HPE Nimble Storage vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jan 2, 2023

We performed a comparison between HPE Nimble Storage and IBM FlashSystem based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Most users of both products report their initial deployment to be straightforward.

  • Features: Users of both solutions are satisfied with their stability and scalability.

    HPE Nimble Storage users say it has good management software and powerful deduplication and compression capabilities. Several users mention that it is lacking an active-active controller.

    IBM FlashSystem reviewers say that it is a mature product that is constantly evolving. They say that it is fast, flexible, and user friendly, but would like more built-in safeguards against security threats and malware.
  • Pricing: Both products received mixed reviews in the pricing category. Some users of each feel that the price is too high.

  • ROI: Reviewers of both products report seeing an ROI.

  • Service and Support: Users are satisfied with the support and services they receive for both products.

Comparison Results: Both solutions received high marks from reviewers. IBM has an edge in this comparison due to the feedback it received for its speed and innovation.

To learn more, read our detailed HPE Nimble Storage vs. IBM FlashSystem Report (Updated: May 2023).
708,461 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Access speed and power consumption are most valuable.""Simplicity and reliability are the most valuable feature of Pure Storage FlashArray.""The most valuable features of Pure Storage FlashArray are the management view of the solutions, ease of provision, and deprovision, it is fantastic.""The most valuable feature of Pure Storage FlashArray is the all-flash storage performance, low latency, and efficiency of their de-duplication technology. Additionally, the ease of use is good compared to other storage systems. The features in data protection, snapshotting, and replication between data centers and sites are superior to other solutions.""FlashArray has many valuable features. It's very user-friendly and it has high availability, so there is comparatively less downtime. During maintenance, there is no shutdown procedure, so you can directly power off the Array and manage the shutdown process without any data loss, which is a unique feature. Managing replication and data migration is also very easy.""The all-flash disc is the most valuable feature of this solution.""We find the ease of usability and setup valuable.""The scalability is good."

More Pure Storage FlashArray Pros →

"Even if one control fails, it automatically turns on the other controller and everything moves from one to the second instantaneously without any issues.""The most valuable feature is the NVMe flash storage.""HPE Nimble Storage is very stable and performs well.""It's very stable and fast, and I am very happy with the deduplication. It saves a lot of space, which is great.""The scalability is straightforward.""InfoSight is helpful because it is proactive support.""The most valuable feature is the management of Nimble Storage, InfoSight. This is like a cloud. That's really a very nice feature. I think that's the only reason to buy Nimble Storage.""It is easy to use. Not too complicated."

More HPE Nimble Storage Pros →

"The Flash core models offer amazing performance.""IBM FlashSystem has been stable in our operations.""The most valuable feature in demand is virtualization and its support storage of virtualization features.""IBM FlashSystem is a powerful effective storage solution. Additionally, it is user-friendly, anyone can use it.""IBM FlashSystem is flexible, quick, and has a solid design.""The solution allows for easy migrations from previous products or vendors via its embedded storage virtualization function.""The initial setup is straightforward and can be done in an hour and a half by one person.""One of the most valuable features is that it's very easy to use and configure. It used to be more difficult, but now it's almost flawless."

More IBM FlashSystem Pros →

Cons
"The solution could improve by having a multi-tenant feature.""Pure Storage FlashArray could improve by being more secure.""The price should be lower.""Currently, the solution fails to support file screening.""Beyond a certain amount of petabytes, you have to have a separate system. Basically, it's not infinitely scalable.""We would like to be able to connect to data tape for backup, specifically to the LTO backups.""I like what they're doing, but some of my customers complain that they do not have all the bells and whistles and knobs to fine-tune workloads that some of the competitors have. In my opinion, that's good. All customers don't have dedicated storage gurus, and they can get themselves into trouble if they fine-tune too many of those high-performance knobs, but they do get knocked down. Pure Storage takes a hit in the minds and opinions of some of the customers because they cannot customize things as much as compared to a legacy storage provider's appliance such as NetApp, Dell EMC, or even HPE. I personally think 95% of my customers are better off letting the system fine-tune itself. That was something that you needed to do 12 or 15 years ago, but now with all-flash, the technology can handle what it needs to handle. Customers just end up shooting themselves in the foot if they are tweaking too many default settings.""Its price could be cheaper. It is not the cheapest one out there, but I'm not directly involved in the figures and negotiations."

More Pure Storage FlashArray Cons →

"It was a bit expensive.""The resellers did the implementation of the solution, we did not do it ourselves. We have ten people for the deployment of the solution.""We are doing a hybrid and are moving some machines to Microsoft Azure to run in hybrid mode. We are checking the availability of extra software-defined storage so that we can configure it.""HPE does not have suffficient storage.""Pure Storages have some option, which allows us the ability to directly download that host inventory and volume report. We can receive everything directly generated from the storage itself. We do not need to use some other web browser or something. If HPE Nimble Storage could do the same it would be a benefit.""There should be faster interfaces.""Its pricing could be better. It's expensive.""The solution should allow for easier configurations."

More HPE Nimble Storage Cons →

"This solution could be improved by offering greater amounts of storage.""The GUI for monitoring performance metrics could provide better visibility. For example, it doesn't let me segregate the IOPS per volume.""The Data Reduction Pools (DRP) support could be better.""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.""Our model does not support compression or deduplication.""There could be some extra features added.""The technical support in my region is satisfactory but it could improve. Support is very important for customers and downtime is very critical for us. We would like onsite or complete technical support which can help us to minimize our downtime or if problems occur.""The data reduction pool feature sucks and is not recommended for use with heavy workloads."

More IBM FlashSystem Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "My organization has a yearly license, but I believe that Pure Storage FlashArray has capacity-based licenses as well. I'm definitely happy with the pricing."
  • "There is an annual or perpetual license required for this solution."
  • "Pure is typically more expensive than everyone else. You get what you pay for, but I have lost deals to similar solutions because of pricing. They include everything, and that's another positive about Pure Storage. They aren't trying to nickel and dime their customers for different features. It is all included in one price. The license is by capacity, and the price depends on the capacity and the discount we're getting from the vendor. You get the SKU of the physical appliance, support, and maintenance, and that's it. You're licensed for whatever feature they offer. It is all rolled up into the price of the appliance."
  • "The pricing is reasonable."
  • "When we bought the unit, we bought per capacity. So, the licensing is per capacity, and the only thing that we have to buy every year or every three years is maintenance. Included in that maintenance is the upgrade of the controllers every three years at no cost to us."
  • "We consume it as a service, and that's actually something we really like, or at least I really like from the technical perspective. That's because it means there is no hassle when we need to upgrade arrays to add capacity. We just interact directly with technical counterparts, and we say, "Hey, we're filling up," and they say, "All right, here's another data pack." They ship it in, and we install it. So, the as-a-service model has worked very well. Given the outstanding data reduction rates, it has improved our profitability because we're selling allocated volumes as part of the cloud service or recovering those costs from our tenants. It is very efficient, but that has offset the premium price. It started out that way, but over time, as we've added capacity, the price per gig has gone down a lot because we have a lot of it."
  • "There are no fees for licensing. The hardware is paid for only once."
  • "I think that the pricing is less expensive compared to other standard products in the market today. Even the support contract and maintenance services cost less when compared to market-leading products like EMC."
  • More Pure Storage FlashArray Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "We pay a one-time fee for terabyte licenses, and the support is paid yearly."
  • "There is a one-time price for hardware, and with the software support, everything is included, such as software upgrades. The licensing of the solution is included in the cost of the hardware and the support is an extra cost. We have purchased support on an annual basis, but you can purchase support up front for up to seven years. We usually buy five years and near the time of the expiry, we sometimes extend it."
  • "HPE Nimble Storage is more expensive than some of the other solutions, such as Pure Storage. They charge more for every feature than other vendors."
  • "The pricing for this product is somewhat high."
  • "There is a monthly fee to use the solution."
  • "Once you purchase the solution, you don't have to buy any license for this Nimble product."
  • "The price of HPE Nimble Storage is good."
  • "I believe the array, maintenance, and everything totaled around $140,000 dollars."
  • More HPE Nimble Storage Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "You purchase it as a bundle and the price is comparable."
  • "The solution requires a license and could be less expensive."
  • "Overall the price of the solution is expensive and this includes the license."
  • "The cost of the IBM FlashSystem is lower than the HPE solution."
  • "The pricing may be a bit higher than other brands. If you compare the IBM FlashSystems in midrange with Dell EMC in midrange, IBM costs a bit more, but I prefer IBM because it has more specs that I can benefit from."
  • "The cost is pretty high in terms of licensing. We pay at least $100,000 USD in licensing fees for the storage."
  • "The price of IBM FlashSystem is reasonable."
  • "There are no licensing fees, it is a one-time purchase of the IBM FlashSystem."
  • More IBM FlashSystem Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which All-Flash Storage solutions are best for your needs.
    708,461 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Both are great platforms, but if you are considering all flash solutions, I would recommend you to consider Pure… more »
    Top Answer:Data deduplication is one feature I found to be the most valuable in the tool...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a… more »
    Top Answer:HPE Nimble Storage dHCI Vs. VxRail One of the best things about the HPE Nimble Storage dHCI is the three, two, one,… more »
    Top Answer:HPE Nimble is a versatile synced WAN San solution. It is easy to use and doesn’t require much training for admins. The… more »
    Top Answer:As with any engineered solution, it depends on your needs.   However, the bottom line is that for their target markets… more »
    Top Answer:The solution is very easy to configure and use.
    Top Answer:The price is a little bit high so is rated a six out of ten. There is always room for improvement on the solution's… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Nimble Storage
    IBM Storwize
    Learn More
    Overview

    Pure Storage FlashArray is the world’s first enterprise-class storage array that runs exclusively on the nonvolatile memory express (NVMe) protocol for memory access and storage. It represents a totally state-of-the-art type of storage technology. It offers users shared accelerated storage that delivers cutting-edge features in the realms of performance, simplicity, and consolidation. Pure Storage is fresh and modern today and will be for the next decade. Without forklift upgrades or planned downtime, Pure Storage takes the work out of storage ownership and delivers unprecedented customer satisfaction.

    Pure Storage FlashArray is built with simplicity and reliability in mind. The solution can be implemented and optimized in hours, as opposed to other similar solutions that can take days. It has no moving parts, which removes areas where it could potentially be vulnerable to suffering errors. It is highly stable and gives users the ability to manage system shutdowns in a way that  prevents data loss.

    Benefits of Pure Storage FlashArray

    Some of the benefits of using Pure Storage FlashArray include:

    • A much higher level of speed than similar pieces of technology. Pure Storage FlashArray maximizes the speed at which data can be transferred while at the same time minimizing system latencies that might slow the transfer down. Additionally, it offers users quick memory read and data access speeds.

    • A higher bang for your buck in terms of the storage capabilities you get for the money you pay. They are smaller in size than more standard storage technologies, but they offer flash memory, which enables users to store larger amounts of data than the current standard.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Pure Storage FlashArray is a highly effective piece of storage technology which stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its overall robustness and the value that it offers by way of its reliability and ease of use. It provides users with many valuable features that allow them to maximize what they can do with this solution. Pure Storage FlashArray’s reliability and ease of use make it a highly valuable solution. 

    PeerSpot user Prabakaran K., a technical consultant at Injazat Data Systems, notes the robustness of this solution when he writes, "FlashArray has many valuable features. It's very user-friendly and it has high availability, so there is comparatively less downtime. During maintenance, there is no shutdown procedure, so you can directly power off the Array and manage the shutdown process without any data loss, which is a unique feature. Managing replication and data migration is also very easy."

    PeerSpot user Jason D., a cloud solutions architect at a tech services company, notes three features that make this solution valuable when he writes, "We've had different types of storage, and three things of this solution are valuable. The first one is its outstanding performance. The second one is its stability. In the about three years that we've had it, we've had component failures, but we never had a service interruption or any data loss. The third one, which is really critical, is that it is super easy to use in terms of provisioning, storage, and managing the arrays. I'm able to maintain a multi-site environment with a couple of dozen arrays with a single mid-level storage admin."

    HPE Nimble Storage is a highly effective All-Flash Storage Array solution that aims to enable organizations to reliably store and access their data. Organizations across a wide variety of industries trust Nimble Storage to assist them with all of their data storage-based needs. It both tracks all of the IT architecture that an organization uses and protects that architecture from a variety of digital threats.

    HPE Nimble Storage Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy HPE Nimble Storage include:


    • Increased security. Nimble Storage provides organizations with powerful layers of protection. It leverages predictive analytics powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning to keep businesses from suffering harm related to emerging threats. The AI and ML software identifies threats before they can threaten a user’s data.


    • Reduced costs and increase profits. Businesses that deploy Nimble Storage find that their overhead costs end up being significantly reduced by up to 49%. One of the reasons for this is that Nimble Storage uses a “pay as you go” subscription model which means that users never pay for more storage than they actually need.


    • Ease of use. Nimble Storage is simple for administrators to utilize. They can install it without any kind of outside assistance. It is also simple for the average administrator to manage without specialized training.



    HPE Nimble Storage Features


    • Artificial intelligence. The backbone of Nimble Storage’s IT infrastructure is its AI software. The HPE InfoSight feature makes it so that administrators don’t need to make guesses when managing their data storage. It offers users suggestions as to what they can do to improve their storage performance.


    • Scaling. Nimble Storage gives users the ability to scale their data storage so that it appropriately meets their needs. They can both “scale up” or increase the sheer amount of data that they can store at a given time and “scale out” or increase their ability to perform effectively.


    • Hybrid storage. Nimble Storage has the ability to store data both on the cloud and on-premises so as to meet an organization’s storage requirements. Its multi-cloud feature enables users to seamlessly manage all of their data storage and utilization operations with ease.


    Reviews from Real Users

    HPE Nimble Storage is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its ease of use and its powerful InfoSight analytics feature.

    Andrew B., Head Of Information Technology at Zambia National Building Society, writes, “It's a very easy solution. Whenever I have a question, I find they have already provided a solution for it.”

    Prataparao D., Technical Solution's Consultant for HPE Storage Devices at Karvy Innotech, says, “HPE Nimble Storage uses the InfoSight platform and it is useful because we can identify the faults and can analyze the performance. It has many other features. This feature is the best that I have observed from HPE Nimble Storage.”

    IBM FlashSystem products are enterprise computer data storage systems that store data on flash memory chips. Unlike storage systems that use standard solid-state drives, IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. This hardware provides performance, reliability, and efficiency benefits versus competitive offerings.

    Offer
    Learn more about Pure Storage FlashArray
    Learn more about HPE Nimble Storage
    Want to Hear More?

    IBM FlashSystem products are enterprise computer data storage systems that store data on flash memory chips. Unlike storage systems that use standard solid-state drives, IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. This hardware provides performance, reliability, and efficiency benefits versus competitive offerings.

    Sample Customers
    Nielsen, Lamar Advertising, LinkedIn, Betfair, UT-Dallas
    Ace Relocation, Atkins Nutritionals, Berkeley Research Group, Canadian International School, City of Hot Springs, Clackamas County, Corona-Norco Unified School District, Ideal Integrations, Linear Technology, P&O Maritime, Retail Apparel Group (RAG), Virtual Radiologic
    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
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Healthcare Company12%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Computer Software Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization20%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Comms Service Provider12%
    Healthcare Company7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization27%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Government8%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm28%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government9%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company22%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise58%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise29%
    Large Enterprise51%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise36%
    Large Enterprise31%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise38%
    Large Enterprise41%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business37%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise48%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise57%
    Buyer's Guide
    HPE Nimble Storage vs. IBM FlashSystem
    May 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Nimble Storage vs. IBM FlashSystem and other solutions. Updated: May 2023.
    708,461 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    HPE Nimble Storage is ranked 7th in All-Flash Storage with 28 reviews while IBM FlashSystem is ranked 6th in All-Flash Storage with 37 reviews. HPE Nimble Storage is rated 8.6, while IBM FlashSystem is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of HPE Nimble Storage writes "Proactive end-to-end management". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM FlashSystem writes "Reliable and easy to configure with simple data migration capabilities ". HPE Nimble Storage is most compared with HPE Primera, Dell PowerStore, Dell Unity XT, NetApp AFF (All Flash FAS) and HPE 3PAR StoreServ, whereas IBM FlashSystem is most compared with Dell PowerStore, HPE Primera, NetApp AFF (All Flash FAS), Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform and Dell Unity XT. See our HPE Nimble Storage vs. IBM FlashSystem report.

    See our list of best All-Flash Storage vendors.

    We monitor all All-Flash Storage reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.