Pure vs HPE (Nimble) vs Netapp

[Forkk]

Weighing these three options for an all flash replacement (46TB raw) for our NetApp FAS3240. We do not currently use file storage options on the NetApp and dont really need it. Pure initially seemed like the best option however there appears to be some concern as to the viability of the company in the long term. HPE seems to be leaving the Nimble team alone as of now but the concern is that they will eventually screw up their excellent support and product offering. NetApp is a great option but have yet to sign on to a perpetual support model and we will be forced to look at replacement in another 5-7 years. What do you think? Which product do you prefer and why?

[Nick_Dyer]

Hello,

The good news I can tell you is that HPE have absolutely no interest in changing anything to do with Nimble Support - it's world class and our customers love the experience they bring. Funnily enough I penned a blog post on exactly this last year when concerns were raised about what could possibly happen here. When looking at independent sites such as Gartner's Peer Insights, it's also one of the top reasons our customers continue to trust Nimble.

My advice; don't listen to vendors throwing around things like IOPS, NVMe etc etc. With all flash - performance is an absolute given (and table stakes) for every manufacturer - and is not a differentiator at all. What is important is what your experience will be with the product for 5-10 years - including things like upgrades, support renewals and just living with the technology day in and day out.

To give you an example - a hospital in the UK recently gave a reference call for another customer, where they had moved from another tier-1 storage vendor to Nimble for their critical services & platforms. When asked what their experience has been like, they said "life-changing - for the better".

Best of luck, and welcome to the forums.