NetApp E-Series vs VAST Data comparison

NetApp and VAST Data are both solutions in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category. NetApp is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.5, while VAST Data is ranked #12. NetApp holds a 2.9% mindshare in N, compared to VAST Data’s 5.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of VAST Data users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

VAST Data and NetApp E-Series are competing solutions in the storage management category. NetApp E-Series holds the upper hand in data management due to its extensive features, while VAST Data is more favorable regarding pricing and support.

Features: VAST Data uses advanced architecture, ensuring high-speed performance and efficient data reduction technologies, making it stand out for its cutting-edge infrastructure. NetApp E-Series is notable for scalability, broad integration with enterprise environments, and a comprehensive set of features that enhance the adaptability of storage solutions to varied business needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VAST Data simplifies deployment with its modern infrastructure, reducing setup time and system management complexity, supported by responsive customer service. NetApp E-Series, although traditional in deployment, offers a comprehensive service framework that supports more complex environments with robust service support.

Pricing and ROI: VAST Data has lower initial setup costs, presenting a compelling ROI by reducing long-term operational expenses through efficient management and lower ownership costs. NetApp E-Series involves higher upfront expenses but offers extended enterprise features and integration advantages, justifying its price through increased long-term value and resource optimization.

To learn more, read our detailed NetApp E-Series vs. VAST Data Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

NetApp E-Series vs. VAST Data

July 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 September 2025, in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 3.1%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp E-Series is 2.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VAST Data is 5.9%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	3.1%
NetApp E-Series	2.9%
VAST Data	5.9%
Other	88.1%

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

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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Mir Gulzar Ahmed

IT Manager at Synergy Computers

A very cost-effective and reliable product for Big Data Analytics, Technical Computing, Video Surveillance, and Backup and Recovery

The E-2800 and E5700 have built-in storage to storage replication for full capacity! By that it meant; customers do not need to worry about DRS. All of the E-Series models offer all RIAD types, 1, 10, 5, 6, etc; so you will get more flexibility to create RAID groups based on your application requirements. The other thing is that it is almost plug-and-play; it is a good friend for storage support engineers. Secondly, at the same time, it is very simple to create RGs, Volumes, and host mappings; so for customers, it is also simple and easy to perform storage admin-related tasks.

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Alan Powers

HPC CTO at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Stability-wise, a device that has been up and running for years

The failover capability and resiliency are some of the solution's valuable features. The big thing is resilience because it has richer coding in it, so multiple devices can't fail. Also, one can still access a number of CBoxes that can allow one to access their file system. Once a device fails, it fails the transparency of the end-user, and it just starts using another resource. The encryption capability, the snapshots, along with a whole bunch of features make the tool valuable. VAST Data keeps adding more and more features all the time.

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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

"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."

"It is very easy to install and configure. It has got excellent diagnostics. If you really need to see how the box is performing, the console gives you a lot of information. You can set thresholds as well as alerts based on the thresholds, which is a very powerful functionality. They are very proactive. They know how to monitor and manage the systems. They see a problem, and they are all over it before us. They see the problem before we see it, which is very good."

"The Pure1 component is most valuable at this point in time when comparing it with EMC. Pure1 is where you can have your diagnostics in the cloud, so you can look at things from your mobile phone."

"The solution is scalable."

"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."

"The database workloads are pretty fast because I frequently move data from here to there."

"One of the best features is the support, which is excellent."

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

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"My customers are satisfied with the performance."

"Customers go for the E Series if they need backup storage because it is cheap."

"The product is easy to use."

"The overall experience has been positive."

"The solution is useful for machine learning and scientific applications, including computer simulations."

"This has been one of the most reliable storage systems that I have ever used."

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the pricing of the product."

"Our use cases require more multi-tenant capabilities and additional VLAN interfaces for separating different customers. We currently use it to provide storage, sometimes shared storage, to different customers, but it is less flexible in comparison to a dedicated solution."

"I would like to see replication and DR features in the next release of this solution."

"The UI for this solution needs to be improved."

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

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

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

"The software layer has to improve."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"Though the performance is there, if NetApp wants to be competitive with the others, it must improve their business continuity."

"NetApp should add more production lines to the E series so we can make flexible solutions more easily."

"With NetApp E-Series, when we are running active-active NAS4, sometimes due to either an issue or a bug, we experience failures. At least twice yearly, we have seen this issue. When it occurs, we lose critical systems such as MQ."

"The solution must provide more training courses."

"The write performance could be improved because it is less than half of the read performance."

"The read/write ratio is an area in the solution with some flaws and needs improvement."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"As far as the licensing costs, everything is included in the license."

"The product is expensive."

"We pay approximately $50,000 USD per year in licensing fees."

"Our licensing fees are $500,000+ USD."

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

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

"Pretty much everything that you need is licensed when you buy the product. Licensing to me is different than the maintenance cost, but they can bleed into one another. We buy the product, and we expect three years of support bundled into what we negotiate on our storage arrays. I would start to see maintenance costs going into the fourth year, but we're not there yet."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"The price is reasonable for NetApp E-Series."

"We acquired VAST Data as a one-time, capital purchase."

"Price-wise, VAST Data is not the cheapest, not the most expensive one."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

32%

Computer Software Company

14%

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

No data available

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.

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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...

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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 NetApp E-Series?

The product is easy to use.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp E-Series?

The price is reasonable for NetApp E-Series.

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What needs improvement with NetApp E-Series?

The toolkits were much easier compared to EMC.

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Comparisons

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HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 27% of the time

NetApp AFF vs NetApp E-Series

Compared 16% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs NetApp E-Series

Compared 13% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs NetApp E-Series

Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs VAST Data

Compared 10% of the time

MinIO vs VAST Data

Compared 8% of the time

Databricks vs VAST Data

Compared 8% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs VAST Data

Compared 8% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

August 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

August 2025

Download NetApp E-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

August 2025

Download VAST Data product report

Also Known As

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

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

NetApp E-Series offers a flexible, high-performance storage solution ideal for handling intensive data requirements. Designed to optimize capacity and improve data availability, it supports diverse sector needs.

NetApp E-Series is a purpose-built system engineered to deliver fast, consistent performance. It is best utilized in environments requiring high-performance workloads where speed and efficiency are crucial. Users appreciate its reliability and scalability, which contribute to effective data management. The system is known for its efficient storage capabilities, providing robust data protection and seamless integration with existing infrastructure.

What are the key features of NetApp E-Series?

Scalability: Supports expansion to accommodate growing data needs seamlessly.
Performance: Delivers high-speed processing for demanding applications.
Integrations: Easily integrates with existing IT environments, enhancing operational efficiency.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Cost Efficiency: Offers competitive pricing with long-term savings through energy-efficient designs.
Reliability: Provides consistent uptime, minimizing disruptions and improving productivity.
Flexibility: Versatile deployment options cater to specific performance and capacity requirements.

NetApp E-Series is widely implemented across industries ranging from healthcare to finance, where it supports critical data-intensive applications. Its deployment in environments such as scientific research and media production highlights its capacity for handling high-speed data access and reliable performance.

NetApp

Innovation to break decades of data storage trade-offs.

VAST Data

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

Norwest Venture Partners, General Dynamics Information Technology, Ginkgo Bioworks

Buyer's Guide

NetApp E-Series vs. VAST Data

July 2025

Free Report: NetApp E-Series vs. VAST Data

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