DDN IntelliFlash vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays comparison

DataDirect Networks and NetApp are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. DataDirect Networks is ranked #26 with an average rating of 9.0, while NetApp is ranked #24 with an average rating of 9.0. DataDirect Networks holds a 0.8% mindshare in AFS, compared to NetApp’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of DataDirect Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

DDN IntelliFlash and NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays are top contenders in the flash storage market. Users are generally happier with DDN IntelliFlash's pricing and support, but NetApp EF-Series often outperforms in features, making it a worthy investment despite higher costs.

Features: DDN IntelliFlash is praised for its diverse protocol support, data reduction capabilities, and affordability. NetApp EF-Series is noted for its low latency, high-performance metrics, and superior management interfaces.

Room for Improvement: DDN IntelliFlash users mention the need for improved scalability, more robust analytics, and advanced reporting tools. NetApp EF-Series users seek better management tools, enhanced reporting capabilities, and more intuitive user interfaces.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: DDN IntelliFlash is noted for its relatively straightforward deployment processes and responsive customer support. NetApp EF-Series also offers streamlined deployment but has mixed reviews on customer support responsiveness. The primary difference is in customer service quality, where DDN IntelliFlash takes the lead.

Pricing and ROI: Users find DDN IntelliFlash to be cost-effective with a higher ROI due to its affordability and solid performance. NetApp EF-Series, though pricier, is seen as a good investment for enterprises needing top-tier performance. The key difference is in initial cost vs ongoing value, with DDN IntelliFlash being more budget-friendly while NetApp EF-Series offers superior long-term performance benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed DDN IntelliFlash vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

DDN IntelliFlash vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

December 2025

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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

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DDN IntelliFlash is 0.8%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is 0.9%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	1.4%
NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays	0.9%
DDN IntelliFlash	0.8%
Other	96.9%

All-Flash Storage

Featured Reviews

Jaehoon Oh

Chief Technology Officer at Lambda256

Supports efficient storage management through volume snapshots and offers reliable non-disruptive upgrades

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could be enhanced. I can see the performance statistics in the Pure Storage console, but it does not show the performance by 4K byte unit. It displays IOPS and bandwidth, but IOPS is about real use, and I want to know how many IOPS are currently running in 4K byte units. I cannot see that IOPS because most storage systems report their performance by 4K byte unit. I want to see Pure Storage performance by 4K byte unit to compare with other storage or other internal NVMe SSD.

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Anil Rahulwar

Storage Engineer at Movate

Good customer service and support and suitable for large environments

It is very easy to install. Users don't need to remember anything while deploying IntelliFlash because everything will be taken care of by tech support. They can easily modify the installation or change the password with the help of the tech support. It is very easy to integrate IntelliFlash with other solutions. We have plugins that can be integrated with other solutions. It will require maintenance. It is the same as any other storage solution: updates and upgrades, firmware upgrades, and drive upgrades.

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Tayo Olubanke

Managing Director at GCET

Offers flexibility and top-notch technology

You can go to bed peacefully if you have a NetApp. If you have NetApp within your data center, you get to know about power failure if you are using it. Your NetApp will still come alive. Even if it does not come alive, I can say that it is not like other tools when it comes to dealing with power failure. The tool is affordable, and the technology is top-notch. It is the only technology that has software for what we call inline compression and deduplication. All the products under NetApp are aiming to use AI. I know that you can achieve whatever you want to do with NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very straightforward to set up."

"It offers competitive performance, and the Evergreen storage model of Pure fits well with my organization."

"I use the tool for Oracle databases, Oracle virtual machines, and Oracle Linux databases. I'm on the storage side, not a database administrator."

"It is very easy to install and configure. It has got excellent diagnostics. If you really need to see how the box is performing, the console gives you a lot of information. You can set thresholds as well as alerts based on the thresholds, which is a very powerful functionality. They are very proactive. They know how to monitor and manage the systems. They see a problem, and they are all over it before us. They see the problem before we see it, which is very good."

"One of the best features is the support, which is excellent."

"It has good, reliable, fast storage."

"The best features of Pure FlashArray X NVMe include the volume snapshot capabilities, which allow us to save most of the storage space by volume snapshots periodically."

"The tool's valuable features are speed, security, data compression, and reliability. Its data compression feature is the best that we have ever seen. It helps us to save money and resources."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"Data Compression: Up to 80% space reduction in the database"

"EasyTier/hotcaching: Valuable because it allows greater performance than standard SAS disks"

"It has reduced our electricity usage by reducing the amount of disks needed for the virtual environment."

"It's very fast. We were seeing read latencies of less than one millisecond. It is robust."

"High performance and ease-of-management are the most valuable features."

"It performed great originally, and when it performed great, it was awesome."

"We use IntelliFlash products for larger environments, like Qatar Airways."

More DDN IntelliFlash pros

"The product's initial setup phase can be managed easily and completed in 20 to 30 minutes. It is one of the fastest storage tools that you can implement."

"The solution allows us to segregate one storage unit from another."

"Compared to Dell Unity XT, what I see as an advantage in NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is the fact that it is more scalable...The performance of the product is good."

"The management of it is very simple. that is the most valuable feature."

"The management software is very good."

"I like the performance aspect of EF Series. It basically provides everything that we are looking for as a solution, very low latency and very high performance."

"Rapid deployment, easy integration management and cloning of areas."

"This storage solution is both stable and scalable, and it works for our needs."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays pros

Cons

"We would like to see more visibility into garbage collection and CPU performance in the GUI."

"In terms of what needs improvement, the dashboard and management could be simplified."

"In the next release, I would like to see real-time analytics for further insight into consumption models."

"Many options to check performance, like read, writes, random writes, and random reads, are missing in Pure FlashArray X NVMe."

"The tool's pricing is higher than competitors."

"We would like to see VNC integration or be able to use Pure Storage with VNC."

"There is room for improvement in catering to midrange storage needs, especially for customers seeking Enterprise-class features."

"We need better data deduplication."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"In future releases, I look forward to more AI features."

"Snapshots are not as easy to access as on a NetApp device."

"In the proxy section you can’t choose a user account and password, so it is not allowed at the moment to go out, if customer has such constellation."

"It's somewhat scalable, but maybe not so much as some of the competition."

"They need to offer better integration for a virtual platform to enable you to create hyper-converged solution."

"It only keeps one hour of real-time data without the ability to do deep analysis of each element."

"Technical support is bad. It'd grade them at 30% or 40%. The response time is terrible."

"We had just one small stability problem with power flapping and it did not start up again automatically. We had to access service ports and manually restart the storage processors."

More DDN IntelliFlash cons

"The only major drawback is the replication between EF-Series units."

"Their problems are on the software and the controlling of the storage where they lack segmentation and federation."

"I've observed an issue when creating a new storage solution with NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays."

"The dashboard could be simplified."

"Better integration with other brands is important so we would like to see it easier to integrate."

"I would like to have the ability to replicate data between All Flash and other NetApp storage systems."

"The pricing could be cheaper and it should have documentation in more languages, specifically, Russian."

"The support of the product is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They can tout the functionality and cutting edge technology that they have, but that's where the price tag comes in. The cost is high, but I think as they grow their business and get more customers that it will probably go down a little bit."

"With Pure Storage, we would like to continue seeing price reductions with flash storage. I don't think we're any different than anybody else when we continue to look to the industry for price reductions of both NVMe and traditional SSD storage. We would like to see these prices continue to decline and erode, even displacing large spinning disks."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe’s pricing is cheaper than other products."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"Our licensing fees are $500,000+ USD."

"Its price could be better. It is not too expensive, but it is the high-end cost. It is kind of a Rolls-Royce. You pay a lot, but you get a lot out of it. So, the price pressure on the way down would be great, but at the end of the day, if you need to do the work, you just pay for it."

"The tool is an investment that we've budgeted for. While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits. We don't regret purchasing it."

"With VMware, we pay $300,000 annually."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"I think we pay around 100 grand per year for three arrays or four arrays."

"I recommend the full bundle software in order to have all the functionality. It is more expensive to purchase it one by one."

"The cost of our license is approximately $200,000 over three years for NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays. There can be additional costs for storage. For example, if you want to have eight terabytes."

"NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is an expensive product."

"It's a lot cheaper than what the other vendors have for the same type of environment. It saves us money."

"The price point for EF is considerably lower than the alternatives."

"he price point that we're getting is very competitive in the market. Since we are buying in such a large quantity, they gave us a huge discount."

"The pricing of this solution is competitive with other vendors here in Egypt."

"The pricing is comparable with other competitors and similar in mid-range solutions, and for high range solutions, it would depend on our requirements or needs."

"Its cost-effectiveness is a major selling point. Compared to other storage vendors, the EF-Series offers excellent value for its price. It's truly a leading product in the industry."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Performing Arts

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	18

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

See all answers

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

The price of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is very expensive, though I do not know the actual price because I am using the E...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IntelliFlash?

It is a bit cheaper than other products, 10% to 20% cheaper.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IntelliFlash?

DDN IntelliFlash should improve in terms of sales. In future releases, I look forward to more features about AI and M...

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What is your primary use case for IntelliFlash?

We use IntelliFlash products for larger environments, like Qatar Airways. They have large scalability and use more th...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

One has to opt for a perpetual-based licensing model for one year or three years. After three years, you need to rene...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

The support of the product is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required. I want NetApp's supp...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

There are so many things to talk about around the use cases associated with the tool. There are so many reasons why I...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 18% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 12% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 8% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

VAST Data vs DDN IntelliFlash

Compared 28% of the time

NetApp AFF vs DDN IntelliFlash

Compared 10% of the time

Tintri VMstore T7000 vs DDN IntelliFlash

Compared 8% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs DDN IntelliFlash

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Nimble Storage vs DDN IntelliFlash

Compared 6% of the time

More DDN IntelliFlash Competitors

NetApp AFF vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 16% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 13% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 10% of the time

NetApp ASA vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 10% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 8% of the time

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

January 2026

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

DDN IntelliFlash

January 2026

Download DDN IntelliFlash product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

January 2026

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays report

Download NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

Tegile, IntelliFlash N-Series, IntelliFlash T-Series, IntelliFlash HD-Series

NetApp EF540, NetApp EF-Series

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

Pure Storage

Western Digital through its IntelliFlash arrays delivers high-performance storage with a complete range of features and connectivity options, including inline compression and deduplication, application and VM consistent snapshots, replication, RAID, data encryption, VMware vCenter integration, and multi-protocol support for SAN (FC, iSCSI) and NAS (NFS, SMBv3). IntelliFlash arrays deliver high availability through dualredundant and hot-swappable components, active/active or active/passive controllers, non-disruptive software upgrades, eMLC flash, and proactive cloud-based monitoring, analytics, and intelligence. A RESTful API provides scripted or programmatic control.

DataDirect Networks

The NetApp EF560 all-flash array is an all-SSD storage system for applications that demand extremely high levels of performance and reliability. Requiring just 2U of rack space, the EF560 all-flash array combines extreme IOPS, microsecond response times, and up to 12GBps of bandwidth with leading, enterprise-proven availability features.

NetApp

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Bank of Stockton, Barnsley College, Boyes Turner, Brigham Young University

RP Data, Western Oregon University, Toei Animation

Buyer's Guide

DDN IntelliFlash vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

December 2025

Free Report: DDN IntelliFlash vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Find out what your peers are saying about DDN IntelliFlash vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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