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

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
13th
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
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
110
Ranking in other categories
NAS (3rd), Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Deduplication Software category, the mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 2.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp FAS Series is 5.0%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Deduplication Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
NetApp FAS Series5.0%
IBM ProtectTIER2.5%
Other92.5%
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

"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 solution is highly stable."
"The most valuable feature is the incremental backup."
"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 command-line interface is good."
"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."
"The most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."
"If you are looking for a reliable and scalable enterprise-class solution, you should consider this solution."
"It is a scalable solution."
"I would definitely recommend NetApp FAS Series to other users because it's stable and really handy for IT personnel who manage it."
"It offers data compression and people management."
"The replication feature protects us from data loss."
"The solution is easy to use."
"Good for NAS and unified solutions."
"It's a stable product. No issues there."
"Reasons for choosing NetApp include that it's probably the most solid, robust, and easy-to-implement solution."
 

Cons

"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."
"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."
"These days, we are thinking about pushing another solution because of the poor support from IBM."
"It is unmanageable. Support would be good."
"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."
"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."
"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."
"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."
"I think this kind of infrastructure is mostly obsolete. To keep up with developments in this space, you need to move all these features to an All-Flash solution."
"We're supposed to have used NetApp FAS Series for replication, but then one of the nodes failed, and then it's taken us some time to bring it up."
"The user interface could be improved."
"Replication should ideally be part of the ONTAP base bundle."
"For long term partnership in Myanmar, the local warehouse should be built in Myanmar that's something I'd like to see. We have some issues with supply so there is sometimes a delay in getting the hardware."
"NetApp systems are somewhat more complex, though not excessively so. If you're transitioning from a Windows server environment to NetApp, get training or education; otherwise, you might struggle with this solution."
"As I see it, there could be more interfaces, more cache, etc., but those challenges are solved by just getting some other model."
"NetApp FAS Series should introduce an FTP application for the broadcast and post-production market."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."
"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."
"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."
"This solution is very expensive."
"Cost effective storage for all performance levels (including all-flash)."
"The licensing cost is on yearly basis."
"The tool is expensive."
"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being expensive. We pay a one-time purchase price."
"It is expensive."
"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."
"We purchased it for four years, and it wasn't expensive. It was reasonable. Every company has a different agreement with NetApp. We got everything we wanted with all the bells and whistles and all the features and functionalities."
"We are on a perpetual license."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Deduplication Software solutions are best for your needs.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
9%
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 Enterprise58
 

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?
I do not handle the pricing part of NetApp FAS Series since it is managed by the sales team.
What needs improvement with NetApp FAS Series?
There is room for improvement when it comes to response time and first-level support quality. If a new feature needs to be added, it takes some time because it is altogether a new development; othe...
 

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: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.