No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

IBM FlashSystem vs NEC D3 series comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

IBM FlashSystem
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
NAS (7th), All-Flash Storage (11th)
NEC D3 series
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
20th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 10.7%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NEC D3 series is 2.0%, 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 (%)
IBM FlashSystem10.7%
NEC D3 series2.0%
Other87.3%
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
 

Featured Reviews

OmarIsmail1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group
Offers high performance and dependable support for fast storage needs
The most valuable feature of IBM FlashSystem 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.
reviewer1369971 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of IT at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees
Stable, performs well, and the technical support is good
We use this storage solution to host our ERP, CRM, file server, databases, and lots of other things The performance is better than with our previous version. We are not satisfied with the cost of licensing and would like to have a better price to performance ratio. We have had contract-related…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"FlashSystem offers proven technology in a compact package."
"Over the years, it has become increasingly user-friendly."
"The GUI is very easy and performance is also good."
"IBM FlashSystem provides a very good value."
"The most valuable features are deduplication and compression."
"This is highly reliable storage."
"It is very, very stable, and we have never had issues."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The performance is better than with our previous version."
"Technical support from NEC is very good."
 

Cons

"It could be easier to implement."
"The cluster should be improved because non-disruptive failover was supported only on a few operating systems."
"This solution needs a management console where we are alerted to issues and can report them, or escalate them through email or another method."
"With regards to the IBM V7000 storage system, where we have multiple tiers of storage, a heat map would show I/O distribution across the tiers of storage."
"The technical support in general of IBM, in my personal opinion, could be much better."
"The cost of the solution is too high. They should work to make it lower."
"Flash Manager needs to be included."
"I don’t really have a feature that I’d be using."
"We are not satisfied with the cost of licensing and would like to have a better price to performance ratio."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution requires a license and could be less expensive."
"This solution is expensive compared to other solutions."
"There are no licensing fees, it is a one-time purchase of the IBM FlashSystem."
"Overall the price of the solution is expensive and this includes the license."
"IBM V7000 has a new license and price structure which provides intuitive licensing based on the functions customers wish to enable and use the most."
"Regarding licensing make sure you add at least three years software maintenance from IBM at the beginning, because you will not be able to download firmware updates or any fixes/patches without this."
"Pricing can be considered as per market competition."
"The cost of the IBM FlashSystem is lower than the HPE solution."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) solutions are best for your needs.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise60
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem?
The pricing is high; storage solutions are always expensive. I do not know if the price needs to be reviewed, but it is worth considering.
What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?
As far as I know, IBM FlashSystem has already improved, but I do not see room for improvement. It is simple to use and manage via SVC, simple to configure, and even for the zoning, I do not see imp...
What is your primary use case for IBM FlashSystem?
We are not working with Object Storage or Storage Protect; we are working with SAN storage and LUN storage. I am a consultant assigned to a customer in France. We are working with SVC in regard to ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

IBM Storwize
D3 series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Tsukuba Science City, Hokkaido Telecommunication Network Co. Inc, PHP Institute
Find out what your peers are saying about NetApp, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM and others in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network). Updated: August 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.