IBM Storage FlashSystem vs. NetApp ONTAP Data Management Software

IBM Storage FlashSystems are well suited as VDI storage for Citrix XenServer environments. Our Xen VDIs are much more responsive with the fast IBM storage attached. With the low latency, the users are experiencing much less lag while working in their Windows VDIs hosted on the XenServers. There's also less graphic fragmentation that occurs since moving to the IBM Storage FlashSystem.

Incentivized

I have highly benefited from the performance of this great tool. Storage and data management programs have been running as planned since we deployed this system. Under NetApp ONTAP Data Management Software our data and customers contacts are always secure. It has helped our company in reducing storage costs as we can safely use cloud storage services. It gives us continuity guarantee even after our systems fail to function due to strong backup system.

Incentivized

• Data Replication over long distances using Policy-Based Replication and maintaining the RPO.
• We use snapshot technology heavily and these snaps are easy to create/automate and instantly available.
• Upgrades/Updates are deployed to the system without loss of data or services.
• Sub-millisecond latency is maintained and spikes are handled and absorbed by the system during peaks.
• When connected to the internet via Storage Insights and Cloud Call Home it makes for proactive problem alerting, monitoring and resolution.
• The fact that Replication and snapshot stuff are hidden under the covers and we no longer have to create mirror pairs or flashcopy pairs ourselves. It does it within the cluster or partnership.

Incentivized

• Cloud tool for easy multiple data management.
• Creating reports is incredible through the package.
• Data transportation and the real-time data analytics, this tool is the best ever.
• Data threats Protection capability is amazing.

Incentivized

• The flexiblity of upgrading the flash modules for a higher capcity needs to be allowed
• The user interface for the management console is sometimes a bit confusing
• the configuration of call home can only be done to a specific IP address but not a dns name

Incentivized

• More details on network interfaces are available in CLI. Would like to see similar visibility on the GUI.
• Deleting volumes that have been snapmirrored have to be released at the snapmirror destination first. Would be nice to have that feature at the source where you are deleting the volume.
• When creating a volume in the GUI it adds to the default junction point. Would be nice to choose the junction point as you were creating the volume (this is a feature available in the CLI).

Incentivized

As flash technology evolves rapidly, vendors should [adapt] to the changes and onboard them in their products. IBM is a bit slow in adopting advanced technology in [its] portfolio. Even though the current product is good, my decision is purely based on how the transformation of the product [is] being produced and supplied to [the] end-user.

Incentivized

I have found the system to very user friendly. We are currently using it for on premises storage only and have not had the need to leverage any of the cloud extensions. Being able to directly connect up to 8 hosts with dual controller fiber channel is a very nice feature for such a low cost SAN, which saved up quite a bit of money by not having to purchase fabric switches. This also keeps maintenance and power costs down and saves room in the rack.

Incentivized

Functionality is very impressive, practical, and useful. GUI could use several improvements.

Incentivized

IBM Flashsystems is always available for me, it is fiberchannel storage without the fuzz of what iscsi brings. It is a very reliable storage system, I have almost never issues with this system. The only things which go wrong are the updates because the old updates which have been staged on the disks are not properly cleaned in my opinion.

Incentivized

Under normal conditions the performance of the storages is very good, the only thing that can vary the performance is when we use pools with data reduction and the stored space of the pool exceeds 90%, in these cases the performance is very bad

Incentivized

Sometimes the knowledge of the support agent is quite limited and the support always has to route through the level 1 agent to screen all the informtion provided. Then its esclated to the next level support with the all collected data . The logs are always uploaded along wiht the case but still its reviewed at the lower level and then escalated / handed over to the next level if its complex issue to solve.

Incentivized

NetApp support is always second to none. That being said I have never once had to contact support for the NetApp System Manager software. It is simple, stable and easy to use. Given that their support is stellar in all other areas I don't see how this would be any different

Incentivized

THe training is often selfpaced and easy to follow if you have worked previously with other storage products. The content is clear and contains all the information needed for an admin to learn. However the troubleshooting part is not always included and this is dependent on forums or other sources where the information is not accessible very easily.

Incentivized

I was amazed by the way IBM Flash storage provides a huge amount of storage within the limited footprint, it helped us to replace big fat storage arrays, which aided in the process of moving towards lower hardware, carbon, and energy consumption footprint. We can comfortably say that Flash helped us to host applications fast with a blazing speed and user transactions are quite quick.

Incentivized

For the past six months, we have been utilizing this technology in our projects to manage a massive workload and produce swift business outcomes on a crucial production database. The IBM FlashSystem 7200, which offers high performance and compression, has so far been a great experience for us. The results and functionality of this product have delighted our consumers.

Incentivized

I have only used NetApp ONTAP Select platform in our organization in data storage and file management. It has efficiently managed all data-related problems and gives us the right roadmap of managing data from all sources effectively. Data migration from our company to the cloud storage datasets has been easy and secure. It provides reliable intelligence from all information gathered from our data sources that enhances better operations and smart decisions.

Incentivized

We have been able to scale this storage system whenever there has been requirement for additional capacity and performance. with the help of deduplication we have been able to build quite a robust environment.

Incentivized

• Easy of use is a key aspect, as we do not have dedicated storage staff.
• Our RPO has lowered near to Zero, using PBR as replication and this is key for us.
• DR plan testing has become easier and less time-consuming, allowing us to conduct tests more frequently.

Incentivized

• Previously were were running with just locally attached storage across all of our estate. With this tool we are not able to simplify the management of storage saving on resource usage across our Ops teams allowing us to focus on "more important" tasks.

Incentivized