We performed a comparison between FreeNAS and IBM FlashSystem based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two NAS solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."What I like about it is that I can work on it from any computer or any device. The initial setup is very simple. The setup wizard is really helpful."
"It integrates well into either Windows or Linux environments."
"Its stability is the most valuable. It is reliable, and we don't have to worry too much about it."
"The ease of use of the 'jail', the management of backups, and copies to easily create test and pre-production scenarios have speeded up the development and distribution of business apps."
"The solution has been very stable so far."
"It has the best storage capacity."
"FreeNAS is much simpler and easier to use than other solutions, but we don't have the complete range of features that come with the full version."
"It is simple to make an update."
"IBM FlashSystem is the best solution for storage virtualization."
"Most of the features for the reduction in data compression are useful. It is also very easy to use and administer. Its performance is also good."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the deduplication, because the nature of the data that we are using in our current environment, has a lot of replicated data."
"The most valuable features were the performance of the array, i.e., very low latency and high IOPS. Plus, the management interface is very easy to use."
"The performance of IBM FlashSystem is very good. The new technology and high throughput have given us more confidence in the solution. The management of the system has improved and we can control the monitoring system alerts and multiple FlashSystems with the Enterprise Cloud Edition, which is free. The migration of recently stored data to a new flash is much easier. You can move your data because you can utilize it externally."
"Stability-wise, this solution is fine."
"The solution is very easy to configure and use."
"The one thing that I find difficult to do which is very time-consuming is that I like to have a backup of the important files."
"They should include clustering for the solution."
"The support for S3 needs to be improved."
"The latest version of the dashboard doesn't work as good as the previous version."
"FreeNAS should be better prepared for clustering."
"They can improve the integration with PSA systems. This functionality could be better."
"If you find the documentation, it is always incomplete and fragmented."
"The solution is not easy to implement. It takes a lot of time to study the product and it's a little complicated in general."
"A big area for improvement is that the data reduction pool feature is not recommended for use in a production environment because it has stability and performance issues."
"We had issues when attempting to do a flash, we hope to resolve it soon."
"IBM could do more marketing and improve brand awareness. I had never heard of this product until a colleague told me about it. FlashSystem could add a few features, but it would probably increase the price. For example, Pure Storage offers instant snapshotting and partitioning. That would be nice to have, but I think the cost would go up."
"It has room for improvement in the area of stability."
"Customization features must be improved."
"The basic setup can be challenging when it comes to certain IP addresses and the configuration of the IP. You have to go in to different menus to makes changes and ensure it is stable."
"In the next release having the next level of high-speed performance would be great."
FreeNAS is ranked 9th in NAS with 9 reviews while IBM FlashSystem is ranked 4th in NAS with 106 reviews. FreeNAS is rated 8.4, while IBM FlashSystem is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of FreeNAS writes "Open-source with great disk management and task synchronization". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM FlashSystem writes "An easy GUI and simple provisioning but our model does not support compression". FreeNAS is most compared with StarWind Storage Appliance, Qumulo, Dell PowerScale (Isilon), HPE StoreEasy and NetApp FAS Series, whereas IBM FlashSystem is most compared with Dell PowerStore, Pure Storage FlashArray, Dell Unity XT, NetApp AFF and Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform. See our FreeNAS vs. IBM FlashSystem report.
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