Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays comparison

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series and NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two All-Flash Storage solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays Report (Updated: June 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

June 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the All-Flash Storage category, the market share of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 1.0% and it decreased by 2.2% compared to the previous year. The market share of Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is 3.0% and it decreased by 11.7% compared to the previous year. The market share of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is 0.6% and it increased by 29.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage

Unique Categories:

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

8.0%

No other categories found

Featured Reviews

JamesBrooks

Infrastructure Engineer at ISAM

Jul 12, 2022

Problem free scalability, reliable, with straightforward setup

It has good, reliable, and fast storage. We really like snapshot features and how automatable and programmable it is. It is all managed with ad sport and playbooks We have been using Pure FlashArray X NVMe for about a year now. Scalability has been great. We have run into a couple of instances…

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Ritesh Purbey

DevOps IT Manager at Sterlite Power

Jan 16, 2023

Simple deployment, stores data well, but missing features

The most valuable feature of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is its ability to store data well Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series could improve by having a snapshot feature. Additionally, there can be other features added to help restore the data faster. I have used Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series…

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Valerii Prokofiev

CTO at acdc LED Ltd.

Oct 18, 2023

The simplicity of the project and the storage opportunities are valuable

We utilize NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays for banking data, hypervisors, and databases in our productive environment The simplicity of the project and the storage opportunities are valuable. Considering the cost, I find NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays to be the best storage available in the…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It has benefited my organization because it has reduced time to insights."

"The most valuable features of this solution are its ease of use and performance."

"The latency is good."

"Offers excellent features like efficient data reduction, a reliable SafeMode, and a great support model for continuous assistance and updates."

"The solution is scalable."

"What I really like about this program, is that it is easy to use and easy to configurate."

"It has good, reliable, fast storage."

"It's incredibly easy to use and greatly simplified our ability to both deploy and manage our storage subsystems."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"The price of this solution is good."

"Scalable and stable storage array."

"We are satisfied with the stability."

"The most valuable feature of Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is its capability to tier to the cloud, such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon AWS. Additionally, the integration is good and they are user-friendly."

"The FlexClone feature is the solution's most valuable aspect."

"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is its ability to store data well."

"The solution offers very good reliable systems and storage for our clients."

"Last year, I did a DM Series installation with my colleague, and this installation was effortless because we had Lenovo support on the phone, so it was easy to get help if we had any problems."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series pros

"The speed is the most valuable feature."

"The solution allows us to segregate one storage unit from another."

"The management software is very good."

"Considering the cost, I find NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays to be the best storage available in the market."

"We use it for our VDI environment, and have not had any complaints with it."

"It provides multi-protocol, which is what gives the edge when it comes to big lineage PC workloads."

"The benefits are better up-time, better response time."

"The stability, speed, and reliability are the solution's best features. The information is also very secure."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays pros

Cons

"We have run into a couple of instances recently where we are running out of space. So we have had to buy some more packs for it and they have deployed fine and it has increased smoothly."

"I want to see Pure Storage not only be for fast storage, but I want to see it be for the entire data center."

"We need better data deduplication."

"It is on the expensive side."

"We would like to see more visibility into garbage collection and CPU performance in the GUI."

"They could add more support for file storage and different types of storage."

"Many options to check performance, like read, writes, random writes, and random reads, are missing in Pure FlashArray X NVMe."

"I would like to see replication and DR features in the next release of this solution."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series could improve by having a snapshot feature. Additionally, there can be other features added to help restore the data faster."

"This is an expensive solution."

"The Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series was very hard to configure. Installation of the product was very hard. These are its areas for improvement."

"The solution should change the licensing model and allow customers to choose features based on their requirements."

"The solution needs a simpler licensing theme around the DM series. The problem is if you only need one of the features, you still have to buy the whole thing. The licensing needs to be more granular or flexible so you have the option to only license FlexCone or Inline Compression features."

"It takes a very long time to enter the management console, as well as to restart the system, and these are things that should be improved."

"I would rate the support of Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series a four out of five."

"I would like Lenovo to add a feature like IBM Easy Tier to DM Series. This is a crucial feature for the customers."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series cons

"There could be an improvement when it comes to SLA support, it could be faster."

"It was difficult to implement and lacks some additional features that would be useful, but as a solution fits a particular need for our organization."

"I would like to see higher-capacity drives, as they come out; I have heard that 15 TB are out on a different NetApp series. Getting those on the EFs would be nice."

"The only major drawback is the replication between EF-Series units."

"The solution's technical support is not as good as it is supposed to be since you have to push them to get support."

"This solution does not have any compression or deduplication."

"A little more manageability, a simpler management interface. It's not necessarily that it's way overly complex. It's just that it's not as easy as the FAS series."

"Better support technicians for CAPP."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our licensing fees are $500,000+ USD."

"The support cost per array is about $20,000 a year for 24/7 support."

"We pay approximately $50,000 USD per year in licensing fees."

"With VMware, we pay $300,000 annually."

"The product is expensive."

"Its price could be better. It is not too expensive, but it is the high-end cost. It is kind of a Rolls-Royce. You pay a lot, but you get a lot out of it. So, the price pressure on the way down would be great, but at the end of the day, if you need to do the work, you just pay for it."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"Pretty much everything that you need is licensed when you buy the product. Licensing to me is different than the maintenance cost, but they can bleed into one another. We buy the product, and we expect three years of support bundled into what we negotiate on our storage arrays. I would start to see maintenance costs going into the fourth year, but we're not there yet."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"The price of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series is good."

"The solution is highly-priced."

"Lenovo offers two software tiers for the DM Series: basic and premium. If you need more features like the MetroCluster, you must buy the premium version. You can stick to the basic software if you don't need MetroCluster or features like asynchronous replication. That makes DM Series a little cheaper."

"The solution's pricing is similar to Dell and HPE."

"They provide licenses upon purchase, so there's no need for additional licenses. Regarding additional expenses apart from the standard licensing fees, such as for support or maintenance, there aren't any. Updates take around twenty to thirty minutes, including rebooting the systems, and we haven't faced any problems with the NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays. We utilize various other storages like Fujitsu, IBM, and Dalian SIP, but the NetApp EF-Series stands out as we've had no issues throughout the entire year of usage."

"The pricing of the solution is expensive, considering the initial investment required...At the end of the product's life cycle, it could get cheaper, but the initial investment in NetApp makes it one of the most expensive solutions."

"Its cost-effectiveness is a major selling point. Compared to other storage vendors, the EF-Series offers excellent value for its price. It's truly a leading product in the industry."

"NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is an expensive product."

"Cheaper pricing is always good. NetApp has been doing everything the right way. They've been figuring out things really well, going in the right direction."

"he price point that we're getting is very competitive in the market. Since we are buying in such a large quantity, they gave us a huge discount."

"They need to improve its pricing. The storage market is dying. So, they need to improve the price because it should reach all people. NetApp is one of the top ones, and they are charging a little bit of royalty as compared to other storage solutions."

"It's a lot cheaper than what the other vendors have for the same type of environment. It saves us money."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

22%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

23%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

The tool is an investment that we've budgeted for. While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see...

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What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

The tool's pricing is higher than competitors.

See all answers

What do you like most about Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series?

The product’s quality of service guarantees the performance of each workload.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series?

The solution's pricing is similar to Dell and HPE.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series?

The tool's pricing is high.

See all answers

What do you like most about NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

Considering the cost, I find NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays to be the best storage available in the market.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

If one is cheap and ten is expensive, then I'd rate the pricing a three.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

The only major drawback is the replication between EF-Series units. Both the EF-series and NetApp are marketing this ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 20% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 17% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

NetApp AFF vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 39% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 13% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 11% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp FAS Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series

Compared 2% of the time

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 25% of the time

NetApp AFF vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 24% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 14% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 10% of the time

HPE Primera vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 9% of the time

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

May 2024

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

All-Flash Storage

May 2024

Download Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

May 2024

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays report

Download NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

ThinkSystem DM Series

NetApp EF540, NetApp EF-Series

Learn More

Pure Storage

Lenovo

NetApp

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

To meet enterprise storage requirements, ThinkSystem All-Flash DM Series systems provide high performance, superior flexibility, and best-in-class data management. DM Series runs on ONTAP data management software, which gives customers unified storage across block-and-file workloads. It accelerates your business while improving the efficiency, flexibility, and reliability of your IT operations.

The NetApp EF560 all-flash array is an all-SSD storage system for applications that demand extremely high levels of performance and reliability. Requiring just 2U of rack space, the EF560 all-flash array combines extreme IOPS, microsecond response times, and up to 12GBps of bandwidth with leading, enterprise-proven availability features.

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

RP Data, Western Oregon University, Toei Animation

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

June 2024

Free Report: Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Find out what your peers are saying about Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays and other solutions. Updated: June 2024.

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