IBM FlashSystem 5200 vs NetApp AFF A250
Side-by-side specifications from the vendors' own documents. The IBM FlashSystem 5200 is a compact 1U all-flash storage system delivering enterprise NVMe performance. The NetApp AFF A250 is an entry enterprise all-NVMe storage array packing 24 hot-swap NVMe drive bays into a 2U dual-controller enclosure.
| IBM FlashSystem 5200 | NetApp AFF A250 | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | IBM | NetApp |
| Status | current | end-of-sale |
| Released | Feb 2021 | Oct 2020 |
| Form factor | 1U rack | 2U rack |
| Form factor | 1U rack | — |
| Controllers | Dual active-active | — |
| Cache memory | 512GB | — |
| Max drives | 12 NVMe FCM/SSD in 1U (expands to 748) | — |
| Host interfaces | 32Gb FC, 25Gb/10Gb iSCSI, NVMe-oF | — |
| Max raw capacity | 1.7PB in 1U (up to 32PB expanded) | — |
| Controller configuration | — | Dual controllers in 2U enclosure |
| Processor | — | Intel Xeon processors per controller |
| Memory | — | 128GB system memory per HA pair with NVRAM |
| Drive bays | — | Up to 24x internal 2.5-inch NVMe SSDs in 2U chassis, expandable with 1x NS224 shelf |
| Supported drives | — | NVMe TLC SSDs (960GB, 1.9TB, 3.8TB, 7.6TB, 15.3TB) |
| Maximum raw capacity | — | Up to 57PB in a 24-node cluster |
| Host connectivity | — | Onboard 25GbE/10GbE and PCIe expansion for 32Gb FC, 25GbE, 10GbE |
| Storage protocols | — | NVMe/FC, NVMe/TCP, FC, iSCSI, NFS, SMB |
| Clustering | — | Up to 24 nodes (12 HA pairs) |
| Management | — | NetApp ONTAP 9 |
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