Enterprise Storage

Top 6 Storage Management Software

Discover the top storage management software solutions with features like reporting, storage capacity planning, and environment monitoring.

The Top 6 Storage Management Software Include:
  • 1. AWS Storage
  • 2. Dell Storage Resource Manager
  • 3. IBM Spectrum Control
  • 4. Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer
  • 5. NetApp OnCommand Insight
  • 6. Solarwinds Storage Resource Monitor

Storage management software is used by companies to maintain a data storage system. Good storage management helps to strike the right balance between cost, storage capacity, and performance, all the while protecting essential data and ensuring it is accessible throughout the organization to users who need it. 

Organizations and businesses often rely on large quantities of data to optimize their operations and maximize profitability. This data is both vital and vulnerable. Organizations should employ storage management policies to ensure that sensitive data is properly stored.

You can replace hardware, but information that is lost may be impossible to retrieve. It is not just a case of backing up your most vital data, there should be a management solution in place to provide visibility and organize how the data is stored. Ensuring regulatory compliance makes this task even more complex than in the past. Effective data storage management is only growing in importance. 

To help you find an effective storage management solution – one that is suited to your organization’s needs – we have put together a list of the top storage management solutions on the market. In this article, we provide insight into the vendors and each solution’s key features, with our final recommendation as to who would be best served by each solution.

AWS Logo

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon. AWS Storage offers a variety of storage management options depending on data type and use. This ensures that users can receive the most efficient and relevant service. AWS storage services help millions of customers to transform their business, boost agility, minimize cost, and accelerate innovation.

AWS Storage Features:

  • Object storage with industry-leading availability, scalability, and security lets you easily store and retrieve data from anywhere
  • A straightforward, serverless, elastic, “set-and-forget” file system for you to share file data without having to manually managing storage
  • Fully managed, cost-effective storage which offers effective performance
  • High speed cache for datasets stored anywhere to accelerate cloud workloads

Pricing And Plans: AWS provide an online pricing calculator to configure cost estimates tailored to your unique business needs. This allows you to explore services and pricing with no commitment.

Expert Insights’ Comments: AWS Storage is Amazon’s powerful storage management solution which provides flexible and versatile storage capacity, in a scalable and reliable way. The solution also enables easy and efficient data access. We would recommend this solution to organizations looking for a storage management solution with a comprehensive range of cloud service features that. This solution is suited to the needs of larger businesses and enterprises.

Dell Technologies logo

Dell Technologies is an American multinational technology company. Dell Storage Resource Manager works to help organizations visualize, analyze, and optimize their storage environment. This is a comprehensive solution that can help IT teams to manage their storage infrastructure whilst allowing for scalability as your organization grows.

Dell Storage Resource Manager Features:

  • Combines storage capacity, performance data, storage configuration, and compliance data into streamlined reports and a single-pane user dashboard
  • End-to-end data path visualization for performance analysis and workload balancing
  • End-to-end data center infrastructure visibility of storage arrays like PowerMax, PowerStore, PowerScale, PowerFlex, VxRail, and other Dell products
  • Configuration change planning and compliance monitoring to validate best practices and the Dell Support Matrix
  • Compliance management support

Pricing And Plans: For pricing information request a quote directly in the Dell Technologies website.

Expert Insights’ Comments: Dell Storage Resource Manager provides organizations with the ability to optimize storage across virtual and physical resources. It is a comprehensive solution which we would recommend to SMBs, particularly those looking for a storage management solution capable of offering users end-to-end data path performance analysis which incorporates block, file, and object storage.

IBM logo

IBM are an American multinational technology corporation that produce a range of hardware and software solutions, as well as offering hosted and consultancy services. Their storage management software solution, IBM Spectrum Control, runs in IBM’s cloud, providing virtualized, cloud, and software-defined storage. This solution monitors performance and capacity, allowing you to plan on-premises storage.

IBM Spectrum Control Features:

  • View your storage environment by application, department, server, and site through a single control point
  • Create and deliver custom reports automatically
  • Use tiered storage optimization to ensure data is stored effectively and securely
  • Adaptive load balancing within storage tiers
  • Capacity planning can help predict future needs
  • Deploy as on-premises software or as a cloud service with monitoring and analytics from IBM Cloud

Pricing And Plans: For pricing information for IBM Spectrum Control contact IBM directly.

Expert Insights’ Comments: IBM Spectrum Control is a comprehensive solution capable of significantly improving the monitoring, automation, and analytics capabilities in multi-vendor storage environments. Storage can be seen from multiple perspectives, including departmental, application and server views. We would recommend IBM Spectrum Control to organizations interested in a solution that can manage and monitor multi-vendor storage on-premises, enabling administrators to gain a full view of the storage environment.

Azure Logo

Microsoft is a market leading provider of innovative technology solutions, operating in more than 190 countries. Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer is a strong cloud storage management solution that works to simplify the management of all types of data. The solution allows you to easily upload, download, and manage Azure storage files, queues, and tables with highly configurable storage permissions, access controls, tiers, and rules.

Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer Features:

  • Connect and manage your Azure storage service and resources across subscriptions and organizations
  • Customize with extensions – use the Azure Data extension to move data from other storage services, or integrate with the Azure App to manage application settings and features
  • Easily view, search, and interact with your data and resources via the streamlined and intuitive interface
  • Ability to work while disconnected from the cloud or offline with local emulators like Azurite, for better productivity, efficiency, and reduced cost
  • Use extensive range of Azure security features to connect and manage your Azure resources

Pricing And Plans: Microsoft offers a free trial of their storage management solution. For pricing information, contact Microsoft Azure directly.

Expert Insights’ Comments: Microsoft’s storage management solution is versatile, extensible, accessible, and secure. It is rated highly by past users and receives praise for its ease of navigation and user-friendly design. Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer can work with large and complex datasets. We would recommend this strong and comprehensive solution to larger businesses looking for fine-tuned access control, flexibility, and versatility.

NetApp Logo

NetApp is an American hybrid cloud data service and data management company that offers cloud data services for the management of applications and data, both within the cloud and on-premises. Their storage management solution, NatApp OnCommand Insight, provides robust multi-vendor monitoring. It helps organizations to make informed decisions about workload placement and IT spending by monitoring and troubleshooting the whole infrastructure.

NetApp OnCommand Insight Features:

  • Operates as agent-less solution which can run on Microsoft Windows
  • Quickly and efficiently discovers the entire heterogeneous SAN environment
  • Correlates thousands or physical and logical components into storage service paths
  • Operates with vendor APIs to discover and obtain up-to-date information on data source device configurations
  • Periodically monitors the environment to identify and log any changes and assess the subsequent impact

Pricing And Plans: NetApp OnCommand Insight is licensed by capacity, so customers only pay for the modules they wish to enable. There are two types of Insight licenses available: Perpetual and Subscription. Perpetual licenses let you use the specific version/release of the software obtained subject to applicable license terms. Subscription is a fixed term license of the software which can be renewed at the end of each fixed term, or not. For Pricing contact NetApp directly.

Expert Insights’ Comments: NetApp OnCommand Insight simplifies the operational management of complex private and hybrid cloud environments. It also facilitates cross-domain, multi-vendor resource management and analysis across a range of environments. We would recommend this solution to large or mid-sized organizations who need accurate insights across their network for faster remediation and reduced cost.

Solarwinds logo

SolarWinds is a leading IT management software provider that offers powerful and cost-effective solutions to support organizations in monitoring and managing their IT service, infrastructures, and applications. This can be done in on-premises, hybrid, or cloud environments. SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor is their storage management solution; it provides an easy-to-navigate user interface and customizable web console.

Solarwinds Storage Resource Monitor Features:

  • Multi-vendor storage device support
  • Storage performance monitoring and hotspot detection
  • Automated storage capacity planning
  • Improved visibility across the entire storage infrastructure and beyond
  • Cross-stack IT data correlation
  • Integration with SolarWinds Virtualization Manager and Server & Application Monitor

Pricing And Plans: SolarWinds offer an interactive demo and a fully functional 30-day free trial of their solution. Pricing for SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor starts at £1,421. For a tailored quote contact them directly on their website.

Expert Insights’ Comments: This solution from SolarWinds supports multiple devices and vendors, providing real-time, unified visibility into all layers of the storage infrastructure. We would recommend SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor to organizations looking to manage on-premises storage resources with a comprehensive, reliable storage management solution.

Top 6 Storage Management Software