The initial setup is relatively straightforward, with very minor complexities. I would rate it six out of ten.

Initial setup is very easy, as with most NetApp products. Even for the S-series and E-series, the setup is straightforward. 

We have implemented StorageGRID for data archiving or backup. When we deploy any storage, we consider core data, protection data, and customer backup needs. Third-party tools can be used for backup, but NetApp has built-in snapshot technology and user-friendly SnapCenter software for easy backup and restore.

So, StorageGRID supports Big Data Analytics or IoT environments. But we might need to revisit your initial sales configuration. Depending on the use case, we might need to adjust the solution to ensure the clients have the right product.

Now, if you're looking for centralized unified storage in a heterogeneous environment, I'd recommend the FAS series. It's built with backup and recovery software and offers unified storage for various platforms.

However, if your primary focus is big data analytics, then an E-Series system would be better suited. It's specifically designed for big data workloads. Additionally, consider StorageGRID CloudSync for managing data across geographically dispersed locations.

But if your primary focus is data analytics and you already have an externally managed solution, then again, E-Series is the way to go.

The deployment can take up to one year. Once all the resources and information are ready, we have to get the environment ready for the engineer to start working. A small deployment requires up to two people.

The initial setup was straightforward. It was easy to deploy and it took approximately a week to complete. However, configuring it after the initial setup is something that could be easier to do.

The initial setup is quite complex but that has something to do with the way we have our infrastructure which is complicated. This is not the physical implementation, we were able to do that ourselves and it took about a day or so and was straightforward. 

The implementation with NetApp went smoothly. It is a 'setup and forget' type of appliance. 

The initial setup was as straightforward as it gets. It took us two days to do the racking and stacking, the physical parts. Configuring and running it is plug and play. It came out-of-the-box. All we had to do was set up the network and access configurations along with our S3 bucket, then we were good to go. 

It was pretty complex at the time to initially set up. It was an older version when we initially put it in place, so there were some hiccups. However, this last go around with our test system, the install was smoother and easier to get up and running.

The initial setup was straightforward.

The initial setup was very straightforward. It was three next and a finish; next, next, next, and finish, that was it.

The initial setup is straightforward. 

The initial setup is not complex. The certification, or the trainings directly from NetApp, are usually one-week trainings for installing, maintaining, and administering the StorageGRID solutions. I can see we're prepared to use some other ones. This is also one of the main reasons why we want to push this and use more StorageGRID, even if we could probably find storage solutions that have more features, are more sophisticated, or are cheaper—we have the expertise within NetApp storage. 

When you implement something, it must fit into the environments which you already have. Because we are using maybe 90% NetApp storage, everything around it is organized, beginning with the APIs (how to do automation, for example), and is fitted to NetApp. This is why it's important, for operation and implementation, to use this kind of storage.