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Hitachi NAS Platform vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

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

Hitachi NAS Platform
Ranking in NAS
14th
Average Rating
6.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM FlashSystem
Ranking in NAS
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
111
Ranking in other categories
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (3rd), All-Flash Storage (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Hitachi NAS Platform is 2.6%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 12.9%, down from 13.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NAS
 

Featured Reviews

Mir Gulzar Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Needs standalone functionality but provides a robust NAS solution for existing SAN environments
I would suggest that Hitachi make a NAS box that can work independently, without relying on SAN connectivity. The current solution only suits customers who already have a Hitachi SAN environment and want to add NAS protocols like NFS and CIFS. It's not suitable for customers without an existing SAN, as they would first need to acquire the SAN infrastructure before adding NAS functionality.
Raanan Sitton - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers cost-effective storage for small companies with budget constraints
IBM FlashSystem 5300 is offered at a very low cost in Israel, which is advantageous for small companies. However, other features like deduplication and compression do not perform effectively. The price sensitivity makes it a viable option for clients with budgetary constraints, as it allows us to secure deals based on the cost rather than advanced performance.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The Hitachi storage platform is highly scalable and highly available."
"The pricing of this solution is good, which is an advantage that positions this product well."
"The reliability and scalability of Hitachi NAS Platform are valuable features."
"The most valuable feature is its ability to handle a high number of users while maintaining both stability and performance."
"The product’s technical support services are good."
"Hitachi NAS has improved my storage operations significantly."
"Hitachi NAS Platform is very stable."
"Hitachi is reliable with high availability and solid performance. It performs well regardless of the workload."
"IBM FlashSystem 5300 is offered at a very low cost in Israel, which is advantageous for small companies."
"Over the years, it has become increasingly user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature in demand is virtualization and its support storage of virtualization features."
"Data deduplication is one of the most valuable features of this solution."
"The GUI is very easy and performance is also good."
"User friendly management interface."
"The most valuable features are deduplication and compression."
"Flash disk with Easy Tier option"
 

Cons

"The Hitachi NAS Platform is too complicated, not simple, and not cost-effective, sometimes being inappropriate for most situations."
"I rated Hitachi NAS a seven out of ten, primarily due to the interface or insufficient improvements in certain areas."
"I would suggest that Hitachi make a NAS box that can work independently, without relying on SAN connectivity."
"Hitachi NAS Platform's pricing could be reduced. It is high compared to other competitors."
"Hitachi NAS Platform needs to improve by offering a unified storage solution. Due to budget constraints in regions like Southeast Asia, customers prefer a single machine that can handle all problems, which the current platform does not provide."
"Hitachi NAS Platform is expensive."
"The monitoring tool is not well developed."
"I do not like Hitachi NAS because it's an old-school NAS solution, compared to the other, newer-type solutions such as Isilon from Dell or Qumulo."
"The generic functionality of IBM FlashSystem, IBM always dismisses using file share or sharing protocols inside their storage hardware, and they only focus on the block-level storage."
"We use some open-source tools for monitoring, such as Grafana and it should be bundled along with IBM FlashSystem."
"The solution is not able to replicate data in one-to-many scenario."
"I would like to see an improvement in the handling of large amounts of rights."
"They can include Amazon file system S3 protocol in the upcoming releases. It is a cloud file system. IBM FlashSystem doesn't have this feature in the box for high-end or mid-range. We have got requests for this from customers because we need to use S3 for EDI application storage. At the beginning of every year, IBM releases firmware. When I find any bugs in the firmware during the year, I am unable to find any information from IBM regarding the bug. I need to open a ticket, and the IBM engineering team makes a patch only for me. This patch is not public. By creating a customized patch for a client, they don't really solve the issue for everyone. If multiple users have the same bug, IBM should upload the patch on the official website so that we can download it. IBM FlashSystem has a monitoring tool in the box, but it is not advanced. I need a more advanced tool for more advanced equations and monitoring. All top three storage vendors, that is, EMC, IBM, and Pure Storage, don't have a powerful monitoring tool. To monitor our box to show the statistics for I/Os and latency, I need to pay for extra software. The built-in monitoring storage is not mature enough to handle all requests and generate all reports that I need. They can include the functionality to stretch a cluster natively without using any additional boxes. In addition, there are some features that EMC has integrated with the box. These features are not available in IBM FlashSystem."
"The initial setup is complex."
"The security features can be improved such that the encryption does not affect performance in any way."
"It has room for improvement in the area of stability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Costs are based on the features and it is a considerable amount."
"Hitachi NAS Platform’s price is high and depends on SCSI disc capacity."
"I would rate the solution's pricing six to seven out of ten."
"It is a highly-priced product."
"This solution is priced well and there are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"I price of IBM FlashSystem is reasonable and competitive."
"Regarding licensing make sure you add at least three years software maintenance from IBM at the beginning, because you will not be able to download firmware updates or any fixes/patches without this."
"You purchase it as a bundle and the price is comparable."
"The integration is already included in the license cost of IBM FlashSystem. The integration is very easy. You get the IBM storage core with all software, firmware, and upgrades. EMC provides the features in the box, but they are not free for customers. There is a licensing cost for features. We have yearly licensing, but IBM has also provided a new option where you pay as you go. They provide a big box, and I pay, for example, for 10 terabytes. If I exceed 10 terabytes, IBM will charge for the new storage after 10 terabytes. It is a good opportunity in the market for using the storage as a cloud and paying as you go."
"There are no licensing fees, it is a one-time purchase of the IBM FlashSystem."
"I would rate the pricing of this solution a four out of five."
"I find the pricing of the solution to be very reasonable."
"This is an expensive product and if the price were reduced it would be better."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Hiachi NAS Platform?
The product has valuable features for data migration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hiachi NAS Platform?
The pricing for the Hitachi NAS is higher compared to other NAS solutions since the NAS protocol is provided on top of the existing SAN environment, requiring an additional device for NAS functiona...
What needs improvement with Hiachi NAS Platform?
I would suggest that Hitachi make a NAS box that can work independently, without relying on SAN connectivity. The current solution only suits customers who already have a Hitachi SAN environment an...
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 banking, often use the latest devices as they are upgrading, indicating they do not ...
What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?
The deduplication technology in IBM FlashSystem needs significant improvement. Other vendors like NetApp ( /products/netapp-41749-reviews ) offer better deduplication technology, which is noticeabl...
 

Also Known As

Hitachi NAS
IBM Storwize
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Intersect Australia
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Hitachi NAS Platform vs. IBM FlashSystem and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.