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Dell PowerFlex vs Dell XC Appliance comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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 PowerFlex
Ranking in HCI
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell XC Appliance
Ranking in HCI
17th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.5
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the HCI category, the mindshare of Dell PowerFlex is 7.0%, down from 12.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell XC Appliance is 1.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
HCI Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerFlex7.0%
Dell XC Appliance1.4%
Other91.6%
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

Serdar De - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at ÜÇGE Shopfitting & Design
Initial setup has been straightforward and it has reasonable pricing
We are new to this, so we are still learning about the valuable features The solution is okay overall. It could be easier to learn. We haven't had any issues. They could have more AI functionality in the future.  I have been using the solution for six months. I have not encountered any problems…
Enables seamless integration with multiple software and outstanding AI tools
The main issue with the DirectVXL appliance is that it only supports a single orchestrator or hypervisor. If multi-hypervisor support is required and VMware does not provide it, then Dell's appliance won't support it. I find it overly reliant on VMware. In cases of company mergers involving different platforms, software that can handle a multi-hypervisor environment would facilitate quicker integration.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is scalable."
"My overall product rating would be nine out of ten."
"The resiliency and data protection are the most valuable features."
"The support team responds quickly."
"Dell PowerFlex is a highly scalable solution."
"Dell PowerFlex is a complete hyperconverge that makes automation easy to manage and extremely stable."
"The most valuable feature is the overall integration and just seeing the three different layers which make up the machine software. Altogether, it's something that I would say is much better than any other solution that I have experienced before."
"The setup was very straightforward."
"The solution's hardware is great."
"It's an extremely stable solution, and I highly recommend it."
"From a single screen, I can view VM details, performance, and hardware issues, such as power supply or fan malfunctions, along with RAM module problems."
"What I like the most is that it is easy to implement, easy deployment and that it's easy to manage."
"The most valuable feature is that you can assign a volume to an off-shore workload on the fly."
"The solution's best feature is its simplicity. It's so simple to deploy it. You've got the VMware, and it's own appliance. It is really helpful. The system is online within half a day and saves so much time."
"The most valuable feature is the low management overhead, and the lower skill set required to manage it."
"The most valuable features are the deduplication and the compression features."
 

Cons

"I am not really impressed by the technical support of this solution."
"The solution is okay overall. It could be easier to learn."
"The solution must be more flexible."
"Exporting data from the dashboard is not very user-friendly. It's just designed in a way that it's going to cover let's say 90%, 80%, of the end-users needs. If you need more sophisticated reporting it's not easy to have."
"They should provide continuous support for data migration."
"Licensing restrictions can be frustrating."
"Needs some more monitoring tools."
"The biggest issue with the solution is that it doesn't support Hyper V. It's a big problem."
"Currently, there is no support for the servers that are not in the cluster."
"We are not always advised of new features or updates, so we must research to stay up to date."
"The main issue with the DirectVXL appliance is that it only supports a single orchestrator or hypervisor. If multi-hypervisor support is required and VMware does not provide it, then Dell's appliance won't support it."
"The cost of using the public cloud deployment is astronomical."
"Dell needs to do a lot of work to simplify the maintenance and life-cycle upgrades for the product."
"There should be more provisioning capabilities within the solution."
"The main issue with the DirectVXL appliance is that it only supports a single orchestrator or hypervisor."
"The solution's storage size could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"If one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the price as eight and a half. The tool is expensive."
"The solution's pricing could be much cheaper and affordable."
"The product is expensive."
"We have a good contact in Dell and he prepared all the information and provided everything to us."
"The cost of this solution is fair."
"The solution's price is medium."
"The pricing for this solution is good."
"The pricing for Dell EMC solutions is quite expensive and not really made for small or medium-sized businesses."
"The pricing is good."
"The pricing is dependent on the technology and is in direct relation to the manufacturer and the components."
"We received a good price from Dell."
"The price point is very fair for a product in this category but can vary depending on the components selected within the family of products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What are the major differences between VxRail and Dell EMC PowerFlex?
VxRail vs. Dell EMC PowerFlex VxRail provides stable solutions for technical problems while at the same time not being too expensive for a company to invest in. Even if the user is working with a l...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC PowerFlex?
Dell PowerFlex is a premium software-defined infrastructure solution and while the initial investment may seem higher than traditional SAN or mid-tier HCI solutions, the long-term TCO is competitive.
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerFlex?
Area of Improvement: While PowerFlex Manager is powerful, the UI could be more intuitive, especially for first-time users or non-technical admins. Streamlined navigation, contextual help and guided...
What advice do you have for others considering Dell XC Appliance?
My advice for people who are selling this product is to first make sure that you educate the customers. The customer doesn't often know much about HCI and what the need to be using it for. If they ...
What needs improvement with Dell XC Appliance?
The main issue with the DirectVXL appliance is that it only supports a single orchestrator or hypervisor. If multi-hypervisor support is required and VMware does not provide it, then Dell's applian...
What is your primary use case for Dell XC Appliance?
Dell offers several benefits with its appliances. Primarily, I can combine them horizontally and vertically, reaching up to sixty-four nodes. Additionally, Dell employs its own artificial intellige...
 

Also Known As

VxFlex, VxRack FLEX, PowerFlex
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Canopy, 8x8Inc., Atos, Canadian Pacific, City of Denton, CenturyLink, BNP Paribas, Asyaport, EDF, CSC, Fox Sports, Insight, Hunter, KPIT, Paetec, Rosetta Stone, Sonda, Xerox
Cardlytics, AEW Energie, Aubert, Zhongtong Information Service, Commune de Villepinte, Teikyo University Hospital
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerFlex vs. Dell XC Appliance and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.