Dell PowerStore Reviews

We are using Dell PowerStore for different kinds of workloads. They use Dell PowerStore for mission-critical or high-performance purposes. 

We have customers all across the globe and in different verticals, including manufacturing, healthcare, and finance. HCL Tech provides Dell PowerStore, and we also create a service model for end customers similar to storage as a service that Dell offers. There is a big contract between HCL Tech and Dell Technologies through which we use these Dell PowerStore devices and create storage as a service to support our end customers across the globe.

Our team is validating Dell PowerStore for some Gen AI use cases, but we are still working on that as it's not finalized.

We mainly work with 3000 and 5000 models. We don't work much with the entry level models.

We are using these storage devices in our data center or our Colo facility. We offer storage as a service, and it helps us to maintain our SLA, which is very important. There should be no P1s. Dell PowerStore provides ease of work.

We get efficiency. There are cross-replication features with the additional hardware. That gives the additional edge in terms of performance throughput. There are some other features as well to help us meet our customer requirements.

One customer on their old hardware had a DRR of only 2:1, but with Dell PowerStore, they got a DRR of 5:1. That's the level of efficiency they get. On the existing hardware, I would have to deploy one petabyte storage box to address customer requirements, whereas with PowerStore, I only need 500 terabytes of usable capacity to address the same requirement. That helps us to reduce our overall rack, space, or power requirements.

We create unified storage boxes for various workload requirements of our customers. We are able to get better efficiency for different workloads. We can easily showcase to customers the capability or value proposition with Dell PowerStore to address multiple workloads and provide efficiency on the storage side. With other platforms, I have to use specific protocol-based devices, not the unified one.

Performance-wise, it's completely fine. Be it database workload, apps, VMs, or any other workload. We were able to address the same. For one of the customers, we were using different workloads in the same box. We were able to meet the expectation for our end customer in terms of IOPS or throughput. We didn't face any challenges. It gives us high DRR even if we have multiple workloads.

It is easy to use. With the same portal, I can manage everything.

The most important aspect of Dell PowerStore in comparison to any other platform is that it helps us save costs while giving more value per GB per dollar spent. It provides an industry-leading DRR ratio. I can get a five-to-one DRR on Dell PowerStore, which helps bring more capacity in 1U or 2U platforms. It helps save not only on the storage box itself but also on power and rack space. It delivers high performance without compromising anything on the performance side. That's a major advantage with Dell PowerStore. 

It improves operational efficiency because the portal through which we can access the devices is very convenient. We can configure and assign storage to different VMs or different resources. In the same single pane of glass, we can access multiple devices.

One thing they need to work on is creating an app sync or the Metro Cluster functionality. Currently, it requires a different hop as we have to add multiple switches to build that functionality for replication from one data center to another. If that could be bundled in a base Dell PowerStore by default, it would be great. That's because most of the time, we are doing the same replications, and if that can be enabled without any additional license or hardware, it would be very beneficial.

It has been close to six to seven years now.

We have not experienced any stability issues.

We are able to scale up or scale out effectively. There are certain cases where we decided to go with a certain capacity on day one, but depending on growth and future plans, we can extend the same box by adding more disks. We can add more controllers and scale out too. All those options are available, and there are operational considerations while doing that. In terms of taking some downtime if required, it won't be a significant task for us with Dell PowerStore.

I am not the person who is directly connected with the tech support team, but from our team's feedback, we were able to get the right support from Dell, and their people are responsive in addressing tickets.

With one or two accounts, we faced some challenges due to patch upgrades, but after Dell resolved the issue, it's pretty straightforward, and we're finding it very easy.

All the upgrades we have done are from other devices to Dell PowerStore, not from Dell PowerStore to Dell PowerStore.

Based on customer requirements and performance, we need to identify the right product of Dell PowerStore. Starting from 1200, 3200, 5200, 9200, we need to define which category or SKU we need in terms of exact performance requirements to provide better results. If there is a requirement for higher IOPS and we go with the 3200, that could become an issue at a later stage. If we need more capacity or higher IOPS, then we have to go with a higher box that can address the requirements.

We generally utilize ProDeploy services from Dell. With ProDeploy services, we need to ensure site readiness and follow basic steps before the Dell engineer arrives for installation and configuration. We need to complete all prerequisites required for those services and plan accordingly with the Dell engineer.

We are able to bring an advantage of close to 10% to 15% at least. In some cases, depending on capacity, it can go even higher.

HCL Tech has a TLA with Dell, so in terms of price point, we are very competitive. 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.

Dell PowerStore gives better performance in terms of dollar value spent because it provides higher efficiency and better performance than other products. The cons include a few use cases where you might face challenges, such as workload issues due to patch configuration needs. 

Overall, Dell PowerStore is very competitive in the market and able to beat the competition. I'm getting the same unified platform, which can address different workloads on the same device, giving better value for money in a secure and agile environment. 

I would rate Dell PowerStore a ten out of ten.

Dell PowerStore provides measurable benefits in performance because it uses all-flash disks while our old storage relied on mechanical hard disks. We noticed significant performance improvements between mechanical storage and flash storage, and I believe this represents a major impact.

Dell PowerStore has deduplication, but it may need more enhancement because in our case, it was not as efficient as Dell Data Domain. Dell PowerStore's deduplication ratio was 1.5 or two, so perhaps it needs some enhancement in that area. We experienced an issue when we upgraded the firmware of the disks. When Dell released a firmware version and we upgraded it, some disks failed as a result, so we did not upgrade all of the disks. Dell recommended replacing the failed disk afterward and canceled the firmware upgrade from their website because the upgrade had an issue.

From a features perspective regarding Dell PowerStore, the interface is somewhat slow and needs some enhancement. The web interface for Dell PowerStore requires some improvement.

I have been working here since 2010, which is 15 years now.

In terms of operation, Dell PowerStore has supported us and we have not faced any issues with it. In terms of speed and performance, it performs very well.

The technical support I received from Dell for Dell PowerStore was satisfactory. When we faced the firmware upgrade issue, we called them and they solved the problem. It did not take much time, but it was eventually resolved and they replaced the defective parts.

Negative

We faced a challenge while deploying Dell PowerStore with the partner in implementing NVMe because it was a new offering from Dell and the partner did not have sufficient knowledge to implement it.

During implementation of Dell PowerStore, we upgraded our virtual infrastructure from VMware 7 to VMware 8, and Dell PowerStore offered a new feature for implementing NVMe over Fibre Channel. This had a significant impact on performance and speed, but at that time, it was a new feature and the partner lacked sufficient knowledge to implement it. After conducting research and trials, we eventually implemented it successfully.

To be honest, the pricing of Dell PowerStore is somewhat high, but in terms of features and performance, it is suitable. My advice to other organizations considering Dell PowerStore is to select the suitable model because there is no one model that fits all organizations. Selecting the suitable model for each company and each specific need will be beneficial. I would rate this product an 8 out of 10.

We use Dell PowerStore for backup and for database use in the pharmacy industry. We are not clustering a lot of appliances together with Dell PowerStore. Dell PowerStore helps us consolidate 100% of our data, and we have a backup contracting in the cloud.

Next year, we are planning to make a recovery station with Dell PowerStore, a power station located in another province, another state of Argentina. We are building the premise right now to locate the server in this location. We can use all Dell servers to make a recovery station for data and applications.

The features I like most about Dell PowerStore are the reliability, the time, and the performance. Reliability is very, very, very good.

The environment control in our data center affects Dell PowerStore servers significantly, as we have the servers in conditions required for humidity, temperature, and dust to be very controlled. When the servers are under these conditions, they are durable and predictable. We have a new UPS and controller supply for the current to the servers with filters, and it works very well with Schneider UPS.

We are not currently using deduplication or compression technologies with Dell PowerStore, and at this moment, we have no data about the technology from the recovery technology. In the next month, we might have a decision on the technology to be used. We have SAP offering tools for backing up the databases, and we might be using the SAP tools.

I have four years of experience with Dell PowerStore.

My experience with Dell helping me set up is very good, and the servers are very hard to break. It is a good machine to do the job.

I do not have the exact data on the ability to add capacity in single drive increments versus the drive packs with Dell PowerStore. If you would like, you can send me an email with the precise data and I will reply as soon as I have the exact models and capacities.

I would rate Dell support for Dell PowerStore as a ten, but we have support via a dealer in Cordoba, from five hundred kilometers from Tucumán. We have a contract service based on demand. The basic maintenance is done in-house, and it is very easy, just the filters. The software maintenance is contracted; for SAP, it is contracted via a consulting firm, and for Oracle, it is contracted via a supplier in Austria. All third-party. The little parts are maintained in-house. We do not have a contract with Dell directly, only through a representative.

Positive

The company evaluated changing to IBM, but IBM was discarded, and we bought a new set of servers four months ago. The decision to discard IBM as a potential replacement was primarily economically driven, and the technology involved in the IBM servers is not what we are familiar with. We are using SAP in ERP and using a version, a special version of Linux and Oracle in some parts of the business. Migrating the data, the server, and the application to another server with IBM is very hard. IBM is a good server, just not for us. Another industry might be better, but for us, Dell is better. Dell is a little more economical, not so expensive, and the service contract with IBM is very expensive from Argentina, and the ROI is better in Dell.

The initial setup of Dell PowerStore was contracted to a consulting firm from Dell directly, and the server was configured remotely.

The price of Dell PowerStore is balanced in cost versus performance. The quality should not be compromised for the price. You get what you pay for.

I do not have the model of Dell PowerStore in mind right now. I do not have data on using the lifecycle extension to upgrade to a next-generation product. My experience with Dell PowerStore deployment is that it is very easy. I would rate this review an eight overall.

Dell PowerStore is primarily used for both block and file storage because it functions as a unified block and file storage system.

The most valuable features in Dell PowerStore are the Metro Volume features that are built-in without requiring an additional component. Unity required a VPLEX to have a Metro, but Dell PowerStore has an inbuilt option to have a Metro Volume.

Dell PowerStore has supported operational success.

I would like to see additional features or functionalities for the Metro in Dell PowerStore, especially because there are a few workloads still not supported.

The workloads I would like to see supported in Dell PowerStore are mainly for VMware, and other workloads are not officially mentioned, such as Hyper-V and Nutanix. I would also like to see improvements in the replication, which is currently completely network level replication. If everything goes through SAN, that would be much better.

I have been using Dell PowerStore recently, specifically for the last six months.

I would assess the stability and reliability of Dell PowerStore as very good, considering it as a midrange storage solution.

I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues with Dell PowerStore.

I do not use any performance metrics or benchmarks because we have not experienced any latency or anything from the user end with Dell PowerStore. We are not using any tool to assess performance.

I would rate the technical support for Dell PowerStore as eight on a scale from one to ten. I have contacted support a couple of times, and the experience has been satisfactory.

The response time for Dell PowerStore is good, and the first-level support quality is satisfactory.

Positive

Before using Dell PowerStore, I worked with Unity, the normal version, not XT.

I decided to switch to Dell PowerStore after six years because it reached end-of-support.

The deployment of Dell PowerStore was straightforward.

I did not take part in the deployment of Dell PowerStore in my system.

Before finally choosing Dell PowerStore, I did not really evaluate other options.

Dell PowerStore does not play a role in my organization's AI initiatives.

My role in using Dell PowerStore is as an administrator.

I would recommend Dell PowerStore to others in the mid-range segment. My overall rating for Dell PowerStore is eight out of ten.

We use Dell PowerStore for storage management. We are using the 500T model. We have a standalone box and are not currently clustering multiple appliances.

The management portal is particularly user-friendly. We can access it easily, and the management software is not complicated.

With the recent firmware upgrade, we have a feature to restrict the bandwidth and throughput specifically for the volume.

The compression and deduplication that Dell PowerStore offers is performing well, especially compared to our previous storage solutions. We are achieving approximately a 2.8:1 ratio.

One suggestion for improvement would be related to volume management by both controllers. Currently, a volume is managed by a single controller, with alternate controllers managing different volumes based on load distribution. For example, if volume one is managed by controller one, volume two will be managed by controller two. In other vendors' solutions, both controllers participate in the I/Os. It would be more efficient if the volumes were controlled by both controllers in an active-active configuration.

The firmware upgrade takes longer than the other boxes. It should be better.

We have been using Dell PowerStore for three years.

I would rate the stability of the product at eight out of ten.

We experienced some concerns during a previous firmware upgrade when the controllers became unresponsive, which affected operations.

We have not performed any online scaling or scale-out operations as we use a simple standalone box. However, I believe the scalability features would be good, though I cannot speak from direct experience.

We have about 1,000 users.

I would rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

Neutral

We have NetApp AFF400, which is also good. However, since Dell PowerStore is a mid-range storage solution, it cannot be directly compared with our enterprise storage solutions. We use CloudIQ with Dell PowerStore.

It is easy. It took about a week.

We are not using ransomware protection. It is enabled in the new code, but we are not using any ransomware protection. We take a snapshot for any protection.

It is user-friendly, so we can easily manage storage. Many features are there. Compression is good, and the data configuration is good. 

I would rate Dell PowerStore an eight out of ten.

Dell PowerStore is used primarily for conducting demos for customers, proof of concepts, and projects such as migration projects.

Dell PowerStore has become much easier to manage because of my background with EMC storage dating back to Symmetrix and CLARiiON. The ability to quickly engage with the interface means customers can become proficient after just an hour walk-through and are ready to proceed immediately.

I actively use Dell AIOps, and it has proven beneficial in our operations.

I have been able to consolidate data using Dell PowerStore with the data reduction it offers.

The new 5.0 release and the new hardware for Dell PowerStore include many of the features we were looking for.

With approximately 25 years of experience working in my current field, I bring extensive expertise to the table.

I would rate the technical support for Dell PowerStore as an eight out of ten. The responsiveness could be faster, but once you reach the higher tier engineering for major problems, they are very good.

Prior to adopting Dell PowerStore, I used Unity, the SC, and PowerMax.

Regarding ROI, for us, it really does not impact much because as a partner, we pick it up inexpensively. However, for our customers, we have transitioned many from using vSANs and VX Rails with vSANs to using VX Rails with the dynamic node and Dell PowerStore. They manage to downsize their new clusters by having the storage disaggregated, resulting in savings by having basically less compute.

Before selecting Dell PowerMax, we considered Dell PowerStore as it was the central product for everything we sold, fitting perfectly in the sweet spot. We also looked at PowerVault for specific use cases such as backups, but in general, Dell PowerStore is our work engine.

We are not enrolled in a Lifecycle Extension, formerly the Anytime Upgrade Program, but we have customers that are. Those customers who participate in the program benefit primarily from preventing obsolescence, which is the main driver for them.

My advice to other organizations considering Dell PowerStore is to look at the reliability and the history of the company and its heritage. That is the most important factor to me. The performance is great, and the features are all impressive, but the solid foundation is critical.

I would rate this review an eight out of ten.

I don't use Dell PowerStore myself, but we sell it, set it up for customers, and we are also the best certified, Europe-wide, I think, also for the PowerStore area with Bechtle.

You need block storage whenever you want to give your virtual machines storage where the hard drives are essentially located. For that you rather need block storage, or for databases.

The challenge with Dell PowerStore was MetroCluster, so recently it's been feature-wise MetroCluster over Fibre Channel. I think with the new update, Dell PowerStore has that now as well, and there was a discussion going on for years where people said Fibre Channel is a very German topic and people prefer to use Ethernet. The Americans recently realized they would develop this, and they even introduced the feature for Bechtle as well.

I consider the active-active MetroCluster the most valuable function on Dell PowerStore.

To growth and business success, Dell PowerStore contributes definitely because the appliances have these expansion enclosures and scale-up and scale-out work pretty well with Dell PowerStore, up to a certain degree. Ultimately the machines themselves are also very powerful. I think especially in growth phases, small and medium-sized businesses benefit from the fact that because it has a dual-controller architecture, both controllers run simultaneously and also work accordingly. They get an extremely good package for the money they invest.

The things where Dell PowerStore should be improved have now been improved and are being introduced with the new update.

Then it's actually great regarding everything with Dell PowerStore. You can always talk about the price.

For a rating of ten, what's missing is knowing quite reliably that you end up with the right support team for your problem because way too often you have a problem, call support, and then end up with people who repair laptops. They say they have no idea. The last time I had to do a major troubleshooting, you had to somehow go to Dell America, or I think you get routed via Ireland or something. That's sometimes a bit complicated, and if everything were German-speaking, that would of course be even better, but you can't always expect that.

I have been working in my field for three years.

I wouldn't know what could keep up with Dell PowerStore regarding stability and reliability.

On a scale from one to ten regarding stability and reliability, I would rate it a ten.

I find Dell's support great. I can't imagine a time when they said no idea, go look somewhere else.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate it a nine.

Positive

From other manufacturers, I consider Dell PowerStore alongside something similar to NetApp FAS and Pure Storage, which is also in the block storage area. Every manufacturer has something going for them, but Dell definitely offers the best overall package.

Quality has its price regarding Dell PowerStore. The feature set of Dell PowerStore is so competitive that it can easily put the market admirers in its pocket and simply represents a better product.

I actually haven't really dealt with licensing that much yet.

The network is always a big thing with implementations of Dell PowerStore because especially Dell PowerStore with the network—you want jumbo frames, and on Dell networks they're set a bit differently on the switches.

Regarding AI initiatives, I'd say quite good, because not everyone has a manual in their head on how to use Dell PowerStore. If you can use AI to do certain things for you and to troubleshoot, I think that's quite good.

I would rate this review a nine overall.

The main use cases for Dell PowerStore in my case involve using it as primary storage for a mid-range of applications hosted on VMware, as well as in disaster recovery.

We are working with multiple industries. We provide services to a variety of companies, including several security firms and financial institutions such as banks. Additionally, we operate our own site as well.

One of my customers has the 500 series. They have multiple clusters in their primary data center. If I recall correctly, they operate with four or five nodes. From what I understand, it's fine for moving and optimizing workloads within the cluster. Previously, there was a different kind of storage, such as Unity and VNX, from which they migrated. There were numerous quality of service and performance issues back then. However, since migrating to PowerStore, I believe everything is quite optimized. We haven't observed any issues in the two years since the migration.

My experience with the deployment of Dell PowerStore was good. It was easy and straightforward. The migration was quite quick compared to other storage solutions, and provisioning was smooth as well.

The best features of Dell PowerStore that I most appreciate are its performance and the quality of service it provides. The snapshot and replication features are much improved compared to previous mid-range storages. 

In terms of improving Dell PowerStore, they should have simplified documents available for customers, not just for the support team. We faced issues that were hard to resolve without easy access to information, which could aid in quicker resolutions.

I have almost three and a half years of experience with Dell PowerStore, and overall with storage and backup, I have over 10 years of experience.

I find Dell PowerStore stable.

We haven't expanded Dell PowerStore yet, but according to the documentation, it is quite easy to extend. It does take some time to distribute the data among nodes, but we haven't experienced scaling issues as we are currently at 65% capacity.

I would rate Dell's customer service or technical support highly because I was part of Dell EMC in Johannesburg from 2015 to 2018. I know how they work, and their timely responses and resolutions have been quite good. I would rate it an eight.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward, with the help of the Dell team. After hard installation and upgrades, we were up and network-ready in about six hours, including rack and stack, management, and hosting, and then we began migration the next day.

For that client, the deployment model we uses was on-premises, not private cloud or anything else.

Based on my experience, I would rate Dell PowerStore an eight out of ten.

It's connected to our VMware environment. We have two appliances. We are using 1200T. We are clustering between two sides in the same building.

Dell PowerStore is very stable. After we completed the installation, we haven't made many changes except for a few updates. The Dell support is very good to work with. 

Dell PowerStore has a nice user interface and works as it should. It's fast and stable to work with, and it seems to be good for our purpose. 

The cybersecurity and data resiliency features are also good. Management capabilities are also good.

They could improve the upgrade process. Currently, there are many manual steps required before upgrading the firmware. Making that process more automatic would be beneficial.

We have been using the solution for about two years.

The workload performance is very good, but we have a rather small installation of Dell PowerStore. It's connected to our vCenter and VMware. We just use it as block storage for VMs.

In our case, we haven't needed to scale yet, as we have half the capacity not being used. If we want to expand the volume of disk storage, we only need to install more disks, making it easy to scale.

I would rate their support a ten out of ten.

Positive

I have only worked with EMC and Dell.

The initial setup was very easy. I have also updated it a few times. The system requires updates approximately once every year, and Dell support is very good.

We worked with a Dell consultant. Our experience was excellent.

The solution helps us save money and provides good returns.

It might not be the cheapest product on the market. The purchase was made two years ago, and I'm not certain if the price has increased or decreased since then.

I would rate Dell PowerStore a ten out of ten. 

Some of the main use cases for Dell PowerStore include storing typical user data and virtual machines.

The best features of Dell PowerStore fall in line with most other SANs. The best features include reliability, redundancy, and snapshotting, which are typical capabilities when it comes to a SAN. Dell PowerStore has impacted my organization positively because we have reduced outages. The performance is great and the reliability is excellent. We have had nothing but a positive experience with it.

As far as how Dell PowerStore could be improved, anything can be improved. I would say it needs easier or increased compatibility with other storage solutions for easier application, such as Dell's own PowerVault. They don't communicate or talk to each other, and they don't replicate to each other, which makes it harder to mix and match.

I have used Dell PowerStore for one year.

The scalability of Dell PowerStore is fine and we're happy with that. It is easy to expand Dell PowerStore; you can just buy another one and constantly grow it.

Their support is something I would rate a 10 because I don't have problems with support. This is one of the reasons why we continue using them. They're responsive, knowledgeable, and have a quick turnaround.

Positive

I did use a different solution prior to this year of using Dell PowerStore; we used Compellent. The biggest difference between Compellent and Dell PowerStore is that Compellent was end-of-lifed, so we had no option to continue using it. We had to roll over to something else.

The initial setup of Dell PowerStore is straightforward and not complex. On a scale of one to 10, I would place the setup ease of Dell PowerStore at around an eight.

Dell PowerStore does help reduce my organization's capital expenditures.

We were evaluating other options before choosing Dell PowerStore. We compared Dell PowerStore to other options such as Pure Storage and Unity, as well as NetApp. For us, Dell PowerStore has a lower entry level, where the others started out at a much bigger scale compared to NetApp.

It's a well-known product that seems to be at a cost advantage compared to others. I have been able to consolidate data using Dell PowerStore. Dell PowerStore offers dedupe, which is a standard in this area. For the few, we have close to a petabyte of data, and you save quite a good amount of storage there, about 20 to 30% of your storage comes back because of dedupe. Compression and deduplication technologies are very important for my organization because most of our data resides on virtual machines, and the more virtual machines you have, the better dedupe ratios we get. Overall, I would rate Dell PowerStore an eight.