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HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs HPE MSA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.2
HPE 3PAR StoreServ boosts performance, reduces costs, enhances efficiency, and provides quick ROI, leading to high user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
8.2
HPE MSA delivers cost-effective storage, optimizing affordability and ROI by managing multiple servers and meeting entry-level needs efficiently.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.3
HPE 3PAR StoreServ's customer service is reliable, proactive, yet experiences vary, notably in communication and escalation processes.
Sentiment score
7.3
HPE MSA's customer service is effective and responsive, though experiences vary due to regional differences and service level options.
If we activate the 3PAR call home function, then the remote technician always has access to our StoreServ and provides strong suggestions to improve our 3PAR performance.
I would rate technical support a three out of five due to the lack of effectiveness in preventing recurring problems.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
HPE 3PAR StoreServ offers scalable storage, efficiently handling diverse workloads and future needs, with minimal upgrade complexity issues.
Sentiment score
7.8
HPE MSA is scalable for SMEs with expandable storage but may not suffice for larger companies' needs.
It is more profitable to use HPE MSA because if you run out of space, you can expand the capacity of the array using expansion enclosures, making it more flexible and profitable.
HPE MSA's scalability benefits are notable as its speed and performance are good.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
HPE 3PAR StoreServ is stable and reliable, with minimal downtime, seamless updates, and effective support for setup challenges.
Sentiment score
8.4
HPE MSA is praised for its stability and reliability, with users rating it highly despite minor disk concerns.
HPE 3PAR is a very stable solution from HPE, and people have been using this for more than five years.
My experience with the stability and performance of HPE 3PAR StoreServ involved one crash, which was caused by failing hardware.
I faced issues with hard disk reliability, as they frequently fail and risk losing redundancy.
 

Room For Improvement

HPE 3PAR StoreServ needs improved usability, support, integration, and cost management while enhancing performance, efficiency, scalability, and cloud compatibility.
HPE MSA needs improvements in features, integration, hardware flexibility, and affordability to match enterprise-level expectations.
In Pakistan, some parts are not readily available, and we need to import them from Singapore or other countries.
HPE 3PAR StoreServ might be missing certain features available in newer products.
Data security features are more important to me than anything else, and I think HPE MSA lacks in this area.
If it could be a hybrid with SSDs and hard disks, then it would be more economical and efficient.
 

Setup Cost

HPE 3PAR StoreServ pricing ranges from $60,000 to $2 million, with competitive rates but costly additional licensing.
HPE MSA pricing is competitive yet costly, with no ongoing license fees but notable support and expansion costs.
It is expensive, however, when we compare it to the features provided by HPE, the price-to-performance ratio is very good.
The pricing of HPE MSA is not deemed reasonable.
 

Valuable Features

HPE 3PAR StoreServ excels in performance and integration, offering ease of use, automation, and robust storage management features.
HPE MSA offers easy management, excellent support, cost-effectiveness, reliability, scalability, dual controllers, and seamless integration with operating systems.
There is no downtime when we upgrade our 3PAR systems.
I find the HPE 3PAR StoreServ valuable for its ease of use and resilience, which is beneficial.
Compared to Huawei, however, I found that Huawei's processing power, performance, and cost were more advantageous.
In terms of disaster recovery, we can define global spares in HPE MSA. When one disk fails, a global spare is automatically allocated to that particular disk, which saves the data.
 

Categories and Ranking

HPE 3PAR StoreServ
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
303
Ranking in other categories
NAS (8th), All-Flash Storage (14th)
HPE MSA
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of HPE 3PAR StoreServ is 10.4%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE MSA is 19.5%, up from 16.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Saqib - PeerSpot reviewer
Uninterrupted upgrades accelerate performance with good support
I would rate the solution eight out of ten. It should be noted that in Pakistan, some parts are not readily available, and we need to import them from Singapore or other countries. We encountered an issue with a customer where the midplane failed and was not available. We had to wait for several days for a replacement, even in a 24/7 support case. Additionally, we faced motherboard failures in the customer's environment, encountering two motherboard failures simultaneously. We obtained one motherboard immediately, yet had to wait ten days for another. These issues should have been resolved promptly given the 24/7 support level.
Pragnesh Sachania - PeerSpot reviewer
Scalable, easy to manage, and used for virtualization environments
We didn't face any issues with the technical functionality. However, we faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration. The HPE support person who did the installation was very technical. He answered all the queries, and we resolved the entire setup. We set up the storage as per our requirements. We previously used a physical server instead of virtualization. With the help of an HPE engineer and partners, we prepared a strategy for migrating the entire physical servers to our virtualization infrastructure. It took two days to deploy the solution. Six people were involved in the solution's deployment, including two from HPE and four from our IT team.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) solutions are best for your needs.
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Comparison Review

it_user182013 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 1, 2015
Measuring Up: EMC XtremIO and HP 3PAR
Leading up to EMC World 2015, IT Central Station asked how I would compare EMC XtremIO and HP 3PAR. Until recently, the flash storage conversation in my organization and many others has centered on XtremIO and Pure Storage, the leaders of the all-flash array (AFA) space. To that end, I've written a…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
73%
Computer Software Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
3%
Manufacturing Company
3%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Construction Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What's the difference between HPE 3PAR StoreServ and HPE Primera?
HPE Primera has many great features but one of the best is that it is very easy to deploy. From an overall perspective, it is reliable, easy to set up, stable, and offers quality block storage. All...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE 3PAR StoreServ?
It is expensive, however, when we compare it to the features provided by HPE, the price-to-performance ratio is very good.
What do you like most about HPE StorageWorks MSA?
The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StorageWorks MSA?
The pricing of HPE MSA is not deemed reasonable, though their licensing costs compare similarly to other brands. The initial cost is where differences are more apparent.
What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?
Data security features are more important to me than anything else, and I think HPE MSA lacks in this area. The hard disk failures are a major concern as they are risky, causing potential loss of r...
 

Also Known As

HPE 3PAR Flash Storage, InServ, Storeserv, 3PAR Flash Storage, HP Enterprise Storage, 3PAR Flash Array, HP 3PAR Flash Storage
HP StorageWorks MSA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Just Energy, Latisys, team AG, DreamWorks, BlueShore Financial, Erasmus MC
Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs. HPE MSA and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.