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IBM ProtectTIER vs NetApp FAS Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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 ProtectTIER
Ranking in Deduplication Software
12th
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Backup and Recovery (65th)
NetApp FAS Series
Ranking in Deduplication Software
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
111
Ranking in other categories
NAS (3rd), Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Deduplication Software category, the mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 2.6%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp FAS Series is 5.1%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Deduplication Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
NetApp FAS Series5.1%
IBM ProtectTIER2.6%
Other92.3%
Deduplication Software
 

Featured Reviews

AG
Technical Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Provides a short-term backup, archive, and cataloging for 20,000 people in our organization
The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time. I have a 24 hour cycle, so it doesn't get completed in 24 hours with the large amount of data. With Veritas NetBackup, I can take 20 terabytes of backup in a day.
Srikanth Purushothaman - PeerSpot reviewer
DIRECTOR at Vellore Online Systems
Has supported long-term data protection and backup while requiring better part availability and pricing options
For monitoring purposes, we normally use flash access storage exclusively. We utilize a hybrid system because we need performance, combining NL-SAS for the volume and SAS flash to use as a fast cache system that provides more IOPS. We normally implement RAID 10, which we prefer over RAID 6's n plus 2 combinations. We utilize it for data redundancy, even with write intensity on. Regarding the unified storage architecture for NetApp FAS Series, we normally opt for exclusivity unless budget constraints exist. Our IOPS are very high, reaching somewhere about 50k to 150k or 1.150k. The high performance ensures minimal latency. An advantage we've seen with NetApp FAS Series is that snapshots provide very rapid backup and fast recovery. We basically use snapshots for data protection as first-level protection, with deduplication between the two storages serving as second-level protection.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."
"The solution is highly stable."
"The command-line interface is good."
"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."
"The cataloging is the best feature, as it takes millions of frames for the backup and, because it's incremental, it takes less time to complete."
"The most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."
"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable."
"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable. I've walked into the server room when it was at 60 degrees Celcius, and it was still running fine."
"The best feature is its ONTAP product line for Ransomware protection. It also has features for file storage and block storage. The solution is stable. We've had no issues with it. The tool is scalable and meets our requirements. The technical support and the supporting partner are great. The initial setup is straightforward. It is very easy to maintain the product. The feature set is excellent. I recommend the solution."
"We have used some solutions like Hitachi, Dell, and EMC, but NetApp has more flexibility and we decided to stay with NetApp."
"I have found all the features useful in NetApp FAS Series."
"I like the unified management feature because sometimes you end up running a single protocol on the entire system."
"Of all storage technologies I work on, it’s the easiest to learn and one of the most powerful."
"The performance allows me to provide backend storage for large number of VMs and databases at a competitive price point."
"​NAS stability"
"It gives us the performance we need and the reliability we need to make sure that our systems have the uptime that our internal customers demand."
 

Cons

"I would like the possibility to back up the infrastructure and then replicate it upon on restart, without having to orchestrate the starting of the VM."
"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."
"The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time."
"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."
"My advice to anybody who is considering this solution is to conduct a proof of concept first because everybody's needs are different, and this product is not suitable for every kind of backup."
"These days, we are thinking about pushing another solution because of the poor support from IBM."
"It is unmanageable. Support would be good."
"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."
"Dedicated storage efficiency accelerators could improve the overall performance of the system."
"We’ve hit some bugs in the ONTAP code that’s caused it to crash."
"The solution’s pricing is expensive."
"Integration with most of the third-party BR tools and a clear roadmap for next releases should be available."
"One thing that burned me is that it surprised me how much overhead it uses, like 30% right off the top."
"They should add new features to the product."
"There is room for improvement when it comes to response time and first-level support quality."
"When it comes to deployment we had our share of issues. Some of these issues are to blame on the vendor's lack of experience with the new models and ONTAP versions, but sometimes the systems themselves were faulty."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is very expensive."
"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."
"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."
"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."
"In general, I find NetApp to be very expensive. That's the main issue I have with them. So it's a drawback in terms of pricing."
"It is a one-time license charge for NetApp FAS Series to run and we pay annually for upgrades and support."
"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being expensive. We pay a one-time purchase price."
"The price it not low, but comparing features to other vendors, the price can be balanced."
"When we need to implement a less expensive solution we use Huawei. NetApp FAS Series is a little bit expensive compared to the average of the market."
"The tool is expensive."
"The licensing cost is on yearly basis."
"The product's pricing is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise38
Large Enterprise59
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
Which SAN product would you choose: IBM FlashSystem (FS9500) vs PureFlash Array/X NVMe vs PureFlash Array/XL NVMe?
Have you considered a NetApp FAS Storage for your NAS needs? I am sure it fits very well.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp FAS Series?
Regarding its pricing, I believe it is high. I utilize both HDD and SSD, where SSDs are more cost-friendly, yet HDDs are higher in cost, making it not very affordable but still useful. For general ...
What needs improvement with NetApp FAS Series?
Regarding improvements for NetApp FAS Series, I think everything is generally good. If there is a need to improve something, they can extend their support. Previously, in my company, I only saw Net...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber
Children's Hospital Central California, Plex Systems, PDF PNI Digital Media, Denver Broncos, PDF KSM Legal, Clayton Companies, Virginia Community College
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM ProtectTIER vs. NetApp FAS Series and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.