Hitachi VSP E Series vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe comparison

Hitachi Vantara and IBM are both solutions in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category. Hitachi Vantara is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.2, while IBM is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.6. Hitachi Vantara holds a 2.4% mindshare in N, compared to IBM’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Hitachi Vantara users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of IBM users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe and Hitachi VSP E Series are competitive within the storage solutions category. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is seen as superior due to its advanced features and potential for higher ROI.

Features: IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is distinguished by its high-performance NVMe interface, AI-enhanced storage optimization, and flexible scalability options. Hitachi VSP E Series is known for its strong data encryption, comprehensive data protection, and robust storage virtualization capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Hitachi VSP E Series offers simplified deployment with strong integration capabilities and comprehensive customer service. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe provides more complex integration options requiring technical expertise but benefits from IBM’s extensive customer support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe generally requires a higher initial setup cost with the promise of greater long-term ROI. Hitachi VSP E Series offers a more cost-effective initial investment with dependable ROI from efficient storage management and lower total cost of ownership.

To learn more, read our detailed Hitachi VSP E Series vs. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Hitachi VSP E Series vs. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

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 NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 2.9%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hitachi VSP E Series is 2.4%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is 1.5%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

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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Paolo Brega

Business Developer Manager & Marketing Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Rated highly for robust integration and diverse features

Currently, we are not approaching the virtual storage. We are working with Hitachi and Pure Storage; in some cases, we work with NetApp. We work with more or less all the stack of Hitachi products, starting from the small machine up to the VSP, the big family, the high-end, depending on the customer, the end user. We have very poor experience with Hitachi VSP E Series because we don't have big customers, just a couple. We had experience with VSP, specifically the E Series. We don't take care of data protection features from Hitachi because our customers do not generally involve us in this area as it is not our focus. Integrating Hitachi VSP with a hybrid cloud environment is not particularly complex. The automation process is handled by our storage administrator; I support them in the choice but don't work directly with that. I would rate Hitachi's pricing around a three, stability an eight, and Hitachi VSP's scalability a 10, as you can scale whenever you want. Hitachi VSP can compete absolutely on the market. When comparing solutions, Hitachi VSP is the best for me. I have rated this solution 9 out of 10.

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MohammedIsmail

Datacenter Manager at Tracker Connect

Enhanced storage performance and an easy setup with compression challenges

We use IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe as a storage device in the IT industry The features I find most valuable include its use for storage and performance. The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best. Furthermore, support from the partner could also be improved as it's been…

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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

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

"Technical support has been helpful and responsive."

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

"I use the tool for Oracle databases, Oracle virtual machines, and Oracle Linux databases. I'm on the storage side, not a database administrator."

"It is very easy to install and configure. It has got excellent diagnostics. If you really need to see how the box is performing, the console gives you a lot of information. You can set thresholds as well as alerts based on the thresholds, which is a very powerful functionality. They are very proactive. They know how to monitor and manage the systems. They see a problem, and they are all over it before us. They see the problem before we see it, which is very good."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its ease of use."

"Overall stability is very good. It is a very stable solution."

"The tool's valuable features are speed, security, data compression, and reliability. Its data compression feature is the best that we have ever seen. It helps us to save money and resources."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"Its user-friendly configuration and maintenance processes contribute to its reputation for being straightforward and easily manageable."

"The most valuable features of Hitachi VSP series include its high performance and availability."

"The product is generally quite stable."

"I rate Hitachi VSP series nine out of ten for a transactional workload requiring no compromise on availability and performance."

"We are using the Hitachi VSP E Series for high IOPS."

"It offers good file sharing."

"It is a very stable solution."

"The storage serves the virtual environment. Most of our applications run in the virtual environment, and it serves nearly 30% of the bank's capacity."

"The most valuable feature is the speed."

"A key feature is that compared to storage systems that we've been familiar with over decades, IBM simply does not fail. The reason is that IBM is the only manufacturer that engineers its own flash module, and there is a key architectural difference from everything else that we have seen in the market. The difference is that the flash module has the computational capability, which allows reliability and capacity enhancements to be uploaded from the main controllers and run in each module. So, each of the flash drives becomes its own little storage system, and that is extremely effective architecture. In this field, with this type of system, IBM has made a statement. They've never had one of these modules cause an outage. So, the failure rates on these things are just in a whole different universe from what we were accustomed to."

"The most valuable features of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe are its steady performance and usefulness in high-traffic environments."

"Good performance with a user-friendly UI."

"The features I find most valuable include its use for storage and performance."

"IBM FlashSystem provides the same software on each box, including virtualized solutions."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pros

Cons

"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."

"We've seen that when we create a POD in synchronous mode, it increases the latency."

"The tool's pricing is higher than competitors."

"There is room for improvement in catering to midrange storage needs, especially for customers seeking Enterprise-class features."

"The software layer has to improve."

"Every time I think of something that needs to improve, they're one step ahead, which I love. The only area I wish to see improve, I believe is coming, is in the FlashBlade product. Blade implementation fell short on a few of the services."

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

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"The solution's support duration or end-of-support life is very short."

"There is room for improvement in simplifying the overall complexity of the environment."

"Hitachi is quite expensive, and small to medium-sized organizations usually do not purchase it."

"Hitachi should work on unified storage platforms."

"The graphical user interface is somewhat outdated, lacking some of the modern features found in other solutions."

"IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is an expensive solution, and its pricing could be improved."

"The ZIO interface could be improved."

"The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best."

"Other vendors have included a block and file system. IBM doesn't include a file system. And yet, it's very necessary for all organizations' networks to have file systems. We have other systems for the file system, however, ideally, we would like to have one system with these features."

"The tool's architecture is complex. It also needs to add data utilization reports."

"I'd like to be able to connect to tape drives behind the storage device to back up the tape if need be. We have all of our storage running in all-flash, and we make a copy on tape. Currently, when we want to hook up tape drives, we have to add some extra equipment, which is a little bit complex. We want IBM to add a feature where we could install a tape into the storage so that we can connect it through a single pane of glass. We'd like to have a feature in the IBM flash storage system so that we can connect backup tape drives through the IBM storage system and we can manage the backup tape from the storage system."

"In the future, the limitation is upgrading the same storage by adding a shelf to the desk. There is a limitation in the backend connection between the storage and extended shelf."

"In the FlashSystem 5200, there were only four ports of 32 fiber channels for the architecture. This has been resolved in the new generation."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They can tout the functionality and cutting edge technology that they have, but that's where the price tag comes in. The cost is high, but I think as they grow their business and get more customers that it will probably go down a little bit."

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

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"Pretty much everything that you need is licensed when you buy the product. Licensing to me is different than the maintenance cost, but they can bleed into one another. We buy the product, and we expect three years of support bundled into what we negotiate on our storage arrays. I would start to see maintenance costs going into the fourth year, but we're not there yet."

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

"As far as the licensing costs, everything is included in the license."

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

"The product is expensive."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is fair, with additional costs for support services."

"Hitachi VSP E Series is an expensive solution."

"The price of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is less than Dell. For upgrades, the Dell solutions are more expensive."

"Price-wise, the solution offers excellent pricing to its users. In short, the prices offered by the solution are competitive compared to similar solutions."

"The price of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMele can be considered affordable when taking into account the operating system that is required for it to function properly. This operating system, which is licensed by IBM, may carry a higher cost, but it is worth the investment for larger corporate entities, such as insurance companies, Fortune Five companies, and banks, who make up a significant portion of their target market. The FlashSystems are designed for larger corporations and multinational enterprises, and may not be the most cost-effective solution for smaller businesses."

"It's a lot less costly than cloud storage. People get surprised by the cost of cloud storage, which is extremely expensive and four or five times the cost of storage on-premises. People don't realize what they're spending on storage until they start getting bills from Amazon, Microsoft, and others. This is a good way to reduce your cloud storage expenses."

"Compared to its competitors, IBM's offering is the most cost-effective."

"Compared to other solutions, the cost of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is reasonable, with a one-time payment of around $70,000. However, additional support is available for $25,000 for three years. The overall maintenance cost is steep."

"The price of the FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is reasonable."

"The tool's pricing is competitive."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

No data available

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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.

See all answers

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 do you like most about Hitachi VSP E Series?

Its user-friendly configuration and maintenance processes contribute to its reputation for being straightforward and ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hitachi VSP E Series?

The solution is expensive, which can be considered a con.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Hitachi VSP E Series?

Hitachi needs to work on the marketing side because communication is a problem, as many customers do not know what th...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The storage serves the virtual environment. Most of our applications run in the virtual environment, and it serves ne...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The tool is expensive, though I do not know the specific licensing costs.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best. Furthermore, support from the partner could al...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 25% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 17% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 13% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 13% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs Hitachi VSP E Series

Compared 35% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs Hitachi VSP E Series

Compared 30% of the time

NetApp ASA vs Hitachi VSP E Series

Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Hitachi VSP E Series

Compared 9% of the time

More Hitachi VSP E Series Competitors

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 26% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 26% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 23% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 13% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

August 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

July 2025

Download Hitachi VSP E Series product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

August 2025

Download IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

IBM FlashSystem 9100, FlashSystem 9100

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

Hitachi VSP E Series offers an advanced storage solution designed for enterprises seeking scalability and performance. It is suitable for a range of applications, providing reliability and efficiency to meet demanding IT environments.

Hitachi VSP E Series is designed to enhance storage capabilities with robust features catering to needs such as data management, storage optimization, and system versatility. This series integrates seamlessly within IT infrastructures, offering improved data protection and resource management. Its enhanced storage architecture ensures data integrity while supporting high data loads efficiently, making it a go-to choice for enterprises requiring high-performance storage systems.

What are the most valuable features of Hitachi VSP E Series?

Scalability: Enables seamless expansion as data requirements grow, ensuring continued performance without disruption.
Reliability: Provides consistent uptime and data protection, minimizing risks associated with data loss.
High Performance: Delivers fast data processing speeds to support demanding applications.
Data Management: Offers advanced data management tools for streamlined operations and efficiency.
Energy Efficiency: Designed to reduce power consumption while maintaining optimal performance.

What benefits and ROI should be considered?

Cost-Effectiveness: Benefits from lower operational costs due to efficient data handling and energy use.
Operational Efficiency: Enhances work productivity by optimizing data processes, leading to better resource allocation.
Flexibility: Supports various deployment scenarios, allowing adaptation to different business needs.
Data Security: Enhances data protection mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Hitachi VSP E Series is widely implemented in industries such as finance, healthcare, and manufacturing, where data integrity and speed are crucial. Its ability to integrate with existing IT frameworks makes it a valuable addition to businesses aiming to streamline data processes while maintaining high standards of data protection and system reliability.

Hitachi Vantara

IBM FlashSystem 9100 combines the performance of flash and Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) end-to-end with the reliability and innovation of IBM FlashCore technology and the rich features of IBM Spectrum Virtualize - all in a powerful 2U enterprise-class storage system. Providing intensive data driven multicloud storage capacity, FlashSystem 9100 is deeply integrated with the software defined capabilities of IBM Spectrum Storage allowing you to easily add in the multicloud solutions that best support your business.

IBM

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Hitachi VSP E Series vs. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

July 2025

Free Report: Hitachi VSP E Series vs. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

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