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DRBD vs IBM PowerHA System Mirror comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

DRBD
Ranking in High Availability Clustering
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM PowerHA System Mirror
Ranking in High Availability Clustering
5th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the High Availability Clustering category, the mindshare of DRBD is 13.6%, up from 13.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM PowerHA System Mirror is 10.8%, up from 8.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
High Availability Clustering Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
DRBD13.6%
IBM PowerHA System Mirror10.8%
Other75.6%
High Availability Clustering
 

Featured Reviews

it_user302112 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant IT Infrastructure at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
It's kept data synchronized between multiple nodes in different datacenters, though it should have its own filesystem which can be used in multi-master environments.
Working with DRBD can be complex and it takes time to understand how it works. Especially split-brain scenarios need to be handled carefully. When it comes to multi-master setups, which are possible with the latest DRBD version, you need to use a cluster filesystem. I think that DRBD should write their own filesystem which can be used in multi-master environments since most cluster filesystems are complex or simply have many flaws.
HP
Senior Infrastructure Solutions Architect at Wysetek Systems Technologists Pvt. Ltd.
During failovers or site switches it integrates the storage and ensures the transition of your applications
In terms of interoperability and compatibility, every time new applications and database levels are released, a thorough compatibility check is conducted in PowerHA. IBM consistently ensures compatibility, especially in the open systems environment and within the Unix platform, where software compatibility challenges are prevalent. Regarding components controlled under PowerHA, IBM occasionally must address compatibility issues by providing fixes and releases. Despite this, the product exhibits stability. However, the main issue arises when components are updated, requiring IBM to release corresponding fixes. This process may take some time, but it is routinely addressed. Regarding product stability, PowerHA is generally reliable, with the only notable challenge being the need for fixes during component updates. It would be beneficial if the software had options for controlling and implementing an active-active setup, although PowerHA is primarily designed for active-passive configurations.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"DRBD helped me and many customers to provide data in an HA environment with low costs (since DRBD itself is free)."
"The most valuable features are that it's robust and reliable and that the CP memory can be updated in runtime."
"If there's no activation dependency in your organization, I would go for this solution as you can have one server with multiple virtualizations, which will give you a big ROI in the long run."
 

Cons

"Working with DRBD can be complex and it takes time to understand how it works."
"The initial setup could be simpler."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"IBM doesn't publish its prices, so it's hard to compare its pricing to know how costly it is."
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Also Known As

No data available
PowerHA System Mirror
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cisco, Portland State University, Porsche Informatik, Siemens, Ericsson,T-Mobile, Addidas
Royal Arctic Line, Wªrth Group, Balluff, Al Mansour Holding Company, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, SAIC FIAT Powertrain Hongyan, Vishay
Find out what your peers are saying about InfoScale, Microsoft, Linbit and others in High Availability Clustering. Updated: October 2026.
920,223 professionals have used our research since 2012.