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Hitachi ShadowImage vs NetApp Snapshot comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

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 ShadowImage
Ranking in Data Replication
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetApp Snapshot
Ranking in Data Replication
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Replication category, the mindshare of Hitachi ShadowImage is 3.8%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp Snapshot is 6.6%, down from 22.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Replication Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
NetApp Snapshot6.6%
Hitachi ShadowImage3.8%
Other89.6%
Data Replication
 

Featured Reviews

Bratislav Petkovic - PeerSpot reviewer
Team Lead for Core Infrastructure at Raiffeisen bank Serbia
Efficient replication and helpful for improving data processing and management
The technology behind Hitachi ShadowImage has been around for a long time, and while it works correctly, it does have some issues. We have experienced problems with it, even though Hitachi provides good hardware. Technical support could also be improved, as it sometimes takes a few days to resolve issues.
Tanveer Rahman - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technical Office at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Snapshots have enabled us to restore critical data quickly and confidently after unexpected changes
The functions or features I have found most valuable in NetApp Snapshot are that it is easy to do and takes very little time. The main benefits that NetApp Snapshot provides for me are that if anything goes wrong, we can go back and restore something. It gives you peace of mind, which saves money, effort, and everything else. I use NetApp's WAFL architecture as it is their way of doing things, how to save the files and everything else. It is built-in. You cannot avoid WAFL when you use NetApp. Regarding the integration of NetApp Snapshot with applications and workloads, we have NetApp Snapshot integrated with our OpenStack platform.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Hitachi ShadowImage is high-speed data transfer from one server to another. Other solutions would have problems with transferring 50 TB of data. I also like that Hitachi ShadowImage is easy to use."
"The most valuable features are its ability to handle large databases efficiently and the asynchronous replication capability."
"One of the best features in the industry is that data snapshots can be synchronise for database consistency."
"SnapMirror and Snapshot are both very reliable products."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"It has a user-friendly interface."
"The replication and SV protocol features are valuable."
"We are able to easily do Azure backups and restores."
"The solution is fast and it doesn't use any disc space at all. You can also take as many snapshots as you like. These are the solution's most valuable features."
"NetApp Snapshot's most valuable features are the snapshot capabilities, you can take snaps of shared directories, files, and VMs."
 

Cons

"We have experienced problems with it, even though Hitachi provides good hardware."
"API and script configuration in Hitachi ShadowImage is sometimes complicated, so this is an area for improvement. Another area for improvement is that the Hitachi ShadowImage interface isn't as user-friendly."
"In my opinion, what NetApp can do to make NetApp Snapshot better is lower the cost."
"The company could update their products more regularly."
"The dashboards are in need of improvement."
"The solution could include more databases and make it accessible to the DBAs. The automation process should be run in a way where it could be run from the database itself."
"The initial setup process of NetApp Snapshot is not easy and needs improvement."
"The licensing cost could be improved."
"The price could be a bit lower."
"The price could be improved a little bit."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't have pricing information for Hitachi ShadowImage because my manager handled it."
"NetApp Snapshot is expensive since you need to buy an additional premium license for it which is an extra cost over the payments made for NetApp...The license works during the entire life cycle of NetApp Snapshot."
"The price of this solution is fair."
"The price of NetApp Snapshot depends on the use case. They charge by how much data you need, the capability, and for snap licenses."
"If there is a way to save more on the number of snapshots, it should be included in the next release."
"It's not too expensive."
"As far as their licensing costs, the licensing is paid on a yearly basis. The organization pays for the licensing based on the software and the capacity that they choose."
"The price of the solution is reasonable but could improve. However, if you are in a country that has a poor currency then the price will be considered expensive."
"Snapshot is free and comes with the NetApp storage software. It's purely free of cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
20%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hitachi ShadowImage?
The pricing of Hitachi ShadowImage is reasonable, especially when you purchase Hitachi storage, as ShadowImage and Thin Image are part of the protector. The protector includes several components li...
What needs improvement with Hitachi ShadowImage?
The technology behind Hitachi ShadowImage has been around for a long time, and while it works correctly, it does have some issues. We have experienced problems with it, even though Hitachi provides...
What is your primary use case for Hitachi ShadowImage?
We use Hitachi ShadowImage for data replication processes. It is a practical tool for copying data from one LUN disk to another within the same storage. In our bank, we utilize it for making tests ...
What method of data replication does NetApp Snapshot use?
Here's a breakdown of how the data replication by NetApp Snapshot works: it's through the snapshot replication method. What does that mean? Well, in simple words, the software creates copies of dat...
What is the storage scale of NetApp Snapshot?
Last time I checked, the NetApp Snapshot data replication software could go up to 255 snapshot copies. I'm not sure how familiar you are with similar software, but that's a pretty good number. It g...
Will NetApp Snapshot recover data in an emergency?
Well yes, the snapshots that NetApp Snapshot creates are your backup. But then there's also their feature for advanced backup. This allows you to copy backups to offline locations and also make arc...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

K&H, NCF, Aokang Group
Mazda
Find out what your peers are saying about Hitachi ShadowImage vs. NetApp Snapshot and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.