BrickStor SP vs. NetApp, Dell, VAST, and Pure — feature by feature
A side-by-side comparison of the capabilities that define end-to-end Cyberstorage. BrickStor SP delivers natively what other enterprise NAS platforms either bolt on, ship as separate products, or do not offer at all.
12
Capabilities compared
across enterprise NAS platforms
12/12
BrickStor SP delivers all capabilities
natively, built into the platform
4
U.S. patents
on the architecture
0
External services required
for core Cyberstorage functions
NetApp, Dell PowerScale, and VAST Data serve files fast.
BrickStor SP serves files fast — and defends them.
RackTop
BrickStor SP
NetApp
NetApp ONTAP
Dell
PowerScale
VAST
VAST Data
Pure Storage
FlashBlade File
Cross-protocol file access
SMB, NFS, S3, and Web from a single namespace
Full
SMB, NFS, S3, and Web — unified namespace, single permission model
Partial
SMB, NFS, and S3 supported; native Web access not included
Partial
SMB, NFS, S3, HDFS; no native Web access
Partial
SMB, NFS, S3; no native Web access
Partial
SMB, NFS, S3; no native Web access
Dynamic Access Controls with ABAC
Attribute-Based Access Control for SMB / S3 / Web
Full
Native ABAC enforced inline for SMB, S3, and Web operations
None
POSIX/AD ACLs only — no attribute-based policy at the storage layer
None
POSIX/AD ACLs only
None
POSIX/AD ACLs only
None
POSIX/AD ACLs only
Data Centric Zero Trust Architecture
Per-operation policy evaluation in the data path — no implicit trust
Full
Every SMB, NFS, S3, and Web operation evaluated against zero-trust policy inline at the data layer
None
None
None
None
Active Defense — ransomware
Inline detection and automated response in the storage data path
Full
Inline behavioral detection; offending sessions terminated in under a second
Partial
Autonomous Ransomware Protection (ARP) detects and snapshots; not a true inline block
Partial
Bolt-on via Superna Ransomware Defender — out-of-band, log-based detection
Partial
Recently added detection capability; limited inline response
None
SafeMode provides recovery (immutable snapshots) — no inline detection or response
Active Defense — insider threats and data theft
Detect and stop credentialed exfiltration, slow data theft, and APT behavior
Full
Behavioral analytics on every read and write; ABAC and MAC enforced inline
None
ARP is tuned for ransomware-style mass rewrites — not insider patterns
None
None
None
<1 minute RPO for cyber incidents
Continuous protected recovery points with sub-minute granularity, hardened against attack
Full
Continuous protected recovery points; sub-minute RPO with immutable snapshots tied to Active Defense
None
None
None
None
Automated bulk cyber recovery and mitigation
Surgical, file-level rollback driven by the platform's own forensic record
Full
Patented Intelligent Bulk Remediation — roll back only the files an attack touched
None
Recovery via full snapshot restore, not surgical file-level rollback
None
Recovery via snapshot or vault restore
None
Recovery via snapshot restore
None
SafeMode restore is share-level, not surgical file-level
Incident Management workflow
Built-in triage, assignment, evidence capture, and resolution tracking
Full
Native incident workflow integrated with Active Defense detections
None
Requires external SIEM/SOAR for incident workflow
None
None
None
On-controller Cyber Defense
No external cloud service or separate analytics tier required for detection and response
Full
All Cyberstorage functions run locally on the controller — air-gapped friendly
Partial
ARP runs on-array; advanced analytics and reporting tied to BlueXP cloud
None
Superna deploys as a separate appliance/VM; some features cloud-tied
Partial
Some security and analytics functions require cloud connectivity
None
Pure1 cloud service required for ransomware detection and analytics features
Cyber Vaulting — ImmutaVault
Built-in virtual air gap with immutable, indelible, isolated copies
Full
Patented ImmutaVault — virtual air gap inside the storage system
None
Cyber vault requires separate appliance / SnapLock + isolated cluster
None
Cyber vault is a separate Dell solution (PowerProtect Cyber Recovery)
None
No equivalent built-in cyber vault
None
No equivalent built-in cyber vault
FIPS 140-3 AES-256 — two layers
Two independent layers of encryption, both FIPS 140-3 validated
Full
Up to two layers of FIPS 140-3 AES-256 encryption with integrated key management
Partial
Single-layer NVE / NSE; FIPS 140-3 status varies by version
Partial
Single-layer software/hardware encryption
Partial
Single-layer encryption
Partial
Single-layer encryption
Instant migration from any NAS
Migrate live SMB/NFS shares from any source with no client cutover window
Full
GHOST data migration — instant cutover from any SMB/NFS source
None
Migration via XCP or third-party tools; cutover requires planned downtime
Partial
DataIQ and other Dell tools assist migration; cutover not instant
None
Migration via third-party tools
None
Migration via third-party tools
Comparison based on publicly available product documentation and analyst reports. Vendor capabilities evolve — contact us if you believe any entry is out of date and we will validate against the current release.
Built-in is not the same as bolt-on
Every vendor in this comparison ships excellent storage. The point of the grid is not to argue otherwise. The point is to show where the capabilities that define Cyberstorage — the architecture Gartner named in 2021 and that RackTop pioneered in 2018 — actually live in each platform.
On BrickStor SP, those capabilities are delivered by the platform itself. ABAC, Active Defense for both ransomware and insider threats, Intelligent Bulk Remediation, ImmutaVault, two-layer FIPS 140-3 encryption, and instant migration are all native. They run on the controller. They do not require an external cloud service, a separate vault appliance, or a third-party security agent.
On the other platforms, the same capabilities are delivered through bolt-on tools (Superna), separate products (PowerProtect Cyber Recovery), cloud-tied services (Pure1, BlueXP), or are not delivered at all. That is a real architectural difference — and against APTs, insider threats, and quiet data theft, it is the difference that decides whether the storage layer is participating in defense.
See Every Cell on the Grid Demonstrated Live
In a 30-minute demo, we'll show ABAC, Active Defense, ImmutaVault, and Intelligent Bulk Remediation working together — and run a competitive scenario against your current NAS.