Pure Storage FlashArray Reviews

We use Pure Storage FlashArray as well as FlashBlade. In Pure Storage FlashArray, we have the SAN and NAS storage models. 

We focus on performance when it comes to enterprises. We need both types of storage, one is for better performance and the other one is for larger space requirements. We use both types of storage at the same time.

Pure Storage FlashArray is helpful in meeting the performance needs of critical services. Different models are available, and each model has a different series. For example, you have the C model, and in this model, you have the 50 series and 90 series. Similarly, in the X model, you have the 70 series. We now get a lot more models of Pure Storage than before. Previously, not many models of Pure Storage were available, so we had to rely on other vendors, such as NetApp, but we faced performance issues with NetApp. It also required more troubleshooting. We started to get a better response time after we moved from NetApp to Pure Storage.

We have a single pane of glass for management. It is good.

With Pure Storage, the creation of LUNs is easier and quicker than others. We have not had any issues with it. The response time improved significantly, and the entire process became much more efficient, eliminating previously existing troubles.

Some storages do not provide an easy IOPS report, but with Pure Storage, we can see performance impact directly on the storage itself. That is the best feature.

Additionally, creating a replication pair is straightforward without the need for CLI commands. With other storage solutions, we have to use the CLI commands, whereas we do not need to do that with Pure Storage. We can simply create a replication pair. That is another good feature.

I like the performance. Performance-wise, it accommodates the needs of highly-critical servers. It is reliable. That is the third best feature. 

Awareness about Pure Storage needs to increase. Currently, people mostly think of Dell and NetApp when it comes to storage. More documentation and presentation would help reach new users. They need to come up with new ideas and ways to improve their brand awareness.

They also need to see if the system can handle creating a large number of LUNs at the same time. Any automation or a way of doing that could be helpful.

We have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for about two and a half years.

I would rate it an eight out of ten for stability. It has been good.

We have a lot of applications with millions of users. There are five data centers. Three of them are in Hyderabad and two of them are in Mumbai.

We have 150 people working with storage solutions.

I would rate the customer service a seven out of ten. Depending on priority cases, the vendor's response time can vary. For P1 or P2, a case owner is assigned within 15 to 20 minutes. Everything is great from the vendor's side.

Neutral

In my environment, different types of storage vendors are there. We have NetApp, Hitachi, Dell, and other vendors. We have been using Dell PowerStore Storage and we have been migrating some of them too. We have been using Pure Storage FlashArray and FlashBlade for a long time, and we have seen a lot of differences compared to the other storage solutions. 

The performance, latency, and throughput of Pure Storage FlashArray are good. The throughput is 5 GB or 12 GB per second. Latency is also below 5 milliseconds.

The replication process is easier with Pure Storage compared to others. Replication was one task that I found difficult with other storage solutions.

The deployment and associated activities are handled by a different team. They take care of everything necessary for the new environment.

With proper approvals, we can implement it within a month. It does require some maintenance from our end, but the vendor takes care of all the upgrades.

Pricing is moderate. It is neither cheap nor expensive.

We are happy with Pure Storage. About six months ago, we had a Pure Storage event in my company, and I liked attending that Pure Storage event.

Pure Storage should focus on creating more awareness and providing documentation and presentations. It should also aim to reach lower-end clients who are currently focused on other storage types.

I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray an eight out of ten.

We use Pure Storage FlashArray as storage in our VMware environment.

Pure Storage FlashArray's single management dashboard is important to us.

We saw immediate benefits with Pure Storage FlashArray in the areas of ease of use and performance. 

Pure Storage FlashArray has significantly helped us decrease the overall storage footprint in our company by approximately 70 percent or more.

Pure Storage's FlashArray with Evergreen architecture is essential for our organization to maintain continuous uptime. Our previous experience with NetApp required costly upgrades and disruptive downtime. With Evergreen, we have non-disruptive upgrades at no additional cost as long as we maintain our support contract with Pure Storage. We have undergone several upgrades without impacting our customers, which has been a significant benefit.

We have not had any downtime with our storage systems since switching to Pure Storage, whereas with previous vendors, we experienced downtime primarily due to performance issues. 

Pure Storage FlashArray has allowed us to expand substantially over the last ten years with no downtime. The cost has been manageable, and we have encountered no issues with scaling.

The most valuable features are the ease of use and support. Specifically, the snapshotting abilities of Pure Storage FlashArray are features we like a lot. The FlashArray management pane of glass, or the dashboard, is also helpful for us and is considered important.

On the technical side, the way that the array performs cleanup and garbage collection sometimes pushes it close to 100 percent utilization, causing some stress. A little more transparency about what's happening and why, would help us feel more comfortable.

I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for about ten years.

Stability has been great. We have not experienced any issues with stability, and we have not had any downtime in our operations since using Pure Storage FlashArray.

Pure Storage FlashArray has demonstrated excellent scalability, allowing for substantial expansion over the past decade without any downtime and at a reasonable cost.

Customer support has been excellent. We have used support multiple times for various issues, including failed disks, replacing failed FlashArray modules, controller upgrades, technical questions, and guidance for using their APIs and best practices. Their performance and speed have been outstanding, and I consider their customer service to be a ten out of ten.

Positive

Previously, we used NetApp and Nexenta, an open-source product. Our experience with Pure Storage has been better than NetApp, specifically around ease of use and cost.

The initial deployment of Pure Storage FlashArray was extremely easy. Deploying our first Pure array took about two hours compared to a week for deploying a single array with Nexenta.

One person is required for the deployment of FlashArray.

The pricing of Pure Storage FlashArray is reasonable. We spend a lot less time managing storage than with other vendors. Compression and deduplication mean we need a lot less capacity to support the same amount of data. The Evergreen support model provides new controllers every three years at no cost, significantly reducing operational expenses.

I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray nine out of ten.

Pure Storage FlashArray maintenance is handled by Pure Storage and includes software upgrades, security patching, and replacing failed storage media. We monitor performance using Pure Storage's provided tools.

Pure Support and sales engineers are readily available to assist with defining best practices and optimizations, offering valuable guidance for configuration, especially with third-party tools like VMware. So don't hesitate to reach out to their support. For instance, they have helped optimize VMware configurations for peak performance.

We use FlashArray for enterprise block workloads, especially VMware databases. Everything is a virtual environment these days. We work with companies in partner countries in industries like telecom and banking. 

You can see Pure Storage's performance benefits as soon as you have deployed the solution. In terms of compression and deduplication, you can see the benefit once you've migrated 25 to 30 percent of your workload to FlashArray. The algorithm needs that much to see how much duplicated data is inside the array. It has reduced the client's storage footprint 100 percent. 

One feature that's particularly valuable for our finance customers is Pure Storage's safe mode. It protects against ransomware attacks by taking snapshots. Our customers were very impressed with this capability. The data reduction is also impressive compared to other providers. 

The single pane of glass management is simple and easy to operate. It also seamlessly integrates with VMware and cloud environments. Pure Storage is hosted on the public cloud, so it's easy to monitor the array from your mobile phone.

Pure Storage's logs could provide more visibility to the end-user. The logging algorithms are different from those of other vendors. 

I have used Pure Storage for three years. 

Pure Storage FlashArray is reliable, and I've had no problems with hardware or software failures. 

I rate Pure Storage support eight out of 10. Their support is excellent, and they respond quickly. 

Positive

We recommend different solutions based on a questionnaire on the customer's needs. Are there performance or resource crunches? Is their current solution becoming obsolete? This isn't a problem with Pure Storage because it will last forever. 

Pure Storage builds its own drives using direct flash modules. Pure Storage has solutions for all scales from small businesses to the enterprise level. 

FlashArray is pre-deployed on hardware. It's very easy to deploy using one person. 

Pure Storage offers a good long-term ROI. You will get the new technology and the same level of support on an initial capital investment. It's a cost-effective solution for customers of any size for long term.

The Evergreen program is critical for our customers who would like to stay on this platform forever, control operating costs, and adapt to new technologies. 

The most important feature is that you get support services forever for a flat annual renewal cost.

I rate Pure Storage FlashArray eight out of 10. 

Our VMware infrastructure uses a Pure Storage FlashArray as its primary SAN storage solution.

Our organization values the single management pane of glass because it simplifies administration by consolidating all necessary tools and functionalities into one location, eliminating the need to navigate between different systems. This streamlined approach increases efficiency and allows us to manage our operations effectively.

The benefits of Pure Storage FlashArray were immediately apparent, with its speed dramatically reducing machine deployment times from several hours to mere minutes.

Pure Storage FlashArray significantly reduced our storage footprint. Moving from older three-point five-inch SAS disks to Pure's smaller disks and utilizing deduplication and compression, we condensed our storage from 12 racks to just four.

Pure Storage FlashArray reduces downtime compared to our previous storage solution. While our previous system was reliable with minimal downtime, it still required occasional maintenance, whereas Pure Storage FlashArray operates seamlessly without any maintenance requirements.

The Evergreen architecture provides a fantastic refresh cycle where storage, including the crucial controllers at the system's core, is replaced every three years during maintenance renewals. This effectively means that even after nine years, the system remains equivalent to a brand new one. This is greatly important to our organization's ability to maintain uptime. 

I appreciate the ease of provisioning storage on Pure Storage FlashArray. The deduplication and compression features make it cost-effective and remarkably straightforward to use.

Pure Storage FlashArray is fantastic. It shows and does everything I need, which is why I've used it for so long. However, improved reporting on the deduplication and compression functionality would be beneficial. While a general reduction in space usage is evident, it's impossible to determine the specific deduplication or compression rates for individual disk systems.

I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for nine years.

I rate the stability of Pure Storage FlashArray ten out of ten.

Although we haven't needed to scale significantly yet, the system appears capable of scaling.

The technical support always replies quickly, and the support quality has been fantastic.

Positive

We previously used HPE non-flash storage, but they did not offer the deduplication, compression, or SSD options that the Pure Storage FlashArray provides.

The initial deployment is straightforward, even for someone who has no experience with Pure Storage FlashArray. It takes less than one day.

Deploying a Pure Storage FlashArray can involve various infrastructure components, making it more efficient to use a team. In most organizations, a single person would lack the necessary access to all the systems involved in the deployment process.

We implemented Pure Storage FlashArray nine years ago when it was new to the market and obtained it at a preferential price. However, the current retail price may be relatively high, and discounts may not be available.

I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray ten out of ten.

Pure Storage handles all maintenance. Upgrades are initiated by simply sending an email request to Pure Storage, which manages the upgrade process.

Pure Storage FlashArray offers fantastic performance and is easy to set up, but it's important to consider the types of workloads you'll be using, as this can impact its data deduplication and compression efficiency.

We use Pure Storage FlashArray as the primary storage for our virtualized environment. 

Pure Storage arrays use flash memory, which provides faster data access and improved performance compared to traditional spinning disk storage. Pure Storage has features like deduplication, compression, and thin provisioning help reduce storage requirements and optimize the use of available space. The systems come with intuitive management interfaces and automation features that simplify storage operations and reduce administrative overhead.

Pure Storage FlashArray helps reduce downtime by 99.99 percent.

The most valuable feature of the FlashArray is Pure One, which provides a comprehensive overview of our entire storage environment. Pure One allows us to visualize our whole fleet and conduct various administrative assessments. This includes monitoring capacity usage and identifying the specific allocation of storage across our infrastructure. The FlashArray offers a centralized management system that is particularly appealing.

The self-service process encountered a bug that caused it to stall and prevent completion. Pure Storage should address these issues to enhance the functionality of self-service upgrades.

I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for about three years.

Pure Storage FlashArray is stable. We have not had any issues.

We can quickly scale the FlashArray if the device is not nearing the end of its life. Their systems are designed to scale easily, allowing you to add more capacity or performance as needed without major disruptions.

The technical support team is knowledgeable and efficient. They quickly assign a technician to our cases, who analyses the issue or, if necessary, transfers it to another technician at the end of their shift. This entire process is smooth and seamless.

Positive

I previously used HP Storage, but Pure Storage FlashArray performs better. The IOPS is much better than what HP provides.

The initial setup is complex for exceptionally large environments. Pure Professional Services is always available to assist.

We implemented in-house with support from Pure professional services.

While more expensive than other storage solutions in the same space, Pure Storage FlashArray offers superior performance that often justifies the higher cost and adds value overall.

I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray nine out of ten.

When you purchase a Pure Storage FlashArray, you're not just acquiring storage but also investing in excellent support. With a dedicated support representative assigned to your case, you can expect immediate assistance whenever you log in, day or night.

Maintenance is required for periodic updates and patches. Pure Storage informs us when the patches or updates are available. 

We use Pure Storage FlashArray for storage allocation, DR, replication, and performance. We are migrating both servers and storage to Pure Storage.

It has reduced downtime significantly, and the self-service upgrade feature allows us to handle upgrades smoothly through the console.

It has helped decrease our organization’s storage footprint. There is about 15% reduction.

The snapshot feature is valuable. It protects data based on the policy. We can schedule snapshots and have unalterable data. It reduces management efforts.

Vendor support is good. After raising a case, we get a response within an hour or two.

I have been primarily working with storage and have not fully explored other areas, but there is some room for improvement when it comes to performance reporting.

I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for one year. I have been using Hitachi Storage and Sun Storage on all legacy devices. We are migrating all these servers and storage to Pure Storage FlashArray.

Our experience with the stability of FlashArray has been excellent. On a scale from one to ten, I would rate it an eight.

The scalability of the solution is quite good, and I would rate it an eight out of ten.

For a P2 issue, the SLA is 4 hours. They were able to resolve the issue within two hours. Just a month ago, we faced an issue, and they were able to resolve that within an hour. We got support immediately.

The technical support provided by Pure Storage is exceptional, and I would rate it a ten out of ten.

Positive

We have been handling all the legacy environments, such as Hitachi USP V/VM, Hitachi AMS, Sun StorageTek, and EMC. They all were at the end of life and out of support. We have more than 1,000 devices and servers. Our servers were also out of service and end of life. We planned to migrate all the servers and data into Pure Storage as single devices. Instead of using multiple storage solutions, we wanted to use a single one and move to Pure Storage. We also had to deal with different vendors for support. We wanted to have a single vendor.

With these legacy devices, we were not getting any support. When we had any hardware failure or some issues, we were not getting a solution. For any hardware failures, we were not getting the parts. That is why we thought of migrating to Pure Storage.

The deployment took about two months, primarily due to planning and the time taken for customer approval processes.

We are primarily using it on-premises, but we have plans to move to the cloud over the next one or two years.

I would recommend this solution. I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray a seven out of ten.

I use Pure Storage for multiple clients. One is a client related to postal services. We are using a database to manage six petabytes. 

The main benefit of Pure Storage is performance. We have critical applications running on FlashArray without any noticeable impact on performance. I can immediately see the difference between Pure Storage and the other arrays I've used. 

It has optimized the storage footprint, delivering savings to our clients by drastically reducing the cost of infrastructure and maintenance. 

Deduplication is an excellent feature. I also like the NAS and support.

The latest release contains bugs that shouldn't be in a production environment. Two incidents impacted our client, including hardware-related bugs. They need to be more cautious in testing before they release.

We have used Pure Storage for two years.

I rate Pure Storage FlashArray nine out of 10. We have reduced downtime by 30 to 50 percent. 

We can upgrade Pure Storage without any latency problems.

I rate Pure Storage support. The response times are good, but they use third-party support. They come and work on hardware issues. Support is available when a client needs it. 

Positive

I have worked with EMC and IBM arrays. Pure Storage is simpler to manage than other arrays. If you already have an array but you don't have the budget for Pure Storage, I wouldn't recommend migrating. 

Pure Storage FlashArray isn't completely flash. It's a semi-hybrid that combines SSDs and SAS disks. IBM's flash array is also good in terms of performance. Pure Storage and IBM have comparable conformance. 

We had some complications configuring the NAS, and some features did not work for our environment. We achieved ready integration in one domain, but we had two domains in NDRRS. The deployment took less than a day, but we had to complete all the prerequisites. If you are using NAS, you must implement many things before configuring it and working with other teams. It takes maybe a week to complete the array configuration and bring it into production. One person is enough, and Pure Storage doesn't require maintenance.

I rate Pure Storage FlashArray nine out of 10. 

We use the solution for virtual machine storage. Any virtual machine that we run is stored in Pure Storage. Everything from databases to applications runs off it.

The product provides ease of management. It has a lower cost of ownership. The tool has reduced our power consumption.

We use the metro cluster. It is very intuitive and easy to set up. The data reduction technology is pretty good. We see quite a good reduction in our data. It’s probably in line with other vendors. The performance is excellent. As a storage platform, the solution has been good and very reliable. It's quite difficult to find anything negative to say about it.

There should be improvements in internal data management. If we suddenly dump large amounts of data onto the storage system, it takes a while to process it. The vendor has said that it would be fixed in future releases.

I have been using the solution for 20 months. I am using the latest version of the solution.

I rate the stability a ten out of ten.

The scalability is excellent. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten.

The support is okay.

Positive

The deployment process was very straightforward. It was up and running in an hour. We need two engineers to maintain the product.

The price is reasonable. We don’t pay to license any of the features. I rate the pricing an eight out of ten.

I also use Dell EMC and XtremIO.

We do routine upgrades. It’s not that often. It happens every six months. I will recommend the tool to others. Pure Storage has simplified our operations and released our engineers to do other functions. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.