IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800 comparison

IBM and NetApp are both solutions in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category. IBM is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.6, while NetApp is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.3. IBM holds a 1.4% mindshare in N, compared to NetApp’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

The NetApp NVMe AFF A800 and IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe are two leading data storage solutions, competing in the high-performance enterprise storage category. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe has the upper hand due to its superior features and scalability.

Features: NetApp NVMe AFF A800 provides robust data management, ease of integration, and reliable performance. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is recognized for its high performance, scalability, and advanced data protection features.

Room for Improvement: NetApp NVMe AFF A800 needs better hybrid cloud integration, simplified updates, and more competitive pricing. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe could benefit from an easier setup process, improved technical documentation, and more intuitive management tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is noted for straightforward deployment and responsive support. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe deployment can be complex, but the customer service is highly rated.

Pricing and ROI: NetApp NVMe AFF A800 users find the setup cost reasonable with solid ROI. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe has higher initial costs but offers better long-term ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

September 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 October 2025, in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 3.2%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is 1.4%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is 1.9%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	3.2%
IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe	1.4%
NetApp NVMe AFF A800	1.9%
Other	93.5%

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

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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MohammedIsmail

Datacenter Manager at Tracker Connect

Enhanced storage performance and an easy setup with compression challenges

We use IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe as a storage device in the IT industry The features I find most valuable include its use for storage and performance. The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best. Furthermore, support from the partner could also be improved as it's been…

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HelderValente

Country Information Technology Manager at Affidea

Data performance improves with reduced latency and reliable architecture

The integration with cloud ecosystems has not effectively supported our hybrid cloud deployments as we use directly the provider, not the hybrid cloud. I don't have any add-on to suggest for improvement, but in my opinion, the NetApp NVMe AFF A800 product is pretty good. I am satisfied with what I have in NetApp NVMe AFF A800 and don't require additional features in the next release. They should promote NetApp NVMe AFF A800 more for other clients in my region.

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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

"It has good, reliable, fast storage."

"Overall stability is very good. It is a very stable solution."

"Technical support has been helpful and responsive."

"We are satisfied with the performance as it is significantly faster compared to traditional storage options."

"The solution uses newer technology for deduplication and compression."

"We're able to get higher-density workloads on the same infrastructure, and we have a smaller physical footprint. The performance is excellent – during our test the bottlenecks are never on the X array, it just keeps picking up the pace to match what you need. The real-time visibility is a differentiator in my opinion."

"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."

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

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"The most valuable feature of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is the snapshot. We use it daily for all of the storage units."

"There are many valuable features of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMele I have found to meet my needs. Specifically, the maintenance cycle is a standout feature of this solution. The main component of the IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is the maintenance of the batteries, which have a predetermined and reliable four-year life cycle. This is in stark contrast to other solutions that may use spinning disks, which can fail unexpectedly, causing unwanted downtime and maintenance. Having a predictable maintenance cycle is a significant advantage and has made this solution a preferred choice for me."

"Good performance with a user-friendly UI."

"It is a very stable product. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten because we did not face any issues in the last three years."

"It is a very stable solution."

"The most valuable features of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe are its steady performance and usefulness in high-traffic environments."

"It's easy to use, has good stability, and many features."

"The most valuable feature is the speed."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pros

"NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is easier to use than some other solutions and the UI is very good to use for day-to-day activities. Overall, the solution has good technology."

"During the use cases of the solution, its reliability and suitability are the best."

"You can easily scale up, and scale-out."

"The most valuable features are stability and performance."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a product that is fast and provides a fast I/O."

"The storage features are valuable."

"Low latency is the most valuable feature."

"Over the eight years, we've been using NetApp with ONTAP, we've never lost a bit of data, and we've only experienced a few minutes of downtime in that entire time."

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 pros

Cons

"The tool's portfolio is minimal. It is expensive."

"Efficiency improvements would always be welcome, but I'm not sure if they could get more efficient."

"We've seen that when we create a POD in synchronous mode, it increases the latency."

"The UI for this solution needs to be improved."

"I want to see Pure Storage not only be for fast storage, but I want to see it be for the entire data center."

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

"Our use cases require more multi-tenant capabilities and additional VLAN interfaces for separating different customers. We currently use it to provide storage, sometimes shared storage, to different customers, but it is less flexible in comparison to a dedicated solution."

"I'd like to see the product implement active replication for vehicles such as VMware."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"The efficacy of the GUI in IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe could be enhanced, and it would be beneficial to include a feature that can prevent ransomware attacks."

"The ZIO interface could be improved."

"I would like to have replication functionality built directly in the product, rather than having to use a separate device for this."

"The support could be better."

"In the FlashSystem 5200, there were only four ports of 32 fiber channels for the architecture. This has been resolved in the new generation."

"IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is currently at the end of its lifespan and will soon become obsolete in the markets."

"Other vendors have included a block and file system. IBM doesn't include a file system. And yet, it's very necessary for all organizations' networks to have file systems. We have other systems for the file system, however, ideally, we would like to have one system with these features."

"Deduplication and compression should be improved."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe cons

"Increasing the RAM, and including physical cords would be beneficial."

"Stability is an area with a certain shortcoming where the solution needs to improve"

"The initial setup is complex."

"Sometimes, it takes a while to get somebody competent on the other end of the line. They do have engineers in multiple time zones around the world. However, their level-one support is not always the best."

"The initial setup should be easier, and more like a plug-and-play approach."

"The support can take a few days to have a response. However, the response that we do receive is very informative."

"The cost of the solution is quite high. It would be ideal if they could adjust it so that it's a but less."

"The product's performance has some shortcomings, making it an area that could be a little better."

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The support cost per array is about $20,000 a year for 24/7 support."

"The tool's pricing is cheap; I rate it a six to seven out of ten. Most of our sales are not subscription-based. We sell the hardware, and customers keep using it. They only renew the service part annually. The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there."

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

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"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."

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

"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."

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

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"The price of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMele can be considered affordable when taking into account the operating system that is required for it to function properly. This operating system, which is licensed by IBM, may carry a higher cost, but it is worth the investment for larger corporate entities, such as insurance companies, Fortune Five companies, and banks, who make up a significant portion of their target market. The FlashSystems are designed for larger corporations and multinational enterprises, and may not be the most cost-effective solution for smaller businesses."

"The tool's pricing is competitive."

"The price of the FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is reasonable."

"The solution's price is competitive."

"The solution is priced well."

"Price-wise, the solution offers excellent pricing to its users. In short, the prices offered by the solution are competitive compared to similar solutions."

"Compared to other solutions, the cost of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is reasonable, with a one-time payment of around $70,000. However, additional support is available for $25,000 for three years. The overall maintenance cost is steep."

"The price of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is less than Dell. For upgrades, the Dell solutions are more expensive."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pricing and cost advice

"The solution is expensive."

"Considering the requirements and the situation, I don't feel that this is an expensive product."

"There are licenses for the use of this solution, such as commercial licenses."

"Though NetApp NVMe AFF A800 may seem like a highly-priced product, it is not extremely expensive."

"I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

20%

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Educational Organization

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	8
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

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 do you like most about IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The storage serves the virtual environment. Most of our applications run in the virtual environment, and it serves ne...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The tool is expensive, though I do not know the specific licensing costs.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best. Furthermore, support from the partner could al...

See all answers

What do you like most about NetApp NVMe AFF A800?

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a product that is fast and provides a fast I/O.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp NVMe AFF A800?

The pricing of NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is good currently, so I don't have any issues regarding the pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp NVMe AFF A800?

The integration with cloud ecosystems has not effectively supported our hybrid cloud deployments as we use directly t...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 23% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 16% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 14% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

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Dell PowerMax vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 29% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 29% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 26% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

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Dell PowerStore vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 27% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 19% of the time

NetApp ASA vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 18% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 10% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 9% of the time

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

September 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

September 2025

Download IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp NVMe AFF A800

September 2025

Download NetApp NVMe AFF A800 product report

Also Known As

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

IBM FlashSystem 9100, FlashSystem 9100

No data available

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

IBM FlashSystem 9100 combines the performance of flash and Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) end-to-end with the reliability and innovation of IBM FlashCore technology and the rich features of IBM Spectrum Virtualize - all in a powerful 2U enterprise-class storage system. Providing intensive data driven multicloud storage capacity, FlashSystem 9100 is deeply integrated with the software defined capabilities of IBM Spectrum Storage allowing you to easily add in the multicloud solutions that best support your business.

IBM

Your data is a gold mine. Get the most out of it - faster - with AFF A800. Designed for NVMe media, further accelerated with NVMe/FC connectivity to the host, AFF A800 all-flash systems deliver an incredible sub-200 microsecond latency. Providing more than 11.4M IOPS and 300GB/s throughput in a single cluster, AFF A800 redefines the limit of what’s possible with artificial intelligence and deep learning.

NetApp

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

September 2025

Free Report: IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

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