IBM Spectrum Accelerate vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library comparison

IBM and StarWind are both solutions in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category. IBM is ranked #24, while StarWind is ranked #13 with an average rating of 10.0. IBM holds a 1.7% mindshare in SDS, compared to StarWind’s 1.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of StarWind users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

StarWind Virtual Tape Library and IBM Spectrum Accelerate compete in the data storage solutions category. StarWind has an advantage in pricing and support, while IBM Spectrum Accelerate leads in advanced features and data management.

Features: StarWind Virtual Tape Library provides cost-effective scalability, seamless integration with existing environments, and strong data protection and recovery. IBM Spectrum Accelerate is known for advanced performance capabilities, robust data management functionalities, and versatile storage configurations suitable for diverse needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: StarWind is recognized for its straightforward deployment and responsive support team, making the setup process smoother. Conversely, IBM Spectrum Accelerate's deployment can be complex but is offset by comprehensive customer service support.

Pricing and ROI: StarWind Virtual Tape Library is known for affordable setup costs and quick ROI, offering high value through competitively priced solutions. IBM Spectrum Accelerate may involve higher setup costs but provides long-term benefits through its advanced features and scalability, leading to a justified ROI when considering its extensive capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Spectrum Accelerate vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library Report (Updated: May 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Accelerate vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library

May 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 Storage FlashBlade

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category, the mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 4.2%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Accelerate is 1.7%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of StarWind Virtual Tape Library is 1.4%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

Featured Reviews

Eric Black

Solutions Architect at Recovery Point Systems

The ability to leverage multi-tenancy along with immutability is a huge benefit for us

The only thing I feel FlashBlade is missing is the SOS API. If it had SOS API, that would put it well over the top. Veeam Backup specifically has started to streamline their API, and they are doing that with SOS API. They have optimized it. Any of the S3 devices out there that support this SOS API can have far more API calls at once. On our side, that translates to better restoration. With SOS API, it can leverage far more restorations at a single given time or read from the device in simple terms. That results in maximizing the output and throughput from the device itself.

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reviewer1154616

IS Auditor at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

A robust solution with good performance and support

This is a solution that scales well, although I think that we have stabilized in terms of use. With respect to scalability, we have an open question as to whether we will be able to grow into a cloud-based deployment. We don't know in what ways this solution will assist us with the migration, or whether we can still use it for DR. We don't know about the type of backup, be it full, incremental, or otherwise. We are also looking for a cost-savings if we migrate. These are things that we will find out over time. We have about two petabytes of data.

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KellyVon Der Heyden

Sales Director at CLOUD READY SOLUTIONS

Scalable solution with a good technical support team

We use the solution for data backups and ransomware protection The solution is compatible with cloud storage platforms, such as Amazon S3. Also, it efficiently reduces the storage cost for archiving. The solution's training process and online documentation could be more thorough. We have been…

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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

"I would rate Pure Storage FlashBlade a ten out of ten."

"The most valuable features are the Metro clustering, and disaster recovery."

"The initial setup is pretty quick."

"Speed and ease of use are the two most valuable features."

"We can capacity plan at a greater level than we used to."

"Approximately 40% to 50% of my time is saved using Pure Storage FlashBlade compared to different products."

"The initial setup is pretty easy and simple."

"The ease of deployment and management has helped us simplify our storage. We also do not have to worry about capacity management as much. A lot of these things are native to Pure Storage."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

"The most valuable feature is the robustness, which is typical of IBM because their software generally just works."

"The ease of use is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's very user-friendly."

"StarWind VTL allowed us to back up to virtual tape that was created within Veeam and upload the tape to the cloud."

"I like the fact that we can simultaneously upload the virtual tapes to different cloud providers, and the settings can be adjusted to speed up the upload times even further."

"The solution made our backups way more reliable."

"The most valuable feature of the StarWind Virtual Tape Library is the archiving to the AWS cloud."

"It is a stable solution."

Cons

"I would like to see more VM-Aware features in the next release of this solution."

"We initially encountered challenges with the assembly process due to issues with the documentation required during setup, an area where Pure Storage needs improvement."

"I would also like to see better support for CIFS workloads."

"I would like to see the licensing fees improved as well as the price per terabytes."

"They need better integration with public clouds along with a better hybrid solution."

"It would be beneficial if the layer could support the S3 protocol and be container ready in the next release."

"The feature that we're waiting on is better integration with the cell services."

"I would like to see more deduplication."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

"The reporting mechanisms need improvement."

"he interface is not user-friendly so the ease of use could be improved."

"The initial installation can be complex and should be simplified."

"I am not sure if this is a limitation of my physical hardware or if it is the software itself. However, I would like the throughput to be faster."

"The main thing that I felt could be improved was having an estimated time of completion for the virtual tape uploads to the cloud."

"The solution's training process and online documentation could be more thorough."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We used a reseller for the purchase."

"I feel that the price could always be lowered."

"The price of this solution could be made more affordable."

"The price could be cheaper."

"It is within reason for what you get. From what we have found comparing it to other vendors, it is in the same range as others. Given the choice, we would definitely redeploy it based on the cost."

"Support is a separate line item. Support is a different cost, but whatever your support is now, that's what you're going to pay forever. If your support's $100 today, six years from now it's $100. It doesn't fluctuate unless you upgrade it, or change it, etc."

"I have seen ROI. It has allowed me to increase the density of my VMs without having to purchase anything additional."

"The price is a little high."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

"If you are cost-sensitive then this solution is not for you."

"For a database, on a yearly basis, we pay approximately $3,500 for licensing fees. The solution is sold as a subscription on a yearly basis so there are no other ancillary costs."

"The solution is cost-effective."

"The pricing of the solution could be more flexible to meet the needs of smaller to mid-market size companies."

"The initial setup and deployment are also covered in the purchase at no additional cost."

"If you currently have Veeam there is no other solution that is as easy and affordable as StarWind."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Educational Organization

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

13%

Legal Firm

13%

Media Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power out...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The pricing for FlashBlade is between cheap and moderate. FlashBlade is worth the money due to the experience and per...

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What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

Its configuration should be easier. There should be easier language for the configuration.

See all answers

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Comparisons

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 20% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

VAST Data vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

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Red Hat Ceph Storage vs IBM Spectrum Accelerate

Compared 55% of the time

IBM Spectrum Scale vs IBM Spectrum Accelerate

Compared 45% of the time

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Red Hat Ceph Storage vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library

Compared 33% of the time

StorMagic SvSAN vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library

Compared 22% of the time

DataCore SANsymphony vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library

Compared 22% of the time

FalconStor FreeStor vs StarWind Virtual Tape Library

Compared 22% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

June 2025

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

May 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Accelerate product report

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

May 2025

Download StarWind Virtual Tape Library product report

Also Known As

No data available

IBM XIV

No data available

Overview

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

IBM Spectrum Accelerate is a software-defined block storage solution designed for rapid deployment across heterogeneous infrastructure for hybrid cloud and delivering consistent service levels to a dynamic workload mix. It is based on proven grid-architecture, enterprise-scale IBM XIV technology. IBM Spectrum Accelerate can be deployed, including as hyper-converged infrastructure, on any x86 server, on pre-installed third-party appliances or on public cloud infrastructure, and is available as a service on IBM Cloud infrastructure.

IBM

For SMB and Enterprises, who either look to get rid of backup tapes completely, or are willing to accelerate backup process and add an extra level of protection, our solution is StarWind Virtual Tape Library (VTL). It is an appliance that eliminates the need in physical tape and “pretends” to be a supported tape drive or autoloader, keeping all data on inexpensive, fast and high-capacity spinning disks.

Even with explosive data growth, StarWind VTL fits the backup into backup window by accelerating it, so the process does not overlap with production time. Optionally, it creates additional copy of backup data for better safety. It is also available in a software-only form, as part of StarWind VSAN functionality.

StarWind VTL targets those, who need to replace existing tape backup infrastructure or accelerate it if regulatory requirements prohibit replacement. In case the goal is just virtualizing tape backup or creating a stretched backup infrastructure, StarWind Tape Redirector will come in handy.

StarWind

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

Silverpop

Volvo, Sony, Samsung, Hitachi

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Accelerate vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library

May 2025

Free Report: IBM Spectrum Accelerate vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Accelerate vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.

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See our IBM Spectrum Accelerate vs. StarWind Virtual Tape Library report.

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