Exagrid EX Series vs. NetApp FAS Storage Arrays

We have Exagrid [EX Series] in different environments and it has adapted very well to both. We have used it for larger environments and its scalability if properly and takes up little physical space. We also use it as a backup solution for smaller environments, such as our vessels.

I don't see where the adaptability of Exagrid [EX Series] can be bad or unadjustable.

Incentivized

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

• High backup speeds
• Native Veeam integration
• Deduplication/efficiency savings
• Friendly management interface
• Native replication between Exagrid boxes

Incentivized

• 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

• I don't have much to add here. Overall, it has been a solid purchase for us.

Incentivized

• 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

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

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

We used Symantec tape making the decision to move to Exagrid.

Incentivized

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

• Faster data recovery speed
• Reduced backup tape costs
• Improve a backup standard for the entire company

Incentivized

• 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