Dell PowerMax NVMe vs. IBM Storage FlashSystem

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Dell PowerMax NVMe
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Dell PowerMax NVME is presented as a end-to-end NVMe, storage class memory (SCM) for persistent storage, real-time machine learning and up to 350GB per second to power critical workloads.N/A
IBM Storage FlashSystem
Score 9.5 out of 10
N/A
IBM Storage FlashSystem, an all-flash storage array, delivers ~2 PB of effective capacity per single rack unit. Engineered with unique FlashCore Modules, it offloads data services including compression, encryption, deduplication, and ransomware threat detection ensuring optimum performance and resiliency.N/A
Pricing
Dell PowerMax NVMeIBM Storage FlashSystem
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Dell PowerMax NVMeIBM Storage FlashSystem
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsEntry-Level IBM Storage FlashSystem: For any organization looking for an all-flash array with features that are both enterprise conducive and budget friendly, the small to entry level offering prices from IBM begin at $18,400. Mid-Range IBM Storage FlashSystem: For businesses wanting to take advantage of an enterprise-quality flash array for critical workloads (such as SQL databases, SAP, ERP, CRM, etc.), list prices start at $104,600. High-Performance IBM Storage FlashSystem: Organizations seeking a storage array with the ability to run multiple instances of critical applications that are both performance intensive and capacity sensitive, can find IBM prices starting at $368,500. Contact IBM for configuration and pricing details.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Dell PowerMax NVMeIBM Storage FlashSystem
Features
Dell PowerMax NVMeIBM Storage FlashSystem
Enterprise Flash Array Storage
Comparison of Enterprise Flash Array Storage features of Product A and Product B
Dell PowerMax NVMe
9.6
Ratings
7% above category average
IBM Storage FlashSystem
8.5
Ratings
5% below category average
Flash Array Performance10.00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Flash Array Integration10.00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Data Compression10.00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Non-Intrusive Upgrades10.00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Simplicity8.70 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Power Savings9.10 Ratings7.00 Ratings
User Ratings
Dell PowerMax NVMeIBM Storage FlashSystem
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
7.4
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Dell PowerMax NVMeIBM Storage FlashSystem
Likelihood to Recommend
This is one of the fastest storage array in the world and its support the maximum system. EMC PowerMax NVMe flash drive has 25 percent better response time. This storage is well suited for large scale database and application where need more storage capacity and high data I/O performance to run smooth.
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IBM Storage FlashSystem is very well suited for a small or medium business that does not want to compromise storage performance. Pricing is excellent and transparent on the website. The option to have 8 16Gb FC connectors allows you to forgo expensive and complicated SAN switches if your host count is low enough. Fewer components make the infrastructure more reliable.
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Pros
  • Fastest storage array in the world.
  • this system provide the performance density up to 7.5 million IOPS5 per rack
  • Its support maximum system
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  • 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.
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Cons
  • Can be complex if someone is not versed on the product.
  • Expensive.
  • High cost of maintenance.
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  • I don't really like how the compression software works, especially when we configure the pools with data reduction, you need to have enough free space available to handle the delete operations, if you don't have that free space in the pool, the storage performance decreases in a very notorious way that directly affects the performance of access to information from the servers
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
We’re unlikely to renew our use of IBM Storage FlashSystem, not because of any shortcomings with the product itself, but simply because it serves a very specific role in our environment, supporting our SAP landscape. For other workloads and broader storage needs, we rely on different platforms that are a better fit for those use cases.
The FlashSystem has performed reliably in its role, but since our future storage strategy involves consolidating platforms and aligning with solutions that cover a wider range of requirements, we don’t plan to renew it as part of that transition.
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Usability
No answers on this topic
I think Flashsystem has excellent usability. It is compatible with almost every platform we have at our enterprise. It is compatible with Power HA and VMware SRM. It has very well-suited interfaces, and spectrum virtualization is very easy to use. GUI and CLI are very well done.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
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.
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Performance
No answers on this topic
From an integrative view, IBM Storage FlashSystem provided currently the required performance to support our use cases above and beyond. As one of the most performant solutions, we are pleased to have the IBM Storage FlashSystem supporting our needs of performance as well as scalability within the infrastructure. Not surprisingly, we certainly look forward to scale performance further in the future.
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Support Rating
No answers on this topic
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.
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
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.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
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.
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Alternatives Considered
Stacks up very well. In storage bake off's, evaluating these products as a whole, PowerMax normally outpaces the vast majority.
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IBM Storage FlashSystem is MUCH faster than the options listed above. We were able to remove 12U of Dell equipment and relaced it with a 2U IBM Storage FlashSystem that was faster and had more storage available. The setup was extremely easier than our initial deployment of our Dell systems. Previous to deploying IBM Storage FlashSystem in our environment, we had quite a bit of lag in our user's VDIs leading to a lot of negative feedback on our systems. Since implementing IBM Storage FlashSystem, we've had tons of positive remarks and the number of helpdesk tickets our internal team has received have dropped considerably. We're spending more time on other initiatives with all the extra time we're saving.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
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.
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Return on Investment
  • Cost
  • Opex vs Capex
  • Maintenance Costs.
  • Learning curve on software to maintain the array.
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  • 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.
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ScreenShots

IBM Storage FlashSystem Screenshots

Screenshot of IBM FlashSystem 5300Screenshot of IBM FlashSystem 9500Screenshot of IBM FlashSystem 7300Screenshot of IBM FlashSystem 5000