Dell PowerScale Reviews

We primarily use Dell PowerScale for archive purposes. It functions as a large NAS.

One of the features we use in both PowerScale and Pure Storage is the snapshot feature. It's really important for us. 

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

Improvements could be made to reduce the costs and the high level of knowledge needed to maintain and use them. We had old hard drives with moving parts in Dell PowerScale, and due to this, we must switch to a more efficient environment with all-flash.

I have been working with PowerScale for six years.

It's probably very good. However, due to both cost and the knowledge required to maintain and use them, there are considerations about scalability.

Customer service is absolutely satisfying, rating at least nine out of ten, as they have managed previous issues well.

We do work with Dell and PowerScale, however, we are going to remove them, and as for now, it's going to be in 2026 since Pure Storage has a more cost-efficient model of storage use.

The initial setup requires extensive knowledge. I have to take very expensive courses just to set it up. It's not easy, taking maybe one or two weeks of learning before I should start to use it, which makes it costly.

I do believe that it delivered ROI, however, we see a better return of investment with other products we have considered.

Every time we purchase a PowerScale solution, we buy four nodes for one data center and four for another, with five years of maintenance covered by Dell. 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.

We evaluated other options. Other solutions did not match our requirements, so we chose FlashArrayX instead of a new PowerMax since it was half the price.

If you know how to handle it, Dell PowerScale is a good product. However, Pure Storage offers similar or even better performance at a lower cost, so I rather recommend Pure Storage if you are looking for efficiency and cost benefits. 

Overall, I rate PowerScale an eight out of ten.

In using or managing Dell PowerScale (Isilon), I have two roles: one is part of the decision-making process for deploying it, and the second is in our go-to-market with Dell, as far as integrating our two products.

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) has supported growth or operational success for a company such as mine because we are still in the early stages of deployment and from an integration go-to-market perspective. Due to the strategic nature of our two companies and our products, it is going well, and we are seeing growth in that area.

My main use cases for Dell PowerScale (Isilon) are as a data storage environment, where Wasabi fits as a long-term retention target.

The features of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) that I prefer the most include some of the newer technologies that are on it, which would include SmartSync and the ability for the data mover to continue to make incremental changes.

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) has features that specifically cater to the needs of small and medium organizations. Primarily, our performance is what caters to those needs.

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) scales greatly with the growing needs of my company.

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) can be improved by enhancing the ability for more native data mover technologies that offer security and resiliency features.

I have been using Dell PowerScale (Isilon) for four years.

My experience with customer service and technical support has been challenging. The reason is that it is difficult to find subject matter experts around the solution.

I'm still having those support issues; it is a challenge to get competent support around the issues we have.

Positive

My experience with the pricing, the setup costs, and licensing of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is that pricing is decent, but licensing is a challenge.

From my point of view, I cannot think of anything that is the biggest return on investment when using Dell PowerScale (Isilon).

I understand that we are still in the early stages regarding metrics that we have found out while using Dell PowerScale (Isilon), such as improvements or anything that has been significant.

Currently, Dell PowerScale (Isilon) does not play a role in my company's AI initiatives, but we are looking at it being part of an overall AI workflow, particularly where AI workloads and migrating data into Dell PowerScale (Isilon) and then Dell PowerScale (Isilon) migrating come into play.

The advice I would give to other companies that are considering Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is that I would recommend it as a product, as a technology, and as a solution. I rated this review an eight out of ten.

I believe we use Dell PowerScale for server.

I like the features of Dell PowerScale, but I am uncertain about certain aspects. Dell PowerScale's alignment with my organization's goals of supporting digital transformation initiatives is a tough consideration.

I am somewhat hands-on with Dell PowerScale, performing power cycling when something goes wrong, but otherwise I remain very hands-off from it and our infrastructure.

I am uncertain if Dell PowerScale meets the growing needs of my organization.

Dell has been great with everything. I would evaluate Dell's technical support highly.

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Dell's technical support a ten.

I believe we were using VMware for virtualization prior to adopting Dell PowerScale.

Cyber threats would be one of the biggest emerging challenges and opportunities I foresee in managing enterprise data.

Currently, Dell PowerScale does not play a role in my organization's AI initiatives as we are not considering rolling out any kind of AI, at least within the next two years.

I am an administrator for Isilon in India. It provides storage to end users who develop their tasks and use it for simulation purposes, keeping their data isolated.

I use Dell PowerScale (Isilon) to store and share data across different locations according to project-wise needs, which helps in cost savings related to power and in-house rack space.

The solution allows me to use SSMDS to store data for end users and share it within different locations. The feature of data shuffling between locations is notably useful. Dell PowerScale helps in saving costs related to power and rack space, reducing physical hardware from over one hundred to twenty-nine chassis.

Dell's customer service needs improvement. Specifically, hardware failures under warranty should be addressed within the promised timeline. I face difficulty in tracing and finding the right support team due to time zone differences, which is problematic.

I have been working with Dell PowerScale Isilon for eight years now.

Dell PowerScale is highly scalable, as evidenced by the reduced physical hardware and the efficient use of rack space.

I rate customer service as five. The service, particularly about hardware issues and support ticket handling, is an area that needs significant improvement.

Neutral

The setup is easy because of previous configurations and knowledge in this area. I would rate it nine on a scale of one to ten, with ten being very easy.

Dell PowerScale is user-friendly and beneficial for businesses, provided they understand the enabled features and subscriptions. I would give it an overall rating of nine out of ten.

I use the solution in my company for large files. With Dell PowerScale (Isilon), the amount of files my company deals with is humungous in size.

My company has only four people working on the Dell PowerScale (Isilon) platform, which has around 300 TB. With the number of people necessary to run the tool, I am not sure if it can be considered an effective product.

The most valuable features are high density and scalability. The high density and scalability features are important for my company since we are trying to have low electricity and power consumption, considering that the amount of data that we have to use is limited.

My company uses an on-premises deployment model for Dell PowerScale (Isilon).

No one is required to maintain the product, but since it is a huge platform in our company's environment, some things need to be replaced constantly. The aforementioned issues with the tool are not because the product or hardware is bad but something that happens since it functions in a large environment.

If I consider my assessment of Dell PowerScale's ability to interface with AI models and algorithms, I would say that my company has just started using AI after connecting it to the tool. I use the AI part a lot currently. So far, my company has only been using NFS to connect to our computers.

It can be difficult to assess the ability of Dell PowerScale to help our company manage and run its storage from any location since it is a huge platform. You can put the product anywhere, but I would say that it needs to be in big data centers. You can have one location or ten locations, but all of them need to be big locations. You can't put the product into a small office area. It is easy to manage the product from multiple locations. Generally, one can manage all locations using the product from a single point.

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) has helped a little to reduce or eliminate data silos, but all the silos we use in our company are huge, making it a hard process. My company needs to deal with silos anyways.

In terms of the flexibility of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) for supporting various data workloads, while keeping them protected, I would say everything is good since they can scale up very fast with NVMe technology and disks and also with the archive data in disks along with the performance it offers. For protection, we use snapshots along with mirroring.

The tool's support team and the way the cases are handled by the product's technical support team are both areas of concern where improvements are required.

When replacing hardware parts of the tool, there are about 15 steps to follow before our company gets the parts sent over to us by Dell, making it an area that we feel consists of a lot of unnecessary work for our employees. Dell should streamline the aforementioned process and make it just one or two steps instead of making users go through 15 steps.

The support offered after installing the tool to deal with the problems associated with the tool could be a little bit better. After the installation phase, the tool's support services have certain shortcomings because our company is not allowed to use or send the automated error reports back to Dell. The aforementioned process needs to be manually handled by Dell and us, which is why it takes so long, even though we are eligible to get help from a dedicated support engineer. Processing logs and other stuff takes time.

I have been using Dell PowerScale (Isilon) for seven years. My company is a customer of Dell.

The stability and reliability of the product are good. My company has only faced two big errors stopping the production in our organization over a span of seven years.

During the installation phase, Dell's support services are top-notch. I rate the technical support a six or seven out of ten. The support services during the tool's installation phase can be rated as ten out of ten.

Positive

My experience with the product's deployment phase has been good.

The installation took two days for three racks, and going from zero to one hundred, it took two days. It is a simple step-by-step process that includes the physical installation and configuration. Our company is able to be up and running within two or three days.

Compared to the other vendors in the market, the setup phase of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is fast. Other products are difficult to handle when it comes to the setup process. It is actually the technology like SAN and other related technologies that make it harder for a person to deal with the setup process.

My company opts for a 50-50 approach, meaning we take help from Dell's experts and from our own employees.

Considering my position at the company, I would say that we do not indulge in backtracking of anything associated with Dell PowerScale (Isilon).

It is easy for my company to deal with product costs and licensing. Dealing with the product costs and licensing areas is getting easier since Dell is simplifying the licensing process and licensing packages offered to users.

My company uses products from multiple vendors all the time. My company is required to deal with multiple vendors, so sometimes we use Dell and others.

If I compare Dell PowerScale (Isilon) to other vendors in terms of both pros and cons, I would say that its pros are associated with the high scalability, where it is possible for one to build it in a very huge and large manner, but that has been so from ten years ago. Now, other vendors are coming out with good scalability features. I am soon going to have a one-on-one session later this week with Dell's experts.

I don't envision the future of our company's containerized solutions in terms of cloud integration since it is not applicable as we don't use the cloud, but we do use containers.

Based on key factors and the decision-making process, my company only uses the on-premises environment for our containerized applications.

I rate the solution a nine to ten out of ten.

Dell has the AI to protect the EMA.

We must write a script tailored to our specific use case whenever we upload an item, such as a file or an application, due to the demand for storing data for longer periods in cases of broken or corrupted files. With Dell PowerScale, data storage is reliable and secure. The system ensures that data is safely stored and easily accessible, providing peace of mind with robust security measures.

The solution can be integrated with an automation system. Dell uses another framework developed in-house. They can integrate it with machines. 

Sometimes, Dell PowerScale can have issues with ID, window, or mapping errors. For example, a shareholder or user might not fully understand what they're doing, which can cause problems. Occasionally, we experience connection issues, requiring us to remap the folder.

Dell PowerScale might need to remap or update the credentials in such cases. For instance, if you have many shared folders already mapped, it might take time to remap or redo the credentials.

The solution is pretty scalable.

We used the traditional way, which made it challenging to expand storage and caused more issues.

If you have people working with MMC, Dell PowerScale is a solid option. It's a good choice for a company prioritizing decent pricing and reliable service. Dell PowerScale provides an effective solution for data storage needs, making it a valuable option.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

We are using Dell PowerScale (Isilon) for CCTV storage purposes.

In our scenarios, we haven't encountered difficulties. It is stable and very user-friendly. It's easy to monitor everything, and the interface is user-friendly. Additionally, it integrates easily with other systems. Dell PowerScale offers high scalability and stability as well, making it a valuable solution for enterprises.

Always, there is room for improvement in terms of cybersecurity, as new challenges are continually emerging in the market. However, in our current usage, we find it satisfactory.

I have around ten years of experience working with Dell PowerScale (Isilon).

Dell PowerScale is very stable.

Dell PowerScale has high scalability.

Dell provides support within four hours, and they always fulfill their promises.

Positive

The initial setup is easy.

Most enterprises prefer to go with Dell. Despite being more expensive than Huawei, it is stable and most enterprises accept the price due to its stability.

The pricing of Dell solutions is higher than that of Huawei.

We are using another Dell model for data replication, the SC5020.

Dell PowerScale is stable, user-friendly, and easily integrates with other systems. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate it an eight out of ten. Better solutions are available, however, they tend to be more expensive.

Our organization uses Dell PowerScale (Isilon) specifically for use cases in the nanotechnology field.

What I find most valuable about Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is that we are currently focusing on AI applications, for which we need fast storage, faster GPU, faster nodes, and so on. In our AI initiatives, Dell PowerScale (Isilon) plays a significant role in data analysis, data fusion; principally, it is involved in data analysis, data extraction, and statistical analysis.

We see room for improvement in Dell PowerScale (Isilon) because we need personnel to effectively utilize all our infrastructure; it's not easy to find skilled people to work on AI and data analysis.

I have been using Dell PowerScale (Isilon) for seven years.

The product has been stable since the implementation of Dell PowerScale (Isilon).

I would rate the technical support by Dell as excellent; I'm very happy with Dell support.

Positive

Before choosing Dell PowerScale (Isilon), we generally evaluate instrumentation that we already have skills to manage. Before Dell PowerScale (Isilon), we used the same product; generally, every five years, we try to change something because it's important for us to have the skill to manage all our infrastructure, which is not easy.

We considered performance and cost when selecting Dell PowerScale (Isilon) over other solutions.

We got help from consultants; typically, we place a bid where we request both infrastructure and consultants together.

The cost of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is important, but we have public projects that allow us to apply for funding to update our infrastructure.

We have very satisfactory experiences with Dell products, and we can also evaluate other products for integration. For example, for backup, we can evaluate options such as the Veeam solution.

I think the pricing of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is reasonable, but I don't clearly understand the full details. 

I would rate Dell PowerScale (Isilon) as a product a ten out of ten.

We use Dell PowerScale to share data between our Windows, Linux, and Azure systems.

Before Dell PowerScale, we had safe clusters for Linux systems and Windows file servers with separate item storage. Now, we have centralized storage together.

If we have an AI extension, data can be reordered from unstructured to structured. Scientists travel with a lot of data and ask to put the data in storage and forget about it. So there is a lot of unused data left in the storage.

PowerScale is flexible in supporting various data workloads while keeping them protected. It includes a lot of security snapshots so if a user accidentally deletes data, we can provide the snapshot for them to restore their lost data.

PowerScale helps reduce our organizational risk. We have additional security running on PowerScale for added protection. Before PowerScale, we had no security.

The most valuable feature of Dell PowerScale is its scalability. If we need more storage, we can add more nodes without the need to install anything else. Also, the data compression and deduplication are valuable. The SFA recovery site sync is good.

We believed that we could share all the data between Windows RTS and Linux RTS but that is not true because we can break the RTS as a system so we must separate the data. This means we have one system but we still have two data paths.

PowerScale is not suitable for virtual environments. So we use a different solution for our hybrid environments like our VMware clusters. 

I have been using Dell PowerScale for one year.

Dell PowerScale is stable.

Dell PowerScale is easily scalable.

We are supposed to have technical support from Europe, but until now we have only received support from India.

We previously used Pure Storage. We wanted PowerStore but our other partner offered us PowerScale faster.

We ran into an issue deploying PowerScale F900 because of some bugs but with the support, it worked out. 

We used a reseller for the implementation. T-Systems from Telecom. Their engineer installed the wrong cable that was not hard enough and we had to break down the switch to replace it. 

PowerScale hardware is expensive but it consumes less energy making it more efficient. In five years we will see a return on investment compared to other solutions.

I would rate Dell PowerScale eight out of ten. We have scalability and one file system for most use cases but the GUI is terrible. If we are searching for a file we must know the full path. Also, the alerts are not clear enough. 

Our customers consist of banking sectors, financial sectors, infrastructure services, and service divisions, such as oil and gas-based customers. We recommend Dell PowerScale to our customers based on their business demands and data management needs. Primarily, it is used for handling large-scale data, including real-time data generation from remote locations, particularly in industries like automobile manufacturing, where vast amounts of unstructured data are gathered and processed.

Dell PowerScale helps our customers by providing a highly scalable and efficient data management solution that supports their operations effectively. It allows for the seamless addition of nodes to the cluster as needed, ensuring the organization's data storage can grow proportionately with their demands. PowerScale supports various use cases, from real-time data processing to maintaining data integrity and availability, which is crucial for sectors generating large volumes of data daily.

One of the most valuable features is erasure coding, which prevents data loss even if a single node fails. The OneFS OS provides a single namespace, improving data storage efficiency and management. 

Features like ransomware protection, file lock retention, and third-party integrations (e.g., Superna for ransomware protection) are significant benefits. 

Additionally, the scalability and capability to handle large amounts of unstructured data, real-time data processing, and integration with AI workloads make it a robust solution for enterprises.

Improvements could be made on the object storage side. PowerScale offers object storage capabilities, but not in a fully integrated way. If customers have workloads requiring both file and object storage, PowerScale can provide up to 20% object storage, which might not be sufficient for all needs. A unified solution combining NAS and object storage, similar to other solutions that combine block and NAS, would be beneficial.

I have worked with Dell PowerScale for almost a year. Previously, I worked with the Isilon model before transitioning to PowerScale.

Dell PowerScale is very stable, with a stability rating of nine out of ten. In terms of availability and stability, I would give it a ten.

Dell PowerScale is extremely scalable. You can start with a minimum of three nodes and expand based on capacity demands. This feature allows for significant flexibility in managing storage needs. The scalability is further enhanced by its ability to integrate new nodes automatically without manual effort.

Support for Dell PowerScale is never a challenge. There is twenty-four-seven-three-sixty-five support available, including four-hour on-site support for high-priority issues. The on-site engineer will reach the location, review the issue, and work on it within four hours. Hence, I would rate technical support a ten.

Positive

The initial setup for PowerScale is straightforward and easy. It just requires initial configuration, followed by automated processes to complete the setup. Therefore, I would give it a rating of ten for ease of setup.

The price of Dell PowerScale depends on the customer's specific requirements and capacity needs. It is generally considered a costly solution, but its features and capabilities justify the price. It's essential to align the pricing with the business needs and future scalability requirements.

If your business demands a highly scalable data solution, including handling multiple edge locations and large amounts of data effectively, Dell PowerScale is a suitable option. It is particularly advantageous for enterprises with specific AI workloads. However, due to its cost, it may not be the best option for mid-range customers or those looking for general-purpose file services.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.