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HPE MSA vs IBM System Storage DS5000 Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 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

HPE MSA
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM System Storage DS5000 S...
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of HPE MSA is 11.2%, down from 20.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM System Storage DS5000 Series is 2.9%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HPE MSA11.2%
IBM System Storage DS5000 Series2.9%
Other85.9%
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
 

Featured Reviews

JT
Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
Ensures quick data handling but needs advanced security features
The speed and performance of HPE MSA are admirable. I found that its scalability benefited my organization, especially in larger settings. While the price is not reasonable, its performance makes up for it. Additionally, the licensing costs are consistent with most brands. Compared to Huawei, however, I found that Huawei's processing power, performance, and cost were more advantageous.
Gustavo Rosello - PeerSpot reviewer
Technological Infrastructure Manager at Mercado Argentino de Valores S.A.
Provides solid hardware and ROI to users
Companies or groups of business units are growing fast. We have perhaps between four and five more people than what it was two years ago, so the systems are increasing, and now we are working with RPA in some of our processes for automation, especially wherever it is mandatory in the financial branch, like a common investment fund and the investment in action or where there are other products. Our market is directly related to small business. We are working with companies where data translation is needed or where invoices, specifically credit invoices, the negotiation of cheques, or a doc that shows receipt of money, which you can sell at a future date. We have a sub-warehouse that has a back office in the cloud to use all operations related to creditors so that the company can increase its share in the markets. I think that we may need something on-premises in the future. The trends indicate that users are returning to on-premises systems because of the high cost of public clouds. We are looking for a better data center. In Argentina, hardware costs are high, but now, it is a great investment. We are slowly planning to expand the tool. In the USA, when it comes to object-first devices, there is a cost of 48,000 USD for 128 TB, but in Argentina, the cost is 64,000 USD for 84 TB. In Argentina, we have a lot of taxes, and the government is in the process of reducing these taxes, but now we have a situation associated with our economy. Out of 100 companies, only two are seeking employees. We are waiting for the recovery of the economy, but everything here is expensive apart from the salaries.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The cost to performance for HPE StorageWorks MSA is good."
"The cost to performance for HPE StorageWorks MSA is good."
"Easy to manage, it’s reliable for us, and fits our environment."
"The benefits are definitely reliability and ease of use, because, since we are using the same products, we also know that we can contact HP for assistance if we need it."
"The most valuable features were the dual controllers and being able to expand it."
"HPE StorageWorks MSA is an entry-level, cost-effective solution for SMB customers."
"Generally, HPE MSA has improved my storage management and has notably provided scalability benefits."
"The most valuable features are the storage levels and snapshot features."
"The most valuable feature is compression."
"The most valuable aspects of the DS5000 Series are its high availability (almost six nines), stability, cost-effectiveness, and the unique IBM FlashCore modules, which other competitors lack. These FlashCore modules enable local operations on the drive itself without a performance overhead, a significant advantage."
"The stability and performance of the drive are the most valuable."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"We have had a good experience with customer service and support."
"The solution is reliable."
"This product is priced well, the ratio between cost and productivity is very high and we're happy with it."
"You can easily virtualize and share the storage."
 

Cons

"It would be ideal if there was a better management interface."
"We had a few issues with some of the firmware codes, probably about five years ago."
"There is room for improvement in terms of scalability. There are times when we need to upgrade the device and the firmware. Sometimes, that can be a struggle."
"P2000 has become legacy and we can't find spare parts for it anymore. The life cycle is very low."
"Some clients have suggested room for improvement in expanding storage capacity beyond the base traces."
"We faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration during installation."
"The platform’s monitoring capabilities could be enhanced."
"GUI can be improved Firmware updates need improvement Hardware could use a little refinement. (The fiber ports on one controller pushed through the case causing us to replace that controller under warranty."
"IBM talks about integration when we talk about Safeguarded Copy. It integrates with QRadar, but it seems as though IBM still is too separate, that is, the way IBM is measured on software and hardware."
"The solution's integration with other tools could be improved."
"IBM is not always as agile as other competitors when it is about cloud integration and user interfaces."
"The product is very costly. Very few can afford it."
"The amount of storage could be increased."
"The solution is not flexible enough."
"The stability could be improved."
"Improving software installation and licensing retrieval would make using IBM System Storage DS5000 series easier for customers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"I would rate the pricing as nine out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"The price of the solution is a little high and they should provide more competitive pricing. If you want to increases the storage size there are additional fees."
"HPE StorageWorks MSA's licensing is perpetual and not integrated."
"This solution involves a one-time CapEx payment, followed by warranty extensions."
"This solution is quite expensive; they should lower the cost."
"The solution can be a bit expensive."
"When we bought this solution it was very reasonably priced and they were willing to deal."
"It is a competitively priced solution. The cost can vary depending on whether it is purchased from the hardware or the software departments."
"The basic functionalities of the product are provided within the normal license, but users can opt for some optional features from IBM's licensing model."
"Compared to other vendors, I think it's expensive."
"Its price is fair. IBM is quite fair in price when you compare it with others. We also use Hitachi internally, and Hitachi is always a little bit more expensive. NetApp is also a bit more expensive. So, IBM has good positioning in terms of price."
"It's an expensive solution."
"We mounted all the virtualization with less than 1,50,000 USD. We are negotiating to get the tool for 800,000,000 Argentine Pesos. The tool is expensive, but it is worth the money."
"This product is priced well. The ratio between cost and productivity is very high and we're happy with it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
34%
Construction Company
9%
Renewables & Environment Company
9%
Performing Arts
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StorageWorks MSA?
I did not compare the cost of HPE MSA with others because we buy with a framework contract, and HP is the only brand available on that contract, so we have no comparison.
What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?
The user web interface is a bit slow, but it is really easy to use, although you still have to wait a bit when you send an operation. We have had some drive failures, but with the redundancy, we ha...
What is your primary use case for HPE StorageWorks MSA?
We use HPE MSA as storage for the VMware servers, and we will try to use Proxmox server later on, but currently, we use VMware.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM System Storage DS5000 Series?
The price fits well with the proposal of this equipment. Although IBM is not cheap, the cost fits well with the propose.
What needs improvement with IBM System Storage DS5000 Series?
There are some functions that can only be used in prompt mode. If these functions could be shown in the graphical interface, it could be better.
 

Also Known As

HP StorageWorks MSA
System Storage DS5000 series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank
Engine Informštica
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE MSA vs. IBM System Storage DS5000 Series and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
887,041 professionals have used our research since 2012.