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Dell PowerScale (Isilon) pros and cons

4.4 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is highly praised for its seamless scalability, allowing businesses to expand data storage without interruptions.
The platform offers exceptional stability and reliability, ensuring continuous operation without downtime.
Its integration capabilities with third-party tools and compatibility with diverse data workloads enhance its flexibility and functionality.
Dell PowerScale (Isilon) provides excellent data protection features, including ransomware protection and the WORM feature for safeguarding critical data.
Technical support for Dell PowerScale (Isilon) has received high ratings for its efficiency and effectiveness in resolving issues promptly.

CONS

The technical support and case handling by the support team require improvement and are areas of concern.
PowerScale is not suitable for virtual environments, and there are limitations on the number of files that can be generated.
The high cost and pricing clarity are issues that need addressing as Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is often considered expensive compared to other options.
Deployment of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is challenging and complex, with the initial setup requiring significant effort.
There are challenges with integration capabilities, including the need for better options for tape backup and cloud versions.
 

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) Pros review quotes

BE
Systems Engineer at Unisity LLC
May 21, 2025
Based on the flexibility of the system itself, it was easy for us to manage the growth by buying individual nodes as needed.
SK
Solutions Architect at a university with 10,001+ employees
Nov 12, 2025
The features of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) that I appreciate the most include the scale of architecture and the way it is designed, which benefit my company by providing less downtime and less overhead.
RahulSharma8 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Platform Engineer at Expedia Group
Jan 12, 2026
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.
Learn what your peers think about Dell PowerScale (Isilon). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Donald Schnaars - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager, Information Security & Infrastructure at National Football League
Nov 12, 2025
The features that I have mentioned improve my company through the reliability of the storage; it is always available, and it works, which is the important thing.
Rich Goldstein - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Video Lead, Av at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 14, 2026
Dell PowerScale (Isilon) stability is solid as a rock.
Manaye Kerebn - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Feb 17, 2026
Regarding stability, I find no lagging, crashing, or downtime with Dell PowerScale (Isilon), and it is a highly scalable, stable, and reliable solution that I have experienced.
MJ
Pre-Sale Engineer at Arab Operators
Jul 16, 2025
Dell PowerScale (Isilon) definitely deserves ten out of ten for scalability.
reviewer2708325 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
May 21, 2025
Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is a platform that is very easy for teams to work with.
PK
Senior Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Jun 27, 2025
My experience with Dell as a vendor is pretty good; they are probably one of the best in the industry.
CS
Storage & Data Protection Specialist at General Dynamics Land Systems
May 19, 2025
My experience when deploying Dell PowerScale (Isilon) was very straightforward, as we had Dell come on site to do all the actual setup, which was a big help.
 

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) Cons review quotes

BE
Systems Engineer at Unisity LLC
May 21, 2025
The hardest challenge we have is due to how we've bought things over time. The way that we moved to the PowerEdge platform for the newer systems creates a scale problem as I still buy the older style systems, which are more dense storage.
SK
Solutions Architect at a university with 10,001+ employees
Nov 12, 2025
I think Dell PowerScale (Isilon) can be improved, as the cost models are quite expensive for administration.
RahulSharma8 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Platform Engineer at Expedia Group
Jan 12, 2026
Dell PowerScale (Isilon) certainly has room for improvement; since it does not provide SAN at the moment, I would look for Dell to create a complete unified solution just like NetApp.
Learn what your peers think about Dell PowerScale (Isilon). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Donald Schnaars - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager, Information Security & Infrastructure at National Football League
Nov 12, 2025
Dell PowerScale (Isilon) could be improved, particularly the UI, which could use some polishing as far as ease of use for the customer.
Rich Goldstein - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Video Lead, Av at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 14, 2026
One downside of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is that it is really complicated to configure.
Manaye Kerebn - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Feb 17, 2026
I have experienced a RAM failure in some of the nodes of Dell PowerScale (Isilon), and that required hardware replacement.
MJ
Pre-Sale Engineer at Arab Operators
Jul 16, 2025
Perhaps if there was a local chatbot built within the system or on the dashboard where we could directly ask for anything on the OneFS, it could help us.
reviewer2708325 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
May 21, 2025
We have issues in Brazil with the procurement of solutions because we have to check the entire market and justify the pricing to our audit institutions, making it difficult to keep with the same vendor.
PK
Senior Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Jun 27, 2025
They should add some new services that should be for on-premises, and more analytics should be there for the data, allowing for a deep dive from that analytics, which is currently missing.
CS
Storage & Data Protection Specialist at General Dynamics Land Systems
May 19, 2025
I would want to see more AI features with Dell PowerScale (Isilon).