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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Storage FlashSystem

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AIBM Storage FlashSystem, an all-flash storage array, delivers ~2 PB of effective capacity per single rack unit. Engineered with unique FlashCore Modules, it offloads data services including compression, encryption, deduplication, and ransomware threat detection ensuring optimum performance and resiliency.N/A

    PowerProtect DD Series

    Score9 out of 10
    N/APowerProtect DD (a next-generation appliance replacing Dell EMC Data Domain) is a suite of hardware appliances used for data protection, backup, storage and deduplication. PowerProtect appliance offerings are cloud-enabled and vary by organization size, capable of supporting small business and enterprises. PowerProtect appliances are separated into two categories: entry-level to midrange, and enterprise. Entry-Level to Midrange Backup Appliances PowerProtect…N/A
    Pricing
    IBM Storage FlashSystemPowerProtect DD Series
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Storage FlashSystemPowerProtect DD Series
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM Storage FlashSystemPowerProtect DD Series
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Dell Technologies
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    54 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    51 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    54 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    45 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    46 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    IBM Storage FlashSystemPowerProtect DD Series
    Enterprise Flash Array Storage
    Comparison of Enterprise Flash Array Storage features of IBM Storage FlashSystem and PowerProtect DD Series
    Feature
    IBM Storage FlashSystem
    8.1
    157 Ratings
    9% below category average
    PowerProtect DD Series
    -
    Ratings
    Flash Array Performance9.0152 Ratings00 Ratings
    Flash Array Integration8.1148 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Compression7.7152 Ratings00 Ratings
    Non-Intrusive Upgrades9.1144 Ratings00 Ratings
    Simplicity8.4154 Ratings00 Ratings
    Power Savings6.2147 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Center Backup
    Comparison of Data Center Backup features of IBM Storage FlashSystem and PowerProtect DD Series
    Feature
    IBM Storage FlashSystem
    -
    Ratings
    PowerProtect DD Series
    9.4
    10 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Universal recovery00 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Instant recovery00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
    Recovery verification00 Ratings9.58 Ratings
    Business application protection00 Ratings9.510 Ratings
    Multiple backup destinations00 Ratings9.510 Ratings
    Incremental backup identification00 Ratings9.59 Ratings
    Backup to the cloud00 Ratings9.56 Ratings
    Deduplication and file compression00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Snapshots00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Flexible deployment00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
    Management dashboard00 Ratings9.58 Ratings
    Platform support00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
    Retention options00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
    Encryption00 Ratings9.57 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Storage FlashSystemPowerProtect DD Series
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    BDRShield
    Score6.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Dell Compellent (discontinued)
    Score8 out of 10
    Bacula Enterprise
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Everpure FlashArray
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Bacula Enterprise
    Score8.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Storage FlashSystemPowerProtect DD Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.5
    (157 ratings)
    9.0
    (10 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.6
    (6 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.8
    (23 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.3
    (21 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (6 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    5.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.8
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM Storage FlashSystemPowerProtect DD Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    IBM Storage FlashSystem is the only good option. It is possible to do with other brands but not with the same compatibility and support. So in the IBM i world, there is not that much options if you want reliable products, performance and compatibility with overall system: IBM Storage FlashSystem product is the one. You may need to adjust performance to your needs and IBM has a complete range of systems for entry (FS5X00), mid-range (FS7X00) or high-end (FS9X00). In IBM i world, IBM Storage FlashSystem is the best, but knowing the product, I would probably recommend it for other platforms. And many of my customers are using it as a cross-technology platform (mainly virtualization on x86 like VMWare).
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    We have huge data coming in from different sources and also from multiple organizations in our Data centres. This data had multiple copies of the same data and was huge in size therefore, we wanted to have a solution in place which can help us with a good amount of deduplication at the deepest possible level to make sure that our ecosystem does not have multiple copies of the same data and is also efficient at the same time. Having said this, we wanted this solution to be secure and reliable since it had to be exposed to a huge critical set of data in the market. To add, backup and restoration was something that we were also keen on evaluating so that once we have efficient data within our system, the time it takes to backup and restoration also reduces. And all this was justified by this solution when we signed up with them. From the pricing perspective and the implementation side, the solution needs improvement to make it more efficient and user-friendly.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    IBM
    • Extremely fast storage
    • Scales up as needed. Add flash core modules easily and increase volumes very quickly.
    • Applying firmware updates to IBM Storage FlashSystem is very easy to do and can be done without any downtime.
    • Replication policies are very versatile and also easy to setup.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    • It writes backups quickly. DDBoost add-on is very useful as well for improving backup speeds.
    • DD is very efficient in its use of capacity. It dedupes and compresses very well.
    • It spans to large capacity amounts.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    IBM
    • Definitely we need to be able to extend a volume that is part of a mirror pair or Policy-Based Replication(PBO) on the fly.
    • Expansion of mirrored volumes/volume groups should resynchronise only the changed data (Almost like making use of change-volumes) and not trigger a full resync.
    • Please allow us to select downloading drive microcode also from Fix Central directly onto the flashsystem like with updates.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    • It can be expensive to implement, especially when used in conjunction with other applications/hardware such as Avamar.
    • The TCO can be high, especially when it needs its storage expanded.
    • Recovery speeds can be slow (compared to other solutions) for when recovery is time sensitive.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    As flash technology evolves rapidly, vendors should [adapt] to the changes and onboard them in their products. IBM is a bit slow in adopting advanced technology in [its] portfolio. Even though the current product is good, my decision is purely based on how the transformation of the product [is] being produced and supplied to [the] end-user.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    DD has performed flawlessly for almost 10 years as our backup/recovery storage with offsite replication. Given its track record and great support from EMC, we're unlikely to look elsewhere any time soon.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    IBM
    The integration into our SVC and the midrange systems are very well working. We do use cross site replication and global mirror which in turn is easy setup and the consistency groups are well maintained. The storage does global mirroring but also internal cross room replication as well. The integration of cloud object storage also helps in tiering the overall system.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    Yes. The last really issues I've seen in the environments of my customers were back in the "Storwize" era of systems. Issues with code updates or sometimes rarely failing critical components. BUT: since every component is at least dual redundant even back in that day real outages were very rare. And today in the "FlashSystem Era" the systems are so reliable and available even during code updates there are no complaints. I think the 5 or 6 9s are completely achieved.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    IBM
    Latency and throughput have been excellent. The compression is done natively on the NVME modules so we do not see an impact there. the distributed parity does not seem to impact write speeds at all. We have found database performace has increased quite a bit over our old hybrid storage solution.
    Having a single tier of performance makes it easy to set up SLAs for workloads.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    IBM
    I would rate the overall support for IBM Storage FlashSystem with a 10. The response times have consistently been fast, and the support engineers always come prepared with relevant questions and practical solutions. They demonstrate a deep understanding of the product and our use case, which means issues are typically resolved quickly and without unnecessary back-and-forth. This level of support has been especially valuable for our SAP environment, where uptime and quick resolution are critical.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    Customer support has had some ups and downs here. We've had several issues with EMC support before and during the acquisition by Dell, but in the last 18 months support has been top notch. Quick and knowledgeable help is but a chat away, or they will call you back so you don't have to wait on hold. The team supporting us is responsive and is quick to assist with any request or issue.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    IBM
    Very good traning by experienced personnel. I attend instructor led sessions on IBM TechExchange and STUs before as well as IBM workshops for FlashSystems at IBM Böblingen which I helped to prepare and improve after piloting them. Absolutely nothing to complain about FlashSystem training in Germany or USA. So: all good here!
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    IBM
    THe training is often selfpaced and easy to follow if you have worked previously with other storage products. The content is clear and contains all the information needed for an admin to learn. However the troubleshooting part is not always included and this is dependent on forums or other sources where the information is not accessible very easily.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    I was amazed by the way IBM Flash storage provides a huge amount of storage within the limited footprint, it helped us to replace big fat storage arrays, which aided in the process of moving towards lower hardware, carbon, and energy consumption footprint. We can comfortably say that Flash helped us to host applications fast with a blazing speed and user transactions are quite quick.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    For the past six months, we have been utilizing this technology in our projects to manage a massive workload and produce swift business outcomes on a crucial production database. The IBM FlashSystem 7200, which offers high performance and compression, has so far been a great experience for us. The results and functionality of this product have delighted our consumers.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    We selected Data Domain due to its integration with our backup software. The Data Domain works well for what we need it to do.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    IBM
    I'm using cognos - especially cognos reports - as a part of IBMs Storage Intelligence software to manage datacenters and report storage and overall resource consumption to my customers. The software is reliable and - my customers who are using cognos in their businesses - say that they are very satisfied about the scalability of cognos. I can give it only an 8 rating because of the quite heavy resource footprint...
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • Easy of use is a key aspect, as we do not have dedicated storage staff.
    • Our RPO has lowered near to Zero, using PBR as replication and this is key for us.
    • DR plan testing has become easier and less time-consuming, allowing us to conduct tests more frequently.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    • We were able to immediately discontinue our remote tape storage and TBU maintenance.
    • Reduced backup footprint in the data center.
    • It is costly to expand so buy it with a purpose.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IBM Storage FlashSystem Screenshots

    Screenshot of Flash Core Module 5th GenScreenshot of IBM FlashSystem 5600Screenshot of IBM FlashSystem 5600 (rear)Screenshot of IBM FlashSystem 7600 and 9600Screenshot of IBM FlashSystem 7600 and 9600 (rear)