They have there own support in house. If it comes to a esc level and there unable to resolve it they have a support team at netapp that works with them at a esc level. You never talk directly to Netapp. Like I said if you need the support don't go the way of IBM you will probably regret it.
 
Last I heard on the software front it was all the same. The boxes we ordered came with pretty much all the software we order from Ntap.
 
The IBM boxes snap into DFM and we use SD, SMSQL on them and we are snapmirroring between IBM and Netapp boxes alike.
 
The hardware looks the same to me under the covers. It's just a re-badge there built at the same location as the Netapp brand.
 
 
So the short of it ends up being one word "support".
 
 
 
E-

From: Zayas, Russell [mailto:rzayas@qualcomm.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 5:36 PM
To: Toasters; Raj Patel; toasters@mathworks.com
Subject: RE: IBM Branded NetApps

Does that mean that support is geared to handle tough issues? Or do they pipe you into NetApp support at that point?

 

Curious,

 

 -Russ

 

From: owner-toasters@mathworks.com [mailto:owner-toasters@mathworks.com] On Behalf Of Toasters
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 12:41 PM
To: Raj Patel; toasters@mathworks.com
Subject: RE: IBM Branded NetApps

 

We just went with a few IBM boxes here. We have 40 or so Netapp boxes. The determining factor for us was the price. They undercut by well over 100k on what we bought. The support structure is not the same as Netapp. If you have never experienced IBM support before then I suggest you do before you decided to go the way of IBM/NAS. If your like us and don't need the "what is a snapmirror" type of support and just call when you need parts or the box is panicing then you may want to consider them.

 

 

E-

 

From: owner-toasters@mathworks.com [mailto:owner-toasters@mathworks.com] On Behalf Of Raj Patel
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 2:03 PM
To: toasters@mathworks.com
Subject: IBM Branded NetApps

Hi all,

A few quick queries -

Has anyone had any experience with the IBM Branded NetApp's ? What does the N5200 compare with in the NetApp family ? How does service/support differ from NetApp ? Finally why would anyone go with IBM for a NetApp rather than NetApp direct (is it purely a question of vendor service quality or is there a significant price difference) ?

Thanks in advance,
Raj.