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Dell PowerStore vs Dell PowerVault comparison

Dell PowerStore and Dell PowerVault are both solutions in the Enterprise SAN category. Dell PowerStore is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while Dell PowerVault is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2. Dell PowerStore holds a 33.5% mindshare in ES, compared to Dell PowerVault’s 32.2% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Dell PowerStore users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Dell PowerVault users who would recommend it.
Dell PowerStore
Read 120 Dell PowerStore reviews
  • 23,961 Views
  • 1,438 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
Dell PowerVault
Read 25 Dell PowerVault reviews
  • 2,559 Views
  • 1,203 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

Dell PowerVault and Dell PowerStore compete in the storage solutions category, targeting small to medium businesses and enterprises seeking advanced scalability and performance, respectively. PowerStore appears to have the upper hand due to its performance, adaptability, and integration capabilities.

Features: Dell PowerVault provides reliable storage with RAID systems and data deduplication software, making it cost-effective for basic needs. Its lack of standout features limits it to smaller operations. Dell PowerStore excels with NVMe storage, high compression, and excellent scalability, catering to varied workloads and providing robust VMware integration.

Room for Improvement: Dell PowerVault needs enhancements in memory cache, protocol support, and scalability. Its deduplication and compression features are missing, necessitating better integration with existing IT infrastructure. Dell PowerStore faces challenges with its complex upgrade process, high pricing, and limited replication capabilities, suggesting a need for improved software updates and cybersecurity features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both PowerVault and PowerStore are easy to deploy in on-premises settings, but PowerStore also offers cloud compatibility. Customer service is highly rated for both, though PowerVault's technical support response times are slower than PowerStore's more satisfactory service.

Pricing and ROI: Dell PowerVault is affordable, offering a substantial ROI for small businesses. In contrast, Dell PowerStore, though more expensive, justifies its cost with advanced features and performance, positioning itself as a valuable investment for scalable, robust storage needs. Both products yield considerable returns, with PowerVault focusing on cost-effectiveness and PowerStore on advanced features and flexibility.

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To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerStore vs. Dell PowerVault Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerStore vs. Dell PowerVault
July 2025
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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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.8
Dell PowerStore provides cost savings, improved performance, efficiency, and a positive ROI through effective data management and storage optimization.
Sentiment score
5.2
Dell PowerVault offers significant cost savings, improved disaster recovery, and high user satisfaction for its value and ROI.
If you purchase storage with 300 terabytes, you can easily achieve one petabyte of effective capacity.
It's been trouble-free the entire time, with very high performance, as it has been designed and built properly.
We have reduced infrastructure but the same performance.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report
AK
reviewer2709102 - PeerSpot reviewer
RM
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
Dell PowerStore's support quality varies by region and service level, with mixed reviews on responsiveness, expertise, and resolution times.
Sentiment score
4.9
Dell PowerVault's support is highly rated for responsiveness, though improvements are needed in contact procedures and regional service consistency.
If necessary, they will search for a specialist within their Dell network who we can approach with our questions.
I would rate the technical support of Dell PowerStore between nine and ten out of ten.
They're responsive, knowledgeable, and have a quick turnaround.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report
Supporting Dell PowerVault is very easy.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report
SD
TT
reviewer2598762 - PeerSpot reviewerGehad Said - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Dell PowerStore offers scalability with easy expansion, NVMe technology, and flexible upgrades, meeting diverse enterprise demands efficiently.
Sentiment score
6.1
Dell PowerVault offers effective scalability for small businesses but faces constraints and challenges in larger enterprise environments.
The solution's scalability is a ten out of ten.
The customer likely exceeds 20,000 users globally.
You can create as many tools as needed, providing scalability based on the use case.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report
I don't face any issues with security with Dell PowerVault.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report
AA
Hamed Mohamed - PeerSpot reviewerMarc Gaethofs - PeerSpot reviewerGehad Said - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Dell PowerStore is highly stable and reliable, praised for performance and seamless integration with minimal significant issues.
Sentiment score
6.9
Dell PowerVault is praised for stability and ease of use, though larger enterprises might need extra solutions.
When I removed all the cables, it failed over within five minutes.
There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze.
I would rate the stability of Dell PowerStore as ten out of ten.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report
reviewer2707638 - PeerSpot reviewerHamed Mohamed - PeerSpot reviewer
SD
 

Room For Improvement

Dell PowerStore needs better VMware integration, enhanced features, cost efficiency, improved user interface, and refined support and documentation.
Dell PowerVault needs better features, integration, scalability, and pricing, addressing user concerns about costs and outdated technology.
If you want to delve into where your I/Os are going, the reporting might need more in-depth information to make informed decisions.
In my organization, we have had to go through two weeks with no replication, which is not very handy for our production environment.
Something needs to be done with the caching to ensure that if some issue occurs, there needs to be an ability to disable caching during maintenance to make it static, safe, and good.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report
It would be beneficial for Dell to enhance outreach to new customers directly to prevent resellers from scaring them away with higher pricing.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report
Marc Gaethofs - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2318379 - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2402940 - PeerSpot reviewer
VK
 

Setup Cost

Dell PowerStore is costly but justified by performance, scalability, and features, with competitive cost-per-compute and inclusive licensing.
Dell PowerVault setup costs around £30k, with competitive pricing, though some users find it expensive compared to alternatives.
Likely the cost is $400,000 whereas IBM may be $250,000.
Based on my experience, the cost of Dell PowerStore for around 500 GB of capacity is very competitive compared to any other platform in the market.
There's no need to pay for a license; it's all-inclusive.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report
Hamed Mohamed - PeerSpot reviewer
SS
Marc Gaethofs - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Valuable Features

Dell PowerStore is valued for its ease, flexibility, performance, NVMe support, VMware integration, scalability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.
Dell PowerVault offers scalable, reliable, and cost-effective SAN storage with user-friendly management and diverse features for various enterprise needs.
The solution promotes data reduction, often meeting the compression ratio.
The PowerStore's compression ratio is even higher than the Unity system.
The deduplication part of the solution is valuable since, as a user, you get more space for less money.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report
We've even used PowerVault series that we intended to use for five years for almost eight years, and it was still working fine, providing good ROI compared to any other brand.
The stability of Dell PowerVault is good; I would rate it a nine.
For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report
Marc Gaethofs - PeerSpot reviewer
SD
FB
VK
Gehad Said - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerStore
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (4th), NAS (1st), All-Flash Storage (1st), NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays (1st)
Dell PowerVault
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Fibre Channel (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Enterprise SAN category, the mindshare of Dell PowerStore is 33.5%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerVault is 32.2%, up from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise SAN
 

Featured Reviews

Hassan_Zaki - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrated AI and clustering enhance storage operations effectively
I promote and recommend Dell PowerStore for all workloads to my clients and customers. Most of my customers have one appliance per site. Approximately 80% of my customers have Dell PowerStore implemented in their data centers. We always use CLS as another Dell solution for cybersecurity and data security. The CLS is integrated with the Data Domain, PowerProtect Data Domain, not with Dell PowerStore. Windows, Linux, and some customers use Red Hat or SUSE. We have many operating systems working with Dell PowerStore in the same environments and data centers. CloudIQ and Storage IQ are used by some customers, but Apex AIOps has not been widely adopted yet. Dell PowerStore has integration with VMware and Kubernetes. Most workloads work fine and have very good integration with Dell PowerStore, except for one or two specific workloads in the market. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Dell PowerStore a nine.
Read full review
Gehad Said - PeerSpot reviewer
Consistent cost reduction and ease of deployment with storage solution
Dell PowerVault acts as an entry storage for a small organization; I've been using it in my organization. Dell PowerVault functions as SAN storage and iSCSI storage. Per workload capacity, the deployment and migration time is dependent on various factors. Dell PowerVault has strong features; we can work on it as a SAN storage, and if we are connecting with fiber, 16 gig or 22 gig, and as the iSCSI also. Dell PowerVault is a small SAN storage, and I recommend it for small organizations. If the customer does not have enough budget, and already has small capacity with not difficult workload, this is an entry-level storage solution, and for Dell PowerVault, I'm satisfied. I rate Dell PowerVault a nine out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you think about Dell EMC PowerStore? Is it actually a new product?
PowerStore is flexible, scalable, simple, and performant with market-leading economics for a wide range of legacy and next-gen apps. It is only Flash and can support many workloads from today's app...
See all answers
How does Dell's EMC PowerStore compare with its EMC Unity XT?
Dell EMC PowerStore is a unified storage platform that has the added benefit of being scalable. The automated management of resources feature provides a more simple administration. I found the flex...
See all answers
What's the difference between DELL EMC Powerstore and Powermax NVMe?
Dell PowerStore is an all-solid-state midrange storage system. It has many internal elements taken from other Dell offerings and integrated into the PowerStoreOS. The installation and setup have a ...
See all answers
What do you like most about Dell PowerVault?
Dell PowerVault offers valuable full flash storage.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerVault?
I rate the solution's pricing a seven to eight out of ten.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Dell PowerVault?
The product is generally stable, but there have been instances, to my knowledge, where we faced issues in the controller during software upgrades. The availability is not at the desired level durin...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell PowerStore Logo
HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell PowerStore
Compared 15% of the time
Dell Unity XT vs Dell PowerStore Logo
Dell Unity XT vs Dell PowerStore
Compared 12% of the time
IBM FlashSystem vs Dell PowerStore Logo
IBM FlashSystem vs Dell PowerStore
Compared 8% of the time
NetApp AFF vs Dell PowerStore Logo
NetApp AFF vs Dell PowerStore
Compared 8% of the time
Pure Storage FlashArray vs Dell PowerStore Logo
Pure Storage FlashArray vs Dell PowerStore
Compared 6% of the time
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HPE StoreOnce vs Dell PowerVault Logo
HPE StoreOnce vs Dell PowerVault
Compared 13% of the time
Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs Dell PowerVault Logo
Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs Dell PowerVault
Compared 9% of the time
Lenovo Storage V Series vs Dell PowerVault Logo
Lenovo Storage V Series vs Dell PowerVault
Compared 4% of the time
ExaGrid EX vs Dell PowerVault Logo
ExaGrid EX vs Dell PowerVault
Compared 2% of the time
Huawei OceanStor SNS vs Dell PowerVault Logo
Huawei OceanStor SNS vs Dell PowerVault
Compared 2% of the time
More Dell PowerVault Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerStore
August 2025
Dell PowerStore reportDownload Dell PowerStore product report
Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerVault
August 2025
Dell PowerVault reportDownload Dell PowerVault product report
 

Also Known As

PowerStore
PowerVault
 

Overview

Dell PowerStore stands out for its high performance, flexibility, and easy integration with VMware. It offers notable data compression and deduplication capabilities while providing powerful NVMe support and machine learning to optimize IT operations.

Dell PowerStore is designed to offer a comprehensive approach to IT infrastructure by enhancing performance and simplifying management. It is particularly suitable for companies that require scalable solutions to increase compute or capacity independently. Featuring built-in intelligence, PowerStore allows efficient storage consolidation and reduced footprint, while integration with CloudIQ enhances monitoring and analytics. However, there are areas for improvement, such as stability, enterprise features, and the user interface. Pricing is high, and support responsiveness needs attention. Organizations primarily use PowerStore for VMware environments, storage, and data protection, supporting high-performance databases and VMware workloads. It is utilized in data centers for disaster recovery and hybrid setups.

What are the key features of Dell PowerStore?
  • Flexibility: Independently scales compute or capacity
  • High Performance: Offers powerful NVMe support and machine learning
  • Integration: Easily integrates with VMware
  • Data Efficiency: Provides data compression and deduplication
  • Simplified Management: Built-in intelligence for efficient storage management
What benefits should users consider?
  • Performance Optimization: Enhance IT operations with machine learning
  • Scalability: Increase compute or storage capacity as needed
  • Integration Potential: Improve efficiency with VMware and CloudIQ
  • Data Protection: Reliable for disaster recovery and hybrid environments

In industries like IT, finance, and healthcare, Dell PowerStore supports efficient data management and enhances infrastructure performance. Organizations leverage it to manage extensive data, streamline virtualization processes, and facilitate migration from legacy systems, while integrating cloud and on-premises infrastructures for improved operations.

Dell Technologies
PowerVault MD3 storage arrays help you cost-effectively address the challenges of data growth with versatile solutions that are optimized for smaller-scale storage consolidation, flexible virtualization projects and high business continuity.
Dell Technologies
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Dayco, FAW Foundry, University of Cambridge, Finder, Stadtwerke Pforzheim GmbH & Co.
Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerStore vs. Dell PowerVault
July 2025
Free Report: Dell PowerStore vs. Dell PowerVault
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