Dell PowerVault is used for backup, recovery, and protection and we primarily use the ML3 and TL1000.
General Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Provides great performance, is easy to deploy, and offers a great warranty
Pros and Cons
- "The Dell warranty is the most valuable feature."
- "In most instances, clients are using Dell PowerVault with tape drives, but we want to transition them away from tape drives due to the risk of data loss."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The Dell warranty is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
In most instances, clients are using Dell PowerVault with tape drives, but we want to transition them away from tape drives due to the risk of data loss. We would prefer our clients to have a more real-time backup solution, both on-site and off-site, with off-site replication. Hopefully, this is a feature that Dell PowerVault can offer in the future.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell PowerVault for over 12 years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the stability of Dell PowerVault a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the scalability of Dell PowerVault an eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very responsive on my end, and we haven't had any issues with them. I am quite happy with their service.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also collaborate with Nakivo and Systematic when the client requires such solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment is straightforward and takes a maximum of one hour to finish.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost, compared to other solutions, is on the higher end. Since Dell does not have a direct presence in our area of operations, it means that clients incur additional costs for equipment warranty.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Dell PowerVault an eight out of ten due to its cost and the limited availability in our operational area.
Dell PowerVault is currently deployed on-premises, but we are exploring other hybrid options that will enable us to maintain a presence both on-premises and in the cloud.
We have at least ten clients that use Dell PowerVault.
We have reduced the size of our technical team from ten to three. Whenever we need additional personnel, we will hire contractors.
Most of the clients I deal with are Dell's global customers, as they maintain a direct relationship with Dell. Thus, we simply utilize our distribution channel to provide them with the products they desire. They manage their own licensing.
I recommend Dell PowerVault to others.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Highly reliable, good performance, and helpful support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Dell PowerVault is its performance."
- "The price of the solution could be lower."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Dell PowerVault for backups.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Dell PowerVault is its performance.
What needs improvement?
The price of the solution could be lower.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell PowerVault for approximately 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of Dell PowerVault has been great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have approximately 3,000 users using this solution and two administrators.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Dell is very good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Dell PowerStrore was simple and took approximately one day.
What about the implementation team?
We used the vendor for the implementation along with two of our employees.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Dell PowerVault could be reduced. It is more expensive than some IBM solutions.
What other advice do I have?
We are replacing this solution with Dell PowerStore.
I rate Dell PowerVault a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Dell PowerVault
January 2026
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Manager Enterprise Solutions at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Useful small to medium storage, beneficial for large video files, and priced well
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Dell PowerVault is its ability to provide small to medium-range storage. It doesn't have any specific standout features, but it's great for applications, such as surveillance where a large number of videos need to be recorded and performance isn't a priority."
- "Dell PowerVault could improve by having a higher cache and file protocol support added."
What is our primary use case?
Dell PowerVault is normally used for basic applications, such as web applications, exchange, and small environment virtualization. Additionally, it can be used for recording videos and data which does not require high performance.
How has it helped my organization?
Dell Power Vault has been extremely helpful in providing more storage capacity at an affordable price point. It's especially useful for customers who need additional storage but don't require high performance.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Dell PowerVault is its ability to provide small to medium-range storage. It doesn't have any specific standout features, but it's great for applications, such as surveillance where a large number of videos need to be recorded and performance isn't a priority. It helps customers avoid the need to purchase very expensive storage.
What needs improvement?
Dell PowerVault could improve by having a higher cache and file protocol support added.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell PowerVault for around eight to nine years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is priced reasonably.
I rate the stability of Dell PowerVault a seven out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have more than 20 customers currently using the solution. We plan to continue using Dell PowerVault for all small storage needs.
I rate the scalability of Dell PowerVault a seven out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is excellent. I would rate the support from Dell PowerVault a nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
It is basic storage so we didn't evaluate other solutions. Previous customers also use older versions of PowerVault, for example, the MD3 series, and they upgraded to newer versions.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Dell PowerVault is straightforward. Dell PowerVault only takes one person to deploy and configure it, with an additional helper for assisting.
What about the implementation team?
The installation can be done by the customer.
What was our ROI?
If Dell PowerVault meets your performance needs, it will have a good return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I rate the price of Dell PowerVault a nine out of ten.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We chose Dell PowerVault because it provided the best cost-to-benefit ratio. It provides better costs.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others is the solution is straightforward to implement and there's no need to pay for installation fees from the OEM, they can do it themself.
I would rate Dell PowerVault an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
General Manager at a manufacturing company with 1-10 employees
Good performance, stable, and well-priced
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are stability and response time."
- "I would like to see improvements made to the user interface."
What is our primary use case?
We are a solution provider and Dell EMC PowerVault is one of the products that we implement for our customers. The primary use is high available solutions, such as Hyper-V clusters or VMware clusters.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are stability and response time. Every time I need to use this product, I get a timely response.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see improvements made to the user interface.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Dell EMC PowerVault for approximately ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I like Dell as a brand because the products are stable.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't usually have the need to contact technical support. I do remember one incident between six and eight years ago where they and Symantec together provided support for a problem. It was a Dell PowerVault TL2000 and Backup Exec from Symantec (now known as Veritas Backup Exec).
When it comes to supporting our customers, they contact us. I like this because the customers are close to me and we can work on the problem ourselves.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
We provide this to our customers as a complete solution. We implement the product and then we support them after the implementation is complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think that it's the right price for this type of equipment. It is important to remember that the retail price may seem high, but the final price is usually different.
What other advice do I have?
We are not using the most current version, so I am not fully aware of what the current features are. As such, at the moment, I cannot recommend it one way or another to people. That said, in my experience with the version that I am using, I definitely recommend it.
I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
System Administrator at a tech company with 1-10 employees
An exceptionally stable and scalable tool with strong capabilities related to the system and data
Pros and Cons
- "Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
- "The high prices of the solution are an area of concern where improvements are required."
What is our primary use case?
Right now, Dell PowerVault is working okay, but it will become obsolete soon. I will have to look for a new solution in place of Dell PowerVault.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the solution is the strong and high capabilities related to the system and data.
What needs improvement?
The high prices of the solution are an area of concern where improvements are required.
In the future, I would like Dell PowerVault to provide me with replication features since, currently, it is a feature for which you need to make certain payments and is not included in the standard package provided by Dell.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell PowerVault for three years. I am a reseller of the solution. I use Dell PowerVault LTO7.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. In my company, we never had any stability issues with the product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
In Italy, my company deals with medium-sized businesses that use the solution, and it is something that you can count on your hands. As per my knowledge, I can say that there are 500 users of the solution. I don't know about how small and medium-sized companies are described in the UK.
How are customer service and support?
I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup was very easy. I rate the product's setup phase a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.
The solution is deployed on a hybrid cloud.
The product's deployment phase takes a few days.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Dell PowerVault is a really expensive product. For many solutions similar to Dell PowerVault, you need to make payments for the amount of GB you want to use. If you want to use the solution in TB, you must pay much more to use it.
I rate the product price a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall product a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
IT Director at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees
A good storage option that's stable and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is reliable and stable."
- "We need higher performance and more reliable storage."
What is our primary use case?
We are a hospital in Jordan, I'm the IT director and we are end users of this solution.
What is most valuable?
We have this solution running almost all the time and it's very reliable and stable.
What needs improvement?
I'll need to replace Dell soon because it's almost obsolete and considered old technology. If I continued using it, I'd need to increase its capacity. We need higher performance and more reliable storage. It's considered an expensive solution in Jordan, it would be better if the price could be reduced.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for nearly eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is stable and scalable but it's fallen behind our needs.
How are customer service and technical support?
We had some performance issues after our initial setup and they managed to resolve all the problems. I haven't needed to contact support since then.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not that straightforward. It involves SAN switches and some setup procedure that are a little complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing fees are expensive - whether that's specifically in Jordan, I'm not sure.
What other advice do I have?
If this solution is within your means as a storage option then I would recommend it.
I rate this solution an eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Coordinator at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to use and manage, good support, and reasonably-priced
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is easy to manage and easy to use."
- "In the next release, I would like the deduplication and compression included, as well as the flash technology. It doesn't currently use it."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case of this solution is for local software, which we use for the production of local ERPs that we use on-premises.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is easy to manage and easy to use.
What needs improvement?
Deduplication and compression is an area that needs development. This is currently not on the device.
In the next release, I would like the deduplication and compression included, as well as the flash technology. It doesn't currently use it.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution since February 2014. It's been more than six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have not had any issues, but I cannot say that it is very secure. We do not use any security protocols, but we have not had any issues with security.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is not flexible.
We have approximately 150 users, who are using this solution in our organization.
How are customer service and technical support?
We are satisfied with technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy and straightforward.
It's made by the technicians, which made it easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is reasonable and we are satisfied with it.
What other advice do I have?
I could not recommend this solution to others, because the technology is old. There are other Dell models that I would recommend, but not this one.
I would rate Dell EMC PowerVault an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Technical Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Entry level storage array. Has limited scalability - perhaps below 100 server environments.
What is most valuable?
Extending volume sizes.
How has it helped my organization?
It allows on demand without disruption to growing the size of a volume which then in turn allows a system to see more disk capacity previously this required downtime and had to be schedule out of hours.
What needs improvement?
Better monitoring / event logs and firmware upgrade process.
For how long have I used the solution?
2 years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
No the San was fairly easy to install and the documentation is good.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Only once when the storage array seem to be very slow and caused VMware Hosts to not see the volumes.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Not yet, as this was for a small virtualisation environment of 20 servers and 100 desktops.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Very good general Dell Storage support is very responsive.
Technical Support:Technical knowledge was good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
EMC AX3, due to high hardware and maintenance costs Dell was selected.
How was the initial setup?
Was easy to setup.
What about the implementation team?
Vendor team, Ultima Business Solutions.
What was our ROI?
1 year.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Setup cost was £30k hard to determine day to day costs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Dell EqualLogic was reviewed but deemed too expensive for the use case.
What other advice do I have?
Understand that this is a entry level storage array and has limited scalability perhaps below 100 server environments.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. We're a Dell partner
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Updated: January 2026
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