Dell EMC Unity XT reviews

Delivers High IOPS, but more important, low latency as this is the most important part for our usage.

• VMware integration, why is pretty self-explanatory, though Nimble offers better VMware integration then EMC does, which is odd given where EMC comes from.
• Veeam Backup integration: Veeam is the defacto standard for backing up of virtual environments.
• Fibre Channel support

I’d say better VMware integration. Currently, EMC relies on an additional VM (virtual machine) for integration with vCenter, whereas Nimble interfaces directly without the need of an additional virtual machine.

Both products are fully HTML5 compliant, which makes me very happy. We have been able to fully eliminate Adobe Flash thanks to this.

Firmware Upgrades in EMC Unity require you to manually download OS and Drive firmware, this should be integrated (Nimble does this). When you order an EMC Unity, you have to specify the block size. This is weird for me and even weirder that you cannot change this afterwards, you should be able to specify per LUN/datastore (Nimble does this as well).

No.

Not yet.

Decreased administration efforts, improved manageability.

• User friendly interface
• Scalability
• It is shipped with all licensed, included for this product range, no need to buy additional licenses
• Flexible support plans 
• Prompt answers from EMC support

Thick provisioning of LUNs.

Firmware management form EMC. Strange way to populate firmware based on spread ratio among the customers of EMC Unity.

Yes, but did not affect systems which relay on it. Firmware patch was released by EMC.

Not for now.

Easy to use. For beginners, it is very interactive.

The company migrated data from an older NetApp storage. The entire environment is virtualized. The amount of fast cache is great for meeting all demands.

All areas, since the entire environment is virtualized. In Brazil, price and native unity migration tools are not very good yet.

Still using.

No, but I found some articles about a code upgrade that solved some issues.

No problem. During installation, I added more disks and this activity ran without problem.

EMC technical support is great. With support, chat works well to talk with someone about any kind of problem. The only problem is some support agents take a lot of time to understand your issue.

I have worked implementing storage for at least 10 years. So yes, I used a huge number of solutions before. In this case, the customer changed because the warranty of his older storage expired.

The implementation went smoothly. The startup tool is very easy to use.

I believe there are other cheaper options, but you are not paying just for the "iron". The support in storage environment is a crucial thing to consider. Also, consider buying more flash disks for fast cache.

HPE 3PAR

Implement views using consistency groups. It is easier to replicate LUNs, take snapshots, etc. Also, you can't use fast cache with SSD storage pools.

It has increased the reliability in our organization and it is cost effective.

• Replication and reporting
• Replication of the communication object (COB) scenarios

The EMC VNX Virtual Data Mover (VDM) software needs more improvement.

There were no stability issues.

We did not encounter any scalability issues.

I would give technical support a rating of 9/10.

Previously, we were using the EMC VNX solution and I am still using it.

The setup was straightforward. It is just simple clicks. You just need to follow the manuals and the instructions.

This product is cheaper than the EMC VNX solution. It is good for small businesses.

We evaluated other solutions, namely Nutanix and NetApp.

• EMC is known for its reliability
• This product is good
• It is easy to install and maintain
• It operates with low maintenance and manpower costs

I really like the true unified storage box.

We use it as block storage. We are hosting Video on Demand Service and it is doing pretty well. Previously, VNX required separate hardware to support file based storage which is not required anymore.

To the best of my knowledge, migration from VNX to Unity without VPLEX/RecoverPoint is not available right now. If Dell/EMC will do this, then I would give them a rating of 10/10.

We have used it for seven months.

I did not encounter any stability issues.

I did not encounter any scalability issues.

I would give technical support a rating of 10/10.

We used to deploy VNX5200. We moved to a new box due to technology improvements.

The initial setup was straightforward. We present our all storage to EMC VPLEX and then VPLEX presents the storage to hosts.

Pricing is relatively good compared to other vendors with the same specifications.

We have compared HPE 3PAR, Huawei OceanStor, and Lenovo Storage.

For greater efficiency, use SSD, SAS, and NL-SAS with FAST.

Use at least 10-20% SSD of whole storage, 20-30% of SAS, and the rest with NL-SAS. This will give you good performance as well as provide you with a cost-effective solution.

We saved money by moving off old storage and we gained extra capacity and speed.

• I appreciate the great performance with flash drives, 12Gb SAS connections, and the 16Gb fibre channel.
• I like the easy management with the new Unisphere management and the HTML5 interface.
• All this comes with a smaller footprint, with the main unit taking 2U instead of 8U.

The storage processors have less port expansion than previous high-end VNX arrays. Data compression is only available in all-flash pools.

I did not encounter any stability issues.

I did not encounter any scalability issues.

Technical support was good. I can create a case online or have a chat with an EMC support engineer.

We used to deploy EMC VNX. But we needed more speed and capacity.

The initial setup was straightforward. Disk Array Enclosure (DAE) cabling is different than VNX. Otherwise, it is easy.

Licensing is easy since all the software is included.

We evaluated Nimble, NetApp, and Compellent.

I recommend that you purchase five years of maintenance up front. EMC tends to increase maintenance significantly in years four and five.

• Fiber channel connectivity
• Fast cache features
• Support of VVOLS
• 10GB NICs
• Support of high performance and rapid provisioning/expansion options
• Deployment time is quick from unboxing to setup
• Scalable
• Supports both small environments and larger deployments
• Supports hosts connected via fiber channel directly to the unit without the need for fabric switches

Unity 300 is now the go-to storage device we use as we virtualize our infrastructure.

The SAN currently exceeds our requirements in terms of performance. We have estimated for 30% growth per year for three years. The configuration purchased had storage capacity and performance to match these requirements.

EMC provided a slightly alternative solution using all-flash negating all disk I/O, latency, and contention issues. We have seen a huge performance increase due to all-flash that is beyond what was anticipated. In three years, when the storage is close to its limits capacity-wise, performance will be greater than necessary.

The SAN provided by EMC exceeded our expectations. The only room for improvement I can see would be a faster leader time and lower cost. However, even with the lead time we had (which was approximately 10 days at the time of order) and cost we are very satisfied with the product.

I have used EMC Unity since June, 2016.

We have not had any stability problems.

We have not had any scalability problems.

Technical support is excellent. They have rapid response teams, ESRs, and the EMC account managers are always available.

We had no previous SAN solution.

The initial setup was very simple and instructions were provided in both documents and video tutorials.

Licensing ranges from $20K plus for a decent configuration. AFA configurations start at about $25K.

We looked at multiple vendors including NetApp, HPE, IBM, and Nimble.

There is currently a long lead time on 3TB SSD disks due to a shortage of materials in the USA.

• Stability
• Simplicity
• Speed

I’m a Dell/EMC partner, not a customer. In my all installations, customers were very satisfied. Unity has shown improvements over VNX.

For example, the graphic management has become HTML5, and the datamover(s) and control station(s) are not physical. They support VVOL.

In the management interface, you can only create one LUN at a time. This is resolved in last(s) unity version, DellEMC resolve this…
I also want to see inline deduplication in future Unity versions.

I have used the product for six months.

I did not encounter any stability issues.

I did not encounter any scalability issues.

Overall, it is very good.

I´m a Dell/EMC partner, not a customer.

The initial setup was very simple.

Read a little bit about the product and its purpose. The implementation itself is simple.