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Lenovo ThinkSystem DS Series vs. NetApp FAS Storage Arrays

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Lenovo ThinkSystem DS Series

    Score7 out of 10
    N/ALenovo presents an enterprise class storage-area network (SAN) via the ThinkSystem DS series of products, presently including ThinkSystem DS2200, ThinkSystem DS4200, and the ThinkSystem DS6200.N/A

    NetApp FAS Storage Arrays

    Score10 out of 10
    N/ANetApp's FAS series systems offers a storage array system for enterprises.N/A
    Pricing
    Lenovo ThinkSystem DS SeriesNetApp FAS Storage Arrays
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Lenovo ThinkSystem DS SeriesNetApp FAS Storage Arrays
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Lenovo ThinkSystem DS SeriesNetApp FAS Storage Arrays
    Considered Both Products
    Lenovo
    No answer on this topic
    NetApp
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    78%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    8 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    86%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Lenovo ThinkSystem DS SeriesNetApp FAS Storage Arrays
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    NetApp FAS Storage Arrays
    Score10 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    HPE 3PAR StoreServ
    Score8.1 out of 10
    HPE 3PAR StoreServ
    Score8.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Lenovo ThinkSystem DS SeriesNetApp FAS Storage Arrays
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (15 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.9
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Lenovo ThinkSystem DS SeriesNetApp FAS Storage Arrays
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Lenovo
    It works very well for essential data storage such as security footage. It is well suited for remote office storage, but not so much as large database storage.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    NetApp
    It is very easy to use with NFS. Creating new volumes and mounting to servers such as ESXi or Linux is a breeze. It does also support CIFS but it is far less intuitive and requires much more effort. Replicated data is also very simple and robust in the form of SnapVaults or SnapMirrors. This data is either immediately or periodically replicated to a peer FAS in the cluster for retention.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Lenovo
    • They are very easy to maintain and repair.
    • The raid and storage speeds are excellent.
    • They offer many ways to use the system as a standalone or in a cluster.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    NetApp
    • The selling point for NetApp FAS is the application and data protection integration capabilities they provide.
    • We have been able to use NetApp FAS in a variety of use cases with a standard set of management tools.
    • NetApp FAS has evolved over the years from just NAS to also include block protocols. At this time they support almost all industry standard protocols.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Lenovo
    • There are a lot of xclarity tools that need to be condensed.
    • I would like to see the old IMM interface return as the new management interface is not as easy to use.
    • Replacing some of the internal components is more involved than it used to be.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    NetApp
    • Deduplication job runs at certain times and creates a large CPU overhead for the system
    • Management of a volumes, disk groups, LUNs, etc. is a burden to manage and is not efficient with storage capacity
    • Upgrades are complicated and not "non-disruptive"
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Lenovo
    No answers on this topic
    NetApp
    It just works! We've used NetApp FAS Storage Arrays systems since 2011 and have had fantastic results, in particular since 2016 as performance has drastically improved. Tools are great/user friendly, command line capabilities are very strong ... it is simply very effective at what it does!
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Lenovo
    No answers on this topic
    NetApp
    It does have a really nice and easy to use web interface to do pretty much anything you need with it. It was very simple to configure our volumes and luns and connect them to our VMWare environment using the interface. It has options to rename, shrink, grow, and other things with our luns and volumes. It was nice and easy to read graphs to see where you stand on your storage usage at a glance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Lenovo
    No answers on this topic
    NetApp
    NetApp support in Brazil is managed by its partners. We know in other countries, such as the US and NO, they have support directly from Netapp. We have a very good NetApp partner working with us since the beginning, on both the implementation and daily support. Very few cases needed to be escalated to NetApp support, most of the cases are handled and satisfyingly closed by the partner.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Lenovo
    No answers on this topic
    NetApp
    Our initial deployment was handled by pro services. Most later deployments were handled in-house. All went very smoothly. Documentation made it relatively easy to set up new systems which allowed us to do it in-house. When using pro services they were professional and comprehensive.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Lenovo
    I much prefer the old x systems as I have worked with them for a while. The ds series is much faster and more reliable. Servicing it is simple but some internal components require more involvement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    NetApp
    NetApp stacked nicely and gave enterprise-level usability for snapshot-based backups. Our previous RPO was several hours. It was selected prior to me arriving at the company, but It was selected for the hardware refreshes due to its compatibility with several other vendors, like CommVault and VMware.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Lenovo
    • It has generated a lot of revenue in our service department.
    • It has made us invest more in learning all of the new systems with xclarity etc.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    NetApp
    • The speed of file recovery is the biggest positive impact. Recovering from a ransomware attack in minutes is something you can certainly brag about.
    • Integration with products like Exchange and SQL can certainly speed up normal day to day processes. Not just in backup recovery situations either.
    • Redundant paths make migrations and updates very easy with no downtime.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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