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Pure Storage FlashArray //x20 R2 - flash storage array

Mfg # FA-X20R2-ETH-SMEZZ CDW # 5465553

Quick tech specs

  • Flash storage array
  • rack-mountable
  • iSCSI (25 GbE) (external)
  • 3U
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Know your gear

FlashArray offers exceptional block storage value for general purpose consolidation - and it's effortless, efficient, and evergreen.

This item was discontinued on April 19, 2021

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Pure Storage FlashArray //x20 R2 - flash storage array is rated 4.80 out of 5 by 22.
Rated 5 out of 5 by from An easy-to-use and scalable tool for database storage What is our primary use case? The tool provides storage to new servers and maintains provision storage volumes like creating new servers for Windows and Linux, which are the system administrations of the storage system. How has it helped my organization? We have hundreds of servers that use the tool for the storage of Oracle and SQL databases. It also provides tier-one storage for systems and production servers. What is most valuable? The tool is simple and easy to use. It has neat features like protection from device removal. Moreover, you can undo the deletes. The solution is easy to work with and not as complicated as CAC. What needs improvement? I want to learn more about command line usage which I have not explored much yet. However, there are many automated solutions for repetitive tasks. I would like to see additional features like performance monitoring, configuring of alerts, and the customization of alert thresholds in the next release. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for the past three years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I would give a nine out of ten for the stability of the tool. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? I would rate the scalability of the tool as nine out of ten. The solution is very scalable. There are 12 users of the tool in our organization. We have no plans to increase the current usage unless we merge with another company. How are customer service and support? I would give a ten out of ten for the technical support of the tool. The solution has got good support and has always been able to help us. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I have previously used EMC PowerMax. I chose Pure Storage FlashArray because it was of lower cost. Also, we wanted to keep competition between the vendors. How was the initial setup? The implementation of the tool is straightforward. What was our ROI? The company must be having ROI but I am not sure since I am not involved in strategic decisions. I do not have access to the metrics to analyze the ROI. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. I am using the latest version of the solution and it is deployed on-premises. The tool is easy to implement and does not require much training. Moreover, it has good support. Which other solutions did I evaluate? I would rate the pricing of Pure Storage FlashArray a five out of ten. It is expensive but not too much. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-02-28T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Mature, robust, and quick to deploy What is our primary use case? This solution has been part of a POC. We've been evaluating the solution. How has it helped my organization? We went through many renditions of testing with a full load. Even if we pulled a controller out, there was just a blip of response, and it was still extremely acceptable within the limit of what we would consider acceptable - and we're talking about one millisecond here. What is most valuable? This code was mature. We found the hardware to be extremely robust. It worked flawlessly. The deployment was fast. The plugin for the ESX, the VMware, was great. That integration is just perfect. They're enhancing it all the time, from what we can tell, so it works flawlessly. Support is excellent. It was a very good proof-of-concept experience. What needs improvement? In the configuration, which we brought in or tested it in, it has a very limited config as far as the array goes. That said, it still did more than our anticipation. It's going to be a hard one to manage. They have most of what we were looking at, including some things that we're looking at down the road. The growth on this particular array is almost unlimited for most shops. I would say they still need more enhanced speed, however, that's always a thing with storage. For how long have I used the solution? I've used the solution for six months. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The stability and reliability are excellent. I would rate it nine out of ten in terms of stability. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The scalability was great. I'd rate it nine out of ten overall. We have 20,000 people who were virtual machine users that were just on the test load. There is potential to increase usage in the future. That said, it's not up to me right now. We're working with the vendor. How are customer service and support? They have very good technical support. The support model was great. They usually had things resolved in under four hours. Service is very fast. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The deployment is easy. It was implemented in 15 minutes, including SNAP policies. The process was extremely fast. It required two people to set up the solution. We had the whole thing up and running in 20 minutes and probably was done in an hour for everything, including end-to-end connectivity and having ES6 running on it. What was our ROI? We have witnessed an ROI while using the solution. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The pricing is okay. It's somewhere in the middle. I'd rate it five out of ten overall. What other advice do I have? We are using an all-flash X-series deployment. I'd advise people to test it and give it a try. They need to pay attention to their data reduction rate while doing so. I'd rate it nine out of ten overall. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-01-22T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Useful for testing purposes while offering effortless installation and unwavering stability to its users What is our primary use case? We use it just for test purposes in our organization. What is most valuable? Data deduplication is one feature I found to be the most valuable in the tool. We don't use any special features in our organization. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for about six years. Also, I am using Pure Storage FA-420. I am a customer of the solution. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? I can't comment on the solution's scalability since we use it in a test environment. From a scalability perspective, it is a very small storage solution, so it's not very expandable. It is only me who is using the solution in our company. How was the initial setup? The solution's initial setup process was easy. It may look like a lot of work, but it is easy. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The solution is expensive. What other advice do I have? It is an old storage we use for testing, and our production storage is IBM. It will be five years old since we are using the solution. We are also planning to buy a new storage solution. So, we are looking out into the market to see what we can buy. I recommend the solution to those planning to use it since I trust it is a great storage solution. I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-05-08T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Good performance and stable solution What is our primary use case? The core use for us is to test development. What is most valuable? Simplicity and reliability are the most valuable feature of Pure Storage FlashArray. What needs improvement? It would be good to have metrics of the box's performance so we can see what it delivers, but currently, I can't see what it's actually doing—things like CPU and how it's coping. For the next release, I would like to improve on certain functionality. They have a thing called SafeMode. So, I'd like some kind of SafeMode Manager because the SafeMode is a good feature, but it's very basic in its functionality. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using this solution for three years. We have the I3 and I2 versions. What do I think about the stability of the solution? So far, it's been faultless. It is a stable solution. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? For us, it is a scalable solution. Traditionally, with Pure Storage FlashArray, there has been a problem with scale at the high end, but that's not us anyway. So, it's not something that concerns us. It's probably around 150 users in my organization. How are customer service and support? I have spoken a lot to technical presales, and it's been fantastic. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? The reason my company decided to use Pure Storage FlashArray rather than something else was the simplicity and proper simplicity of the solution. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is easy. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? It's not cheap. It's priced higher than the market. What other advice do I have? I would definitely recommend using the solution. Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten because the team is great, and it simply just works. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-05-05T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from High availability, performs well, and scalable What is our primary use case? We are using Pure Storage FlashArray for all of our SAN storage for our VMware environment How has it helped my organization? The solution has benefited our company because of the ease of use and the performance and reliability. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature of Pure Storage FlashArray is its high stability level. What needs improvement? The GUI could improve, it could be more intuitive. There is hidden functionality. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for approximately eight months. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The solution has been highly stable and we have not had an issue. I rate the stability of Pure Storage FlashArray a nine out of ten. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? We have one person that using the solution to manage it. We do not plan to increase our usage. I rate the scalability of Pure Storage FlashArray an eight out of ten. How are customer service and support? I have not used support often but my experience was good. I rate the support of Pure Storage FlashArray an eight out of ten. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? I was not there when the initial setup was done, but we recently we swapped the controller and it went smoothly. What was our ROI? Pure Storage FlashArray is a good investment. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The price of Pure Storage FlashArray is expensive. What other advice do I have? My advice to others is for them to plan and try the solution out. I rate Pure Storage FlashArray an eight out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-05-01T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from A highly stable and scalable solution that ensures return on investment for its users What is our primary use case? It's a very simple tool to use with extremely low latency and high performance. How has it helped my organization? Pure Storage FlashArray has improved the performance of applications. What is most valuable? Feature-wise, the solution provides direct flash storage. What needs improvement? Improvement-wise, Pure Storage FlashArray must support real-time incidents. I think that Pure Storage should improve its pricing. Currently, the solution fails to support file screening. I want to see the solution supporting file screening in the future. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for four years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. Presently, five people in my company use the tool. How are customer service and support? I rate the solution's technical support a ten out of ten. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The solution's initial setup process was straightforward. What was our ROI? My company saw a return on investment using the solution as it helped us reduce the time it took to access applications and reduced the space required in our data center. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Pure Storage FlashArray is expensive. What other advice do I have? When considering the use of this solution, I suggest evaluating the price and taking into account its performance and potential to reduce the space in the data center. I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-04-18T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Easy to work with, excellent dashboard, and helpful support What is our primary use case? I had four or five Flash Arrays. I used it primarily for virtualization and video media, depending on the workload. What is most valuable? It's simple to use. Upgrading is easy, as is the user interface. The connectivity is simple. The performance of the product is phenomenal. Pure was open to be checked out by any observability platform. It integrates well with Splunk, for example. Its single management pane of glass and dashboard are excellent. At first, it was hard to get used to since I was used to other types of dashboards. However, once I figured it out, it was great. It was very easy to work with. The benefits were realized right away. Between the flash array and the compression, you can really see how good it is. Our databases run a lot better now. Pure hasn't helped us decrease our storage footprint. However, I was at a company that demanded storage when I was using it. We had different solutions for different storage needs. We always needed more storage for video, for example. The capacity was great in that sense. When I used Pure, I worked in an environment that was 24/7. Everything we ever built was designed to be damn near bulletproof. I wasn't dependent on a single unit at any point. Everything we did had to be doubled, tripled, quadrupled up. Sometimes, multiple sites with multiple doubles based on the requirements. We've never had downtime. The evergreen architecture is great. You can interchange things and move up. That never happens with other storage solutions. What needs improvement? Sometimes you don't realize that the capacity on offer is actually because of compression and all those things. It's just not as visible as it is on a NetApp or some other platform. You don't get the full view. You get the view that they give you, which is fine, but you don't get the full view. You don't get the nuts and bolts. Once you dig in and you learn how to read it, then it makes sense. However, when I first started, it didn't make sense to me. For large storage needs, it is expensive. When we got too big, we didn't go for more Pure, we went with Isilon, since we were working into the petabytes range. For how long have I used the solution? I've used the solution for three to four years. How are customer service and support? I've contacted technical support to run upgrades. They are professional, easygoing, and answer me on time. They know their stuff. I've never had issues. I can contact the right people directly; I never had to roam around looking for someone. Sometimes it will take some time for someone to get back to me once I put in a ticket. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We used HP Nimble. That was a full all-flash array. The difference between Nimble and Pure was that with Pure, the upgrade process had to be done by tech support, which I didn't mind at all. In the Nimble, it was just a file, and I could upgrade it. Upgrade-wise, Nimble was better. Beyond that, they were pretty on par with each other. How was the initial setup? I have a lot of experience with Pure and find the solution easy to deploy. The only real maintenance is upgrading. There isn't a whole lot we need to worry about. It's one of the easier solutions to deploy with the least amount of failures. Things seldom went wrong. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Pure is not cheap. Of course, cost isn't everything. If you can buy a really cheap piece of hardware, however, when it comes to being able to get data, doing upgrades, navigation, and all kinds of stuff, you spend more time and effort trying to do that than just doing the work and letting Pure handle a lot of this stuff. So, you can pay it upfront or later. One way or another, you're going to pay for it. Now, everything is coming down in price since there's more need and competition. I don't see a huge difference in the market. Everything is comparable, size-wise, and everything else is comparable in cost. Storage is storage. It's going to cost you no matter what. That said, those features, those extra things that they put out there, those extra parts are really where the expenditure really comes from. What other advice do I have? I'm a customer and end-user. If a company has the money and they want to do it, I don't understand why they wouldn't. From an administrator's perspective, not from a business point of view, it's great. However, users need to check the numbers. From an administrator perspective, they handle the upgrades, they do all these things - you don't have to do it. That's a whole lot of time you don't have to spend. For the performance, you get better monitoring. You don't have to spend extra time, money, and effort getting an extra monitoring solution. You can get that from them. Observability and monitoring are extremely important when it comes to this. Pure gives you a great way of connecting it to anything and getting information. The API works great. I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. The only issue is it is really expensive. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2024-08-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from We have critical applications running on the solution without any noticeable impact on performance What is our primary use case? I use Pure Storage for multiple clients. One is a client related to postal services. We are using a database to manage six petabytes. How has it helped my organization? The main benefit of Pure Storage is performance. We have critical applications running on FlashArray without any noticeable impact on performance. I can immediately see the difference between Pure Storage and the other arrays I've used. It has optimized the storage footprint, delivering savings to our clients by drastically reducing the cost of infrastructure and maintenance. What is most valuable? Deduplication is an excellent feature. I also like the NAS and support. What needs improvement? The latest release contains bugs that shouldn't be in a production environment. Two incidents impacted our client, including hardware-related bugs. They need to be more cautious in testing before they release. For how long have I used the solution? We have used Pure Storage for two years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I rate Pure Storage FlashArray nine out of 10. We have reduced downtime by 30 to 50 percent. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? We can upgrade Pure Storage without any latency problems. How are customer service and support? I rate Pure Storage support. The response times are good, but they use third-party support. They come and work on hardware issues. Support is available when a client needs it. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I have worked with EMC and IBM arrays. Pure Storage is simpler to manage than other arrays. If you already have an array but you don't have the budget for Pure Storage, I wouldn't recommend migrating. Pure Storage FlashArray isn't completely flash. It's a semi-hybrid that combines SSDs and SAS disks. IBM's flash array is also good in terms of performance. Pure Storage and IBM have comparable conformance. How was the initial setup? We had some complications configuring the NAS, and some features did not work for our environment. We achieved ready integration in one domain, but we had two domains in NDRRS. The deployment took less than a day, but we had to complete all the prerequisites. If you are using NAS, you must implement many things before configuring it and working with other teams. It takes maybe a week to complete the array configuration and bring it into production. One person is enough, and Pure Storage doesn't require maintenance. What other advice do I have? I rate Pure Storage FlashArray nine out of 10. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2024-08-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Provides excellent performance, ease of use, and reduced downtime What is our primary use case? We use Pure Storage FlashArray as our client storage solution. We create dedicated hosts and allocate appropriate storage space to each host server to accommodate their needs. Our clients were experiencing difficulties running jobs and encountering storage limitations. By implementing Pure Storage FlashArray, we can remotely access the host server and expand the storage capacity to meet our clients' needs. How has it helped my organization? The FlashArray's single pane of glass is crucial for providing clients with easy access to IOPS and other essential features. This means the FlashArray must be highly accessible, with increased bandwidth, but no additional requirements. Compared to Dell Unity, Pure Storage FlashArray offers a more comprehensive port configuration, providing eight front-end and four back-end ports. Dell Unity limits connections to two front-end and two back-end ports. Furthermore, Pure Storage FlashArray includes an Ethernet, USB, and management port, enhancing its connectivity options. In contrast, Dell Unity uses a heterogeneous storage environment, combining flash arrays and SAS arrays, which requires manual configuration and assignment based on specific requirements. Pure Storage FlashArray, on the other hand, exclusively employs Pure FlashArray components, eliminating the need for heterogeneous storage and simplifying management. Pure Storage FlashArray helps save our clients a maximum of 30 percent in resources. Pure Storage FlashArray has to be available for our clients 24/7, which has significantly reduced downtime. What is most valuable? I work with Pure Storage FlashArray models 2K and 8K. Compared to Unity, these arrays offer significant advantages, such as NVMe technology and higher IOPS. Additionally, they provide more storage capacity and are easier to access than other models. What needs improvement? I want to improve the overall service level of the solution. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for two years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Pure Storage FlashArray is stable. The arrays are good for four years, after which we must destroy them and migrate the data to a new one. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? I would rate the scalability of Pure Storage FlashArray nine out of ten. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We use NetApp for file-level access and EMC, VMAX, and PowerMax. We will continue using NetApp for file-level access, which requires us to provide a shared folder or create a new one. We will allocate storage space to this specific folder, not the entire cluster. This minimal storage is necessary for administrative access and small activities or groups using NAS storage. For larger datasets, high IOPS, or big data storage, we use Pure Storage FlashArray. How was the initial setup? The deployment process is straightforward. We will access the GUI, partition the volumes, isolate the host group, and segregate the host. As part of my previous work, I was also involved in decommissioning Pure Storage systems. When dealing with Pure Storage, it's essential to verify the status of the volumes. Ensure that all volumes are offline before proceeding with the decommissioning process. Once the volumes are offline, we will delete them, remove the WWPNs, destroy the volumes, and finally delete the host server. We can deploy around 30 servers per month. What was our ROI? While Pure Storage FlashArray may carry a higher price point, our clients observe a return on investment due to the significant time savings enabled by its exceptional IOPS performance. This increased efficiency more than justifies the initial cost. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Pure Storage FlashArray offers higher performance and IOPS than Dell Unity, thanks to its use of 32-gigabyte cables. While it comes with a higher price tag, this investment often translates to significant improvements in performance. What other advice do I have? I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray nine out of ten. Pure Storage FlashArray offers exceptional accessibility, ensuring our clients experience minimal to no performance issues, even during intensive I/O operations. Our clients have consistently reported high IOPS and successful job execution without encountering any errors or delays. This rapid response time, measured in milliseconds, underscores the FlashArray's ability to provide seamless storage access. Our clients are enterprise clients. Maintenance is necessary for ports, DIMs, fans, power units, and arrays. If a power unit fails, a redundant unit will access the data. We will notify the client of any issues and submit a service request for resolution. After the replacement, we will verify the GUI and log into the Pure FlashArray to check the status of the specific disk. If it's online, we'll take a screenshot and close the case after making the changes. I recommend Pure Storage FlashArray to others due to its exceptional IOPS performance and user-friendly interface. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Hybrid Cloud Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2024-08-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from It performs well, reduces downtime, and easy to manage What is our primary use case? We use Pure Storage FlashArray as the primary storage for our virtualized environment. How has it helped my organization? Pure Storage arrays use flash memory, which provides faster data access and improved performance compared to traditional spinning disk storage. Pure has features like deduplication, compression, and thin provisioning help reduce storage requirements and optimize the use of available space. The systems come with intuitive management interfaces and automation features that simplify storage operations and reduce administrative overhead. Pure Storage FlashArray helps reduce downtime by 99.99 percent. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature of the FlashArray is Pure One, which provides a comprehensive overview of our entire storage environment. Pure One allows us to visualize our whole fleet and conduct various administrative assessments. This includes monitoring capacity usage and identifying the specific allocation of storage across our infrastructure. The FlashArray offers a centralized management system that is particularly appealing. What needs improvement? The self-service process encountered a bug that caused it to stall and prevent completion. Pure Storage should address these issues to enhance the functionality of self-service upgrades. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for about three years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Pure Storage FlashArray is stable. We have not had any issues. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? We can quickly scale the FlashArray if the device is not nearing the end of its life. Their systems are designed to scale easily, allowing you to add more capacity or performance as needed without major disruptions. How are customer service and support? The technical support team is knowledgeable and efficient. They quickly assign a technician to our cases, who analyses the issue or, if necessary, transfers it to another technician at the end of their shift. This entire process is smooth and seamless. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I previously used HP Storage, but Pure Storage FlashArray performs better. The IOPS is much better than what HP provides. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is complex for exceptionally large environments. Pure Professional Services is always available to assist. What about the implementation team? We implemented in-house with support from Pure professional services. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? While more expensive than other storage solutions in the same space, Pure Storage FlashArray offers superior performance that often justifies the higher cost and adds value overall. What other advice do I have? I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray nine out of ten. When you purchase a Pure Storage FlashArray, you're not just acquiring storage but also investing in excellent support. With a dedicated support representative assigned to your case, you can expect immediate assistance whenever you log in, day or night. Maintenance is required for periodic updates and patches. Pure Storage informs us when the patches or updates are available. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2024-08-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from An amazing solution with an outstanding reputation What is our primary use case? We use this solution to assist with our on-premise database workloads; In conjunction with our Oracle database and SQL server database. Within our organization, there are roughly four people using this solution. What is most valuable? Pure Storage has been of great value to us as it provides us with a lot of great tools, especially for monitoring and capacity planning. Also, Pure Storage is extremely user-friendly. What needs improvement? The solution itself is pretty solid. Perhaps the time available for selecting upgrades or for scheduling things could be improved. On a couple of occasions, the waiting time for an upgrade has been pretty substantial. In the next release, I would like for them to support file systems on the lower-end models, like the X-10 or X-20. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Pure Storage is extremely reliable — it's never failed. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? I have increased the capacity during working hours with no impact on production at all. How are customer service and technical support? Their technical support is excellent. Once we raise a ticket, they respond very quickly. Even better, their support is proactive. In most cases, they are the ones contacting us, not the other way around. How was the initial setup? The initial setup was extremely simple. It takes about half an hour to get it up and running. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Our licensing is on a yearly basis. They have a standardized fee; it's been the same price for 10 years straight. I am happy with the price — I think it's good. What other advice do I have? I trust them — their reputation is outstanding. Pure Storage is an amazing solution. I would totally recommend this technology. Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give Pure Storage a rating of ten. If you're skeptical, there is a free demo that you can use to test it in your environment. Just give it a try, test out all the features, and experiment. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2021-05-21T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Improves data center performance and pricing is competitive What is most valuable? Pure Storage FlashArray has significantly improved our data center performance. It handles high workloads efficiently, providing better performance in the environment. With increased storage capacity, it has led to improved overall system performance. The tool's technology is a standout feature. It has helped me reduce storage costs by 15 percent. What needs improvement? The product should improve its response time. I have also encountered issues with its configuration. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using the product for ten years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I rate the product's stability a ten out of ten. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? I rate the tool's scalability a ten out of ten. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I have used Dell EMC before. How was the initial setup? The tool's deployment is easy. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Pure Storage FlashArray's pricing is very competitive. What other advice do I have? I rate the product a ten out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2024-02-04T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from A highly scalable and affordable solution that simplifies operations and reduces power consumption What is our primary use case? We use the solution for virtual machine storage. Any virtual machine that we run is stored in Pure Storage. Everything from databases to applications runs off it. How has it helped my organization? The product provides ease of management. It has a lower cost of ownership. The tool has reduced our power consumption. What is most valuable? We use the metro cluster. It is very intuitive and easy to set up. The data reduction technology is pretty good. We see quite a good reduction in our data. It’s probably in line with other vendors. The performance is excellent. As a storage platform, the solution has been good and very reliable. It's quite difficult to find anything negative to say about it. What needs improvement? There should be improvements in internal data management. If we suddenly dump large amounts of data onto the storage system, it takes a while to process it. The vendor has said that it would be fixed in future releases. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using the solution for 20 months. I am using the latest version of the solution. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I rate the stability a ten out of ten. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The scalability is excellent. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten. How are customer service and support? The support is okay. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The deployment process was very straightforward. It was up and running in an hour. We need two engineers to maintain the product. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The price is reasonable. We don’t pay to license any of the features. I rate the pricing an eight out of ten. Which other solutions did I evaluate? I also use Dell EMC and XtremIO. What other advice do I have? We do routine upgrades. It’s not that often. It happens every six months. I will recommend the tool to others. Pure Storage has simplified our operations and released our engineers to do other functions. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2024-02-06T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from A great enterprise solution helpful with performance, reliability and cost What is our primary use case? Our primary use case for this solution is focused on enterprise solutions, a support solution that needs either performance, reliability or cost. For example, most companies have databases, virtualized workloads, or VDI workloads. So with those kinds of environments like the Block Storage, it is perfect because it switches very well with the cost, performance, and reliability ratio. Additionally, it's easy to deploy to benefit the IT team in the management costs. What is most valuable? We find the ease of usability and setup valuable. What needs improvement? Pricing could be better in comparison to other solutions. The amount of storage the customers receive is approximately 20% higher when you compare it with similar solutions. So it can be a problem when you are positioning the product. For how long have I used the solution? We have been using the solution for seven years as partners and are currently working with the latest version. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The solution is highly scalable, but scalability is sometimes undervalued, but everyone can scale. In the case of Pure Storage FlashArray, our experience with upgrading the capacity only involved changing the controllers. So, for example, if you have 20 terabytes and want to go to 100, you only have to change the controllers when paying for that storage capacity upgrade. You can also include the controllers, and the controllers' upgrade does not impact production. You can do it without stopping, so the upgrade of the machines can start with the smallest to the biggest machine that can deploy up to five petabytes. If you cannot do it smoothly, you don't have to stop production and will not have a disruption. How are customer service and support? Our experience with customer service and support has been very good. It is very good even though they are still growing, and they are very responsive to issues. They promise a 15-minute response time and are very good at keeping that promise. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is straightforward. Two engineers are usually tasked with deployment. What was our ROI? Our return on investment is good. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The licensing cost is close to zero. Every new function or functionality is included when paying the annual maintenance. Our customers value it because the maintenance is always the same regardless of whether it's the first year, the seventh or the tenth year. Additionally, the products use the same operative system with new capabilities, like ransomware and safe mode. Another thing that is quite nice to have is outstanding performance. They can provide a lot of performance, so there is not a lot of difference. Still, efficiency is something customers value because the compression can be up to twice of the second competitor. I rate licensing costs a ten out of ten. What other advice do I have? I rate the solution a ten out of ten. The solution is good but can be improved by improving upgrade prices. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2022-10-30T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Useful dashboard management, helpful support, but missed guaranteed storage capacity What is our primary use case? We are using Pure Storage FlashArray for data protection. We keep our backup data on the solution. What is most valuable? The most valuable features of Pure Storage FlashArray are simplicity, ease of use, and dashboard management. What needs improvement? Pure Storage FlashArray could improve some aspects. There are certain features that are good and there are some features that I see some issues with at the technical level. Those issues are related to replication. They need to resolve those issues, which I have already highlighted to the Pure team. Additionally, there are some issues in the active cluster that could improve. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for approximately one year. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The stability of Pure Storage FlashArray has been stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? We have had some issues with Pure Storage FlashArray capacity. We were guaranteed capacity which we did not receive. The solution is scalable, all storage solutions are scalable. We do not have end users of this solution, but all of our data from the company is going to the Pure Storage FlashArray. We plan to increase the usage of the solution in the future. How are customer service and support? The support from Pure Storage FlashArray is very good. How was the initial setup? The initial setup of Pure Storage FlashArray is quick and was not a difficult process. What about the implementation team? We used the reseller to do the implementation of Pure Storage FlashArray. It took one engineer from the reseller and one engineer from my team. We have approximately 10 users who are managing Pure Storage FlashArray. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Once you purchase Pure Storage FlashArray it is all-inclusive, you receive all the licenses needed. What other advice do I have? I would recommend this solution to others. I rate Pure Storage FlashArray a seven out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-07-14T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from High performance, efficient deduplication, and maintenance is not difficult What is our primary use case? Pure Storage FlashArray is used for hosting applications, such as Vmware, HyperV, and virtualized applications. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature of Pure Storage FlashArray is the all-flash storage performance, low latency, and efficiency of their de-duplication technology. Additionally, the ease of use is good compared to other storage systems. The features in data protection, snapshotting, and replication between data centers and sites are superior to other solutions. What needs improvement? Pure Storage FlashArray could improve the recent file storage capabilities because it is lacking a lot of features. The integration with other vendors, such as antivirus and security vendors they are lacking. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for approximately seven years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The stability of Pure Storage FlashArray is good. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Pure Storage FlashArray is scalable. How are customer service and support? I have used the support from Pure Storage FlashArray. I rate the support from Pure Storage FlashArray a nine out of ten. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The initial setup of Pure Storage FlashArray is very simple and it takes four hours for a new system. What about the implementation team? Pure Storage FlashArray is not difficult to maintain. What was our ROI? My customers have received a return on investment. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The price of Pure Storage FlashArray could always improve. They are still more expensive than some alternative offerings. Cost is always a concern and when there is a battle they tend to be more expensive. There are no licenses outside of the storage. When you buy the solution, you receive all the software capabilities and license with the box. Which other solutions did I evaluate? One of the advantages of Pure Storage FlashArray to other solutions is the Evergreen Program. The program allows you to never have to purchase storage that you already purchased again. For every terabyte that you purchase, you don't have to purchase it again, they will replace it. As you maintain the solution, even if the old storage becomes at the end of life, it will replace with newer technology as part of the maintenance. What other advice do I have? My advice to others is they should try the solution, it works well. I rate Pure Storage FlashArray a nine out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Reseller
Date published: 2022-09-01T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from User-friendly, high performance, and reliable What is our primary use case? We are using Pure Storage FlashArray for VMware data storage. What is most valuable? The most valuable features of Pure Storage FlashArray are management and administration user-friendliness, provisioning, and performance. What needs improvement? Pure Storage FlashArray could improve in the area of cryptographic information in the consoles. The user-friendliness could improve. The Pure Storage FlashArray team should come and log into the system with their maintenance credentials and then pull out the information as evidence of cryptography. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for approximately one year. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Pure Storage FlashArray is highly stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Pure Storage FlashArray is scalable, but it has a 5 GB ratio for data which helps with the reduced need for more investment for it to be more scalable. We are using the solution with approximately 20 VMware hosts. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I previously used other solutions. How was the initial setup? The initial setup of Pure Storage FlashArray is straightforward. The time it took for our complete implementation took one week. However, it could be done in one day but we had some challenges. What about the implementation team? We used the Pure Storage FlashArray team to do the implementation. What other advice do I have? I recommend this solution for production because it has good performance and capacity management. My advice to others is they need to fit the solution to their needs. There are many models available and the one they choose is going to depend on the front-end data that they're going to accommodate in storage. Additionally, the latencies needed are important to consider, such as how many milliseconds they can tolerate and overall performance. I rate Pure Storage FlashArray a nine out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-09-14T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Reasonably priced with excellent rates of deduplication and compression What is our primary use case? Pure Storage is located in manufacturing plants. Basically, we have VMware clusters and those clusters are supported by Pure Storage, and those clusters are intended to support those manufacturing plants. What is most valuable? The product cheaper compared to other solutions concerning the technology that they are using. They have excellent rates of deduplication and compression. To offer 20 terabytes of storage, we just need maybe five terabytes of physical hardware. That's great. At the time, there was a notable difference as it was the only vendor with those numbers in terms of deduplication and compression in real-time. Today other vendor software offers something similar, however, when it was just Pure, it was the best thing. I want to check again, however, usually, we use the Gartner charts to make decisions and start looking for different vendors and maybe the vendors we want to test. At the time, Pure was the leader in every aspect in terms of flash arrays and deduplication and all of that. What needs improvement? I don't really have complaints about the solution. It works really well. We are using Pure for something simple, which is just running a small VMware firm. That's why I don't have any other impressions. It works and I'm happy with it. I don't have any problems with the storage we have. I’m not sure if there are features missing. I'm the one who chooses the technology; however, after the implementation, I don't have too much contact. I'm not in the operations, I'm not working with the console, creating or putting up a launch. I'm not doing that kind of operation work, so I'm not sure what might be missing. When we start having some issues with transformer attacks and security threats, I had to contact Pure to ask about software patches. With other vendors, they contact us immediately. They would say, "Hey, we had these vulnerabilities. We need to install these patches, and this is super urgent. And we need to do it now." Yet, with Pure, in a couple of situations, I can remember we tried to go to them and send an email or open a support case to ask them, "Hey, I'm pretty sure you are aware of these threats. Are there any patches or updates available, so we can protect those systems?" There were patches available, however, for some reason, we had to ask. It was not proactive communication. I want them to initiate contact and have automatic requests for their clients to get the patching. Especially if there are critical security issues. I would expect them to contact us immediately and tell us, "Hey, we identify the security threats, and let's plan together how to implement the security patches or whatever is needed to secure systems." For how long have I used the solution? I've been using the solution for a couple of years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It is stable. We only had one issue during the last two years and the support team was able to help us really fast. For the most part it is reliable and the performance is good. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The solution is scalable. It's modular. You just need to put additional two unit expansions, and that's it. The data storage is supporting a manufacturing plant. In the end, a lot of people are using those systems. I cannot say a number, however, there is a lot of people. There are probably more than 1000 per each side, considering the 24/7 roles. How are customer service and support? Technical support was good. We’ve contacted them multiple times and they were great. They have been helpful every time. How was the initial setup? It’s easy to set up and support is excellent. The administration console is super easy to understand and extremely intuitive. Even if you are not a storage expert, you can easily understand what you are doing. I like it - it's not complex at all. What other advice do I have? We are just customers. We have two different deployments. One is located in a big data center, and another two are in smaller remote data centers. We have multiple data centers. We’re a manufacturing company and we need to keep a physical footprint in almost all our manufacturing plants and some of the branch offices. We try to put almost all of our workloads in the cloud, however, if there's a reason like latency or security or some stuff that prevents us from using the cloud, then that is when we put those systems in local data centers. I’d advise potential new users to be careful during the scoping phase as some things will take up more room than you might anticipate or be hard to compress. Since this solution uses compression and deduplication, if you have a lot of databases or media files like videos or images, or that kind of information, it is not great when you try to compress and deduplicate. We have had some issues with that. One POC was supporting a call center, and this call center is recording the agents' screens as well as the audio of those calls. That kind of information is extremely bad when you try to compress it. That's why, on that specific storage example, we had capacity issues. That specific application was eating almost all the storage. If you have different information, like application servers, a lot of repeated operating systems, if you have a hundred windows running on precisely the same version, that's great for deduplication and compression. That's something that the pre-sales team from Pure can help with; however, it is important internally to identify all those workloads as that could modify a lot, including what is the result in terms of the estimation of capacity required. I’d rate the solution nine out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-07-17T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Easy to use with good support but is too expensive What is our primary use case? We primarily use the solution for storing data for applications. What is most valuable? The user interface is very good. It is easy to navigate. The deployment is very easy. It is scalable. The solution is very reliable. Technical support is helpful. What needs improvement? The pricing could be better. It is a bit expensive. For how long have I used the solution? I've been using the solution for three or four years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It's a stable, reliable product. It isn't buggy or glitchy. It doesn't crash or freeze. I'd rate the stability nine out of ten. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? It is scalable and easy to extend. I'd rate the stability nine out of ten. It's very easy. We have about four engineers using the solution. We increase the storage capacity, however, it depends on the future application usage. How are customer service and support? Technical support is very good. They are helpful and responsive. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I've also worked with Dell, which is a bit harder to set up. How was the initial setup? The setup was very straightforward. It's very easy. We find it even easier to set up than Dell. The deployment takes about a few hours or so. You mount it on the rack and power it up and do some configurations to set it up for storage. What about the implementation team? We were able to handle the setup ourselves with the help of a local partner. What was our ROI? I haven't looked into ROI. It isn't part of my scope. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? It's a costly solution. It is not cheap. There is no subscription fee. There is just one initial fee. What other advice do I have? We are using an older version of the solution, not necessarily the latest. I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. I would recommend the solution for its capabilities, however, the price is too high. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-03-29T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Integrates seamlessly with major platforms while offering tight integration with backup software for faster restores What is our primary use case? Our customers primarily use Pure Storage for virtualization, whether it is VMware or Hyper-V. They choose Pure Storage for its high-performance, low-latency, and reliable all-flash arrays, which are essential for efficiently running virtualized workloads, including critical applications, databases, and virtual machines. What is most valuable? I find two features of Pure Storage most valuable. The first is the "safe mode" function, and the second is its simplicity. I value its simplicity and artificial intelligence monitoring. It also integrates seamlessly with major platforms like VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Microsoft SQL, while offering tight integration with backup software for faster restores. This connectivity promotes cyber resilience and can be leveraged for disaster recovery solutions. What needs improvement? I don't see any major issues with Pure Storage, but one thing to note is that Pure Storage can be seen as a premium product, and other vendors are catching up in terms of performance and features. However, overall, the feature set and performance are excellent. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for two and a half years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It is highly stable, especially if you follow recommended patching and software upgrades. Pure Storage offers an officially published uptime guarantee, ensuring device stability, which is legally binding. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Pure Storage is very scalable. Even the smallest model can be successfully upgraded all the way to the largest model, which is a feature I haven't seen with other solutions. How are customer service and support? Pure Storage's tech support is excellent. They use AI effectively, and their support team is highly reliable and responsive. Our customers have experienced no issues with their support. How was the initial setup? Setting up Pure Storage is incredibly easy. You just plug it in, connect it to the network, and start building your storage – it is that simple. Deployment takes less than a day. Deployment is straightforward and typically manageable by a single person or resource. However, when lifting heavier equipment, like the larger Pure Storage units, it is recommended to have two people, but the rest of the setup can be accomplished via servers. Maintenance is straightforward. Once it is connected to the internet and secure communication is enabled, it sends monitoring data to Kubernetes and artificial intelligence in the cloud, providing early warnings of potential issues. This cloud-based AI can often assess the health of your device better than you can. What was our ROI? Our customers see a return on investment and value for their money with Pure Storage. They measure it through methods like net present value and comparisons to the weighted accumulated cost of capital, which provide a robust financial assessment. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? It has a flexible, pay-as-you-go option.The primary drawback is the cost, which can be prohibitive for small configurations, but this is the only major downside. What other advice do I have? My advice for new users is to not be afraid to start using it from day one, but take the time to educate yourself on all the valuable features available to make the most of it. Since it is a significant investment, ensure you manage and protect the asset effectively. Overall, I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray as a ten out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2023-10-11T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from A stable and scalable product that functions amazingly fast in terms of speed once it is up and running What is most valuable? Pure Storage FlashArray's overall speed is its most valuable feature. What needs improvement? Pure Storage FlashArray is painful in certain areas, and because of this, in my company, we wish it was made to be a bit more user-friendly, especially in a VMware environment, so that it can be made less of a cumbersome process. I don't know if its less user-friendly nature in a VMware environment is indicative of some of the encryption features and other stuff of Pure Storage FlashArray. Pure Storage FlashArray would just be easier to manage if it didn't have to jump through so many hoops. For how long have I used the solution? I have experience with Pure Storage FlashArray. My company is a customer of Pure Storage FlashArray. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It is a stable solution. As long as you don't accidentally cut the power off in your company, the product remains stable, making it pretty reliable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? It is a scalable solution. How are customer service and support? The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a nine to ten out of ten. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The initial setup of the product is complex. What about the implementation team? Pure Storage FlashArray's team had to install the product in our company. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Cost-wise, I imagine that the product's price would probably give you a nosebleed if you were a younger company. What other advice do I have? Pure Storage FlashArray is a solution that can be described as a product that functions amazingly fast in terms of speed once it is up and running. In our company, we only semi-manage the product. Three people who look after server infrastructure, networking infrastructure, and virtual infrastructure in my company look after the product's maintenance. I rate the overall product an eight to nine out of ten. I wish the product wasn't cumbersome to do certain things and should provide a little more flexibility. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-10-12T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Smooth provisioning and a single pane of glass for management What is our primary use case? We have a contract with Pure Storage, and we use it for VMware and database server storage provisioning. We have multiple applications in the environment, and we are provisioning from Pure Storage. How has it helped my organization? The single pane of glass is important for us because we can view all the array details in one place. We can see the details about the capacity, utilized space, available or free space, alerts, and performance in one place. This overview is important. It did decrease the storage footprint compared to other models and storage, but I do not have the metrics. It helps to reduce the downtime. What is most valuable? We are not using any replication features. We only have storage provisioning, so the provisioning feature is good. The compression and deduplication are good. What needs improvement? It does not require much improvement. They can maybe improve the file services. The focus is on block storage. They can also include file services such as NAS shares and CIFS shares. There should be provisioning of the file shares from a unified array. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Pure Storage FlashArray for one year. What do I think about the stability of the solution? There is no lagging or crashing. It is quite stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? It is good in terms of scalability. We can scale up to a higher number. How are customer service and support? I have interacted with their technical support. They were good at providing support when I requested. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We have different flash array systems from HPE GreenLake. Pure Storage is better than the HPE GreenLake flash array. Performance-wise, Pure Storage is better. The cost of Pure Storage might be high, but I am not sure. How was the initial setup? It is on-prem. I do not know about its initial deployment because I was not there at the time of deployment. So, I do not know if its benefits could be realized immediately after the deployment. However, it has been effective in terms of utilization and capacity. We are now planning for different storage and doing the migration from Pure Storage to others because of the EOC limit that we have. In terms of maintenance, there are firmware updates. We have to schedule a change window and then update the firmware. What other advice do I have? It is good. Working with it is easy. Provisioning is smooth and good. The GUI and everything else is good. You can just do training with Pure Storage and get on with your storage tasks. Overall, I would rate Pure Storage FlashArray a nine out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2024-09-02T00:00:00-04:00