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NetApp -- an excellent platform for virtual environments
March 14, 2019

NetApp -- an excellent platform for virtual environments

Vin Campbell | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with NetApp FAS series

We have one NetApp FAS2200 device that houses the entire backend of our virtual server network behind two Dell PowerEdge R front end servers. This device houses all of the virtual server files for all of the organization's virtual server infrastructure. This one device -- containing an array of hard drives -- pumps out enough speed and bandwidth to run about 12+ servers at the same time.
  • Support. Support. Support. It's been a welcomed surprise to have a hard drive land on my desk, and a better surprise to have a NetApp tech arrive soon after to install the drive. I didn't even know the drive failed-- now that's support.
  • AS stated, the ability of these devices to host multiple virtual servers, entire infrastructures, and work well and fast, is a definite strength.
  • The ability to stack these devices and have failover.
  • The upgrade program is great.
  • The unit did go through a lot of hard drives early on. It took them a while to figure out it was a firmware issue. Once that was fixed, it got better.
  • Firmware should have a "live" update process.
  • The price point could be better.
  • This device took the place of 6 full servers initially, then 6 or more virtual ones were added later. Enough said.
  • Support -- I can't say enough about this. Having that hard drive arrive, without me asking for it, was awesome. Having the tech arrive without me asking for him was priceless.
  • For the initial outlay, we spent a lot, but I'd say we got most of the ROI back within the first year on this device.
  • Really nothing negative to say from an ROI perspective.
We ultimately went with the NetApp FAS series based upon the recommendation of our trusted reseller. The device implementation fit directly in with the bigger infrastructure plan/rollout we were in the middle of. However, I did my due diligence when researching the recommendations, and after careful comparison and fact checks, NetApp rose to the top as the most mature and stable platform that did exactly what we needed, and at a price we could accept.
This platform is perfectly suited for any size virtual environment. As a backend to the production servers, these devices truly excel. If you are a busy IT person, running the department, doing the work too, doing project management, etc., then you simply can't beat the support provided by this company. They monitor remotely and have an excellent SLA. I would not recommend this product to small businesses, as the entry point is very high, and you do need technical know-how to have these devices in play.