We performed a comparison between HPE StorageWorks MSA and IBM FlashSystem based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."Monitoring is a very big thing. Other great features include block storage; volume creation and the data reliability scalability, which makes the solution really good."
"The most valuable features were the dual controllers and being able to expand it."
"The cost to performance for HPE StorageWorks MSA is good."
"The solution is very easy to use, it is not really complex for any user, such as non-technical individuals."
"The most valuable features are the storage levels and snapshot features."
"The product is very easy to deploy."
"HPE StorageWorks MSA is an entry-level, cost-effective solution for SMB customers."
"The simple configuration feature is great. It is very simple, allowing you to set up MSA very easily."
"The all-flash storage has tier replication capabilities."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is compression."
"The most valuable features in IBM FlashSystem are IOPS, performance, duplication, and compression."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The GUI is very easy and performance is also good."
"The valuable features for us are the extra add-ons, such as the FIM provisioning, the compression, the disaster recovery capabilities, and the storage pooling functions."
"The most valuable features are, of course, the virtualization of the storage, the performance, and the compression."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is replication...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."
"This product is getting a little bit older, so new features like deduplication are not included."
"The solution's license should be integrated and not separate."
"It would be ideal if there was a better management interface."
"The support contract is expensive, although they are very responsive."
"Synchronized replication is very important for MSA; however, HPE StorageWorks MSA doesn't provide synchronized replication."
"The solution could improve by adding configuration tools."
"Some clients have suggested room for improvement in expanding storage capacity beyond the base traces."
"There is room for improvement in terms of scalability. There are times when we need to upgrade the device and the firmware. Sometimes, that can be a struggle."
"This solution could be improved by offering greater amounts of storage."
"They can include Amazon file system S3 protocol in the upcoming releases. It is a cloud file system. IBM FlashSystem doesn't have this feature in the box for high-end or mid-range. We have got requests for this from customers because we need to use S3 for EDI application storage. At the beginning of every year, IBM releases firmware. When I find any bugs in the firmware during the year, I am unable to find any information from IBM regarding the bug. I need to open a ticket, and the IBM engineering team makes a patch only for me. This patch is not public. By creating a customized patch for a client, they don't really solve the issue for everyone. If multiple users have the same bug, IBM should upload the patch on the official website so that we can download it. IBM FlashSystem has a monitoring tool in the box, but it is not advanced. I need a more advanced tool for more advanced equations and monitoring. All top three storage vendors, that is, EMC, IBM, and Pure Storage, don't have a powerful monitoring tool. To monitor our box to show the statistics for I/Os and latency, I need to pay for extra software. The built-in monitoring storage is not mature enough to handle all requests and generate all reports that I need. They can include the functionality to stretch a cluster natively without using any additional boxes. In addition, there are some features that EMC has integrated with the box. These features are not available in IBM FlashSystem."
"Customization features must be improved."
"The price is very costly."
"The solution's infrastructure technology level could be PCI Express 5 instead of PCI Express 4 for the next version."
"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."
"They can improve its initial configuration. The initial configuration is currently very difficult. There are multiple choices or alternative ways to configure based on the use case and what you are targeting out of the device, that is, more capacity or more performance. These multiple alternatives cause a lot of confusion. They should increase the processing part of the nodes. Currently, you can cluster up to eight nodes. From my experience and the workload that I am facing in my environment currently, I would like to see either a bigger or stronger node or a larger number of nodes that can be clustered together. We formally communicated to them that we need to see either this or that, and they are working on something."
"The technical support in my region is satisfactory but it could improve. Support is very important for customers and downtime is very critical for us. We would like onsite or complete technical support which can help us to minimize our downtime or if problems occur."
HPE StorageWorks MSA is ranked 5th in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) with 18 reviews while IBM FlashSystem is ranked 2nd in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) with 106 reviews. HPE StorageWorks MSA is rated 8.4, while IBM FlashSystem is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of HPE StorageWorks MSA writes "An affordable solution for data storage but lacks cloud backup". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM FlashSystem writes "An easy GUI and simple provisioning but our model does not support compression". HPE StorageWorks MSA is most compared with NetApp FAS Series, HPE 3PAR StoreServ, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform, Fujitsu Eternus DX400 series and HPE EVA, whereas IBM FlashSystem is most compared with Dell PowerStore, Pure Storage FlashArray, Dell Unity XT, NetApp AFF and Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series. See our HPE StorageWorks MSA vs. IBM FlashSystem report.
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