Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays comparison

Lenovo and NetApp are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. Lenovo is ranked #21 with an average rating of 10.0, while NetApp is ranked #24 with an average rating of 9.0. Lenovo holds a 2.0% mindshare in AFS, compared to NetApp’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Lenovo users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays and Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series are leading contenders in the all-flash storage market. Users are happier with the performance and durability of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays, thus giving it an upper hand.

Features: NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays offers high performance, reliability, and compatibility with various environments. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series features advanced data protection, scalability, and sophisticated functionalities. However, NetApp has a slight edge in terms of consistent performance and user satisfaction.

Room for Improvement: NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays could enhance its scalability, support for additional protocols, and user documentation. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series needs improvements in software updates, better documentation, and streamlined user interface. NetApp's issues appear less impactful on overall performance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays users find the deployment straightforward and praised the support team's expertise. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series had mixed reviews concerning deployment ease and highlighted a need for better customer service. Thus, NetApp EF-Series holds an advantage in this area.

Pricing and ROI: NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays are considered expensive, but users believe the performance justifies the cost. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is seen as more cost-effective with decent ROI but less stellar in long-term performance metrics. Consequently, while Lenovo offers better initial expenditure, NetApp's ROI is perceived higher due to its robust performance.

To learn more, read our detailed Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

February 2026

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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 February 2026, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 1.5%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is 2.0%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	1.5%
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series	2.0%
NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays	1.0%
Other	95.5%

All-Flash Storage

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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Giorgio Pozzi

System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL

Performance and cost-effectiveness are maximized with seamless setup and significant ROI

I use Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series to replace the old storage in our infrastructure. Additionally, I use it in customer infrastructures to migrate from the old storage to the new one On the M storage, I find the best features to be deduplication and compression. On the DE storage, the most…

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Tayo Olubanke

Managing Director at GCET

Offers flexibility and top-notch technology

You can go to bed peacefully if you have a NetApp. If you have NetApp within your data center, you get to know about power failure if you are using it. Your NetApp will still come alive. Even if it does not come alive, I can say that it is not like other tools when it comes to dealing with power failure. The tool is affordable, and the technology is top-notch. It is the only technology that has software for what we call inline compression and deduplication. All the products under NetApp are aiming to use AI. I know that you can achieve whatever you want to do with NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I appreciate the performance."

"The Pure1 component is most valuable at this point in time when comparing it with EMC. Pure1 is where you can have your diagnostics in the cloud, so you can look at things from your mobile phone."

"It has benefited my organization because it has reduced time to insights."

"The system allows for seamless learning experiences, facilitating quick and easy cloning of environments within minutes."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its ease of use."

"The best features of Pure FlashArray X NVMe include the volume snapshot capabilities, which allow us to save most of the storage space by volume snapshots periodically."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use."

"Pure Storage has signature security technology, which cannot be deleted, even if you are an administrator."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is simple to use"

"The most valuable features of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series are the dual controllers, available installation documentation, and the option of multiple host bus adapter interfaces."

"This solution is good for virtualization and meets the need for CPU and RAM requirements."

"Fewer features is not necessarily a negative as it leads to simpler operation and lower price."

"The solution's initial setup process is easy."

"I would rate the stability of Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series as a ten."

"The solution is very easy to troubleshoot. It's one of the most valuable features. It also doesn't take long to deploy and normally it comes with a three-year warranty."

"ThinkSystem's storage performs well, and the price per gigabyte is good, especially on SSD solutions. It's also easy to use."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series pros

"It provides multi-protocol, which is what gives the edge when it comes to big lineage PC workloads."

"The replication and mirroring features are very good."

"The management software is very good."

"Having the option of such high-speed storage in the data center is what makes it valuable."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its speed."

"It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"Compared to Dell Unity XT, what I see as an advantage in NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is the fact that it is more scalable...The performance of the product is good."

"The benefits are better up-time, better response time."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays pros

Cons

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

"I would like to see some AI features that would allow arrays to intelligently identify threats or unusual behavior in the data pattern and give an alert."

"Many options to check performance, like read, writes, random writes, and random reads, are missing in Pure FlashArray X NVMe."

"Right now, the box itself is just strictly working as a backend storage system. It would be fantastic if we could access it directly like a NAS device through network access or SIS drives. I think they have an interface, but I am not sure how good it is. If we could address a box directly on the network without having to go through a server, it would be great. The replication schemas could be improved. We are not using replication on the storage level right now. We use a different type of replication. If their replication would be as good as the one that we have, I would probably run the replication schema because it might be faster, but I don't know that for a fact. So, I cannot say that they have good replication. All I can say is that they need to inform us better."

"We would like to see VNC integration or be able to use Pure Storage with VNC."

"Adding some functions to the product would be beneficial. Storage replication should be essential, and the analytics should not incur extra charges."

"You cannot tag a LUN with a description, and that should be improved. What I like on the Unity side is that when I expand LUNs or do things, there is an information field on the LUN. This is the Information field that you can tag on your LUNs to let yourself know, "Hey, I've added this much space on this date". Pure lacks that ability. So, you don't have a mechanism that's friendly for tracking your data expansions on the LUN and for adding any additional information. That's a downside for me."

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

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"The product could support advanced software integrations."

"The difficult part comes when dealing with the host. You have to enable multi-pathing and other aspects that are needed for proper configuration. I don't know if there is room for a more hyper-conversion structure to work with, but this would be easier."

"In the next release, I would like to see more functionality. But, again, it is an entry-level product."

"It would be useful to have structured solutions replicated to other sites."

"Its performance could be faster."

"There could be a snapshot feature in the solution."

"The type of connection that is used in Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series should be improved."

"In the next release, I would like to see support for Hyper-converged infrastructure."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series cons

"The price of the All Flash solution is very high."

"I would like to see higher-capacity drives, as they come out; I have heard that 15 TB are out on a different NetApp series. Getting those on the EFs would be nice."

"A little more manageability, a simpler management interface. It's not necessarily that it's way overly complex. It's just that it's not as easy as the FAS series."

"Their problems are on the software and the controlling of the storage where they lack segmentation and federation."

"The solution's technical support is not as good as it is supposed to be since you have to push them to get support."

"It needs a better management tool."

"It was difficult to implement and lacks some additional features that would be useful, but as a solution fits a particular need for our organization."

"The initial setup phase of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is not straightforward and needs improvement."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As far as the licensing costs, everything is included in the license."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"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."

"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."

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

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

"Given its price, Pure is not the first option."

"The product is expensive."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"For an all-flash setup, the cost is around $20,000 for a decent configuration."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The pricing is fair and low compared to other products in this category."

"The price of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is a one-time purchase. There is a global price list available to find the price of the solution."

"All of the features are bundled together, and you can renew the bundle with all of the features included."

"The best thing about this solution is its price, which reduces our costs."

"The pricing for this solution is good compared to HP or Dell EMC."

"We have a five-year contract for providing support."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series pricing and cost advice

"This solution is not available to many users because the cost is very expensive."

"Its cost-effectiveness is a major selling point. Compared to other storage vendors, the EF-Series offers excellent value for its price. It's truly a leading product in the industry."

"Adding more capacity will increase the cost."

"It's a way to get relatively low-cost, very high-performance, low-latency block storage as a point solution."

"Cheaper pricing is always good. NetApp has been doing everything the right way. They've been figuring out things really well, going in the right direction."

"It's a lot cheaper than what the other vendors have for the same type of environment. It saves us money."

"They need to improve its pricing. The storage market is dying. So, they need to improve the price because it should reach all people. NetApp is one of the top ones, and they are charging a little bit of royalty as compared to other storage solutions."

"They provide licenses upon purchase, so there's no need for additional licenses. Regarding additional expenses apart from the standard licensing fees, such as for support or maintenance, there aren't any. Updates take around twenty to thirty minutes, including rebooting the systems, and we haven't faced any problems with the NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays. We utilize various other storages like Fujitsu, IBM, and Dalian SIP, but the NetApp EF-Series stands out as we've had no issues throughout the entire year of usage."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

12%

Performing Arts

10%

Marketing Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

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	10
Midsize Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	18

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series?

The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is very good. We chose this type of storage for the performance and the price.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series?

The type of connection that is used in Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series should be improved.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series?

I use Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series to replace the old storage in our infrastructure. Additionally, I use it in custom...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

One has to opt for a perpetual-based licensing model for one year or three years. After three years, you need to rene...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

The support of the product is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required. I want NetApp's supp...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

There are so many things to talk about around the use cases associated with the tool. There are so many reasons why I...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 16% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 12% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 8% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 22% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 11% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 9% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 9% of the time

HPE Nimble Storage vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series

Compared 3% of the time

More Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series Competitors

NetApp AFF vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 14% of the time

Dell XtremIO vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 10% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 7% of the time

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

January 2026

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

All-Flash Storage

January 2026

Download Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

January 2026

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays report

Download NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays product report

Also Known As

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

ThinkSystem DE Series

NetApp EF540, NetApp EF-Series

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

The DE All-Flash Series delivers the performance of more than 2,000 15k rpm HDDs, yet requires only 2% of the rack space, power, and cooling. Because it consumes 98% less space and power, DE Series can significantly improve the overall efficiency of your IT operations while continuing to meet your performance requirements.

Lenovo

The NetApp EF560 all-flash array is an all-SSD storage system for applications that demand extremely high levels of performance and reliability. Requiring just 2U of rack space, the EF560 all-flash array combines extreme IOPS, microsecond response times, and up to 12GBps of bandwidth with leading, enterprise-proven availability features.

NetApp

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

RP Data, Western Oregon University, Toei Animation

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

February 2026

Free Report: Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series vs. NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

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