IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs SolidFire comparison

IBM and NetApp are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. IBM is ranked #19 with an average rating of 8.6, while NetApp is ranked #27 with an average rating of 9.0. IBM holds a 0.5% mindshare in AFS, compared to NetApp’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

SolidFire and IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe are both enterprise storage solutions. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced features, despite SolidFire being more price-competitive and offering strong support services.

Features: Users appreciate SolidFire for its ease of scalability, robust performance metrics, and strong support services. For IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe, users highlight its speed, reliability, and advanced data reduction capabilities.

Room for Improvement: SolidFire users suggest improvement in integration with third-party tools, better reporting features, and enhanced user interface. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe users note occasional issues with firmware upgrades, a steep learning curve, and the need for better documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolidFire is praised for its straightforward deployment process and responsive technical support. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe requires more initial configuration but benefits from dedicated professional services that address complex requirements.

Pricing and ROI: SolidFire is favored for its lower upfront costs and good return on investment over time. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe, while more expensive, is viewed as worth the investment due to its advanced features and long-term benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. SolidFire Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. SolidFire

September 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 October 2025, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is 0.5%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolidFire is 0.2%, down from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	1.0%
IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe	0.5%
SolidFire	0.2%
Other	98.3%

All-Flash Storage

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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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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Ramil Cerrada

Solution lead at Globe Mobile

A versatile storage solution suitable for various workloads in cloud environments providing scalable architecture, granular Quality of Service and consistent performance

The most significant benefit lies in its exceptional performance, driven by its Flash-based architecture. This enhances routing speed and, consequently, database performance. The provisioning process is efficient and doesn't demand higher latency, ensuring optimal data transfer performance which is particularly valuable for tasks like data mining, where quick results are essential.

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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

"The most valuable features of Pure FlashArray X NVMe are its superior performance compared to other flash tiers, as well as its ease of use, with an intuitive user interface that is simple to deploy and use."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use."

"It has benefited my organization because it has reduced time to insights."

"It's incredibly easy to use and greatly simplified our ability to both deploy and manage our storage subsystems."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe will quickly overcome all the hurdles you face, including network and latency issues."

"On a scale of one to ten, I rate Pure FlashArray as ten."

"The latency is good."

"It's helped us because we've changed fundamentally what we talk about. We don't talk about storage and different tiers of storage anymore nor do we talk about servers. We talk now about applications and how applications impact the business and end users."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

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

"What I like about the product are its high availability, maximum efficiency in performance, and its ability to handle a high level of I/O operations."

"It's easy to use, has good stability, and many features."

"It is a very stable product. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten because we did not face any issues in the last three years."

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

"The most valuable feature is the speed."

"It is a very stable solution."

"The FlashCore modules support more value to the architecture due to their unique characteristics."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pros

"The square footage for doing development is at a premium when dealing with government networks. To be able to put a lot of IOPS in a lot of high-speed performing drives in a very small location which requires very little HVAC with very little power, it is very valuable to us."

"It's a very compact device. For a medium-sized business, it's very helpful because the device is efficient and very fast."

"Being able to provide quality of service as promised."

"The most valuable feature is the performance, as well as how you manage performance on the system."

"The simplicity of it."

"The dashboard is such that you don't need to be a storage expert to administer it."

"We can just buy them, scale them as we need on demand, and we don't have to spend so many front end cycles on designing the architecture."

"The quality of service for minimum iOS, to maximum iOS in a multi-terminal environment is very powerful. The SQL service feature is the best part of SolidFire."

More SolidFire pros

Cons

"In the future, I would like to see integration with enterprise backup systems."

"It's more multi-tenant functionality in their Pure1 manage portal that is lacking."

"Managing data isn't difficult for me. The performance is usually perfect, but we sometimes have capacity problems."

"In the next release, I would like to see real-time analytics for further insight into consumption models."

"Many options to check performance, like read, writes, random writes, and random reads, are missing in Pure FlashArray X NVMe."

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

"There are some challenges with data encryption and reduction."

"I would like to see some AI features that would allow arrays to intelligently identify threats or unusual behavior in the data pattern and give an alert."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"IBM is currently not offering volume-based encryption or compression, while other brands or IBM's competitors are doing it."

"There could be a possibility of not requiring to buy a new box while upgrading to a newer version."

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

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

"The pricing should be more competitive."

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

"IBM's support is not good. I experienced a big problem where I opened the console IBM Storage and would see that something was broken. I called the call centers, and I said, "I have a problem. My drive is not working." They want me to give them the serial number, I gave it to them and they told me "I cannot find your product. Your product is not here.""

"I would like to have replication functionality built directly in the product, rather than having to use a separate device for this."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe cons

"So feature-wise, I would say more reporting tools that could be merged into it."

"They could do a file-based NAS: SolidFire NAS-based. It's probably not its niche, but that is our direction, not to use block, and it's block. Solid state block is what it is."

"The tool should improve its initial cost which is expensive compared to other products."

"The inclusion of more protocols and interfaces would make it easier to integrate with other products."

"For example, the ease of use with the reporting. Right now it's not impossible, but you have to know Sequel. It's a little time consuming to get those customized reports in there."

"They could make the mNode more user-friendly. Now you need to configure and add nodes by CLI and it’s not really easy to manage. If they created a web interface to do the management of the mNode, that would be great!."

"There is room for improvement with a focus on creating a centralized storage system, functioning similar to AWS."

"The upgrade process could be better."

More SolidFire cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"With VMware, we pay $300,000 annually."

"Given its price, Pure is not the first option."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"The tool's pricing is cheap; I rate it a six to seven out of ten. Most of our sales are not subscription-based. We sell the hardware, and customers keep using it. They only renew the service part annually. The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there."

"With Pure Storage, we would like to continue seeing price reductions with flash storage. I don't think we're any different than anybody else when we continue to look to the industry for price reductions of both NVMe and traditional SSD storage. We would like to see these prices continue to decline and erode, even displacing large spinning disks."

"The product is expensive."

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

"The tool is an investment that we've budgeted for. While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits. We don't regret purchasing it."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing an eight."

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

"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."

"The product has an average cost."

"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."

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

"The solution's price is competitive."

"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."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pricing and cost advice

"It might be considered expensive, but when evaluating performance, it represents good value online because you pay for what you get."

"The price of this solution is more expensive than others."

"On a scale where one is a high price and ten is a low price, I rate the solution between three and four. It is an expensive solution."

"Based on what I heard from other people, its price was on the higher side."

"We would probably use SolidFire more, except we're getting more bang for our buck with our purchases of ONTAP right now, and the deal we made with NetApp, so it's more of just a cost decision"

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	16

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 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

What do you like most about SolidFire?

The provisioning process is efficient and doesn't demand higher latency, ensuring optimal data transfer performance w...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolidFire?

It might be considered expensive, but when evaluating performance, it represents good value online because you pay fo...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolidFire?

There is room for improvement with a focus on creating a centralized storage system, functioning similar to AWS. This...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 23% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 13% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 12% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

Dell PowerMax vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 31% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 29% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 25% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe Competitors

NetApp AFF vs SolidFire

Compared 100% of the time

More SolidFire Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

September 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

September 2025

Download IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

SolidFire

September 2025

Download SolidFire product report

Also Known As

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

IBM FlashSystem 9100, FlashSystem 9100

No data available

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

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

SolidFire delivers all five core elements needed to deliver newfound storage agility to your next generation data center and beyond. With SolidFire you can deploy new applications and capabilities faster, provide more agile and scalable infrastructure, increase application performance and predictability, enable automation and end-user self-service and raise operational efficiency and reduce cost.

NetApp

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

California Public Utilities Commission, RFA, 1&1, Ultimate Software , Endicia, ezVerify, MercadoLibre, Sungard Availability Services, ServInt, Elastx, Hosted Network, Colt, Crucial, iWeb, Datapipe, Databarracks

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. SolidFire

September 2025

Free Report: IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. SolidFire

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. SolidFire and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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