We performed a comparison between IBM FlashSystem and NetApp AFF (All Flash FAS) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two All-Flash Storage solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The performance of IBM FlashSystem is very good. The new technology and high throughput have given us more confidence in the solution. The management of the system has improved and we can control the monitoring system alerts and multiple FlashSystems with the Enterprise Cloud Edition, which is free. The migration of recently stored data to a new flash is much easier. You can move your data because you can utilize it externally."
"The initial setup is straightforward and can be done in an hour and a half by one person."
"This solution is really user friendly. It also offers good performance and is highly reliable."
"Installing FlashSystem is very easy. It takes less than half an hour, and I can handle it all myself."
"The solution is scalable and has varying degrees of scalability."
"The price-performance ratio is most valuable."
"The all-flash storage has tier replication capabilities."
"IBM's technical support do excellent work."
"It impacts customer retention because of its overall ease. When you are running a business, where time is a factor, that is the biggest selling point. Things happen really rapidly, when they happen, and being able to say, "Yeah, we can get this up and running in a day, if you want," or even less time in some cases. Sometimes, that can be what makes or breaks our case."
"We recently started using the volume encryption feature, which is helpful because there are some federal projects that require data at rest to be encrypted."
"The NVMe flash cache is the most useful feature. It lowers transactional speed even more."
"In terms of the footprint, it is far more efficient. It has smaller, higher-capacity drives than our older unit. In terms of space, power, and cooling, it has simplified things."
"The speed is great. That's probably number one in terms of features we appreciate."
"One of the main features that we love about the system is the ability to create snapshots. NetApp makes a lot of snapshots in a short space of time. Also, the speed of data recovery with NetApp, at the time we need it, is an important feature that we love."
"I actually did major projects where we used NetApp storage for some government agencies, and we were able to keep the storage where the government or the customer is able to own the storage while using AWS as their computing. That part was helpful to the customer."
"It also helps to accelerate databases in our environment. First of all, there is the reliability of things staying online and the small response time as well, from the MetroCluster, for all of the data that we're serving; and the applications are talking to the MetroCluster. It provides a very fast response time."
"They don't offer subscription-based payments."
"The basic setup can be challenging when it comes to certain IP addresses and the configuration of the IP. You have to go in to different menus to makes changes and ensure it is stable."
"There could be some extra features added."
"The Data Reduction Pools (DRP) support could be better."
"The GUI for monitoring performance metrics could provide better visibility. For example, it doesn't let me segregate the IOPS per volume."
"Sometimes the performance is effective but it gets resolved in the process."
"IBM FlashSystems is lagging in optimizing storage technologies."
"Additional licenses might be added for the fundamental licenses, such as those for copying and flash copies."
"The NetApp support could be better."
"There is room for improvement with the user interface. There are a few things that cannot be done in the GUI. We do a lot of things through the CLI, but that's grown out of a lack of ability to do them in the GUI. An example is QTrees. You can manage them within the GUI, but the GUI is missing a few options."
"NetApp should offer more training so everyone can learn about the products. Other vendors have a lot of training options. It would be great if NetApp would highlight how to use the features more so that every admin or person can gain more knowledge about this technology."
"I don't like the newest GUI. It needs more options. Some features have been removed. Oversight is not as good in the new GUI compared to the previous version. Though, it might be something that we just need to get used to."
"In the past, NetApp designed it so that you have a 70% threshold. You would never fill up past 70% since you need to have that room available. Whereas with Pure, I can fill it up to 110% of what they listed and it's still going at full speed. NetApp can't do that."
"It can get a little expensive if you need to add more disks. The cost is a pain point for us, especially in terms of expansion."
"Another issue is that for smaller customers, NetApp doesn't have enough disk sizes. You begin with a 980-gigabyte disk and the next size is 3.8 terabytes. There aren't any disk sizes in between. Competitors have more choices in disk sizes."
"After the three-year prepay, the extended warranty is a little expensive."
IBM FlashSystem is ranked 6th in All-Flash Storage with 39 reviews while NetApp AFF (All Flash FAS) is ranked 3rd in All-Flash Storage with 25 reviews. IBM FlashSystem is rated 8.6, while NetApp AFF (All Flash FAS) is rated 9.2. The top reviewer of IBM FlashSystem writes "Reliable and easy to configure with simple data migration capabilities ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of NetApp AFF (All Flash FAS) writes "Provides us with quick options when restoring things for customers". IBM FlashSystem is most compared with Dell PowerStore, Pure Storage FlashArray, HPE Primera, HPE Nimble Storage and Dell Unity XT, whereas NetApp AFF (All Flash FAS) is most compared with Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series, Dell Unity XT, Pure Storage FlashArray, Dell PowerStore and HPE Primera. See our IBM FlashSystem vs. NetApp AFF (All Flash FAS) 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.
