environments, like Qatar Airways. They have large scalability and use more th...

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What do you like most about IBM FlashSystem?

It is simple to make an update.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem?

Many factors affect purchasing directly from IBM, often involving a multi-step process. Customers, especially in bank...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?

The deduplication technology in IBM FlashSystem needs significant improvement. Other vendors like NetApp ( /products/...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 27% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 18% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

VAST Data vs DDN IntelliFlash

Compared 35% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs DDN IntelliFlash

Compared 18% of the time

NetApp AFF vs DDN IntelliFlash

Compared 17% of the time

Tintri VMstore T7000 vs DDN IntelliFlash

Compared 10% of the time

More DDN IntelliFlash Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 21% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

NetApp AFF vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

July 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

DDN IntelliFlash

July 2025

Download DDN IntelliFlash product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem

July 2025

Download IBM FlashSystem product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

Tegile, IntelliFlash N-Series, IntelliFlash T-Series, IntelliFlash HD-Series

IBM Storwize

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

Pure Storage

Western Digital through its IntelliFlash arrays delivers high-performance storage with a complete range of features and connectivity options, including inline compression and deduplication, application and VM consistent snapshots, replication, RAID, data encryption, VMware vCenter integration, and multi-protocol support for SAN (FC, iSCSI) and NAS (NFS, SMBv3). IntelliFlash arrays deliver high availability through dualredundant and hot-swappable components, active/active or active/passive controllers, non-disruptive software upgrades, eMLC flash, and proactive cloud-based monitoring, analytics, and intelligence. A RESTful API provides scripted or programmatic control.

DataDirect Networks

IBM FlashSystem products are enterprise computer data storage systems that store data on flash memory chips. Unlike storage systems that use standard solid-state drives, IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. This hardware provides performance, reliability, and efficiency benefits versus competitive offerings.

IBM

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Bank of Stockton, Barnsley College, Boyes Turner, Brigham Young University

Celero, Friedhelm Loh Group, Clarks, Mingkang Natregro Health Food Group, Sofia, Etisalat Fights Fraud, UF Health Shands Hospital, Generali, Elecon Engineering Company Limited, Ventiv , Technology, CPFL Energia, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., SciQuest, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Paddy Power, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Interconnect Services, Severstal IP-Only AB, PVU Group GmbH

Buyer's Guide

DDN IntelliFlash vs. IBM FlashSystem

July 2025

Free Report: DDN IntelliFlash vs. IBM FlashSystem

Find out what your peers are saying about DDN IntelliFlash vs. IBM FlashSystem and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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