Cisco MDS Series vs Everpure FlashArray comparison

Why PeerSpot?

The compared Cisco and Everpure (formerly Pure Storage) solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #4 in ES , with an average rating of 10.0, and holds a 10.6% mindshare in the category. Everpure (formerly Pure Storage) is ranked #2 in AFS , with an average rating of 9.0, and holds a 6.4% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 99% of Everpure (formerly Pure Storage) users who would recommend it.

Cisco MDS Series

Read 10 Cisco MDS Series reviews

2,469 Views
2,346 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Everpure FlashArray

Read 233 Everpure FlashArray reviews

22,002 Views
19,362 Comparison Views

99% willing to recommend

Cisco MDS Series

Everpure FlashArray

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco MDS Series and Everpure FlashArray based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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To learn more, read our detailed Enterprise SAN Report (Updated: October 2026).

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Enterprise SAN

October 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco MDS Series

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise SAN (4th)

Everpure FlashArray

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

233

Ranking in other categories

All-Flash Storage (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Storage Solutions solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco MDS Series is designed for Enterprise SAN and holds a mindshare of 10.6%, up 5.3% compared to last year.
Everpure FlashArray, on the other hand, focuses on All-Flash Storage, holds 6.4% mindshare, down 6.5% since last year.

Enterprise SAN Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco MDS Series	10.6%
Dell PowerStore	12.4%
Dell PowerVault	11.6%
Other	65.4%

Enterprise SAN

All-Flash Storage Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Everpure FlashArray	6.4%
Dell PowerStore	7.7%
NetApp AFF	6.8%
Other	79.1%

All-Flash Storage

Featured Reviews

Vipindas K.P

Product Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Reliable storage networking has ensured seamless multi-protocol access and continuous redundancy

Currently, I do not have any major suggestions for improvement as everything is working well without issues. If additional functions could be introduced to simplify usage, I would suggest that AI functionality or better integration capabilities would be advantageous for Cisco MDS Series. Any new AI-related features or functionality added to Cisco MDS Series would represent a positive advancement.

Read full review

Sowjanya MV

Technical Lead at Wipro Limited

Has improved performance for mission-critical workloads and enabled seamless non-disruptive upgrades

The availability is 99.99%, which is the main factor any customer would need because their data should be available whenever they want to access it. This is one main critical thing. It is very easy to upgrade since Pure Storage FlashArray handles it well. Everything is non-disruptive now; previously, there were forklift shifts, but now that is not the case. Pure Storage FlashArray says no to forklift upgrades. Usually hardware requires downtime, but Pure Storage FlashArray has improved their footprint so that they are not asking for downtime; everything is just a non-disruptive activity, which is why customers are more inclined towards Pure Storage FlashArray. Customers want more of the models in their environment due to the performance they are giving, and everything is in one Pure1 Array console where we can view all the models on one page or just an orchestration tool. You don't miss anything; you have replication, notifications about replication, and details about which host groups replication is happening in and if that replication is successful or failed. On a daily basis, our purpose is to create volumes for infrastructure; our daily activities include creating volumes and mapping them to the host, doing any migrations from a VM, clearing the data stores, and carving the volumes to those VMs. One key factor is the data compression with a ratio of 5:1, focusing on space efficiency, inline deduplication, and the compression Pure Storage FlashArray works on; that is a major factor we can suggest to any customer. Analytical capabilities are crucial. Daily, we check the throughput and consumption, and Pure Storage FlashArray provides predictions for one year regarding usage. This prediction helps plan updates well ahead. For support, we just raise a case, and they follow up and get it done. There is also AI readiness, but with the model R2, we don't have much of that AI readiness. For others, we do have AI readiness that predicts capacity based on daily or monthly trends, enabling us to analyze how much space we need or if we need to expand the disk shelf. From an operational point of view, a good feature is that if you accidentally delete a volume, it will be retained in the destroyed state for the next twenty-four hours, which is not the same with any other vendor. I have worked in this storage domain for the past fifteen years, and this option is remarkable, benefiting any L1 or L2 engineer. Additionally, from a compliance perspective, Pure Storage FlashArray has REST APIs enabled. I have not explored automation much, but from a security standpoint, it is strong with encryption data. If you want to automate, you can easily integrate with all clouds and explore Pure Cloud for scheduling workloads, including volume creation. Customers find benefit in Pure Storage FlashArray's single management pane of glass due to the dual controller and active-active setup. If one of the controllers goes down, all workloads automatically shift to the other controller, ensuring their data is safe and accessible at all times. This is a highlighted feature that any customer desires because their data should always be accessible. For SAN workloads, we use Pure Storage FlashArray because for SAN FC fiber channel, we don't use it; we use NetApp for NAS activities. We have clearly split this, so SAN is for mission-critical applications, while network-attached storage handles file systems. This architecture helps us maximize the benefit from Pure Storage FlashArray due to the significant workloads from this giant retail client. From a footprint and energy consumption perspective, you can see energy consumption from the Pure1 storage portal on a daily basis, and it is very compact. The three models we use consume only three units, which is quite low. From a footprint and data center perspective, it doesn't occupy much space. As everything moves to cloud, there are requirements to avoid excess spending on data centers, and Pure Storage FlashArray is efficient in energy consumption and is environmentally friendly.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"MDS's reliability is at a high level, the issues with these switches are extremely rare, and the whole product line is very predictable and stable."

"The product is very stable and performs well."

"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is its reliability, support, and scalability."

"This solution is required for any type of IT infrastructure for Storage Networking and provides high availability for storage service."

"The features I found most valuable are the ease of deployment, it's easy to upgrade, easy to configure and easy to administer. There is no need for vendor professional services which saves project cost. The usage of WebUI for all primary features like hostname, IP address, SNMP traps, zone sets, addition and deletion of zone members or zone sets, backup of switch DB is very simple."

"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is security."

"SAN switches in Cisco MDS Series are a valuable feature of the solution for our company."

"The stability has been commendable with no major performance issues and the system consistently provides users the ability to access the network without any problems."

More Cisco MDS Series pros

"Performance, dedupe, and that it works well with database workloads are its most valuable features."

"There is no comparison performance-wise."

"At this point, I don't know anything that they could provide in a better way."

"Having an intuitive user interface to get things running is great."

"I would recommend Pure Storage, as it is well-established."

"After installing Pure, the processes that would take 40 minutes to two hours to complete are now done in five minutes."

"You can even review the devices from your phone. You don't need to be connected to your company's website or VPN to access alerts and reports. While you can't manage the devices using your phone, you can review all the important details about the machine."

"As soon as we introduced our first Pure Storage FlashArray, the first benefit we saw, from our very first benchmarks, was that our production databases simply ran twice as fast with no other changes."

More Everpure FlashArray pros

Cons

"Webui needs Data Center Network Management tool licensed copy for accessing Cisco Switches instead a web-based GUI should be made easily available the way Brocade san switch is managed."

"Cisco MDS Series could improve by adding more gigahertz. However, they are doing this over time."

"It is quite a stable product. It should be shipped with the latest firmware to avoid download and upload schema at the beginning of the initial setup. There should also be the possibility of downgrading the firmware when required. WebUI needs DCNM instead a web-based GUI should be made available like Brocade san switch."

"Cisco MDS Series can improve by having SAN Manager with life cycle management features and Integration with 3rd party storage monitoring tools."

"The product is very expensive."

"The solution's management interface and GUI need improvement."

"Data Center Network Manager is good but it is not free and requires purchasing a separate license."

"The GUI client is Java-based and we know that Java is not secure, so everyone disables it."

More Cisco MDS Series cons

"The cost of the storage needs improvement."

"I would like some form of QoS implemented. As a service provider, it would be beneficial to have it."

"Currently, the solution fails to support file screening."

"The solution needs an integrated NAS platform, file platform."

"The GUI is simplistic and basic. I feel like it's explanatory, but not enough, it needs a little more to it."

"Areas for improvement would be the financial operations. In the next release, I would like to see a NAS protocol included."

"We would always like to see higher performance, and lower pricing is always better."

"Technical support needs improvement. With respect to them being able to respond, they're more marketing people, less technical."

More Everpure FlashArray cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's perpetual licensing and maintenance is a recurrent cost."

"Pricing cannot be considered an advantageous trait of the solution since it is expensive. I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."

"The price of the Cisco MDS Series is high."

"It is not the cheapest one out there. We're paying yearly, but I'm not 100% sure."

"Pricing is very competitive, and it's better than other competitors."

"Pure is not a cheap product. It is not something that is inexpensive. But, the total cost of ownership tends to be lower than with other solutions, because you don't need a lot of expertise, you don't need a lot of training or very expensive engineers or very expensive consultants."

"The solution could be cheaper."

"FlashArray is expensive, but the quality justifies the price."

"While it comes with a higher price tag, this investment often translates to significant improvements in performance."

"The price is too high."

"We have 16 or 18 arrays. We like to do the three-year support model so that we get Evergreen and therefore, we get free upgrades. We pay around more than 1.5 million dollars."

More Everpure FlashArray pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	73
Midsize Enterprise	38
Large Enterprise	161

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco MDS Series?

The pricing could be improved as the solution is very expensive. I am on a yearly payment basis.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco MDS Series?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco MDS Series?

Cisco MDS Series is primarily used for connecting storage arrays. The multi-protocol feature supports all protocols and functionality working seamlessly. Virtual SANs operate without any issues. Pe...

See all answers

Which should I choose: HPE 3PAR StoreServ or Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform F Series?

Both are great platforms, but if you are considering all flash solutions, I would recommend you to consider Pure Storage. It may be more expensive, but it should pay for itself for its functionalit...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashArray?

When comparing cost, I find that the cost is either the same or slightly higher, but that is returned by the ease of management, ease of use, and power consumption in the long run. I don't have exp...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashArray?

The only thing I think could be improved is price. The price is the main concern for our customers.

See all answers

Comparisons

INFINIDAT InfiniBox vs Cisco MDS Series

Compared 13% of the time

Dell Connectrix vs Cisco MDS Series

Compared 12% of the time

IBM SAN40B-4 vs Cisco MDS Series

Compared 10% of the time

IBM SAN24B-4 Express vs Cisco MDS Series

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp ASA vs Cisco MDS Series

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco MDS Series Competitors

NetApp AFF vs Everpure FlashArray

Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs Everpure FlashArray

Compared 10% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Everpure FlashArray

Compared 7% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Everpure FlashArray

Compared 6% of the time

VAST Data vs Everpure FlashArray

Compared 5% of the time

More Everpure FlashArray Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise SAN

October 2026

Download Cisco MDS Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Everpure FlashArray

October 2026

Download Everpure FlashArray product report

Also Known As

Cisco MDS 9100, Cisco MDS 9222i, Cisco MDS 9700

Pure Storage FlashArray

Overview

Cisco MDS Series integrates and load balances between multiple vendor fiber links, offering seamless SAN connectivity with ease of deployment, management, and configuration. It features VSAN technology and supports LDAP, SNMPv3, and AES for a secure and reliable network environment.

Cisco MDS Series is recognized for its performance and stability in SAN environments, enabling effective fiber channel connectivity across data centers. Adopting its technology ensures simplified deployment and management with options like WebUI and CLI. Its ability to support active-active storage paths fosters efficient server connections in both single-site and metro-SAN setups. While it offers robust features, improvements such as integration with IBM Brocade SAN switches, more intuitive GUI, and lifecycle management are needed to enhance user experience.

What features set Cisco MDS Series apart?

VSAN Technology: Separates fiber links into different groups for enhanced network management.
WebUI & CLI Support: Streamlines deployment and management processes.
Secure Protocols: Supports LDAP, SSHv2, SNMPv3, and AES for secure connectivity.
Performance & Reliability: Known for stable operation in SAN environments with minimal performance issues.
Data Compression: Offers efficient data transmission through cost-effective techniques.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Scalability: Easily adjusts to expanding network needs with reliable infrastructure.
Cost-Effectiveness: Reduces operational costs with efficient resource utilization.
Quality of Service: Ensures high data transfer quality at layer one.
High Stability: Maintains dependable performance during updates.

In industries such as finance and healthcare where reliable data center operations are critical, Cisco MDS Series supports complex SAN configurations, providing effective connectivity between servers and storage. Its ability to facilitate long and short-distance ISL configurations makes it suitable for diverse operational environments.

Cisco

The FlashArray family delivers consistent, high-performance data services across block, file, and object workloads. As part of the Everpure Platform, it provides the foundation for a unified data plane, enabling applications to reliably access, protect, and manage data across environments with simplicity and predictability. With built-in capabilities such as inline data reduction, snapshots, replication, and ransomware resilience, FlashArray ensures efficient operations, protected data, and consistent application uptime.

As the foundation of the (unified) data plane, FlashArray enables policy-driven automation, monitoring, and centralized management while integrating across cloud and on-premises environments. Built on an Evergreen architecture, it supports non-disruptive upgrades and continuous performance improvements over time while simplifying operations at scale.

What Key Features Does FlashArray Offer?

Simplicity and Speed: Easy management and rapid performance enhancements.
Data Reduction: Effective deduplication and compression.
Flash Architecture: Seamless upgrades and outstanding resilience.
VMware Integration: Excellent compatibility with virtualization platforms.
Predictive Analytics: Strong insights for proactive management.

What Benefits Should Users Consider?

Reliability: Proactive support with minimal downtime.
Efficiency: Reduced storage footprint and enhanced data management.
Performance: Faster processing speeds and low latency.
User Experience: Simplified management with Evergreen model.

In industries like finance, banking, and healthcare, FlashArray supports high-performance storage needs focusing on virtualization and database environments. Employed for VMware workloads, disaster recovery, and storage provisioning, it ensures application performance in private or hybrid cloud setups while enhancing management of virtualized environments.

Everpure (formerly Pure Storage)

Sample Customers

National Rugby League

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