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Dell EqualLogic PS series vs IBM FlashSystem 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)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM FlashSystem
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
NAS (6th), All-Flash Storage (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of Dell EqualLogic PS series is 4.3%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 12.3%, down from 19.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM FlashSystem12.3%
Dell EqualLogic PS series4.3%
Other83.4%
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.
OmarIsmail1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group
Offers high performance and dependable support for fast storage needs
The most valuable feature of IBM FlashSystem is its robust back code. When integrated properly into the environment and configured according to the guidelines, it provides a very solid infrastructure that does the job on demand. Additionally, IBM FlashSystem offers competitive pricing and reliable performance. The hardware is dependable, ensuring that it functions effectively when the setup is done correctly.

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 is very good."
"Its high availability. It has a lot of redundancy and good management software as well as good alerting."
"Equallogic PS series arrays are the best suited storage platform for mid to high level enterprises."
"The technical support for the solution was really good."
"The product is very stable."
"It has contributed to the implementation of virtualization and all its benefits."
"If you have one datacenter fail, the VMs will start to run inside the other data center."
"Something that historically had been hard and difficult became a background task, once the old array was managed by the V7000."
"The most valuable features are flexibility and performance."
"A lot of features are beneficial; it's a robust solution from my standpoint."
"This product is so easy to use."
"The initial customer technical support was efficient and effective."
"It was quite easy to migrate from EMC storage because everything is virtualized."
"This solution is very stable."
"I like most of the features. Its speed, performance, and availability are valuable. We are implementing the data reduction technology the most."
 

Cons

"Dell EqualLogic PS series could improve by providing fiber channel connectivity. Fiber channel connectivity is not supported, which is a requirement of advanced applications, such as SAP HANA. SAP HANA recommends fiber channel connectivity, but the Dell EqualLogic PS series is only an ISCSI data storage."
"Do not go for EQL. It will be out of production in a few years."
"There is no option for mixing RAID types in one device."
"It is at the end of support and no longer supported. We have to move our VMware to another storage platform, and we have decided to use Dell PowerStore. We like Dell's products, and it is a new platform with a lot of features."
"Why is it not possible for both controllers to be simultaneously active (load balancing)?"
"If I need to have more space or more capacity, I need to replace the product. It would be ideal if we could scale without replacing the box itself."
"Individual file recovery would be a nice additional feature."
"The only challenging part in the tool was related to some site recovery area. In order to exploit the site recovery area, my company had to purchase additional VMware products."
"Events/log analysis tools."
"It could be easier to implement."
"The solution has a low number of NVME host attachments at 16 per IO group over the fiber channel."
"The solution's infrastructure technology level could be PCI Express 5 instead of PCI Express 4 for the next version."
"There are a lot of bugs and they are still adding features in the product."
"IBM should improve its data reduction development."
"If you want to expand, you cannot expand the disc enclosure. You have to buy a total individual node. Sometimes, this is difficult because we are just looking for capacity and not a node."
"I have looked at a few pages of a report I download and I saw a graph there regarding software-defined vendors. IBM is not in a good position on this graph. I know that they are working very hard on this, to make it much better and to get to a level where it's not only hardware but also software to provide a complete solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Initial packages include all upgrades and services."
"All features are out of the box. The license will be in the virtual, OS, or application layer."
"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."
"Dell EqualLogic PS series can improve its scale-out feature. Sometimes the customer has a limited budget for storage expansion. When they want to expand their capacity, they need to buy a complete controller plus storage capacity, which sometimes is out of their budget. If Dell EqualLogic PS series support could scale up the environment in which only hard drive extension controllers should be supported, then customers can expand within a lower budget."
"There are annual maintenance costs beyond the original licensing period."
"​It is a fair price."
"I don't think I would say that the product is less expensive...The product's price is not an issue for our company, considering the relationship we have with Dell and the customer support we receive."
"It seemed expensive at first, but the durability lowered the cost of ownership dramatically over time."
"If five is a good price and one is a high price, I would rate the price a two or three out of five."
"It pays to go back and get the best price you can from your supplier. The first offer is not always at the best discount."
"The total storage capacity vs price is still quite high for the IBM Flash Array."
"The price is a little bit high so is rated a six out of ten."
"IBM V7000 has a new license and price structure which provides intuitive licensing based on the functions customers wish to enable and use the most."
"Overall the price of the solution is expensive and this includes the license."
"We have no issues with the price as it is very competitive."
"The price depends of the technology that our customers need. The price can come at a lower cost but this may increase as storage is added."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

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 Business47
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise59
 

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 IBM FlashSystem?
The pricing is high; storage solutions are always expensive. I do not know if the price needs to be reviewed, but it is worth considering.
What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?
As far as I know, IBM FlashSystem has already improved, but I do not see room for improvement. It is simple to use and manage via SVC, simple to configure, and even for the zoning, I do not see imp...
 

Also Known As

EqualLogic PS series
IBM Storwize
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

FAW Foundry, AW Engineering, Unimat, eLongNet Information Technology, BDO Brasil, Odyssey Space Research
Celero, Friedhelm Loh Group, Clarks, Mingkang Natregro Health Food Group, Sofia, Etisalat Fights Fraud, UF Health Shands Hospital, Generali, Elecon Engineering Company Limited, Ventiv , Technology, CPFL Energia, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., SciQuest, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Paddy Power, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Interconnect Services, Severstal IP-Only AB, PVU Group GmbH
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. IBM FlashSystem and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.