IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe Reviews

We use this solution for virtual infrastructure for our core system and we run Hypervisor on top of it. I'm team lead, IT infrastructure, and I work in a financial institution. 

The performance of this solution is good and they have a user-friendly UI. When we're working with a small volume without needing much compression and deduplication, FlashSystem works well. It's a simple, easy-to-use solution that is scalable. 

We're not satisfied with the deduplication and compression for our volumes. When we enable those features, we assess issues like virtual machine performance which is quite a complex thing to do with FlashSystem. We'd like to have better technical support because they ask lots of questions when we could just have a remote session and resolve the issue. I'd like to see application level integration with Microsoft Hyper-V integration with the IBM Storages in the next upgrade.

I've been using this solution for five years. 

The stability is good. 

We are running over 400 virtual machines so the product is scalable. It's being used by internal and external users and we have our digital products -- internet banking, ATMs -- on this storage. 

IBM needs to increase its technical support. The support mechanism is very complex compared to their competitors.

Positive

The initial setup is very simple. If fiber connectivity is good between storage and sensor chips, deployment will take a day. We had an IBM engineer implement the solution. 

You get value for money, because the product is good in terms of control failure. In general, it gives us peace of mind but we have an issue with their support because they don't handle our issues very well.

We're looking to explore other solutions, and what they offer in terms of price and features. I recommend this solution but if you have the need for good compression and deduplication features, then I would suggest checking out other solutions. IBM is only good if you don't depend significantly on those two aspects. 

I rate this solution nine out of 10. 

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is easy to use and comes with good performance. 

The tool's architecture is complex. It also needs to add data utilization reports. 

I have been using the product for five to six years. 

I rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten. 

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is scalable. I rate it an eight out of ten. 

I work with Dell and HPE. 

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe's installation is easy and can be completed in one day. You need one to two resources to do it. 

The tool's pricing is competitive. 

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is mostly for medium businesses. I rate it a nine out of ten. 

Some of our clients use IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe for the core banking, and some use it for their core ERP database server, like SAP HANA.

Feature-wise, I like that the solution's disk space includes NVMe flash modules.

There is a scope for improvement in the solution's software area. IBM is currently not offering volume-based encryption or compression, while other brands or IBM's competitors are doing it.

Speaking about what I wish to see in the future releases of the solution, I would like to say that most of the time, we face the need for unified storage that others are offering, but IBM doesn't offer. The second feature I want to see is NVMe to NVMe storage extension.

With IBM, I've been working for fifteen years. I have been working with IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe for the last three years. We are working with Spectrum Virtualize Version 8.5.
My company has a partnership with IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe.

It is a very stable product. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten because we did not face any issues in the last three years.

It's quite good in scalability because, within the box, IBM offers around one terabyte capacity. If we use external virtualization, then it can go up to thirty-two terabytes.

I rate the solution a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is low scalability, and ten is high scalability.

Some of my company's customers are medium-sized businesses, while others are enterprise-sized.

I'm the technical person of our company. So, I'm the technical person supporting the customer.

On a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy, I rate the setup phase a ten since it was very easy. The deployment took less than a day. But the migration of data from existing storage to the solution took seven days.

The deployment process involved the initialization of the storage box and the customization according to a customer's environment. We usually provide the cluster IT, and then we customize, create the tools, create the volumes, host groups, and host metrics.

Using the solution, I can say that ROI is a hundred percent.

On a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing an eight. The price is a little bit expensive for IBM solutions, but sometimes it depends on the customer size, budget, or the discounts offered by IBM. There are no additional costs to the standard licensing fees.

If a customer is looking for a high-performance flash storage network, it's a good option since it gives you end-to-end NVMe connectivity within the box.

There are some missing features that IBM needs to improve or add to its solution. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

We are using it as primary storage for VMware clusters, and we are also using it as a backup storage system for small configurations, such as the 5000 model.

Its ease of use, performance, and hardware compression is very useful feature. 

There is room for improvement in terms of management. IBM can make management easier, as it doesn't seem to be as easy as Huawei. Moreover, the support could be better. 

I have been working with this solution for three years. 

The solution has been stable in my experience and I have not encountered any stability issues. However, I am aware that some of our customers using StoreWise and FlashSystems have reported issues with snapshots and other features. Despite this, improvements are being made and the overall stability of the system is good.

It's a scalable solution. It is easy to integrate. You can add disk shelves and disks to it, and it's online. Currently, we have approximately four customers using it. 

The customer service and support team is not bad, but it's not excellent either. The response time could be faster and more accurate in analyzing the systems.

Neutral

The initial setup is quite straightforward if you've been in touch with any of the storage services from different vendors, but it's not as straightforward as Huawei. All of the storage we have is deployed on-premises. We do not make cloud installations. It takes about forty minutes to an hour to deploy.

The deployment process is straightforward if you have experience with storage services from different vendors. For maintenance of the solution, it's approximately two persons for each customer. The minimum requirement is one person who can operate and manage the storage.

For the deployment process, first of all, you have to install it by simply connecting the cables and power cables. After that, you need to set up the IP addresses for communication between your PC and the storage system. Then connect to the management and change the password. After changing the password, configure basic settings such as DNS, MTP, and other configurations. Then, you can configure the storage itself by creating storage pools, configuring logs, hosts, and mapping. Finally, check the connected systems and verify if you are able to see the configured logs on the storage system.

When buying the storage system, there is a basic bundle of licenses included. If you need something extra, you have to pay for it additionally. But generally, customers are buying all the licenses in the basic bundle.

 I would advise them to go for the 7000 series as it is powerful enough in terms of performance and cost-effective. If they want something for backup or general purposes, then they can go for the 5000 systems.

Overall, I would rate FlashSystem 9100 NVMe an eight on a scale from one to ten.

The FlashSystem is currently hosting all of our applications and services.

The performance of each server was improved when we implemented this product. The IOPS rate is high with flash storage, compared to other types of disks.

The administration is easy and very straightforward. It is the same software for managing both flash and non-flash storage. It can be managed using either the GUI or the command-line interface.

It is a high-performance product that serves our requests well.

The IBM Professional Services give us technical support that is both timely and of high quality.

I would like to have replication functionality built directly in the product, rather than having to use a separate device for this.

We have been using the IBM FlashSystem A9000 for nearly eight months.

This is a very stable product during daily operation, maintenance, and even while upgrading the firmware. It comes configured from IBM with one controller and after testing it for perhaps an hour, the firmware will be updated and the other controller will take over. Then, the next phase begins.

At this point, it again tests the system for about an hour, and then the other controller is updated. There is no downtime, availability is not affected, and it remains stable. 

It is possible to both scale-up and scale-out, and it depends on the needs of the business. If I need more capacity then it's easy, and this is true even if I need more performance.

The technical support is very good.

Prior to using the A9000, we were using the V9000 for nearly two years.

Before moving to IBM, were work working with the EMC VMAX storage array. I was not the decision-maker who decided to switch, although it may have been related to cost.

The initial setup is easy and not complicated.

From scratch, the Rack and Stack take perhaps two days, and the configuration of the system takes an additional day.

The setup is completed by IBM, although we are involved in the post-installation knowledge transfer.

There are pricing options from the mid-rand to the high-range, of which the suitability depends upon the requirements.

Overall, I think that this is a good product and I recommend it.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Our client is Jaguar Land Rover, and we use the solution's storage array to store data related to car manufacturing and design.

The most valuable feature of the solution is its upgrades, as we don't have to do much homework because of its different controllers.

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is an expensive solution, and its pricing could be improved.

I have been using IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe since 2015.

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is a very stable solution.

Around 700 to 800 users are using the solution in our organization.

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is a scalable solution.

I rate the customer support an eight and a half out of ten.

Positive

The solution's initial setup was easy, and a vendor did all the configuration for us.

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is a very stable product. You need to do some homework to see if it supports your application, and then you can go ahead with it.

Overall, I rate IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe ten out of ten.

The prices are high. Except for this, there is nothing I don't like in FlashSystem. Before IBM Flash, I was using NetApp 2020. You can't easily do what you want to do with NetApp. It takes more time to take snapshots, it takes more time to do deduplication. 

FlashSystem is better than the old system. I recommend it to my friends who ask what to pick.

I have been using IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe for about three years.

FlashSystem doesn't have any limitations. 

IBM's support is not good. I experienced a big problem where I opened the console IBM Storage and would see that something was broken. I called the call centers, and I said, "I have a problem. My drive is not working." They want me to give them the serial number, I gave it to them and they told me "I cannot find your product. Your product is not here."

It was unbelievable. I had purchased it a week prior. I was the first person in Turkey to buy it. They said they couldn't help me. I ended up fixing it myself. 

Before buying IBM Flash, I tested many flash storage solutions. For example, I tested Pure Storage for about one and a half months, Huawei Storage, and Dell Storage. I tested and compared the performance results. 

I also tested Iometer. When we run the Imeter on NetApp, the performance result is not the same. It immediately goes down and suddenly, goes up. It's not stable. But when we were testing Pure Storage, we found it to be very good. It's stable. It goes on the same line. When I tested Dell Storage and removed the controller or hard drive manually I saw the performance go down. Dell goes down, and Huawei goes down. When I did the same test on Pure Storage,  the performance was near the same. Because of this, I would recommend Pure Storage. I plan to buy it when I have the budget for it. 

I would rate IBM FlashSystem a seven out of ten. The performance is good but the support is not. It's easy to use, has good stability, and many features. 

The solution provides unique and user-friendly technology.

The solution's compression or deduplication features over volume need improvement. Also, the scalability of its box setup could be better.

We have been using the solution since 2012.

It is a very stable solution.

The solution is scalable. I rate its scalability a nine out of ten. It is suitable for medium to enterprise customers.

The solution's technical support team is proactive, although their services are costly.

Positive

The solution is easy to install. It took us around two to five hours to complete the initial configuration. Afterwards, it took us three days to migrate the data.

The implementation team for the solution involved three executives from the vendor's support team, along with me as an architect for POC.

The solution's price is competitive with other products like Dell and Huawei. Also, the customers have to pay one time cost for it.

I advise others to use the solution if they require good system performance and scalability. The product is excellent; I rate it a nine out of ten.