Dell PowerVault Reviews

I use Dell PowerVault in my company as storage for workload store.

Dell PowerVault is cost-effective as a storage solution, and I see it has competitive pricing with other vendors. I recommend Dell PowerVault all the time if the customer doesn't have enough budget.

Dell PowerVault is a small storage solution, and we can implement it in one day.

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.

Security as a layer is how Dell PowerVault's scalability impacts my storage capabilities. I don't face any issues with security with Dell PowerVault.

The stability of Dell PowerVault is good; I would rate it a nine.

I would like Dell PowerVault to be integrated with all other vendor hardware; it requires improvement.

I have been using Dell PowerVault for around 10 years.

For my organization, the big problems with deploying Dell PowerVault are around migration from the other vendor as an old appliance to the new solution.

Security as a layer is how Dell PowerVault's scalability impacts my storage capabilities. I don't face any issues with security with Dell PowerVault. We propose Dell PowerVault for small organizations, not big organizations.

I would recommend Dell's technical support as a nine. The follow-up is good, and supporting Dell PowerVault is very easy.

For the licensing cost of Dell PowerVault, we can recommend it as an eight. The pricing is very good, there's no issue with it, and the price is very cheap. We can take more discounts from Dell according to deal registration; it's not a big problem with Dell PowerVault.

For AI, if the customer needs a storage solution to work with the AI solution, I am already recommending PowerStore, not Dell PowerVault. Dell PowerVault is not intelligent enough with AI, it includes some features but is not intelligent like PowerStore.

I recommend Dell PowerVault for cost reduction and for small organizations, but if the customer is a medium or enterprise customer and will be integrated with the power of AI applications, I recommend another storage solution like PowerStore or PowerMax.

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.

I use Dell PowerVault for basically all use cases.

It's a cheaper storage option that is easy to manage and provision.

The day-to-day operation is very straightforward, and once deployed, there are not many operational tasks required.

Dell PowerVault is very simple and easy to use and understand.

It is very easy to manage.

For customers who require entry-level storage, Dell PowerVault is an excellent choice.

The price point is very good compared to mid-range options.

The product offers multiple options including all-flash and hybrid storage, so both options are available to customers.

For Dell PowerVault, the deduplication and compression features need improvement.

The deduplication and compression are not very effective on this storage. If they work on this feature, it would be very beneficial.

I have been working with Dell PowerVault for approximately eight years.

Dell PowerVault has a limitation of scalability.

It can go up to only 250 drives, as far as I remember.

Customer expectations are that if they have purchased the product from the vendor, at least the startup should be completed by the vendor.

It will not take more than 30 minutes to deploy the box.

Negative

Dell PowerVault is the same product as HP MSA.

Both are OEMs from Seagate, so both storage solutions are the same with no difference.

I am still deploying Dell solutions as well as HP and Huawei products.

PowerEdge servers are the basic servers, and I am also working with Dell PowerVault.

I have not done bi-directional replication on ME5, but I have knowledge about it.

It is basically asynchronous replication, and it only supports async.

I have not configured the snapshot feature, but it has the option to schedule snapshots.

When discussing AI applications, block storage will not work in that context.

Those applications require a parallel file system, which is an altogether different kind of storage.

I work on both remote and on-premises deployments, and I usually work on-premises.

I am not 100% certain about the cloud deployment model.

I would rate this product a 10 overall.

Because of reliability and consistency of the product, the typical use case for Dell PowerVault is very strong.

The solution is easy to configure and reliable. The performance is very good.

Storage consolidation is quite easy to configure on it.

Dell PowerVault's interface is user-friendly.

I think expandability could be improved for Dell PowerVault. It should be easier to expand and get expansion on it.

I have worked on Dell PowerVault for more than seven to eight years.

It is a stable solution in my opinion.

It is a scalable solution, but there are few limitations. The scalability is present but it is a bit complex to scale to the desired level. When we needed to increase the performance, we faced some issues.

I would rate my experience with technical support as nine out of ten.

Positive

We had a partner, not an integrator, reseller, or consultant for the deployment.

The first time was a bit complicated as we were having difficulties adapting it within our system for the initial setup of Dell PowerVault. Once it was adapted, it has been performing quite well.

We had a partner, not an integrator, reseller, or consultant for the deployment.

Regarding the return on investment with Dell PowerVault, we have definitely seen cost savings.

The pricing is quite competitive in the market for the solution. When compared with HP and IBM, the price is quite competitive, though it could be better. We were getting other products at a cheaper price but we preferred Dell PowerVault as a partner because of the brand name.

The experience has been good with Dell PowerVault.

I am a customer and end user of Dell solutions.

I do not use Dell PowerVault's data protection mechanisms.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate this solution an 8.

Dell PowerVault is our primary solution for providing out-of-band and out-of-reach backup capabilities. We utilize it to create a secure cyber vault backup where we maintain a mirror of our system. In the event of a critical incident such as ransomware or other compromise, we can spin up the system in a location that is not connected to the main network and cannot be infected or compromised in any other way. This air-tight environment allows us to spin up our hypervisor and then select restore points to effectively restore and move them to production.

We have established a certain window during the day when we open the connection between our cyber vault environment and the production environment. During this time, the entire set of data covering the last 24 hours is replicated within Dell PowerVault. As soon as the replication is completed, the connection is shut down. We only use single direction replication from production to Dell PowerVault, and until now, there has been no need to use bi-directional replication.

The security of the backup and the overall system that Dell PowerVault brings to the table is definitely the most valuable feature. We have a system running in the background as a mirror of our production system, yet that system is completely cut off. This mainly gives us time to react and provides us with peace of mind that if something happens, we can be up and running within a span of approximately 30 minutes.

Provisioning with Dell PowerVault is very easy, and replication can also be straightforward. Snapshots, when using Veeam, have a tendency to go haywire and we have had to go on site to clean up some snapshots that went stuck or jammed and start over.

Beyond that one issue where Veeam went haywire and we had to clear up a certain amount of snapshots and restart the replication job, nothing else has happened until today, and I hope it will remain that way.

I have only had one deployment of Dell PowerVault, which is bank-related, so I am not certain how much data I am allowed to share. This was a customer-related deployment with Dell PowerVault. However, I have played quite extensively with Dell PowerVault in our lab environment.

Until today, we have experienced no stability issues. Dell PowerVault is running on VMware, which is the underlying OS on the Dell PowerEdge servers. Everything has been smooth sailing until today.

We have not experienced any scalability issues. Until today, we did not have any need for the scalability of Dell PowerVault. I am not certain that we will in the future because Dell PowerVault is fairly simple software to maintain.

Dell PowerVault is very easy to set up as an environment. With either VMware or Linux operating on SUSE, you are ready to go within an hour or two. You can either utilize the OVA or deploy it in a containerized environment. At our client location, we are running Linux with Dell PowerVault and a Data Domain connected to it. On certain periods of the day, it establishes the connection with the on-production Data Domain, performs the replication, and then cuts the connection off. This effectively gives us backed up data that is out of the reach of the main network, which from our perspective is an extremely safe way to move forward.

The setup process is very straightforward. The only difference between Dell PowerVault and setting up the Data Domain within the production environment is that you have one extra OVA and one extra network connection.

From what I know, Dell PowerVault is fairly within the budget for our operations and for our client's operations.

I have never encountered a similar product to Dell PowerVault. There are products that provide a certain extent of secure backups or secure backup repositories, but not the type that Dell PowerVault offers.

I can discuss the user experience and the technology itself, as long as it is not related to any customer data.

We only worked with the in-built GUI of Dell PowerVault, so I am not certain which version it was. If you are using the in-built GUI of Dell PowerVault for the first time, there will be some learning curve, though any software has a steeper or less steep learning curve when used for the first time. For me as somebody with experience, the learning curve was not tremendous. It is easy to navigate around. However, if you are at a junior level, you might need certain adjustments.

For my use at this time, there is literally nothing missing in Dell PowerVault. The product, as it stands, is as perfect as it can get. I rate Dell PowerVault as a ten on a scale of one to ten.

We mostly provide the PowerEdge 760 series server along with implementing VXRail, and sometimes we offer backup solutions with Dell PowerVault and others.

Last year we set up a Dell server together with Dell PowerVault, and there is also a higher model that I forget the name of, but we provide Dell PowerVault for the backup solution.

We also use it for the production SAN storage at some other data centers, which makes managing comprehensive storage data management features such as snapshots, replication, and provisioning effective.

As for now, I don't work with Dell products much since we focus on Oracle products. We have another team that addresses networking products such as Dell and other solutions.

Dell PowerVault has two controllers, and I find that feature most valuable.

It is easy to configure.

Dell PowerVault is easy to integrate, especially with third-party solutions, as we use it inside Oracle VM and Oracle Linux virtualization along with a backup solution.

Dell PowerVault has contributed to staying within budget since it's an entry-level product that allows customers to decrease their budget.

As for now, I have no idea about any additional features I would like to see for Dell PowerVault in the future.

For the IT field, I have been working for over six years.

As far as I have been working with the product, I don't face many issues with Dell PowerVault's hardware, indicating good stability and reliability.

Mostly, at our customer sites, they are small-medium business networks, so I think they don't scale much with Dell PowerVault.

I would rate the technical support of Dell at a seven.

The technical support from Dell could be better.

Positive

I worked with something similar before Dell PowerVault.

It's easy to deploy and configure.

They can contact me if they have any questions about my review.

I believe Dell PowerVault is the best option on the market at the moment, especially for entry-level and budget solutions.

Dell PowerVault is an entry-level backup solution and storage. Dell PowerVault does provide an all-flash model.

It's well-known in our region. There are two partners of Dell that mostly do events, twice a month or so, and they demonstrate their hardware. If we ask them, they provide training, demonstrations, and good documentation.

We choose Power Vault when we need some basic storage, which would be deployed just behind the data call, for example, or just directly attached to a server. So it's regularly, it's not for a functional library. It's all basis needed process rate.

We like the simplicity of the environment and the stability of the platform.

The room for improvement lies in the responsiveness and real-time feedback of the web server setup. We could set up the installation through a web server, but it's not very reactive on the web server. For example, when you launch a task, and you don't know exactly if the task has begun or if the task is in progress, or if it's finished. You have to wait for three to five to ten minutes to be sure that the task is running or in progress or finished. So at that point, it's not very good. For the rest, we have a good organization for the platform. And it's working everywhere.

Another area of improvement is duplication. 

I have been working with this solution for 20 years.

The stability is quite good. Once you deploy all the equipment, it's very stable.

The stability also depends on the type of disk that is installed. But in general, this type of equipment is quite stable, and we have not had any problems with it.

You can extend your library. You can add some disks. But you have to rebuild your environment, so it's not very easy. And you can add some other libraries. You can add some cables to extend it, but it's not very easy to do. So it isn't very easy because the technique used to do that is not very easy. You have to work strictly to rebuild all the alignment. So, maybe this is an area of improvement.

There are around 10 to 15 customers using this solution.

The customer service and support are good.

The initial setup is quite easy. It is very intuitive. It is good.

The time taken for the deployment depends on the size of the storage. For a small storage, it could take half a day. For a large storage, the time to format and initialize the disks could take a while. So it could take one or two days.

We have a team of five engineers for the deployment and maintenance of the solution. 

The customers pay for the equipment, and it's not very expensive. There are no additional costs. 

You have to pay at the beginning for the equipment unless the equipment is not the right one. You have not chosen a good one, so you have to change, but you cannot improve some function of that equipment. You can improve the storage and the capacity, but you cannot improve the zone environment, the functional environment.

I would rate the pricing model a nine out of ten, with one being expensive and ten being cheap.

I would advise you to be sure that this type of equipment is the right one because if you want some advanced function, it's not a good one. So, to be sure that it's a good device for their environment. If not, you will not be very happy.

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

PowerVault is a mid-range model geared toward small and medium-sized businesses, and it's used for billing systems. 

PowerVault comes with free software that performs functions like data deduplication and replication, which is cost-effective and delivers added value to the product.

PowerVault doesn't integrate with Active Directory. Other storage solutions offer SAN and NAS unified storage in a single appliance, but PowerVault is only SAN.

I have used PowerVault for nearly five years. 

I rate PowerVault nine out of 10 for stability. It's easy to deploy and manage. However, I don't give it 10 out of 10 because it doesn't have an active-active controller. It's active-passive. You need to buy two units to deploy it as active-active, but we always deploy one. You don't experience full controller failure every day, so it's stable enough.

PowerVault is scalable. 

Dell has 24/7 support for hardware replacement. In most regions, Dell EMC uses partners to deliver support. The partner will handle the tickets and the spare parts. Of course, the partner will not be the same quality as the vendor. The response times, hardware replacement, delivery, etc. are not as good as direct support from Dell. 

If you are investing in on-premise storage, it's best to keep some spare parts on hand to keep your system running. The general support for questions, concerns, and troubleshooting bugs or firmware issues is excellent. They respond quickly. 

Deploying PowerVault is straightforward and only takes a couple of hours.

I rate PowerVault eight out of 10 for affordability. It's a cost-effective storage solution with a lot of capabilities. You need to pay additional costs for the operating system license and servers to use some of PowerVault's features. At the same time, a small business doesn't need to invest in two sites for SAN and NAS storage or purchase an additional server. 

You can only compare PowerVault to products by other vendors with a similar product line. For example, it would be fair to compare it with HP's enterprise products, but you could look at other storage for small and medium-sized businesses. 

QNAP is another cost-effective solution for SMBs, but PowerVault has more features that customers want, such as tiering, data reduction, compression, and certification. If a customer doesn't need those features, they can go for cheaper options like QNAP.  

I rate Dell PowerVault eight out of 10. It's a good solution for small and medium-sized businesses, but it has performance limitations, and it's hard to integrate. Still, it's a cost-effective solution with great features. 

We use Dell PowerVault for the storage consolidation of SMBs. 

Dell PowerVault offers valuable full flash storage. 

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 during these upgrade processes, as we sometimes need to shut down both controllers. This could be an area for improvement.

I have been working with the product for 15 years. 

The product is sufficient for the SMB market. In terms of size, it caters well to SMB needs, providing full flash for production and backup storage with nearline SAS disk.

I haven't contacted technical support yet. However, my customers are less satisfied than before with support. 

I rate the solution's pricing a seven to eight out of ten. 

The product is mostly for small and medium businesses. I rate it an eight out of ten.