Dell PowerStore Reviews

Dell PowerStore is the main storage product we use for our customers. When we sell storage products, Dell PowerStore is always the first one we propose.

Dell PowerStore has helped our customers have a stable storage solution that never goes down.

We use CloudIQ to analyze and predict when the storage will fill up.

Dell PowerStore is good at reducing energy consumption.

We have seen a four-to-one reduction in our footprint for data consolidation.

We use Dell PowerStore with VMware to plug into vCenter. The integration allows us to create data stores from VMware itself.

The software upgrades are all included for no additional charge.

Dell PowerStore has just caught up to some of the competition by introducing METRO nodes a few months ago while the competition has had the feature for years. 

I have been using Dell PowerStore since its release in 2020.

Dell PowerStore is extremely stable.

The technical support has significantly improved from where it was two years ago.

Positive

We previously used Dell Compellent but it wasn't stable and Dell PowerStore was replacing it so we eagerly switched.

The implementation is always good except for sometimes having to link PowerStore to the correct CloudIQ because the sales organization doesn't provide us with the correct ID.

For our customers, Dell PowerStore is a one-time installation that keeps running with minimal non-disruptive maintenance.

We evaluated HPE but PowerStore does what it needs to do and there is no need for other products.

I would rate Dell PowerStore nine out of ten. For a ten they need to surpass their competition.

Our environment consists of a VMware cluster of two, three, or four hosts in a single location.

I would advise my peers to go for it and utilize Dell PowerStore.

We're addressing performance issues in our data center as well as the data duplication features to make sure we can be efficient in how we're storing data.

The main improvement has been storage efficiency. The price per gig of what we're able to store has been the biggest aspect the business has seen.

Some of the new features that are coming out, like vVols support are valuable. We're very excited about it. Currently, the features of replication and deduplication have been very important to us.

We've just heard that in the second half of this year, they will come out with support for vVols and the storage replication of those, which are new features. We're very excited about those. We've been waiting for them for a while.

It was very new when we first deployed it a year ago. Even just the upgrade processes and knowing what to expect, as well as documentation, could be more robust. We had folks that helped us through, however, we did have some bumps and bruises along the way.

I've been using a solution for just over a year. 

The stability has been solid for us since we deployed it. We haven't had any issues to speak of. A part failed somewhere, but it didn't cause any user impact, however, that's been the extent of it.

We tend to think of the users being our applications that are in there. However, in terms of the total global footprint of users, we've probably got 40,000 end-users, and probably 500 applications that run on top of it.

We are considering increasing usage. We have two other global data centers where it'll be deployed and then about 120 remote sites that we're just looking at now, whether we should make PowerStore our standard there or stay with the current unity.

My team was involved in the deployment. I know we had the pro deploy services that did a lot of the work for us. It took a little while to get updates done. It sat for a few months before our data center was ready to put it in. Other than that, the deployment went pretty seamlessly.

Once we actually had all the prereqs done, it was deployed within a week, it was probably just a few days even between the two sites. There were a couple of months of waiting, however, that was more on our side.

These were two new Greenfield data center builds. It was like starting from scratch with a partner and now we're migrating workloads into them. It wasn't integrating with anything that existed.

There was one person on my team who was coordinating with outside organizations to do some implementation work for us. He was a cloud/storage engineer.

In terms of maintenance requirements, there's one person who looks after things. We've got it integrated with CloudIQ from a management standpoint. It largely tells us when things need to happen, however, one person keeps up with updates, new firmware, and those kinds of things.

We did have outside assistance. We had Presidio as part of that deployment and we also had Dell's ProDeploy services. Both were very positive. They helped us understand both the prerequisites and what we needed to get started and then got us up and running effectively.

In terms of ROI, I don't have a good measure of it, however, I do know that we've seen definite improvements when we just compare what we've done in the past to what we're doing now. We've definitely seen improvements in terms of price per gig.

The great thing was the guarantee that came with it of the four-to-one deduplication ratio. That really helped with the pricing as well as the anytime upgrades. From a TCO standpoint, we were really able to see some benefits.

We did a bake-off between NetApp, Pure, and Dell. We've used EMC and then Dell storage solutions in our environment for years and have a proven relationship with the organization, as well as the product's capability.

We have a private cloud within our two new North American global data centers. We've looked at connectivity to both AWS and Azure, however, we really don't have any storage replication heading there at this point.

I'd rate the product nine out of ten. With the new features that'll be out in a few months, it just continues to get better.

I like this solution. This was built more from the ground up with new features in mind. In particular, some of the capabilities that are coming out in the near future are really going to set it in a class above what the others have to offer.

We use the very first one we added for a very pinpointed solution for a high-performance Oracle database. We've added four more, and they're going to be used primarily to migrate away from HP systems.

Our environment is 80% to 90% virtualized VMware. We have some pretty heavy workloads, whether it be SQL databases or Oracle databases working on the PowerStores right now. It's about three petabytes in size.

The systems I currently have in place are old, and their support is running out. They're at the end of their life cycle. One of the key improvements that PowerStore is going to bring is that it will enable me to shrink the physical footprint. I'll be going from 5 physical HP arrays, which are about 12 racks in size, down to 4 PowerStores, which can fit on one rack.

As a result, I'll be able to shrink the footprint, save power, cooling, etc. I will also be able to improve the existing performance and longevity of the platform.

When we put the PowerStore in for the Oracle database, it was previously on NetApp. The staff wanted to do snapshots but also clone, and then be able to clone from a clone to add it to another system. PowerStore enabled them to do just that.

They not only got their performance back to where it needed to be from previously being on the NetApp array but also got some of the feature functions that they require for the application.

The simplicity and ease of use have been very valuable features. I have a very small team, and only half of the team is well versed in the HP product. Whereas if I bring PowerStore in, everyone can learn it because it will be new on the floor.

Also, the simplicity of the administration, snapshot capabilities, and its replication are other features of PowerStore that I've found to be valuable.

Reporting is an area that could be improved. It's very simplistic sometimes, and some of the very technical guys on my team want to see more of the details and be able to massage the report a little bit better.

We originally added our first PowerStore about a year ago.

I haven't thought about the stability of the product, which means that it's working. That says it all. As a manager of the environment, if I'm not thinking about it on a daily basis, then that means it's doing what it's supposed to be doing.

I haven't really had to scale PowerStore as of yet, but it does have the scalability features that I need. I'll be able to scale up when we do grow.

Dell's support staff is very proactive. They were with us every step of the way to make sure that we were plugging everything in properly and making sure that everything is fully redundant during deployment.

With regard to post-deployment support, if we have any needs and call them, they respond within minutes. So, I would rate them ten on a scale from one to ten.

Positive

We replaced HP and NetApp with PowerStore because we wanted to reduce the physical footprint.

Deployment is very simple. I think we were up and running in less than a day.

Dell helped us with our deployments. They use ProDeploy, and we used it for one of ours that's overseas.

Normally, my data center team does all of the rack and stack and cabling. I share all those requirements with Dell to make sure that they understand that we're following best practices. We can plug it in, and do it all online.

The rack space I'm saving alone is an ROI because I'm able to then use those racks for more servers.

Power and cooling are big factors for us because we're trying to shrink the footprint as we move things over to the cloud.

Performance-wise, if I can have jobs that used to run for ten or eleven hours cut down to three or four hours, then that allows everyone to be more productive.

Pricing is very good. It's very competitive against all the others that I looked at in the marketplace, such as Hitachi, IBM, HP, and Pure. Dell is right there in the mix as far as providing the best price point, as well as meeting the performance requirements that we have.

I looked at IBM and Pure Storage during the last purchase cycle. The reason that PowerStore won that purchase was the pricing. They definitely set the bar high as far as pricing is concerned. Going with PowerStore would also help me to shrink the environment.

Don't shy away from the higher-end workloads. You don't necessarily have to go with a big iron box like PowerMax when PowerStore will suffice. It will then allow you to save some dollars and also meet the performance requirements that you have.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate PowerStore at ten.

I use Dell PowerStore in my company as a storage system.

Dell PowerStore is an easy and fast tool to work through our company's data.

Dell PowerStore is not a powerful tool. From an improvement perspective, Dell PowerStore needs to be a more powerful product.

There are certain shortcomings with the technical support team of Dell PowerStore, where improvements are required.

I have been using Dell PowerStore for five years.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

It is a scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

My company is a bulk user of the product and has around 100 users of Dell PowerStore, consisting of eight to ten IT engineers, and the rest are administrators.

My company plans to increase the use of the solution in the future.

With the technical support team of Dell PowerStore, my company faces certain language barriers.

Negative

The product's initial setup is easy.

I rate the product's initial setup a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is an easy setup phase, and ten is a difficult setup phase.

The solution can be deployed within two to four hours.

One person is required for the deployment of Dell PowerStore. Two people are required for the maintenance of Dell PowerStore.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

Dell PowerStore is not a cheap solution.

I would not recommend Dell PowerStore to those who plan to use it.

As the price of the product is high and it is difficult to contact the support, I rate the overall tool a seven out of ten.

We have mainly used it to migrate all the infrastructure we had from a data center to a PowerStore cabin. The truth is that with the good duplication rate that it has, we have been able to migrate everything to a single cabin.

We had a large number of servers, some in particular with a SAP solution that needed a lot of data. What we ultimately wanted was to unify all these solutions into a single storage.

For me, its great value is mainly the good duplication power that it has and its ease of use. We are able to expand storage, add new storage, and duplicate it. It is very easy to use, and no great knowledge is required.

We use CloudIQ to manage and analyze our Dell storage. We use it for all the cabins. It always updates me about possible errors. It often anticipates problems that I may have with log storage and automatically solves them. I have peace of mind knowing that I have all the storage monitored.

We have certainly seen a significant data consolidation. We went from three storage cabins to one.

When it comes to the values around environment, social, and governance (ESG values), I assess Dell Technologies in a very positive way. I like that large companies in the sector are pioneers in these areas.

It is very easy to use. Access is very friendly. It shows you a lot of important information at the first glance. It has been very easy to use.

I have not seen anything specific. The only thing I can think of that needs improvement is the price.

I have been using Dell PowerStore for six months.

Its stability is very good. It is very reliable.

Its scalability is very good.

Their support is very good. It has always been the best.

Positive

We were using Dell's Unity solution. We switched because our partner offered us this solution. We had very good references from him, and we trusted our partner a lot.

We have not yet seen an ROI because we have not had much time using it, but I am sure that we will see an ROI.

The prices in the market for these storage solutions are very similar, but with the power of duplication, it seems like you are paying less.

We evaluated EMC Unity, but in the end, they are also Dell’s.

In terms of the importance of sustainability when evaluating a storage solution, being from the IT area, I do not value it, but I know that other departments in my company do.

I would rate Dell PowerStore a nine out of ten because I have not had much time working with it, but as of now, I am very happy.

Foreign Language:(Spanish)

Buena tasa de crecimiento, fácil de usar y el mejor soporte

¿Cuánto tiempo llevas usando esta solución?

He estado usando Dell PowerStore durante seis meses.

¿Cuál es su principal caso de uso de esta solución? (Incluya detalles sobre su entorno).

Principalmente lo hemos utilizado para migrar toda la infraestructura que teníamos de un centro de datos a una cabina PowerStore. La verdad es que con el buen índice de duplicación que tiene hemos podido migrar todo a una sola cabina.

Teníamos una gran cantidad de servidores, algunos en particular con una solución SAP que necesitaba muchos datos. Lo que finalmente queríamos era unificar todas estas soluciones en un único almacenamiento.

Comparta cómo Dell PowerStore ha mejorado su organización. Si no fue así, explique por qué.

Para mí su gran valor es principalmente la potencia de duplicación que tiene y su facilidad de uso. Podemos ampliar el almacenamiento, agregar nuevo almacenamiento y duplicarlo. Es muy fácil de usar y no se requieren grandes conocimientos.

Usamos CloudIQ para administrar y analizar nuestro almacenamiento Dell. Lo usamos para todas las cabinas. Siempre me actualiza sobre posibles errores. A menudo anticipa los problemas que puedo tener con el almacenamiento de registros y los resuelve automáticamente. Tengo la tranquilidad de saber que tengo todo el almacenamiento monitoreado.

Ciertamente hemos visto una importante consolidación de datos. Pasamos de tres cabinas de almacenamiento a una.

Cuando se trata de valores ambientales, sociales y de gobernanza (valores ESG), evalúo a Dell Technologies de manera muy positiva. Me gusta que las grandes empresas del sector sean pioneras en estos temas.

¿Qué características le han parecido más valiosas y por qué?

Es muy fácil de usar. El acceso es muy amigable. Te muestra mucha información importante a primera vista.

¿En qué áreas se podría mejorar Dell PowerEdge PowerStore?

No he visto nada concreto. Lo único que se me ocurre es el precio.

¿Utilizó anteriormente una solución diferente? De ser así, ¿por qué la cambió?

Estábamos usando la solución Dell Unity. Cambiamos porque nuestro socio nos ofreció esta solución. Teníamos muy buenas referencias de él y confiábamos mucho en nuestro socio.

Antes de elegir, ¿evaluaste otras opciones? ¿De ser asi, cuales?

Evaluamos EMC Unity, pero al final también son de Dell.

En cuanto a la importancia de la sostenibilidad a la hora de evaluar una solución de almacenamiento, siendo del área de TI no la valoro, pero sé que otros departamentos de mi empresa sí lo hacen.

¿Qué aconseja a otros sobre el costo de instalación, el precio y/o la licencia?

Los precios en el mercado de estas soluciones de almacenamiento son muy similares, pero con su habilidad de duplicación, pareciera que estuvieras pagando menos.

¿Cuáles son sus impresiones sobre la escalabilidad de esta solución?

Su escalabilidad es muy buena.

¿Cuáles son sus impresiones sobre la estabilidad de esta solución?

Su estabilidad es muy buena. Es muy confiable.

¿Has visto el ROI (Retorno de la Inversión)? En caso afirmativo, ¿de qué manera (es decir, métricas/puntos de datos)?

Aún no hemos visto un retorno de la inversion porque no hemos tenido mucho tiempo usándolo, pero estoy seguro de que lo veremos.

Cuéntanos tu experiencia con el servicio y soporte al cliente.

Su apoyo es muy bueno. Siempre ha sido el mejor.

¿Cómo calificaría esta solución en una escala del 1 al 10 en cuanto a servicio y soporte?

10

En una escala del 1 al 10 (1=peor, 10=mejor), ¿cómo calificaría Dell PowerStore? Por favor explique por qué.

Calificaría a Dell PowerStore con un nueve de diez porque no he tenido mucho tiempo trabajando con él, pero hasta ahora estoy muy contento.

I use Dell PowerStore in my organization mainly for our server environment, so all of our virtual servers run on it. I also use Dell PowerStore in my organization to clone our environment to a test environment and some storage devices. The aforementioned details explain the main reason why our organization prefers Dell PowerStore.

With new features in the product, my organization hopes to get some more output. When our organization moved Dell EMC XtremIO to Dell PowerStore, we knew that the functionalities revolving around cloning and copies would become a little slower, but we made the decision to do so because it was cheaper for our environment, making it a cost-based decision.

The deduplication functionality provided by the solution is fairly good. The speed offered by the product is enough for our organization. Our organization also has Dell EMC XtremIO, which is a bit faster, though Dell PowerStore alone is more than enough for us.

After the smooth launch of the product in our company, only the areas around upgrades are a bit problematic. In our organization, we face difficulties when updating the product. Since Dell PowerStore's system health check runs correctly, there is a need to bypass the health check during the upgrading process. Sometimes, the replication part of the product doesn't work, and because of this, our organization has to contact Dell's support to fix it. In my organization, we have had to go through two weeks with no replication, which is not very handy for our production environment.

I have been using Dell PowerStore for two or three years.

My company faces issues when we attempt to update Dell PowerStore, but under normal circumstances, we don't face any issues with the product.

When you have someone on the line from Dell's support team, then everything becomes perfect, especially if they are early to address some of our issues since, in our organization, we have multiple appliances and storage areas, and to maintain it at a level, it's very difficult. My organization needs to create an incident and schedule a call with Dell's support team, which sometimes can be a bit of a rough process.

I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

Neutral

The implementation phase of the product was not difficult. An engineer from Dell came to our company to install Dell PowerStore, and afterward, we configured the zones and WWNs, and the product started to work perfectly. There were no problems at all with the implementation phase of the product.

I don't know how much time the deployment process takes since one of my colleagues handles it, as I am only a supervisor.

A third-party help was required to install the product.

My company chose Dell PowerStore over other products mainly because we have very good contact with Dell in the Netherlands. My company uses the server and storage devices from Dell. Our company's main support is from Dell. My company did take a look at Pure Storage. With the discounts and everything from Dell, my company runs about 30 servers, which cannot be the storage provided by Pure Storage.

In my organization, there were no problems or challenges that we wanted to address through the implementation of Dell PowerStore.

I don't know how much money my organization saved after moving from Dell EMC XtremIO to Dell PowerStore, but I know that we have received some discounts from Dell. I don't know what the prices were when my company chose Dell EMC XtremIO or Dell PowerStore.

My organization doesn't use CloudIQ to manage and analyze Dell PowerStore.

I don't know how my organization assesses Dell PowerStore for its overall energy consumption. I don't know what kind of power it uses for anything.

I know that Dell PowerStore is a bit, if not much, better when it comes to areas like significant data consolidation and footprint reduction when compared to Dell EMC XtremIO. Dell EMC XtremIO was also a very good product for areas like significant data consolidation and footprint reduction.

It is a good product, considering my assessment of Dell Technologies' environmental, social, and governance values. My organization maintains good contacts with Dell, and Dell also supports us by providing good governance.

I rate the overall product an eight out of ten.

We use the solution for visualization and protection of the environment.

The solution's most valuable features are the quick data compression process and ease of scalability for all types of support contracts.

The solution's pricing could be better.

We have been using the solution for half a year.

It is a stable solution.

It is a scalable solution. We have more than 300 end users and two administrators using it. We also plan to increase the usage.

The solution's customer service is excellent.

Positive

The solution's initial setup was straightforward. It took one or two days to complete it.

Our in-house team of two executives implemented the solution.

The price of the solution is high compared to IBM. There are additional costs for storage and support apart from the standard license.

We evaluated IBM and Fujitsu storage before. In comparison with Dell, IBM has stable software. But Dell is perfect for technical support and training, helping us make the right decisions. Also, we can choose between different strategies or configurations. It is more intuitive and complex as well.

I advise others to prefer more disks for the solution than standard ones. Also, wait to install updates after release. Overall, it is a great product. I rate it as a ten.

Our clients mainly use it for additional workloads in databases and EDI.

Typically, high-performance and high-availability features, such as application snapshots and remote and local replication, are highly valued.

There is room for improvement in the support. 

I have been using Dell PowerStore for over a year.

For stability, I would rate Dell PowerStore as a seven out of ten. 

The scalability varies depending on the model. The smaller models are not very scalable, while the larger ones offer better scalability. So it really depends on the specific model. For example, the 400 series models are less scalable.

Our customers are a mix of small, medium, or enterprise businesses. 

The customer service and support are bad. The response time from the support team was not very satisfactory. They also struggled with handling cases from different time zones.

Neutral

I would rate my experience with the initial setup a six out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy. 

I would rate it as a six out of ten, one being cheap and ten being expensive, because pricing depends on the model and negotiation. Sometimes we manage to get good discounts, sometimes not.

It's an all-inclusive license, so there are no additional charges. It's a one-time license fee for the device.

Overall, Dell PowerStore is a good platform, but it's not the best, in my opinion, due to the support issues and stability concerns. 

Additionally, the shift from a storage controller to Dell servers as the controller is not ideal for a storage operating environment. Ultimately, it's a Dell Server working on the software for PowerStore.

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