NetApp: Not just NAS filers, and a comprehensive cloud strategy

Where did NetApp come from?

NetApp was founded in 1992 as Network Appliance, and had its IPO in 1995. It grew massively during the 1990s dotcom years, and suffered a big decline in 2002 as that bubble burst, but then saw revenues increase despite falling behind in market share (see below).

Auspex Systems introduced the first ever NAS, and was an early competitor of NetApp’s. But NetApp then became synonymous with the NAS filer. By 2003, Auspex had become defunct and NetApp gained its patents. It officially became NetApp in 2008.

Acquisitions over the years gave it:

• Clustered NAS functionality (Spinnaker Networks, 2004)
• Object storage (Bycast, 2010)
• What later became its first flash arrays (Engenio, 2011)
• All-flash arrays (Solidfire, 2015)
• Cloud services and orchestration (Greenqloud, 2017)
• Kubernetes as a service (StackPointCloud, 2018)
• Cloud cost optimisation (Spot in 2020, Cloudcheckr in 2021)

How does NetApp rank against other storage players?

By 2023, IDC ranked NetApp fifth in revenue and market share. That was down from third in late 2021 because of new entrants in the rankings, Huawei and Lenovo (second and fourth in 2023 – HPE in third, Dell in top spot). NetApp’s 2023 market share was 7%, down from 8.3% in 2022 and 10% in late 2021.

NetApp ranked 411th in the 2014 Fortune 500, but by 2018 had dropped to 495th before dropping out in 2021.

In 2001, NetApp revenues were just under $0.90bn. That increased to $6.29bn by 2014, with growth up to roughly 30% in some years. However, from a 2014 high point, revenues declined to $5.4bn in 2016. They since trended upwards to $6.572bn by the end of financial year 2024-2025.  

What are NetApp’s key storage products?

NetApp made its name with the file access FAS series of products. FAS was the acronym for fabric attached storage, more colloquially known as a filer – i.e. a NAS box. It has since diversified away from that mainstay.

Now, NetApp’s storage product range is broadly split into FAS and all-flash FAS products that build on its Ontap operating system, plus a more recent variant, all-flash SAN array (ASA), that brings products dedicated to block storage. Block storage was possible in FAS arrays through most of their history, but it was an add-on that has now been thoroughly addressed in ASA.

FAS arrays still exist and are flash and spinning disk hybrid. AFF arrays come in A-series and C-series, with the latter equipped with QLC flash for higher density and lower cost per GB for capacity use cases with lower access rapidity requirements. Block-oriented ASA arrays also come as higher-performance A-series and capacity QLC flash C-series variants.

A-series arrays are aimed at low-latency, high-performance, mission-critical applications of <100 microseconds latency. C-series target denser storage needs.

AFF A-series arrays range in maximum capacity from the A20 with 9.3PB to 185PB in the flagship A1K, and come with NVMe flash, NVMe-over-fibre channel and TCP connectivity, as well as NAS capability via NFS, CIFS and limited S3 connectivity.

C-series all-flash QLC-based storage arrays comprise the AFF C30, C60 and C80, which run from 29PB to 707PB.

ASA array capacity ranges from maximum effective capacity of 6PB to 11.6PB after compression.

Both NetApp’s E- and EF-series date back to NetApp’s acquisition of Engenio in 2011, whose arrays were designed for spinning disk. E-series are billed as hybrid spinning disk and flash, while EF-series are billed as all-flash but seem to include some HDD options. They run the SanTricity operating system, which is a legacy of that pedigree. Sticking flash in these was in fact NetApp’s first foray into the flash array market, with the EF540 in 2013.

E- and EF-series arrays are block access only and include Infiniband connectivity.

No advanced storage services are provided, as they are performance-focused and do not cluster.

EF-series arrays target extreme low-latency workloads such as OLTP, AI (SuperPod), HPC and high-performance applications where performance and reliability are key. Performance is up to two million IOPS per node, with <100 microseconds latency.

E-series offer up to one million IOPS and aim at workloads such as video surveillance, analytics, backup, archive and price/capacity-focused applications. E-series arrays go from raw capacity of 286TB or 345TB to 1.3PB or 6.6PB (depending on whether they get an HDD capacity boost or not) over four variants. EF-series arrays go from raw capacity of 367TB to 1.8PB or 9.6PB with HDD expansion across four array models.

NetApp’s core object storage offer is StorageGrid (although limited S3 capacity is supported in FAS and AFF arrays). This is a software-defined product that can run on-premise or in the cloud, but is also available in all-flash and HDD-equipped StorageGrid appliances based on E-series hardware.

NetApp’s Ontap storage operating system runs on its FAS, AFF and ASA arrays, and also runs as a virtual appliance in cloud scenarios. It dates back to 1992, when it was developed by NetApp’s founders. It has undergone many iterations over the years to include deduplication, compression, snapshots, cloning, thin provisioning, clustered NAS, write once, read many, and high-availability capability.

Ontap has for most of its history been geared towards file storage, with block-optimisation and limited S3 capability added more recently. Cloud Volumes Ontap is a virtual storage appliance that can be run in the hyperscaler clouds as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

NetApp’s customers are spread across all sectors. The company can supply storage, data management, cloud and containerisation services to all verticals. 

How does the cloud fit NetApp strategy?

NetApp has pivoted hard to a future in the cloud. Its storage array hardware allows for connectivity to the major public clouds, while its storage is also available in all three of the hyperscaler clouds, namely Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure and GCP. 
These services include, for example:

• Amazon FSx for NetApp Ontap, which is delivered on AWS services and lets customers access data over NFS, SMB, and iSCSI. NetApp promotes use of FSx for NetApp Ontap on AWS for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
• Azure NetApp Files, which is used as shared file storage in scenarios such as migration of Linux and Windows applications, SAP Hana, databases, high-performance compute (HPC) and apps, and enterprise web applications. In 2024, NetApp added its GenAI Toolkit for Azure.
• Google Cloud NetApp Volumes, which is a fully managed file storage service in Google Cloud aimed at file sharing, business applications, remote data replication and comprehensive data protection. More recent additions have included capabilities aimed at scaling for AI workloads and integration with Google’s Vertex AI platform.

To manage resources across on-premise and cloud, NetApp provides BlueXP, which gives an overview of its storage via a web interface with the ability to migrate data across any NetApp hardware or service. Other functionality includes data protection auditing and management, as well as anti-ransomware capabilities. More recent additions include workload tools for AI. BlueXP is free for all new and existing NetApp storage customers.

Meanwhile, Instaclustr provides a platform for management of open-source databases, pipeline and workflow applications that include PostgreSQL, event streaming product Apache Kafka, Apache’s NoSQL database Cassandra, in-memory datastore Redis, and (Uber-designed) business logic orchestrator Cadence.

Since we last focused on NetApp, it sold its Spot functionality to finops business Flexera for a reported $100m. Spot included functionality to support cloud operations and automation, performance, and optimisation. The sale included CloudCheckr, which monitors cloud costs and purchases.

What is the NetApp container strategy?

NetApp Trident provides storage and data protection provisioning and management for Kubernetes applications at no extra cost to NetApp customers. It is based on container storage interface APIs.

NetApp started to dabble with Kubernetes management in 2018, when it acquired Stackpointcloud’s Kubernetes-as-a-service provision. In 2021, it announced Astra Data Store, but in late 2022, that was folded into BlueXP, which acts as a control plane across Astra and NetApp’s on-premise and cloud storage products. 

What consumption models of purchasing does NetApp offer?

NetApp’s consumption model offer is Keystone, which offers hardware procurement in non-capex formats for on-premise and the cloud.

Keystone payment options range from pay-upfront for hardware (Flex Pay), through Flex Subscription pay-as-you-go, and Flex Utility, which aligns costs to usage.

A range of service levels is available with billing for predicted capacity, plus pay-per-use burst capacity and bundle pricing that includes hardware, core OS and file, block, object and cloud storage services.

NetApp BlueXP uses Active IQ software via a dashboard to allow customers to monitor and manage storage, set data protection policies, and review burst capacity, usage and billing.