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DataCore SANsymphony vs NetApp ONTAP comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

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

DataCore SANsymphony
Ranking in Storage Software
2nd
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (4th), HCI (7th), Storage Performance (1st)
NetApp ONTAP
Ranking in Storage Software
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Storage Software category, the mindshare of DataCore SANsymphony is 27.3%, up from 27.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp ONTAP is 42.1%, down from 43.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Storage Software
 

Featured Reviews

OliverPalz - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides efficient synchronous mirroring capability and dynamic data management functionality
The initial setup is relatively easy but requires a certified DataCore implementation engineer to deploy the solution in a production environment. The deployment following the qualified procedure, typically takes about a week, depending on the amount of storage and the specific environment. With my experience, I can set up the system within two to four hours; however, the qualification process, which includes detailed planning and testing, adds additional time. It involves gathering the customer's requirements, preparing comprehensive documentation for validation, and conducting tests in collaboration with the customer. This documentation includes a site planning checklist, a pre-installation checklist, and a functional test plan to ensure everything is in order before deployment. Overall, I rate the process an eight.
Naveen Radhwani - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides good performance, stability, and complete data security
Our upcoming investments would be prioritized around a hybrid cloud solution because we ourselves promote the cloud in the market. We are the premium service provider for AWS, so we have that inclination toward cloud computing. From the experience that we had during the pandemic, we are looking for some kind of hybrid solution for our environment. NetApp should focus on a hybrid cloud solution because none of the media houses are opting for cloud storage. The files are quite heavy, and it becomes quite difficult to maintain them on the cloud. If NetApp can provide such technology and fill the gap of storing media files in the cloud, it would give them an advantage.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The dashboard is very intuitive, and there are many counters to diagnose what happens during a short period (like when a backup is in progress)."
"DataCore SANsymphony's stability is okay."
"Continuous data protection (CDP), can be used to "protect" again ransomware by recording all write on disk in a log. You can recover your data with incredible time granularity."
"It is a well-proven, automated management tool in all dynamic provisioning, auto-tiering, great performance, parallel I/O​, cache speed mechanism, etc."
"The use of the RAM cache allows you to speed up the writing and reading of data while also allowing for a possible increase in performance by increasing the RAM on the servers."
"Active-active is the most valuable aspect for us."
"I found the solution to be very stable."
"The ability to pool the storage to leverage thin-provisioning is a huge saving in space and costs."
"We are saving more disk space which saves us more money."
"The compression works well. We get a 3:1 ratio."
"I would rate this solution a ten because of what NetApp provides us from a quality layout. The partnership that they provide us and their assistance is very important and the work that they communicate with us on a regular basis is outstanding."
"Snapshot and SnapMirror technologies make it easier to replicate data to disaster recovery scenarios."
"It has the ability to bring up disaster recovery quickly."
"The deduplication is valuable."
"It most valuable feature is its stability. A product has to be stable."
"We can do upgrades without taking it down. We have had nodes fail and people just kept working."
 

Cons

"NVMeoF should be implemented. This protocol will play a major role in storage infrastructure in the future."
"I'd like to see the company make the renewal of the software cheaper."
"I found it a little unnecessary to have to rename the configurations within the graphics console in order to have unique names."
"The cloud reporting interface is quite poor compared to other vendors."
"Management could be improved. The management console sometimes reacts very slowly."
"When I sometimes reboot for maintenance, the connectivity from the iSCSI initiator host could be improved."
"We'd like to manage the raid on the disk directly in SanSymphony."
"I would like to see reporting added, such as a monthly connectivity report."
"If the customer wants to integrate with another product they need deployment guides."
"It would be nice if they make it so that one can operate the console without the need for interface-related comments."
"For administration, there is no user interface present for NetApp ONTAP, so I have to rely on the ONTAP CLI."
"I would like it to be more user-friendly. When you open the main dashboard, anyone should be able to know exactly what is going on, even without a tech background. Minimal training should be required."
"NetApp ONTAP has several limitations that we encounter, primarily related to large enterprise clients. They do not affect small clients that NetApp may have. While these limitations are clearly described, some issues require us to develop workarounds."
"NetApp ONTAP could be improved with additional features to help handle the backup of more than 10 to 15 devices simultaneously."
"They need centralized controls."
"NetApp ONTAP has similar areas of improvement as NetApp Private Storage regarding decreasing the error rate, improving the GUI, technical support and stability, and reducing the price."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"DataCore SANsymphony's pricing is very high and should be much cheaper."
"This solution allows the use of off-the-shelf hardware and charges by the TB of storage."
"Pricing has improved but it is still expensive."
"In my case, the licensing per terabytes is very high and it must be licensed for each extra functionality."
"The cost is at the same level as other storage solutions and it is easy to understand the licensing."
"This product has a good ratio between quality and price. In many cases, it's less expensive to work with DataCore than other storage systems."
"Make sure you are made aware of the annual subscription cost when purchasing."
"It is relatively expensive, and the additional costs for hardware and storage can make it a significant investment for customers."
"It's very expensive."
"Our cost per IOP is three to four dollars, but we have a hybrid solution. Therefore, we have SSD and spinning disk running together."
"We have a wholesale contract with NetApp. We also have NetApp ONTAP On-Demand activation for certain things. We also have some preferential pricing for licenses. The licensing that I see here doesn't apply to other clients in the field. NetApp is expensive, but so are the competitors, making it hard to ascertain precise retail value. However, based on my perspective, NetApp pricing appears competitive."
"Depending on the licensing you choose the price varies. For our company and our needs, the cost is very fair."
"Our pricing with discounts is reasonable, but it may vary for others."
"In the past, you didn't have to buy separate products. They were mostly included with the purchase. In the end, it's more expensive to buy it separate than together. If you are going to need it, one package at the beginning is cheaper."
"This solution has helped our organization reduce our overall cost of storage. We're part of the NetApp OnDemand, where we lease it. Also, it doesn't take as many people to administer the solution as some other products."
"ONTAP is expensive, but most storage systems are now-a-days and everything is included with the license - there are no additional fees."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
20%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Media Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DataCore SANsymphony SDS?
The cost changed from a perpetual license to a subscription model, and it seems reasonable. I am technical personnel and not deeply involved in sales, but the pricing appears fine.
What do you like most about DataCore SANsymphony?
The dashboard is very intuitive, and there are a lot of counters to diagnose what happens during a short period (like when a backup is in progress).
What needs improvement with DataCore SANsymphony?
In my opinion, there should be improvements in how to get and filter logs. However, this is not a frequent need because they have great support that offers quick and knowledgeable assistance. Other...
How does Azure NetApp Files compare to NetApp ONTAP?
Azure NetApp Files is a Microsoft Azure file storage service built on NetApp technology. The platform combines the file capabilities of Azure and NetApp to move critical file-based applications to ...
What do you like most about NetApp ONTAP?
We do not face any glitches or downtime.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp ONTAP?
The pricing is high. That said, we received favorable pricing at Intel due to the company's large NetApp ONTAP deployment across different organizations. While we're not in the IT department (we're...
 

Also Known As

DataCore Virtual SAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Volkswagen , Maimonides Medical Center, NASA, Thorntons, Inc., TUI, ISCO Industries, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, United Financial Credit Union, Derby Supply Chain Solutions, Mission Community Hospital, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Colby-Sawyer College, Mount Sinai Health System, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Quorn Foods, Bitburger, University of Birmingham, Stadtverwaltung Heidelberg, NetEnt to name a few.
1&1 IONOS, Acıbadem Healthcare Group, Adder Technologies, Aero Vodochody Aerospace
Find out what your peers are saying about DataCore SANsymphony vs. NetApp ONTAP and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.