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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    NetApp FAS Storage Arrays

    Score9.5 out of 10
    N/ANetApp's FAS series systems offers a storage array system for enterprises.N/A

    Windows Server

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AN/AN/A
    Pricing
    NetApp FAS Storage ArraysWindows Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    NetApp FAS Storage ArraysWindows Server
    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
    NetApp FAS Storage ArraysWindows Server
    Considered Both Products
    NetApp
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    90%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    98%
    Would buy again
    44 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    80%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    42 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    88%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    38 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    90%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    42 Answers
    Features
    NetApp FAS Storage ArraysWindows Server
    Operating System
    Comparison of Operating System features of NetApp FAS Storage Arrays and Windows Server
    Feature
    NetApp FAS Storage Arrays
    -
    Ratings
    Windows Server
    7.8
    5 Ratings
    11% below category average
    File Management00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Software Application Management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    System Update Frequency00 Ratings6.65 Ratings
    Operating System Security00 Ratings7.65 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    NetApp FAS Storage ArraysWindows Server
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    HPE 3PAR StoreServ
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    NetApp FAS Storage ArraysWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (15 ratings)
    9.2
    (68 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.2
    (12 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    6.4
    (19 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    NetApp FAS Storage ArraysWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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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    Microsoft
    Windows Server and Active Directory is very robust and stable, it has been a staple in every IT environment I have worked in during my career. Junior to Intermediate admins can learn Windows Server easily, the user interfaces make administration tasks very easy as well as the documentation available through a vast amount of resources. There are other Operating Systems available with no GUI which has a smaller attack surface, faster update installation and reboot time. Windows Server does have the ability to remove the desktop experience, however it is not something I have had experience with and I believe most administrators choose not to remove it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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
    Microsoft
    • Backup of workstations & itself - reliably, consistently, with Bare-Metal Restore and deduplication
    • File management and Security on a per file/folder/user basis is simple and fully done through an easy GUI
    • DNS, DHCP server functions are easy to configure using the built-in GUI
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft needs to minimize the update frequency by making the product more secure. It can become very exhausting trying to keep updated if you don't have a dedicated support team. It can become challenging where the business is unable to allow downtime for reboots as part of the update process.
    • Prone to security and audit vulnerabilities.
    • The operating system needs more CPU and memory resources compared to other options such as Linux.
    • Understanding the licensing model can be abit confusing.
    • Comes with a standard firewall, but not the most secured one available. Would suggest using a more secured firewall as part of your antivirus software.
    • Due to the number of vulnerabilities and the operating system being a target for hackers, anti-virus software is a must.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    I've carefully reviewed the servers and services currently running on Windows Server 2012, and given the opportunity would renew them as is going forward. There are two systems I currently have in place, one is a very large Linux implementation for a large ecommerce site, and one is a very large backup solution front ended by FTP servers running Linux. Neither are well suited for Windows, but the overall network infrastructure is and will be Windows Server for the foreseeable future.
    Read full review
    Usability
    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
    Microsoft
    Anyone new to IT could easily use the familiar Desktop Experience (GUI) version because we all know how to use Windows, whether a client or server version. Once an IT user is more comfortable with the operating system, they can move on to the Core version, which is the way to go in almost all situations.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    NetApp
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    some times server hungs and user sessions were busy to connect
    Read full review
    Performance
    NetApp
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    need to improve the performance more
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    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
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft's support is hugely wide-ranging from articles online to having to contact them directly for the more serious issues. In recent years when I have contacted them directly, I have found the support o be excellent as I have found myself connected to very knowledgeable people in the field in which I needed the support. The online support available is vast and I tend to find most of the time that there is always someone out there who has had the same issue as me in the past and knows something about how to resolve it! This is the advantage of using industry standard and long-established systems such as Windows Server.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    NetApp
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    it was my senior who trained Windows Server features and i was satisfied
    Read full review
    Online Training
    NetApp
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    it was recorded session and useful
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    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
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Make sure that you have detailed processes in place for every server instance you plan to install/upgrade, if possible get the base OS loaded and Windows Updates applied ahead of time, and if using a VM take a snapshot prior to installing each role, as well as along the way.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Microsoft
    They are different experiences, and while the other solutions offer enterprise-grade stability and, in some cases, address Windows server shortcomings (such as patching), they all do the trick, but the other solutions require a deeper technical background/configuration of items at the command line, which some people are not fully comfortable with.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    NetApp
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    need to reduce a lot
    Read full review
    Scalability
    NetApp
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    yes i completely agree multi deployment
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    NetApp
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    i like the professional service but need to improve
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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
    Microsoft
    • Ability to keep all files in one place and give access to users makes file management easy to control.
    • VPN Access to off-site users is a plus.
    • Secure access to on-site SQL data from our accounting and estimating data is a plus.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots