Dell XtremIO vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays comparison

Dell XtremIO vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

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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

Everpure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Everpure FlashArray X NVMe is 1.6%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell XtremIO is 1.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	1.6%
Dell XtremIO	1.1%
NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays	1.0%
Other	96.3%

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.

Has improved data reduction and snapshot efficiency while supporting critical workloads

Avi Shpaner

System Engineer at Exaware

There are some areas that could be improved with Dell XtremIO. The API to connect with command line or to see performance very clearly could be enhanced, similar to how NetApp works with Grafana and NetApp monitor, which shows you a comprehensive view of the whole picture. The snapshot functionality could work more similarly to Snap Center. If I want to see all the VCenter with the VM, I think it needs the API for this. I do see big differences between Dell and other products. NetApp works very closely with VCenter, and Hitachi also integrates well, but Dell is not very clear and does not proceed well with VCenter integration with Dell. It needs the API, and I need to see all the snapshots. If I want to restore a VM from only a few directories or a few files that I need to restore, it is very difficult. I do see some differences in licensing. For the last few years, the Dell EMC price is acceptable. A few years ago, Dell EMC was expensive, approximately 20 percent more than NetApp. Right now the budget between EMC and NetApp is very closely aligned. Regarding the installation process and deployment of Dell XtremIO, I notice that in Israel, a lot of professional services and engineers who work with Dell EMC have moved to another storage company. I do not know why. Dell EMC does not have enough engineers, system engineers, or professional services engineers to provide service to the old clients, similar to how NetApp or Hitachi do. I think Dell XtremIO is between easy and complicated to deploy; it gives you the whole picture, but I need to go closely to VCenter to connect to VCenter to see the snapshot and to see performance with more dashboards of performance. I also need to connect the switch fiber channel to see all zoning to give me more flexibility to install or configure fiber channel or to see the performance of the fiber channels. I think there should be some fiber channel disconnect adapter or better troubleshooting from hardware for errors.

Offers flexibility and top-notch technology

Tayo Olubanke

Managing Director at GCET

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.

More Everpure FlashArray X NVMe pros

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

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

"The standout features for us in Pure FlashArray X NVMe are its robust DDoS protection, seamless transparent failover, and failback capabilities ensuring high availability."

"Overall stability is very good."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe will quickly overcome all the hurdles you face, including network and latency issues."

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

"The most valuable features of this solution are its ease of use and performance."

"Using this solution has benefitted us operationally by making us more efficient."

"What we've seen on the Xs, and the Pures in general, is that we can scale way beyond what we need to without any degradation in performance."

"Prior to the XtremIO, we just could not perform the data warehousing activities that enable our company to achieve business objectives necessary for being in the ultra-competitive insurance provider world."

"It has very good performance for an application which needs lower latency and a better response, for example, in microseconds."

"The most valuable features are: complete performance and ease of use."

"I like the deduplication and auto-tiering features."

"Several processes that used to take several hours to complete are now taking minutes to complete."

"The speed and scalability of Dell XtremIO are significant features that improve data storage management."

"It is very good and has very good performance."

"It was very easy and straightforward to setup."

More Dell XtremIO pros

"I would recommend it. It is very stable, fast, and offers good support."

"I would have to say performance at this point, because the application it is based on is so diverse."

"The main advantage of this solution is performance."

"The hardware and software of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays are easy for us to use."

"The NetApp EF-Series gave our organization easy access to our databases, and what's great about this solution is that it speeds up our data store because it is a cheap solution for flash performances."

"At the end of the day, low latency was what geared us towards the EF."

"The ease of use is the most valuable feature; something that we can use for a flash and all-flash type of environment that we can really put a heavy workload on."

"It provides multi-protocol, which is what gives the edge when it comes to big lineage PC workloads."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays pros

Cons

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

"They could add more support for file storage and different types of storage."

"There are some challenges with data encryption and reduction."

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

"It's more multi-tenant functionality in their Pure1 manage portal that is lacking."

"One area that I haven't been sold on yet is the POD replication."

"In the future, I would like to see integration with enterprise backup systems."

"If the customer only needs 500 terabytes and doesn't care how much data they'll put in the server, IBM is cheaper than Pure."

More Everpure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"Management and reporting need improvement."

"The XtremIO by itself without a virtualization layer has some drawbacks, like storage replication."

"Dell is not very clear and does not proceed well with VCenter integration with Dell."

"The product could be improved by reducing the pricing and having better organization in their technical support team."

"Scalability is something that can be improved because there is an issue when it comes to mixing versions."

"I would like to see more scalability."

"The GUI could be modified more in terms of how the different components are linked to each other."

"Integration with other EMC SAN storage array ecosystems like VMAX3, Unity, etc., especially for consistency group protection: This will help to consistently recover applications which are spread across multiple product lines like VMAX3 and XtremIO for various reasons."

More Dell XtremIO cons

"This solution does not have any compression or deduplication."

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

"The management interface, while very reliable, seems a little old now and could maybe use a little modernization."

"This solution is not available to many users because the cost is very expensive."

"The price of the All Flash solution is very high."

"I guess the user interface could be a little more streamlined."

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

"They could improve the product’s tools."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

"Given its price, Pure is not the first option."

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

"As far as the licensing costs, everything is included in the license."

"We pay approximately $50,000 USD per year in licensing fees."

"Pretty much everything that you need is licensed when you buy the product. Licensing to me is different than the maintenance cost, but they can bleed into one another. We buy the product, and we expect three years of support bundled into what we negotiate on our storage arrays. I would start to see maintenance costs going into the fourth year, but we're not there yet."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

More Everpure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"The license for XtremIO is in the box, so you don't have to buy anything."

"Too high priced for the Brazil market."

"The price of the solution should be reduced. The price matches the price of a VMAX service but it does not have the capability of a VMAX service. However, the prices of Dell EMC XtremIO can be reduceable."

"It is costly but worth it."

"The initial purchase price was good but when you need to upgrade, it's a different story."

"Don’t buy this array. You’re paying for loads of magic beans, since it’s mediocre at best for a platform in a rapidly growing field. Look instead at Pure Storage or something with variable block deduplication. You’ll end up spending less and getting a better product with actual support."

"This is the best flash array on the market for high-end workloads, so expect to pay for that. But the support subscription cost is fixed for seven years, which made it easier for us to plan on the maintenance costs."

"XtremIO is pretty straightforward about pricing. However, you need to look at your data so you can estimate, with the advice of DEL EMC, what data reduction ratio you will reach. In our case, a 3:1 reduction ration gave us a positive case compared to other storage arrays."

More Dell XtremIO pricing and cost advice

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

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

"The pricing of the solution is expensive, considering the initial investment required...At the end of the product's life cycle, it could get cheaper, but the initial investment in NetApp makes it one of the most expensive solutions."

"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."

"It's a way to get relatively low-cost, very high-performance, low-latency block storage as a point solution."

"Cheaper pricing is always good. NetApp has been doing everything the right way. They've been figuring out things really well, going in the right direction."

"They need to improve its pricing. The storage market is dying. So, they need to improve the price because it should reach all people. NetApp is one of the top ones, and they are charging a little bit of royalty as compared to other storage solutions."

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

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Comparison Review

it_user182013

Federal Civ/Intel Engineering Lead at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

May 1, 2015

Measuring Up: EMC XtremIO and HP 3PAR

Leading up to EMC World 2015, IT Central Station asked how I would compare EMC XtremIO and HP 3PAR. Until recently, the flash storage conversation in my organization and many others has centered on XtremIO and Pure Storage, the leaders of the all-flash array (AFA) space. To that end, I've written a…

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

11%

Marketing Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

10%

Performing Arts

10%

Marketing Services Firm

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	16
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	29

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

Questions from the Community

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

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...

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 ...

What do you like most about Dell EMC XtremIO?

The feature I like most about Dell Xtremio is its hardware quality compared to other vendors. It's clear they're cont...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell XtremIO?

Pricing is hard to determine as it depends on the given configuration. XtremIO offers features that justify a potenti...

What needs improvement with Dell XtremIO?

There are some areas that could be improved with Dell XtremIO. The API to connect with command line or to see perform...

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...

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...

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...

Dell PowerStore vs Everpure FlashArray X NVMe

Comparisons

Compared 12% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Everpure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Everpure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Everpure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 8% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Everpure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 8% of the time

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IBM FlashSystem vs Dell XtremIO

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Dell XtremIO

Compared 9% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs Dell XtremIO

Compared 8% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Dell XtremIO

Compared 7% of the time

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs Dell XtremIO

Compared 6% of the time

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NetApp AFF vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 12% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 9% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 8% of the time

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

Compared 8% of the time

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

Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Everpure FlashArray X NVMe

Download Everpure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Dell XtremIO

Download Dell XtremIO product report

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Download NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays product report

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays report

Also Known As

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

Dell EMC XtremIO Flash, Dell EMC XtremIO X2, XtremIO, XtremIO X2

NetApp EF540, NetApp EF-Series

Overview

Everpure FlashArray X NVMe delivers high performance, reliability, and low latency, making it ideal for block storage in private cloud infrastructures and mission-critical applications.

Boasting robust data reduction, high availability, and seamless scalability, Everpure FlashArray X NVMe supports databases, VMware environments, and machine learning analytics. Known for its intuitive interface, superior support, volume snapshots, and AI-powered analytics, it efficiently manages storage needs, often deployed to replace outdated systems. Users highlight its simplistic management and easy configuration, although opportunities exist to enhance pricing, replication features, VNC integration, and storage capabilities.

What are the key features?

Data Reduction: Effective compression and deduplication improve storage efficiency.
Seamless Scalability: Easily scales to meet growing demands without downtime.
Volume Snapshots: Quickly create snapshots for data protection and recovery.
VMware Compatibility: Integrates smoothly with VMware environments for optimal performance.
AI-Powered Analytics: Provides insights for enhanced storage management and efficiency.

What benefits and ROI should be considered?

Low Latency and High Availability: Ensures rapid data access and uninterrupted service.
Easy Management: Intuitive interface simplifies configuration and monitoring.
Evergreen Model: Continuous upgrades without disruptive migrations.
Enhanced Support: Reliable service and support for critical applications.

Organizations in industries such as finance and healthcare implement Everpure FlashArray X NVMe to bolster data performance and reliability. They leverage its integration capabilities with Oracle databases and SQL workloads, supporting machine learning and virtualization. It's often chosen to upgrade legacy storage systems, ensuring high availability and speed for demanding environments.

Everpure (formerly Pure Storage)

Bring all-flash, scale-out storage to your enterprise applications with EMC XtremIO. Purpose-built for flash, XtremIO storage arrays are amazingly fast. Delivering high IOPS at less than 1 millisecond latency is just the start. EMC XtremIO helps you harness the power of flash storage by building in innovations like content-based data placement and dual-stage metadata.

Dell Technologies

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

Raiffeisen Bank Bulgaria, Wentworth-Douglas Hospital

RP Data, Western Oregon University, Toei Animation

Dell XtremIO vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays