Azure NetApp Files vs. Dell Unity XT Unified Storage

In my opinion, I would say it is more suitable to huge workloads, where you really needs the reliability and performance that a Netapp storage provides to you, larger share sizes, etc. Use cases where you really needs to store large amounts of non-structured data. It is not a cheap solution, I mean, you can find other options to store your data on the Cloud at smaller prices. So, for small companies, or companies that depends mostly on web-applications, or don't have such a specific requirements, I would not go with Azure Netapp Files.

Incentivized

Dell EMC Unity is an easy system and very flexible component and very easy to navigate while providing effective services and management of multiple project information management and the data pulling from the supported third-party platform is easy and quick. Excellent reporting features and easy to use and the analytics tools are amazing.

Incentivized

• We have found that it scales very well. In some cases we had a large existing storage infrastructure and were able to migrate it while other times we started from scratch with low storage demands and Azure NetApp Files fit the bill each time.
• We have been impressed with the replication capabailities.
• The read and write speed when interacting with files is a major asset.

Incentivized

• Enables you to create multiple copies of any database.
• Data savings feature with compression.
• Integrity with VMWare, RHEL, Oracle.
• The best option is a midrange unified storage array in a customer environment.
• Some models support NMMe.
• Copy Data Management (iCDM), Data-At-Rest-Encryption (D@RE).

Incentivized

• It does not support file locking although its available as an add-on
• Design is far from native and has a learning curve
• We would like to have backup functionality built in so that we don't run into the issue where the replication process makes a copy of the corrupted data.

Incentivized

• Alerting: receiving an alert when an issue occurs. That is good to know. However, if the alert is cleared, or somehow no longer in alarm, no email is received. At times I will receive the email alert on weekends, not knowing if the issue is resolved or not until Monday when I can access the unit. I have learned in most instances, the alert is a false alarm, which could be a problem.
• The alerting itself is sometimes not clear. For example, it tells me the link is down, we reset the connection, the link is still down, a tech was dispatched, he troubleshot, and finally the alarm cleared. This incident took almost a week. It went back into alarm after he left, then suddenly it cleared on its own.

Incentivized

Very cumbersome compared to other vendors in the same marketplace.

Incentivized

Not only support for Unity, but for any Dell product, whether for companies or for the end consumer. Support is agile, helpful, and always focused on solving the problem. To date, there has been no problem that Dell's support has failed to resolve and help us with.

Incentivized

Azure NetApp Files is very well integrated with Microsoft Azure, we use the same request methods that everyone knows from Azure. NetApp and Microsoft has built a very efficient solution that allows you to transfer virtually any service to the Microsoft public cloud. Azure NetApp Files also protects our data very well.

Incentivized

I was instructed to buy these arrays, but I was not given the opportunity to evaluate other arrays. We evaluated other products in the market that competed with Unity and found that the younger array built from scratch had far better features, software, and ease of use. The Unity system has a unique way of storing the data when compared with other systems.

Incentivized

• The main hurdle in promoting this solution is the price. Its price definitely requires an improvement. It is more expensive than other options, so customers go for a cheaper option.
• Its security and ease of use are most valuable.
• It is stable and scalable.

Incentivized

• Less business downtime and reliability is a major business concern. DELL EMC UNITY addresses this concern well and provides robust storage.
• Investing in UNITY system is less expensive than all-flash storage systems.
• Managing and provisioning VMware disks became simpler from a single interface in the Vcenter

Incentivized