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HPE MSA vs IBM System Storage DS5000 Series comparison

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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)
3rd
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)
10th
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 November 2026, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of HPE MSA is 7.7%, down from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM System Storage DS5000 Series is 2.8%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HPE MSA7.7%
IBM System Storage DS5000 Series2.8%
Other89.5%
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 most valuable features are the storage levels and snapshot features."
"The cost to performance for HPE StorageWorks MSA is good."
"The solution is scalable and easy to manage."
"I like StorageWorks' snapshots for our backup system. We had a pool of SSD and traditional drives. StorageWorks has a feature that transfers the hot data to high-performing drives."
"The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility."
"Was purchased as a DR solution but became our production SAN, very fast and easy to use, a great SAN for SMB's with enterprise features."
"The most valuable features are data deduplication and snapshot replication."
"The simple configuration feature is great. It is very simple, allowing you to set up MSA very easily."
"We use it for applications, databases, media, files, etc."
"IBM System Storage DS5000 series enhances clients' data handling capabilities through improved security, fast systems, and added value features."
"IBM System Storage DS5000 series is highly reliable, which is evident by clients' systems still operating effectively after seven or eight years."
"I like that it's stable, and I am satisfied with it. We have had some issues, but that is normal in IT. IBM System Storage DS5000 works fine most of the time."
"The solution is stable. I rate its stability a nine out of ten."
"It's very competitive in terms of price."
"The solution is reliable."
"The stability is excellent."
 

Cons

"The platform’s monitoring capabilities could be enhanced."
"It's a fairly simple product to set up as well, but it's a little bit more entry level; for those customers that can't afford something larger or whatnot, but would still like to get that shared storage or that SAN functionality."
"The solution's license should be integrated and not separate."
"The main difficulty is the firmware upgrade of disks, as it means stopping all the servers to make the upgrade."
"HPE should reintroduce customizable ports as they were in Gen 5, allowing customers to use both iSCSI or SC on a single controller."
"It would be ideal if there was a better management interface."
"It would be beneficial to have an add-on feature to improve analytics or insight capabilities inside the app."
"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."
"I find the solution isn't so easy to understand. A user must be quite knowledgeable in the product. It isn't like HPE 3PAR, which you can use quite easily without too much storage experience."
"There are some functions that can only be used in prompt mode."
"If you decide to expand the IBM System Storage DS5000 Series by adding an extension frame to the controller, you won't have the ability to incorporate flash storage models directly. Instead, you'll need to work with SSD which may be slightly slower."
"The product should improve its support."
"The amount of storage could be increased."
"The solution's integration with other tools could be improved."
"The price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The product is very costly. Very few can afford it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution involves a one-time CapEx payment, followed by warranty extensions."
"This solution is quite expensive; they should lower the cost."
"When we bought this solution it was very reasonably priced and they were willing to deal."
"The solution can be a bit expensive."
"HPE StorageWorks MSA's licensing is perpetual and not integrated."
"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."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"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."
"This product is priced well. The ratio between cost and productivity is very high and we're happy with it."
"It is a competitively priced solution. The cost can vary depending on whether it is purchased from the hardware or the software departments."
"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."
"Compared to other vendors, I think it's expensive."
"It's an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Construction Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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.
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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: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.