Dell PowerScale vs Panasas ActiveStor comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Dell Technologies and Panasas are both solutions in the NAS category. Dell Technologies is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8, while Panasas is ranked #22. Dell Technologies holds a 13.3% mindshare in N, compared to Panasas’s 1.8% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Panasas users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerScale

Read 107 Dell PowerScale reviews

17,998 Views
9,899 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Panasas ActiveStor

Read 2 Panasas ActiveStor reviews

975 Views
975 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Dell PowerScale

Panasas ActiveStor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

Panasas ActiveStor and Dell PowerScale (Isilon) are both in the high-performance and scalable data storage market. While Panasas ActiveStor is noted for its competitive pricing and strong support, Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is regarded as superior in feature set and overall value.

Features: Panasas ActiveStor offers high throughput, simplified management capabilities, and easy scalability, perfect for demanding environments. Dell PowerScale (Isilon) provides a scale-out architecture, comprehensive data management features, and advanced data services, supporting a wide range of workloads with options for detailed analytics and flexibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Panasas ActiveStor facilitates deployment with a straightforward model and responsive support, ensuring minimal disruption. Dell PowerScale (Isilon) also offers efficient deployment and strong customer service but may require more initial configuration due to advanced customization and integration options.

Pricing and ROI: Panasas ActiveStor often entails lower initial setup costs, providing a good return on investment through efficient management and performance. Dell PowerScale (Isilon) has higher upfront expenses but offers long-term savings through advanced features that enhance operational efficiency and adaptability.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerScale vs. Panasas ActiveStor Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerScale vs. Panasas ActiveStor

September 2026

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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 PowerScale

Ranking in NAS

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

File and Object Storage (1st)

Panasas ActiveStor

Ranking in NAS

22nd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Dell PowerScale is 13.3%, down from 16.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Panasas ActiveStor is 1.8%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NAS Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Dell PowerScale	13.3%
Panasas ActiveStor	1.8%
Other	84.9%

NAS

Featured Reviews

RahulSharma8

Storage Platform Engineer at Expedia Group

Unified file sharing has simplified multi-tenant access and has delivered seamless data replication

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) includes its replication features; when we decommissioned our old Isilon cluster, we migrated all of the data to a new cluster, and it was pretty seamless. All you have to do is create the certificates and make those certificates available to the target cluster, then initiate a few jobs. The inter-cluster replication feature, called SyncIQ, allows you to set up all of the jobs and move your data entirely, either timely or all at once. Another suitable feature is the ability to back up your directories; you can take snapshots for all of your directories, and in fact, I believe you can take around a thousand snapshots for a single directory. The inter-replication, geo-replication is one feature. Dell provides a variety class of hardware suitable for your workloads, meaning if your data is just lab and not critical, you don't have to spend much on the hardware; conversely, if your data is mission-critical, you can buy a high-performance node from Dell. Additionally, you can span Dell PowerScale (Isilon) cluster to a large number of nodes, and code upgrades are pretty smooth because all protocols will be upgraded under a single piece of code. Since it provides a single file system that spans across the nodes, you don't have to worry about that directory structure being separately created on individual nodes, making it a fitting solution for a data lake solution because you can access the same data from multiple protocols.

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Mac Wang

Project Manager at Realnux

A stable solution with good performance and bandwidth

The tool's setup is not difficult. The deployment is completed within two to three days and we would require three engineers to handle the process. First, we need to install the software which can take around two to three hours. Next, comes the configuration and connection to the central network which is complex. It can take about eight to ten hours to complete.

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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 PowerScale (Isilon) is all the capabilities together."

"My favorite thing about Dell PowerScale is its scalability."

"Eyeglass is used to monitor for malware, which is very useful for us."

"Since it can scale so easily, as long as I have money to buy more nodes, I can grow it as big as I need to. That is important in our business. As sequencing technologies continue to evolve, and as those technologies evolve, the amount of data generation never gets smaller. It just always seems to get bigger. This is one of the absolute key aspects: We can grow on demand without having to forklift stuff."

"I buy Dell PowerScale (Isilon) because of the price, service, and technology, and the technology that is particularly good for my company is that I have two Dell PowerScale (Isilon) systems in two sites, and I use replication between them with Superna software, which is a third-party Dell technology."

"Overall, Dell PowerScale (Isilon) has made the management of the data and networks easier."

"The fact that we were able to set it up, use it, and, for the most part, didn't have to worry about it after we had it set up has been valuable."

"Dell PowerScale is a scalable solution. It allows non-disruptive upgrades and maintenance of the system."

More Dell PowerScale pros

"The stability is excellent and we've found the product's performance to be very good."

"I am impressed with the tool's performance and bandwidth."

"We've found the product to be quite flexible."

Cons

"The legacy file system for Epsilon didn't scale into the cloud and didn't have a separate OS. It would be key if this was made possible."

"The downside of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is that if we are replacing a drive, sometimes in the worst-case scenarios, some of the other drives will also go to the SmartFail state."

"One downside of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is that it is really complicated to configure."

"The management and monitoring tools comprise a disparate suite of products and the roadmap is very unclear. We've got four different products that look after the Isilon, management-wise, and it's a bit of a mess."

"Dell PowerScale needs to reduce its price."

"The solution’s interface and pricing could be improved."

"The solution lacks a cloud version."

"The price of the solution could be reduced."

More Dell PowerScale cons

"The solution is quite expensive."

"We have received complaints from customers that the tool is not easy to use. The tool's local technical service is slow. The solution is good for Linux customers and not for customers with other operating systems like Windows. The solution should provide storage without client software integration."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is expensive, but I think it's a fair value because it does manage itself. It definitely is much simpler than any of the other scale-out storage platforms that we've looked at in the past."

"The only drawback for us is that it's a large upfront investment. This was a huge decision for a startup company to make. It took a bit for us to get over the line on it, but we have not regretted it."

"The price of the solution can fluctuate. The price can be competitive or other times not. The price of the solution could be better."

"Pricing for this solution is reasonable."

"The solution is expensive; it is not the cheapest solution out there. If you look at it from a total cost of ownership perspective, then it is a very compelling solution. However, if you're looking at just dollar per terabyte and not looking at the big picture, then you could be distracted by the price. It is not an amazing price, but it's pretty good. It is also very good when you consider the total cost of ownership and ease of management."

"It is an expensive product with a high storage capacity suitable for large data requirements."

"The pricing is excellent."

"It's a high-cost offering amounting to three or four million Swedish kronor, or about $400,000 or euros, for approximately 480 terabytes of storage."

More Dell PowerScale pricing and cost advice

"The solution's price is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

10%

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	30
Midsize Enterprise	23
Large Enterprise	65

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?

The on-premises solution with Dell PowerScale, when we buy directly from Dell, is economical. We have done some level of comparison. Although in the current markets we have seen the price differenc...

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What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?

There should be some enhancement where Dell PowerScale can have block level functionality or block storage kind of functionality. Although there is a different product line from Dell, if there is s...

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What is your primary use case for Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?

We use Dell PowerScale for our object scale and different kinds of storage, including both object storage and file storage.I am part of the solution architect team, which is a techno-commercial rol...

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Compared 20% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerScale

September 2026

Download Dell PowerScale product report

Buyer's Guide

NAS

September 2026

Download Panasas ActiveStor product report

Also Known As

PowerScale, Dell EMC Isilon

ActiveStor

Overview

As a storage engine in Dell AI Data Platform, Dell PowerScale is the world's #1 scale-out NAS platform for enterprise unstructured data. Trusted by more than 25,000 customers, including more than 1,500 customers running GPU workloads, PowerScale uses OneFS operating system to provide a single namespace and unified file and object access for AI/ML training, RAG pipelines, analytics, media production, and life sciences, and other demanding workloads. PowerScale F710 was the world’s first Ethernet-based storage appliance certified with NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD. Selected configurations support NVIDIA GPUDirect Storage, pNFS, and NFS over RDMA for high-throughput parallel AI data access. PowerScale supports near-linear, non-disruptive scaling from terabytes to petabytes. Available in all-flash, hybrid, and archive configurations for on-premises and cloud deployment options, including AWS and Azure. Supported next-generation configurations deliver up to 35 GB/s read throughput per node.

Dell PowerScale Isilon provides a comprehensive platform for unstructured data, excelling in scalability, management, and performance. With features like single-pane management, SyncIQ, and SmartQuotas, it handles large datasets with flexibility and robust security. Its multi-protocol support and seamless expansion improve operational efficiency. While it offers strong data protection, enhancements in cloud integration, cybersecurity, and performance are sought. Users note potential for cost reductions and streamlined configurations and mention desired improvements in object storage handling and NFS support.

What are the key features of Dell PowerScale Isilon?

Single-pane management: Simplifies data control and monitoring through a unified interface.
SyncIQ: Ensures efficient data replication for business continuity.
SmartQuotas: Provides intelligent quota management for optimized storage allocation.
Multi-protocol support: Facilitates cross-platform data access and integration.
Seamless storage expansion: Allows effortless scaling to accommodate growing data needs.

What benefits should users consider when reviewing Dell PowerScale Isilon?

Operational efficiency: Reduces workload with easy management and automation.
Enhanced security: Offers comprehensive data protection and recovery options.
Scalability: Supports large-scale data storage with flexible growth capabilities.
Performance: Delivers high-speed data processing for demanding applications.
Integration flexibility: Adapts to on-prem and hybrid cloud environments for diverse deployment needs.

Organizations across industries utilize Dell PowerScale Isilon for large-scale unstructured storage, supporting applications like video archiving, genomic data storage, and high-resolution imaging. Educational institutions, research centers, and media enterprises rely on its scaled-out storage capabilities, providing centralized, secure storage for diverse applications in hybrid, cloud, and on-prem environments.

Dell Technologies

Panasas ActiveStor is a high-performance storage system providing scalable and efficient data management designed for high-demand workloads. It is ideal for environments requiring robust storage capabilities with easy management and high scalability.

ActiveStor stands out in providing unmatched data throughput, reliability, and scalability, supporting diverse high-performance computing environments. It is designed to tackle demanding workloads requiring fast access to large datasets, essential for maximizing storage performance. ActiveStor integrates seamlessly, ensuring minimal downtime and ease of management for IT professionals.

What are the key features of Panasas ActiveStor?

Scalability: Handles increasing data sizes and user demands
High Throughput: Maintains consistent performance under load
Fault Tolerance: Ensures data protection with redundancy
Easy Integration: Compatible with existing infrastructures

What benefits should be considered in reviews?

Performance Improvement: Enhanced I/O speeds for faster workloads
Data Protection: Robust mechanisms to secure data integrity
Reduced Downtime: Simplified recovery processes to ensure constant availability
Cost Efficiency: Optimized resource management for better financial outcomes

Industries such as media, finance, and research benefit significantly from ActiveStor's capabilities. Its implementation aids researchers in handling complex simulations, media organizations in optimizing large file transfers, and finance sectors in processing vast datasets swiftly, all while ensuring robust data management.

Panasas

Sample Customers

OMRF, University of Utah, Translational Genetics Research Institute, Arcis, Geofizyka Torumn, Cyprus E&P Corporation, Colburn School, Columbia Sportswear, Harvard Medical School, University of Michigan, National Library of France,

Advanced Mask Technology Center Airbus Argonne National Laboratory The University of Texas at Dallas School of Arts Technology and Emerging Communication Башнефть Boeing Bosch California Academy of Sciences Caltech Canon Case Western Reserve University Conoco Phillips Deluxe DirecTV Fairfield Technologies United States Federal Reserve Garvan Institute of Medical Research Goodyear Halliburton Harvard Medical School Honeywell In-Depth Geophysical Intel Kawasaki Lockheed Martin 3M Magseis Fairfield Mammal Studios The Man Group McLaren Mercedes-Benz MINES ParisTech NASA US Navy National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center NBCUniversal National Institutes of Health Nio National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Northrup Grumman Novartis Partners Healthcare Procter & Gamble PGS Pratt & Whitney Rutherford Appleton Lab Siemens Sim International Sinopec Solers Square Cnix TGS Toyota Motorsport GMBH Toppan Turner UMass Medical School United Technologies University of Georgia University of California Los Angeles University of Minnesota University of Notre Dame University of California San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation Whiskytree

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerScale vs. Panasas ActiveStor

September 2026

Free Report: Dell PowerScale vs. Panasas ActiveStor

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