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HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs HPE MSA vs NetApp FAS Series comparison

 

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:
 

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
6.8
HPE MSA provides cost-effective storage solutions, optimizing business operations and delivering substantial monetary savings and better returns.
Sentiment score
5.5
NetApp FAS Series users report positive ROI, cost savings, and satisfaction, especially in VMware settings, despite disk addition expenses.
The return on investment is very good.
System Engineer at Hybrid Tech
It certainly shows a return on investment with HPE MSA, but we have framework contracts with special prices for the HP hardware, so I am not sure that our return on investment calculation corresponds to what other people should have.
Administrative Assistant at EUIPO - European Union Intellectual Property Office
If you have the configuration well maintained and configured, you should have good efficiency and compression for the clients and for yourself.
System Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

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
7.4
HPE MSA support is mostly effective and reliable, but improvements in response times and proactive measures are needed.
Sentiment score
7.3
NetApp FAS Series is praised for reliable, responsive support, though some seek faster resolutions and enhanced first-tier expertise.
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.
System Engineer at Hybrid Tech
I would rate technical support a three out of five due to the lack of effectiveness in preventing recurring problems.
Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
Sometimes, the support was inadequate because the initial architecture was poorly defined.
Pre-Sales Director France, Belgium and Luxembourg at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
We are also using it ourselves for the SAN and CIFS protocol.
System Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
They often provide basic solutions, such as suggesting a failover or a power cycle, which are not the sophisticated solutions we expect from a vendor.
Senior Cloud System Engineer at Atos Poland
 

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
7.5
HPE MSA is scalable for small to medium businesses, offering easy expansion and positive feedback on workload hosting capabilities.
Sentiment score
7.3
NetApp FAS Series offers high scalability with Clustered Data ONTAP, supporting growth despite cost and complexity challenges.
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.
Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd
HPE MSA's scalability benefits are notable as its speed and performance are good.
Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
We normally avoid current versions and use versions that have been running for at least two months in client usage before updating drivers.
DIRECTOR at Vellore Online Systems
NetApp FAS Series is scalable, and it is possible, but you need to pay.
System Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The NetApp FAS Series is scalable and offers numerous solutions, but only if customers are willing to invest in the shelves.
Senior Cloud System Engineer at Atos Poland
 

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 highly reliable and stable, excelling in performance and compatibility, despite occasional hard disk concerns.
Sentiment score
7.9
NetApp FAS Series is reliable and stable, with minor issues swiftly resolved, earning high stability ratings despite occasional challenges.
HPE 3PAR is a very stable solution from HPE, and people have been using this for more than five years.
System Engineer at Hybrid Tech
My experience with the stability and performance of HPE 3PAR StoreServ involved one crash, which was caused by failing hardware.
Information Systems & Security Administrator at a government with 501-1,000 employees
I faced issues with hard disk reliability, as they frequently fail and risk losing redundancy.
Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
When panic occurs on the node, it reboots itself, and we have experienced numerous hardware-related issues.
Senior Cloud System Engineer at Atos Poland
Most things are tailor-made, and we avoid downtimes even with primitive CLI commands.
DIRECTOR at Vellore Online Systems
 

Room For Improvement

HPE 3PAR StoreServ needs improved usability, support, integration, and cost management while enhancing performance, efficiency, scalability, and cloud compatibility.
HPE MSA requires better scalability, GUI, replication, cloud integration, security, performance, and affordable support, addressing user concerns.
NetApp FAS users desire better performance, documentation, UI, cost efficiency, cloud integration, automation, support, and competitive pricing.
In Pakistan, some parts are not readily available, and we need to import them from Singapore or other countries.
System Engineer at Hybrid Tech
HPE 3PAR StoreServ might be missing certain features available in newer products.
Information Systems & Security Administrator at a government with 501-1,000 employees
Data security features are more important to me than anything else, and I think HPE MSA lacks in this area.
Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
If it could be a hybrid with SSDs and hard disks, then it would be more economical and efficient.
Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd
Storage companies should create encrypted storage solutions between the OS and storage to protect against ransomware attacks.
DIRECTOR at Vellore Online Systems
Nutanix leads the business in this approach, and I feel that NetApp is missing some aspects, such as CPU, GPU, and RAM, in its AI portfolio.
Pre-Sales Director France, Belgium and Luxembourg at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
There is an opportunity there for NetApp with Cloud Volumes ONTAP.
Technological Consultant at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

HPE 3PAR StoreServ pricing ranges from $60,000 to $2 million, with competitive rates but costly additional licensing.
HPE MSA's pricing is high with costly support and licensing, but users value responsive support; better pricing could aid businesses.
NetApp FAS Series is costly but offers value with features like deduplication; planning and negotiation optimize ROI and pricing.
It is expensive, however, when we compare it to the features provided by HPE, the price-to-performance ratio is very good.
System Engineer at Hybrid Tech
The pricing of HPE MSA is not deemed reasonable.
Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
The pricing of NetApp FAS Series is not cheap, but in comparison to other vendors, NetApp FAS Series is affordable.
System Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

HPE 3PAR StoreServ excels in performance and integration, offering ease of use, automation, and robust storage management features.
HPE MSA is praised for its ease of management, scalability, robust features, and suitability for SMBs due to reliable performance.
NetApp FAS Series offers performance, flexibility, and reliability with robust deduplication, seamless integration, and efficient data management for diverse environments.
There is no downtime when we upgrade our 3PAR systems.
System Engineer at Hybrid Tech
I find the HPE 3PAR StoreServ valuable for its ease of use and resilience, which is beneficial.
Information Systems & Security Administrator at a government with 501-1,000 employees
I found that its scalability benefited my organization, especially in larger settings.
Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
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.
Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd
The most useful feature of HPE MSA is VAAI, which are the functions embedded in the system, allowing operations on the server or storage without using server CPU, making it easier.
Administrative Assistant at EUIPO - European Union Intellectual Property Office
While NVMe disks are expensive and require three disks for parity calculations, hard drives in NetApp FAS Series are inexpensive, making it more cost-efficient per GB, even with RAID tech implementation.
Senior Cloud System Engineer at Atos Poland
Our IOPS are very high, reaching somewhere about 50k to 150k or 1.150k.
DIRECTOR at Vellore Online Systems
One important feature for customers is its ease of use and continuity, enabling seamless usage across on-premise and cloud environments.
Pre-Sales Director France, Belgium and Luxembourg at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of HPE 3PAR StoreServ is 10.2%, up from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE MSA is 14.5%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp FAS Series is 12.9%, down from 17.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
NetApp FAS Series12.9%
HPE MSA14.5%
HPE 3PAR StoreServ10.2%
Other62.400000000000006%
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
 

Featured Reviews

CO
Information Systems & Security Administrator at a government with 501-1,000 employees
Ease of use in data center boosts resilience and infrastructure efficiency
I find the HPE 3PAR StoreServ valuable for its ease of use and resilience, which is beneficial. The main benefits I have seen from having HPE 3PAR StoreServ include its use at a small branch I managed for about three years with around 60 users. It operates effectively because it is an HPE product we use there. I have not experienced any significant issues besides occasional IT-related ones, such as local database problems. Since handing over the administration of the system to someone else and moving to another department, there have not been any issues. There are many features that exist but I haven't needed to try. Before moving out of that role in my organization, I knew it was a product I enjoyed working with for infrastructure purposes. After completing my new role, I intend to return to infrastructure.
JT
Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
Ensures quick data handling but needs advanced security features
The speed and performance of HPE MSA are admirable. I found that its scalability benefited my organization, especially in larger settings. While the price is not reasonable, its performance makes up for it. Additionally, the licensing costs are consistent with most brands. Compared to Huawei, however, I found that Huawei's processing power, performance, and cost were more advantageous.
Srikanth Purushothaman - PeerSpot reviewer
DIRECTOR at Vellore Online Systems
Has supported long-term data protection and backup while requiring better part availability and pricing options
For monitoring purposes, we normally use flash access storage exclusively. We utilize a hybrid system because we need performance, combining NL-SAS for the volume and SAS flash to use as a fast cache system that provides more IOPS. We normally implement RAID 10, which we prefer over RAID 6's n plus 2 combinations. We utilize it for data redundancy, even with write intensity on. Regarding the unified storage architecture for NetApp FAS Series, we normally opt for exclusivity unless budget constraints exist. Our IOPS are very high, reaching somewhere about 50k to 150k or 1.150k. The high performance ensures minimal latency. An advantage we've seen with NetApp FAS Series is that snapshots provide very rapid backup and fast recovery. We basically use snapshots for data protection as first-level protection, with deduplication between the two storages serving as second-level protection.
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Comparison Review

it_user182013 - PeerSpot reviewer
Federal Civ/Intel Engineering Lead at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business72
Midsize Enterprise74
Large Enterprise170
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise38
Large Enterprise58
 

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 perspectiv...
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StorageWorks MSA?
I did not compare the cost of HPE MSA with others because we buy with a framework contract, and HP is the only brand ...
What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?
The user web interface is a bit slow, but it is really easy to use, although you still have to wait a bit when you se...
What is your primary use case for HPE StorageWorks MSA?
We use HPE MSA as storage for the VMware servers, and we will try to use Proxmox server later on, but currently, we u...
Which SAN product would you choose: IBM FlashSystem (FS9500) vs PureFlash Array/X NVMe vs PureFlash Array/XL NVMe?
Have you considered a NetApp FAS Storage for your NAS needs? I am sure it fits very well.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp FAS Series?
The pricing of NetApp FAS Series is not cheap, but in comparison to other vendors, NetApp FAS Series is affordable be...
 

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
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Just Energy, Latisys, team AG, DreamWorks, BlueShore Financial, Erasmus MC
Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank
Children's Hospital Central California, Plex Systems, PDF PNI Digital Media, Denver Broncos, PDF KSM Legal, Clayton Companies, Virginia Community College
Find out what your peers are saying about NetApp, Hitachi Vantara, IBM and others in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network). Updated: January 2026.
881,821 professionals have used our research since 2012.