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Dell EqualLogic PS series vs HPE MSA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell EqualLogic PS series
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE MSA
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of Dell EqualLogic PS series is 5.0%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE MSA is 10.3%, down from 19.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HPE MSA10.3%
Dell EqualLogic PS series5.0%
Other84.7%
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
 

Featured Reviews

Khuram Ayyaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Executive at Virtual University
Has enabled uninterrupted access to educational platforms and simplified storage management
Dell EqualLogic PS series is easily scalable, and we can add extra boxes and storage. It was easy to deploy during COVID. Deploying Dell EqualLogic PS series is straightforward, with no complexity involved. Dell EqualLogic PS series is a good product. We did not experience any failures in the last six to seven years, and it is still running as our storage for offline data. There are snapshot capabilities in data protection available, but we did not use that feature because it consumes much space. We have only 150 terabytes of space and simply use it to create volumes without utilizing it for snapshots. We use thin provisioning in Dell EqualLogic PS series, but I did not explore that feature further.
JP
Administrative Assistant at EUIPO - European Union Intellectual Property Office
Ease of management and seamless storage optimization empower effective data handling
The user web interface is a bit slow, but it is really easy to use, although you still have to wait a bit when you send an operation. We have had some drive failures, but with the redundancy, we had no data loss. We just had to replace the disk, and it goes automatically well. The main difficulty is the firmware upgrade of disks, as it means stopping all the servers to make the upgrade. It would be beneficial to have it done in the background, stopping a disk and upgrading it while keeping the system running. Regarding responsiveness of the web interface, the same issue exists with iLO on the servers, where the interface is also a bit slow. However, with the new servers, it is always faster. The small CPU dedicated to that task does not have a lot of power since it is not the main task of the machine, making it less of a real problem and just a question of responsiveness.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Dell EqualLogic PS series auto tiering by using this feature, the customer can get higher performance on a valuable budget."
"The technical support for EqualLogic has been universally outstanding."
"The solution offers very good read capacities, the size of the box we have is pretty decent, the speed on offer is very good, we have found the initial setup to be fairly straightforward, and Dell's technical support is very good."
"The technical support for EqualLogic has been universally outstanding."
"The technical support is very good."
"Technical support, when we had access to it, was very good."
"The support was excellent."
"​It has contributed to the implementation of virtualization and all its benefits.​"
"The benefits are definitely reliability and ease of use, because, since we are using the same products, we also know that we can contact HP for assistance if we need it."
"The simple configuration feature is great. It is very simple, allowing you to set up MSA very easily."
"MSA is cheap and scalable compared to other solutions, making it a solid and cost-effective choice."
"HPE MSA is a very flexible array because we can add more enclosures and extend the capacity dynamically."
"The solution is pretty transparent and works well."
"The speed and performance of HPE MSA are admirable."
"Generally, HPE MSA has improved my storage management and has notably provided scalability benefits."
"The most valuable features were the dual controllers and being able to expand it."
 

Cons

"One problem with this solution is that synchronous replication requires lots of duplicated space."
"The searchable online documentation is missing.​"
"The solution is out of date and the new version has a lot of advanced features."
"Do not go for EQL. It will be out of production in a few years."
"Why is it not possible for both controllers to be simultaneously active (load balancing)?"
"6510 and 6610 have two iSCSI connections in each controller. Why do 6110xxx members have only one, and why do the same members have the possibility of having an active iSCSI interface in the passive controller? It could make a lot of noise with a failover."
"Synchronous replication uses space inefficiently."
"Higher price at entry level systems compared to competition."
"We faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration during installation."
"The solution could improve by adding configuration tools."
"I rate HPE support four out of 10. I'm not happy with them. We purchased mission-critical support, and we're supposed to get a response in four hours. Instead, I'm waiting days for them to replace the drive. They asked me to send back the failed one, and I don't know the address. After I sent it back, they told me they haven't received it. It's a nightmare."
"It should show more options for cloud backup support."
"It would be ideal if there was a better management interface."
"Synchronized replication is very important for MSA; however, HPE StorageWorks MSA doesn't provide synchronized replication."
"It would be beneficial to have an add-on feature to improve analytics or insight capabilities inside the app."
"There is room for improvement in terms of scalability. There are times when we need to upgrade the device and the firmware. Sometimes, that can be a struggle."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Initial packages include all upgrades and services."
"Price-wise, the solution is cheap. I rate it a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive."
"​It is a fair price."
"There are annual maintenance costs beyond the original licensing period."
"All features are out of the box. The license will be in the virtual, OS, or application layer."
"It seemed expensive at first, but the durability lowered the cost of ownership dramatically over time."
"I didn't buy it. It was another person seven years ago. So, I don't really know, but all storage platforms cost a lot of money. It is probably in the mid-range, but you get what you pay for."
"Licensing is pretty straightforward."
"I would rate the pricing as nine out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"The solution can be a bit expensive."
"When we bought this solution it was very reasonably priced and they were willing to deal."
"The price of the solution is a little high and they should provide more competitive pricing. If you want to increases the storage size there are additional fees."
"This solution is quite expensive; they should lower the cost."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"This solution involves a one-time CapEx payment, followed by warranty extensions."
"HPE StorageWorks MSA's licensing is perpetual and not integrated."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell EqualLogic PS series?
The technical support for the solution was really good.
What needs improvement with Dell EqualLogic PS series?
I do not have anything in mind regarding new capabilities for Dell products at this time.
What is your primary use case for Dell EqualLogic PS series?
We are essentially a university, and we have deployed Dell EqualLogic PS series in our data centers to run our production sites, student portals, websites, our on-premises portal, and campus manage...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StorageWorks MSA?
I did not compare the cost of HPE MSA with others because we buy with a framework contract, and HP is the only brand available on that contract, so we have no comparison.
What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?
The user web interface is a bit slow, but it is really easy to use, although you still have to wait a bit when you send an operation. We have had some drive failures, but with the redundancy, we ha...
What is your primary use case for HPE StorageWorks MSA?
We use HPE MSA as storage for the VMware servers, and we will try to use Proxmox server later on, but currently, we use VMware.
 

Also Known As

EqualLogic PS series
HP StorageWorks MSA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

FAW Foundry, AW Engineering, Unimat, eLongNet Information Technology, BDO Brasil, Odyssey Space Research
Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. HPE MSA and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.