IBM Storwize (now part of FlashSystems) vs. SolidFire (discontinued)

IBM Storewize is widely used in organizations for on-premises with a lot of facilities that are given by this IBM Storewize. Data accessibility is very good and fast in this system. This system is available with different data services such as scalability and flexibility in data even providing security to our data.

Incentivized

Well suited for companies who use NetApp Storage. This is one of the more performant offerings from NetApp and is highly customizable.

Incentivized

• Data processing and IO. The Storwize devices are very resilient in how they process data and do not have a drop in IO when errors occur (common errors such as disk failures and lost paths).
• Storage efficiency management. We are able to use multiple efficiency techniques such as thin provisioning and data reduction to reduce our budget footprint.
• Easy to use interfaces. Creating a volume and mapping to a host has proven to be a very easy process and makes onboarding less stressful for our team.

Incentivized

• All-flash performance is very good, particularly on read-intensive workloads
• Performance scales linearly by adding new nodes
• Guaranteed QOS policies offer both a minimum IOPS and maximum IOPS with burst capabability, so its not just capping the upper limit of a workload
• Encryption at rest is integrated into the array platform
• Grid architecture ensures that ability to perform rolling upgrades online without severely impairing performance
• VVOL capabilities with the array allow granular control and visibility of the workloads

Incentivized

• As a business partner looking to provide services to keep the uptime of the Storwize, I would like to have the capability to pull reports from IBM Storage Insights to assist my clients in managing their system through it's lifecycle.
• More knowledge out there for partners to best integrate IBM Storwize with IBM Power i. This seems to be lacking in communication from IBM.

Incentivized

• There seems to be an overarching view (with drill downs) of the entire infrastructure.
• You need a solid partner to implement this product initially.
• As this product is still integrating with Net Apps mature support systems, I still think that there is room for a better end to end experience.

Incentivized

I have not had to use support. However, others on my team have and have been impressed.

Incentivized

Simpler to use. Storwize is reliable and is using IBM technology and not some unknown application. Proven performance and easy to stack and configure. Sizing is simple and the options are more than I need for my business. Rack compatibility is something you may not realize until you install one or more of the units.

Incentivized

All in all, Net App Solid Fire is a strong competitor to Nutanix AOS or HPE SimpliVity. It is conceded that there are plusses and minuses for the competitive landscape, however, Net App Solid Fire is a worthwhile competitor at a very competitive price point.

Incentivized

• I would like to highlight the most positive aspect I have seen in the products of the IBM Storwize family, and it is the ROI that we can choose when we offer real-time compression with the IBM V7000 family. In truth, this feature is excellent, and we have seen how customers save storage resources, rack space, power and management.

Incentivized

• Effectiveness
• Ease of use
• Cost savings by tiering

Incentivized