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Hitachi NAS Platform vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

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

Hitachi NAS Platform
Ranking in NAS
14th
Average Rating
6.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM FlashSystem
Ranking in NAS
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
111
Ranking in other categories
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (2nd), All-Flash Storage (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Hitachi NAS Platform is 2.7%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 12.6%, down from 13.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NAS
 

Featured Reviews

Mir Gulzar Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Needs standalone functionality but provides a robust NAS solution for existing SAN environments
I would suggest that Hitachi make a NAS box that can work independently, without relying on SAN connectivity. The current solution only suits customers who already have a Hitachi SAN environment and want to add NAS protocols like NFS and CIFS. It's not suitable for customers without an existing SAN, as they would first need to acquire the SAN infrastructure before adding NAS functionality.
OmarIsmail1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers high performance and dependable support for fast storage needs
The most valuable feature of IBM FlashSystem ( /products/ibm-flashsystem-reviews ) is its robust back code. When integrated properly into the environment and configured according to the guidelines, it provides a very solid infrastructure that does the job on demand. Additionally, IBM FlashSystem offers competitive pricing and reliable performance. The hardware is dependable, ensuring that it functions effectively when the setup is done correctly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product’s technical support services are good."
"Hitachi NAS has improved my storage operations significantly."
"The most valuable feature is its ability to handle a high number of users while maintaining both stability and performance."
"Hitachi NAS has improved my storage operations significantly."
"Hitachi is reliable with high availability and solid performance. It performs well regardless of the workload."
"The reliability and scalability of Hitachi NAS Platform are valuable features."
"It creates a NAS environment on top of Hitachi SAN, which facilitates customers who need NAS protocols along with their existing SAN portfolio."
"The product has valuable features for data migration."
"The most valuable features are deduplication and compression, which together, enable you to have more space."
"FlashSystem offers proven technology in a compact package."
"Stability-wise, this solution is fine."
"IBM FlashSystem is flexible, quick, and has a solid design."
"The initial setup is straightforward and can be done in an hour and a half by one person."
"The all-flash storage has tier replication capabilities."
"IBM FlashSystem has been stable in our operations."
"The valuable features for us are the extra add-ons, such as the FIM provisioning, the compression, the disaster recovery capabilities, and the storage pooling functions."
 

Cons

"I would like to see the inclusion of support for cloud-connectivity to providers like AWS."
"There are insufficient improvements in certain areas."
"Hitachi could be more flexible and have a simpler management interface."
"I do not like Hitachi NAS because it's an old-school NAS solution, compared to the other, newer-type solutions such as Isilon from Dell or Qumulo."
"The monitoring tool is not well developed."
"I rated Hitachi NAS a seven out of ten, primarily due to the interface or insufficient improvements in certain areas."
"I encounter challenges while installing the upgrades for the product."
"The Hitachi NAS Platform is too complicated, not simple, and not cost-effective, sometimes being inappropriate for most situations."
"I would like to see an improvement in the handling of large amounts of rights."
"The product needs to improve their scalability."
"Sometimes the performance is effective but it gets resolved in the process."
"The security features can be improved such that the encryption does not affect performance in any way."
"The price is very costly."
"The generic functionality of IBM FlashSystem, IBM always dismisses using file share or sharing protocols inside their storage hardware, and they only focus on the block-level storage."
"When you provision a datastore auto-format takes a long time"
"IBM could do more marketing and improve brand awareness. I had never heard of this product until a colleague told me about it. FlashSystem could add a few features, but it would probably increase the price. For example, Pure Storage offers instant snapshotting and partitioning. That would be nice to have, but I think the cost would go up."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is priced well and there are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"Hitachi NAS Platform’s price is high and depends on SCSI disc capacity."
"Costs are based on the features and it is a considerable amount."
"It is a highly-priced product."
"I would rate the solution's pricing six to seven out of ten."
"They've been much more aggressive in the last five, six years than they were before that."
"I'd rate the basic licensing and the Virtualize software a ten out of ten, and the extra Spectrum and other an eight out of ten."
"My customers got the IBM FlashSystem bundle offer. It was a one-time purchase for three years of service. The price would depend on the storage size and could reach between $25,000 to $55,000."
"For a yearly license, it is about $100,000. There are no additional costs. The entire system is included."
"The cost is pretty high in terms of licensing. We pay at least $100,000 USD in licensing fees for the storage."
"The pricing may be a bit higher than other brands. If you compare the IBM FlashSystems in midrange with Dell EMC in midrange, IBM costs a bit more, but I prefer IBM because it has more specs that I can benefit from."
"The pricing has been very competitive for the last few years. IBM got to the point where they changed the pricing model and we feel very comfortable with the pricing. It's very competitive. Over the last two years, IBM has been coming up with all kinds of interesting promos, especially for the SMB systems. That makes it very competitive price-wise and in terms of performance..."
"There are no licensing fees, it is a one-time purchase of the IBM FlashSystem."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Hiachi NAS Platform?
The product has valuable features for data migration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hiachi NAS Platform?
The pricing for the Hitachi NAS is higher compared to other NAS solutions since the NAS protocol is provided on top of the existing SAN environment, requiring an additional device for NAS functiona...
What needs improvement with Hiachi NAS Platform?
I would suggest that Hitachi make a NAS box that can work independently, without relying on SAN connectivity. The current solution only suits customers who already have a Hitachi SAN environment an...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem?
Many factors affect purchasing directly from IBM, often involving a multi-step process. Customers, especially in banking, often use the latest devices as they are upgrading, indicating they do not ...
What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?
The deduplication technology in IBM FlashSystem needs significant improvement. Other vendors like NetApp ( /products/netapp-41749-reviews ) offer better deduplication technology, which is noticeabl...
 

Also Known As

Hitachi NAS
IBM Storwize
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Intersect Australia
Celero, Friedhelm Loh Group, Clarks, Mingkang Natregro Health Food Group, Sofia, Etisalat Fights Fraud, UF Health Shands Hospital, Generali, Elecon Engineering Company Limited, Ventiv , Technology, CPFL Energia, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., SciQuest, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Paddy Power, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Interconnect Services, Severstal IP-Only AB, PVU Group GmbH
Find out what your peers are saying about Hitachi NAS Platform vs. IBM FlashSystem and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.