Red Hat Ceph Storage vs VMware Software Defined Storage comparison

Red Hat and Broadcom are both solutions in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category. Red Hat is ranked #3 with an average rating of 9.3, while Broadcom is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.3. Red Hat holds a 12.3% mindshare in SDS, compared to Broadcom’s 2.7% mindshare. Additionally, 82% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Red Hat Ceph Storage

Read 27 Red Hat Ceph Storage reviews

14,002 Views
3,080 Comparison Views

82% willing to recommend

VMware Software Defined Sto...

Read 7 VMware Software Defined Storage reviews

666 Views
613 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Red Hat Ceph Storage

VMware Software Defined Sto...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

Red Hat Ceph Storage and VMware Software Defined Storage compete in the software-defined storage market. VMware often has the upper hand due to its comprehensive enterprise-level features and virtualization capabilities, despite Ceph's scalability and open-source integration.

Features: Red Hat Ceph Storage provides scalability, open-source compatibility, and seamless cloud integration, ideal for large-scale data environments. VMware Software Defined Storage offers advanced virtualization features, enterprise-grade security, and integration within VMware's ecosystem for improved virtual environment functionality.

Room for Improvement: Red Hat Ceph Storage could enhance its enterprise support and virtualization features, while simplifying management tools. VMware Software Defined Storage might improve open-source compatibility, reduce pricing for broader accessibility, and enhance scalability options beyond VMware environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Red Hat Ceph Storage provides flexible deployment with strong support for integration and troubleshooting. VMware Software Defined Storage offers a streamlined deployment within VMware environments, with efficient customer service tailored to enterprise needs, making the process smoother for clients.

Pricing and ROI: Red Hat Ceph Storage's competitive pricing reflects its open-source nature, offering quicker ROI for those leveraging open-source infrastructure. VMware Software Defined Storage, while more costly, provides substantial ROI through enhanced management and virtualization efficiencies, appealing to enterprises seeking comprehensive benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Red Hat Ceph Storage vs. VMware Software Defined Storage Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs. VMware Software Defined Storage

March 2026

Download the complete report

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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

Red Hat Ceph Storage

Ranking in Software Defined Storage (SDS)

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

File and Object Storage (1st)

VMware Software Defined Sto...

Ranking in Software Defined Storage (SDS)

14th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category, the mindshare of Red Hat Ceph Storage is 12.3%, down from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Software Defined Storage is 2.7%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Storage (SDS) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Red Hat Ceph Storage	12.3%
VMware Software Defined Storage	2.7%
Other	85.0%

Software Defined Storage (SDS)

Featured Reviews

Rifat Rahman

Infrastructure Architect & CEO at Tirzok Private Limited

Offers reliable performance and availability for large deployments

I would like to see improvements in Red Hat Ceph Storage not because I necessarily think it needs improvement, but because I generally prefer to do things manually rather than following the containerization part. Current deployments are based on containers, but I deploy manually with my scripts and controls. If there are no Kubernetes-like requirements, I often prefer to deploy a whole manual process. I don't ask for improvements in the deployment model because Red Hat has its own philosophy about making things, but it's my personal choice that I prefer things manually. Some features are available only in the containerization part, so if those are also available in manual deployment, that will help.

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Mohammad Jundiah

Solutions Architect at QDS

Data security and performance excel but integration and licensing need improvement

I used Nutanix for its hyper-converged infrastructure capabilities and VMware Site Recovery for disaster recovery. Additionally, I worked with VMware Software Defined Storage both internally and with partners to consolidate servers into one solution The most valuable features of VMware Software…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"We have some legacy servers that can be associated with this structure. With Ceph, we can rearrange these machines and reuse our investment."

"We have not encountered any stability issues for the product."

"The setup is very easy, deserving a ten out of ten."

"It has helped to save money and scale the storage without limits."

"I would definitely recommend Red Hat Ceph Storage. It is a complete solution for cloud-native storage needs."

"Most valuable features include replication and compression."

"The solution is pretty stable."

"What I found most valuable from Red Hat Ceph Storage is integration because if you are talking about a solution that consists purely of Red Hat products, this is where integration benefits come in. In particular, Red Hat Ceph Storage becomes a single solution for managing the entire environment in terms of the container or the infrastructure, or the worker nodes because it all comes from a single plug."

More Red Hat Ceph Storage pros

"The solution is simple to configure and provides good performance and less footprint."

"VMware Software Defined Storage gives higher availability against data corruption."

"This is an easy-to-use product for adding flexibility to your storage solution."

"The single management panel is the main feature that is wonderful for the customer."

"The most valuable features of the solution are that it is easy to deploy and the support is really good."

"The most valuable features of VMware Software Defined Storage are scalability, high availability, and performance."

"The best part of the solution is that you can actually scale up to a large number of operating systems without additional hardware."

"The most valuable features of VMware Software Defined Storage are scalability, high availability, and performance."

Cons

"The licensing cost is excessively high. This is a significant issue from my perspective."

"The storage capacity of the solution can be improved."

"I would like to see better performance and stability when Ceph is in recovery."

"If troubleshooting is needed, the response should be faster."

"Areas of Red Hat Ceph Storage that have room for improvement include more promotion. Many people do not know about the Stratus case, which is one of the most reliable systems available in the world, but they are not aware that a system can keep working even if there is a hardware failure."

"While the documentation for Ceph Storage is helpful, it could be improved."

"This product uses a lot of CPU and network bandwidth. It needs some deduplication features and to use delta for rebalancing."

"Rebalancing and recovery are a bit slow."

More Red Hat Ceph Storage cons

"The license model of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"It doesn't have the ability to be deployed on any kind of hardware and network connectors."

"VMware Software Defined Storage should include a shared database on a standard version."

"The performance is not as good as some competing products and reporting can be improved."

"Simplifying the licensing model and making it cheaper would improve the solution."

"I'd like to see improved hardware compatibility"

"There is room for more integrations and plugins into more storages."

"The solution has some limitations in terms of replication to remote sites or cloud infrastructure, which need improvement."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this product isn't high."

"If you can afford a product like Red Hat Ceph Storage then go for it. If you cannot, then you need to test Ceph and get your hands dirty."

"The price of Red Hat Ceph Storage is reasonable."

"Most of time, you can get Ceph with the OpenStack solution in a subscription as a bundle."

"The operational overhead is higher compared to Azure because we own the hardware."

"I rate the product’s pricing an eight out of ten."

"The other big advantage is that Ceph is free software. Compared to traditional SAN based storage, it is very economical."

"We never used the paid support."

More Red Hat Ceph Storage pricing and cost advice

"I believe there is a yearly licensing fee of around $2000 - $5000. I don't think there are additional costs above that but it depends on the type of infrastructure you're booting."

"A single socket costs you around US $6,000 for three years. At a minimum, you have a three load cluster for a medium or enterprise-scale company. It can get quite expensive because you're likely to need four to six sockets on the other side. It comes to around $30,000."

"The product is quite expensive and is among the most expensive for this type of solution."

"The solution is very expensive."

"VMware Software Defined Storage is a slightly expensive solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	15

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

How does Red Hat Ceph Storage compare with MiniO?

Red Hat Ceph does well in simplifying storage integration by replacing the need for numerous storage solutions. This solution allows for multiple copies of replicated and coded pools to be kept, ea...

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What do you like most about Red Hat Ceph Storage?

The high availability of the solution is important to us.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Red Hat Ceph Storage?

Areas of Red Hat Ceph Storage that have room for improvement include more promotion. Many people do not know about the Stratus case, which is one of the most reliable systems available in the world...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Software Defined Storage?

The price of VMware Software Defined Storage is on the pricey side, rated four out of five in cost. There is room for improvement in simplifying and reducing the licensing cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware Software Defined Storage?

There is room for more integrations and plugins into more storages. More automation, such as using Playbook on Ansible or other automation tools, would be very helpful. Simplifying the licensing mo...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for VMware Software Defined Storage?

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 50% of the time

NetApp StorageGRID vs Red Hat Ceph Storage

Compared 3% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Red Hat Ceph Storage

Compared 3% of the time

VMware vSAN vs Red Hat Ceph Storage

Compared 3% of the time

Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) vs Red Hat Ceph Storage

Compared 2% of the time

More Red Hat Ceph Storage Competitors

Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) vs VMware Software Defined Storage

Compared 45% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs VMware Software Defined Storage

Compared 16% of the time

IBM Spectrum Scale vs VMware Software Defined Storage

Compared 13% of the time

DataCore SANsymphony vs VMware Software Defined Storage

Compared 8% of the time

Everpure FlashBlade vs VMware Software Defined Storage

Compared 7% of the time

More VMware Software Defined Storage Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Ceph Storage

February 2026

Download Red Hat Ceph Storage product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Software Defined Storage

February 2026

Download VMware Software Defined Storage product report

Also Known As

Ceph

VMware SDS

Overview

Red Hat Ceph Storage is an enterprise open source platform that provides unified software-defined storage on standard, economical servers and disks. With block, object, and file storage combined into one platform, Red Hat Ceph Storage efficiently and automatically manages all your data.

Red Hat

VMware software-defined storage is a simple, yet intelligent, storage data center architecture that aligns with business and application demands—eliminating static, purpose-built and inefficient hardware with dynamic, agile and automated solutions.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Dell, DreamHost

Helse Nord, Sky

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs. VMware Software Defined Storage

March 2026

Free Report: Red Hat Ceph Storage vs. VMware Software Defined Storage

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