File storage can be used in such different ways that research house that Coldago has produced three separate supplier rating reports.
It shows views of file storage suppliers through its 4-box diagram lens, where they are divided into three groups – Enterprise File Storage, High Performance File Storage, and Cloud File Storage.
This differs from GigaOm’s circular 4-box Radar diagram which looked at scale-out file storage and produced separate High-Performance Scale-Out File Storage (SCOFS) and Enterprise Scale-Out File Systems Radar reports in 2022. The following year it produced a combined Enterprise Scale-Out File Systems Radar – with a second edition in late 2024 along with a separate Cloud-Native Globally Distributed File Systems Radar document.
Back in 2021 Coldago had a single File Storage Map, but times change and file storage usage scenarios alter.
The two analyst houses have different views on how to cover the file storage supplier area and different inclusion criteria for suppliers in their categories, where the categories are similar, as a diagram indicates:
Suppliers can be present in more than one category for each research house.
A Codago map position vendor in four columns ranged along a vision and strategy axis from left (niches) through specialists and challengers to leaders (right). There is a vertical axis running from low to high and rating execution and capabilities. Analyst Philippe Nicolas has 11 suppliers listed in its Enterprise File Storage map: DDN, Dell, Huawei, IBM, iXsystems, Microsoft, NetApp, Pure Storage, Qumulo, SUSE and VAST Data:
The most favorable positions for suppliers in a category are high and to the right. There are three Challengers – SUSE,DDN, iXsystems and Qumulo – with seven leaders: Dell, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, NetApp, Pure Storage, and VAST Data. Microsoft leads Pure, IBM and DEll wit Huawei close behind, and VAST Data somewhat training.
Compared to the 11 enterprise file storage suppliers, Coldago lists 15 vendors of High-Performance File Storage:
Fujitsu is listed as the single Specialist, with five suppliers grouped up and to the right in the Challengers’ box; Hammerspace, HPE, Quobyte, ThinkParQ and VDURA -the rebranded Panasas.
There are nine leaders, with two Quantum and Qumulo, trailing Challenger HPE in their ability to execute and general capabilities rating. DDN heads the leaders’ pack, followed by IBM, VAST Data and WEKA.
Coldago’s Cloud File Storage map includes 11 suppliers with just four leaders: CTERA, Hammerspace, Nasuni and Panzura:
Once again, as with the two other maps, there are no Niche players. We have two Specialists – Peer Software and Lucid Link –and five Challengers; Egnyte, TigerTechnology, NetApp, AWS and Microsoft.
Google Cloud’s FileStore doesn’t warrant a mention by Coldago. Interested parties can purchase the Coldago reports here and find the details on how it compares the different suppliers.
Bootnote
Gartner has its own take on file storage, lumping it together with object storage in a single Magic Quadrant (MQ) for File and Object Storage Platforms.
