NetApp SnapMirror vs NetApp Snapshot comparison

NetApp SnapMirror and NetApp Snapshot are both solutions in the Data Replication category. NetApp SnapMirror is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.0, while NetApp Snapshot is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8. NetApp SnapMirror holds a 10.7% mindshare in DR, compared to NetApp Snapshot’s 12.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of NetApp SnapMirror users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp Snapshot users who would recommend it.

NetApp SnapMirror

Read 26 NetApp SnapMirror reviews

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1,761 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

NetApp Snapshot

Read 24 NetApp Snapshot reviews

1,440 Views
1,325 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

NetApp SnapMirror

NetApp Snapshot

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

NetApp SnapMirror and NetApp Snapshot compete in the data replication and backup space, offering different strengths for enterprise data management. SnapMirror has a competitive edge with its robust replication features, ideal for comprehensive disaster recovery solutions.

Features: NetApp SnapMirror offers robust data replication, efficient handling of large data volumes, and integration with cloud storage and applications like Oracle, SQL, and VMware. NetApp Snapshot excels in creating efficient point-in-time data copies with negligible space consumption and seamless integration with various applications for long-term data retention strategies.

Room for Improvement: NetApp SnapMirror could improve by addressing performance issues with large data sets, enhancing compression for better transfer optimization, and improving the user access for configuration tasks. NetApp Snapshot users suggest reducing prices, enhancing compression capabilities, and improving automation and licensing structures for better cost management and ease of use.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both NetApp SnapMirror and Snapshot integrate seamlessly in hybrid and on-premises environments. SnapMirror offers easy disaster recovery implementations without major disruptions. Customer service for SnapMirror is praised for promptness and effectiveness, while Snapshot's customer support is satisfactory, with room for improved global support responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: NetApp SnapMirror is often viewed as expensive, with additional licensing costs, but offers high ROI due to its business continuity features, often bundled for cost-effectiveness. NetApp Snapshot's pricing is similarly high, but it provides good ROI with embedded features in NetApp systems, offering valuable long-term data retention and management in unified storage systems.

To learn more, read our detailed NetApp SnapMirror vs. NetApp Snapshot Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

NetApp SnapMirror vs. NetApp Snapshot

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

NetApp SnapMirror

Ranking in Data Replication

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetApp Snapshot

Ranking in Data Replication

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Data Replication category, the mindshare of NetApp SnapMirror is 10.7%, down from 20.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp Snapshot is 12.0%, down from 24.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Replication Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
NetApp SnapMirror	10.7%
NetApp Snapshot	12.0%
Other	77.3%

Data Replication

Featured Reviews

Abdul-Salam

Sr. Manager - System Analyst (Datacenter Infrastructure) at Sohar International

Provides great data loss recovery and real time replication

Deployment was very smooth and took around two weeks. Following that, we carried out our data migration which took time. We previously used a Windows file independent server with its own local disk and Windows OS. It's not compatible with NetApp so data had to be physically migrated. We also took extra time integrating with our antivirus software and configuring external tape libraries with NetApp. We had one staff member involved in the deployment and an engineer from our partners. We have close to 900 users. The solution requires routine tasks as opposed to maintenance. We have three or four people with access to this storage.

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AjayKumar13

Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees

Efficiently complete large database snapshots quickly for reliable backup

The most valuable feature of NetApp Snapshot is its ability to complete a sixty-terabyte database snapshot in less than three minutes. This efficiency means we do not have to manage tape backups, which are time-consuming, and it uses less storage as snapshots are compressed. NetApp Snapshot is also easy to restore or copy to another location for disaster recovery. Overall, it has helped us meet our service level agreements due to its performance.

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

"The most valuable feature is the snap shot."

"The technical support is quite good."

"The performance and stability are valuable features. It seems to fulfill all the requirements."

"The technology enables us to have a safe backup."

"The tool seamlessly moves data over the network without putting pressure on the network."

"The most valuable feature is the data replication tool. There is also a lot of ability for data migration."

"NetApp SnapMirror's ease of use and reliability are valuable features."

"Overall, the product is very good. It's an easy to use tool."

More NetApp SnapMirror pros

"The most valuable features of this solution are the snapshot and clone capabilities."

"We are able to easily do Azure backups and restores."

"The consistency of Snapshot is very significant."

"The most valuable features of the solution are the repurposing and backup features."

"The most valuable feature of NetApp Snapshot is its ease of management."

"SnapMirror and Snapshot are both very reliable products."

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

"You never have to worry about maintaining millions of files stored across several thousands of virtual machines."

More NetApp Snapshot pros

Cons

"We must be able to integrate Flash Pool with SnapMirror."

"At the moment, we are not using the synchronous mirror, but we can implement the synchronous mirror. The only thing is that it needs another license. This is the same issue we have with business continuity. It needs another license to be implemented. You need too many separate licenses for the features. They should add some of the aspects of the premium bundle into the basic bundle. Sometimes our customers choose other replication services because of the initial cost of the licenses."

"There is probably some limitations when it comes to the scalability of the solution."

"The tool should also work on third-party solutions."

"We have different families of storage, such as the E-Series and Flash systems, but NetApp cannot be set up between them."

"The price needs to be improved."

"The new coursework models need to be improved. The bandwidth monitoring could also be better."

"In the next release, I would like to see Data reduction included and WAN optimization."

More NetApp SnapMirror cons

"The solution could include more databases and make it accessible to the DBAs. The automation process should be run in a way where it could be run from the database itself."

"The price could be a bit lower."

"The company could update their products more regularly."

"The next release should include developments on the step center for purpose or bandwidth."

"I would like to see cloud features added to the next release of this solution."

"The initial setup of NetApp Snapshot is not straightforward. It's not something that you can do just by clicking on the next step button. It has to be designed and it has to be implemented according to your network capabilities and the use case scenario."

"NetApp Snapshot usually takes a lot of space on the volume, requiring manual removal. It should be more automated."

"NetApp needs to take a look at their pricing in comparison to the competition and make the appropriate change to attract more customers and gain in market share."

More NetApp Snapshot cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing could be improved."

"The solution has monthly and yearly licensing options."

"The pricing can be improved."

"The cost is low compared to different vendors."

"The product price is reasonable."

"It's a highly cost-effective solution"

"It's part of the NetApp Firewall, so it's free."

"SnapMirror is extremely expensive. We had a hard time adjusting to our budget. If rated on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most expensive, I would definitely rate it ten out of ten."

"The price of NetApp Snapshot depends on the use case. They charge by how much data you need, the capability, and for snap licenses."

"The price of the solution is reasonable but could improve. However, if you are in a country that has a poor currency then the price will be considered expensive."

"If there is a way to save more on the number of snapshots, it should be included in the next release."

"The price of this solution is fair."

"As far as their licensing costs, the licensing is paid on a yearly basis. The organization pays for the licensing based on the software and the capacity that they choose."

"Snapshot is free and comes with the NetApp storage software. It's purely free of cost."

"NetApp Snapshot is expensive since you need to buy an additional premium license for it which is an extra cost over the payments made for NetApp...The license works during the entire life cycle of NetApp Snapshot."

"It's not too expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

17%

Computer Software Company

14%

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

21%

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	10

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about NetApp SnapMirror?

The performance and stability are valuable features. It seems to fulfill all the requirements.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp SnapMirror?

The product price is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp SnapMirror?

Some areas of NetApp SnapMirror that could be improved or enhanced include synchronous SnapMirror, which needs improvement as it suffers significantly from network latency. In particular, synchrono...

See all answers

What method of data replication does NetApp Snapshot use?

Here's a breakdown of how the data replication by NetApp Snapshot works: it's through the snapshot replication method. What does that mean? Well, in simple words, the software creates copies of dat...

See all answers

What is the storage scale of NetApp Snapshot?

Last time I checked, the NetApp Snapshot data replication software could go up to 255 snapshot copies. I'm not sure how familiar you are with similar software, but that's a pretty good number. It g...

See all answers

Will NetApp Snapshot recover data in an emergency?

Well yes, the snapshots that NetApp Snapshot creates are your backup. But then there's also their feature for advanced backup. This allows you to copy backups to offline locations and also make arc...

See all answers

Comparisons

Hitachi Universal Replicator vs NetApp SnapMirror

Compared 9% of the time

Hitachi TrueCopy vs NetApp SnapMirror

Compared 9% of the time

Dell RecoverPoint vs NetApp SnapMirror

Compared 7% of the time

Dell AppSync vs NetApp SnapMirror

Compared 7% of the time

More NetApp SnapMirror Competitors

Hitachi Thin Image Advanced vs NetApp Snapshot

Compared 22% of the time

Dell AppSync vs NetApp Snapshot

Compared 12% of the time

DDN DataFlow vs NetApp Snapshot

Compared 8% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

NetApp SnapMirror

September 2025

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Buyer's Guide

NetApp Snapshot

September 2025

Download NetApp Snapshot product report

Also Known As

SnapMirror

No data available

Overview

NetApp SnapMirror technology provides fast, efficient data replication and disaster recovery (DR) for your critical data. Use a single solution across all NetApp storage arrays and protocols. SnapMirror technology works with any application, in both virtual and traditional environments, and in multiple configurations, including hybrid cloud.

NetApp

NetApp Snapshot is a data replication software that works through snapshot copies, crucial for the recovery of data. These copies are used as safe points for rollback before upgrades or patches. NetApp Snapshot provides prompt data replication which is also highly space-efficient, and provides users with the full management and control of their data and its copies. Through the various solutions the Snapshot technology has introduced, companies receive enhanced stability, functionality, and performance, as well as storage efficiency.

NetApp Snapshot uses two types of snapshot technologies to handle data replication: Copy on Write (COW) and Redirect on Write (ROW). The COW technologies make a copy of the original information and then only after the replication process is completed does the system overwrite the modified data into the original blocks. In contrast, ROW redirects the snapshots to new storage blocks, updating pointers to those blocks, which always point to the original location. When NetApp Snapshot combines the two technologies, it allows customers to save storage efficiency by way of deduplication and compression.

NetApp Snapshot Features

NetApp Snapshot’s valuable features include:

Data replication stability: Every NetApp Snapshot copy is an immutable, static copy, giving organizations the opportunity to create consistent backups from their storage system while applications are running.
Performance impact: The performance of NetApp's systems that store NetApp Snapshot aren’t affected. The actions of creating or deleting a Snapshot copy also don't greatly impact the performance of the systems where they are located. NetApp’s storage can be used for data replication, backup, and archival even if a company is using another storage system.
Storage scale: Another beneficial feature of NetApp is the volume of storage, which supports 255 Snapshot copies. This provides users with the opportunity to perform frequent data replication, thus creating current versions of their data.
File recovery: The above-mentioned features allow for the creation of backup for recovery purposes. They also provide\ the opportunity to copy backups to offline storage as well as to create an archive for them.
Storage utilization: The option for utilization of storage allows NetApp Snapshot users to benefit from storage volumes similar to those of active file systems. The software works through block increment, which limits the interval of time between added blocks of Snapshot copies, thus creating more efficient storage.

NetApp Snapshot Benefits

The benefits of using NetApp Snapshot include:

Ability to create instant data replication while applications run
Up to 255 data replicas available
Various tools for full-package coverage, including SnapManager, SnapProtect, SnapMirror, SnapRestore, and SnapVault

Reviews from Real Users

Gregg N., Manager of Data Center Services at TTi Power Equipment, states that the primary use of NetApp Snapshot by his organization is as a data-protection solution in the cloud and in the data center. He points out that this data duplication software is very user-friendly, extremely stable, and scalable.

Edgar M., Sr. Data Protection Engineer at DataPivot Technologies, uses NetApp Snapshot for its monitoring or clone capabilities, and he agrees that the solution is very stable.

According to George A., CEO at BDPR Technologies Limited, the most valuable features of NetApp Snapshot are the integration with other vendors and customization.

NetApp

Sample Customers

University at Albany, City of Houston, Yahoo Japan, Washington Employment Security Department, DG Khan Cement Co. Ltd., AmTrust Financial Services, Sheridan College

Mazda

Buyer's Guide

NetApp SnapMirror vs. NetApp Snapshot

September 2025

Free Report: NetApp SnapMirror vs. NetApp Snapshot

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