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I vaguely remember working on the 3000 series model. They have two variants: PowerStore T, which is the traditional model that runs workloads, and PowerStore X, which features AppsOn. We don't get the exact model number, but our lab team sets it based on the features. My role is to verify that all features are functioning as expected.

I have also used Dell PowerStore in a clustered setup. I wanted to check some deployment aspects, so I utilized the cluster.

I find it easy to use Dell PowerStore for moving and optimizing workloads in the cluster. The layer of transparency hides the complexity, effectively allowing scale-up and scale-out operations. When it comes to adding storage, we can continuously add to a single PowerStore box, and if we need to scale out for more compute or storage, we can bring in another PowerStore box and form a cluster. PowerStore Manager UI provides a consolidated console, making it straightforward without needing to perform multiple tasks.

I started using Dell PowerStore around 2022, with some experience during the lockdown period and then continuing into the 2022 timeframe. Dell PowerStore is designed to consolidate the different product lines, VNX and Unity, into a single frame. This is one of the top-tier storage solutions for mid-enterprise level, featuring unique innovations such as AppsOn, which allows you to run your VMs directly on Dell PowerStore without needing additional hardware. Additionally, since it sits inside your box or array, it facilitates faster performance and reduces hardware costs. They have also introduced the Dynamic Resiliency Engine, which replaces traditional RAID.

The primary purposes of Dell PowerStore are to facilitate faster recovery and to eliminate the need for an additional hot spare through its utilization of erasure coding. Based on the technical documents I've read, there is a type of erasure coding that manages data placement. It also supports RAID 5 and RAID 6 for parity failures, meaning one disk failure and two disk failures in the case of RAID 6, but it negates the necessity for a hot spare.

The best features of Dell PowerStore for me are the Dynamic Resiliency Engine, which eliminates the need for a hot spare, and the fast rebuilding capabilities of parity calculations. Additionally, I appreciate that it has ESXi deployed in the box with the AppsOn feature in the PowerStore X model, which saves cost because there's no need for separate hardware. Regarding AI, there's the AIOps feature that identifies bottlenecks and notifies customers beforehand if disk usage crosses limits, helping them to manage storage needs efficiently. Furthermore, this is unified storage with NAS capabilities, supporting both SMB and NFS protocols.

Compression and deduplication technologies are very important to me in Dell PowerStore. They enhance efficiency, particularly when dealing with repeated data patterns, and significantly assist with backups by reducing data size and improving access speeds.

Dell PowerStore definitely reduces capital expenditure. It enables the deployment of VMs inside unused resources such as CPU and RAM.

Dell PowerStore allows easy integration with VMware, featuring VVOL and VASA.

The UI can be complex. For instance, when clicking on the protection label, users see options for snapshot, replication, and remote backup, which can create confusion. I think each configuration screen should focus solely on the specific task at hand.

I started using Dell PowerStore around 2022.

Dell PowerStore is stable and reliable.

I see good performance with Dell PowerStore due to its use of NVMe; however, I don't have exact numbers at the moment, though I've noted them down previously.

I believe it's easy to scale up and scale out with Dell PowerStore; this product is specifically designed for online expansion.

The ability to add capacity in single drive increments is important to my organization, as it provides flexibility beyond the usual vendor-defined packs.

I rate technical support for Dell PowerStore at 9.5.

The management capabilities of Dell PowerStore are excellent. It is easy to handle and manage the box.

In comparison to other storage solutions, I believe Dell is a market leader, having started in the storage industry long ago. PowerStore is one of the best product lines. For instance, while HP 3PAR has a concept of logical disks and relies on RAID, Dell PowerStore's Dynamic Resiliency Engine introduces a new paradigm. Additionally, AIOps provides more advanced features compared to what HP offers in their Nimble and 3PAR storage.

I find the deployment experience to be easy and not overly complicated.

There was assistance in deploying Dell PowerStore.

I find the price of Dell PowerStore to be on the higher side, but given the features it provides, it justifies the cost.

The deployment model is on-premises.

The cybersecurity features of Dell PowerStore, including data resiliency and availability, meet my business needs today. The AIOps feature detects anomalies in file access and sends alerts to customers.

My data reduction rate is 4:1, and it incorporates in-line compression and deduplication.

I would rate Dell PowerStore at 9.5 overall.

We are using Dell PowerStore for the on-premises solution where we backup our critical data because that is faster and they have the automation intelligence in that. We are using it mostly for data backing up and restoring purposes.

We are clustering multiple Dell PowerStore appliances because if one cluster fails, then we can have this data duplication on the second cluster for backup.

The biggest advantage in Dell PowerStore is that now the world is moving into AI, and they have AI power. Their optimization, performance, and reliability are good. Data reduction is very good in Dell PowerStore, and then they have the multi-storage import. They have upgrade process and store protection.

Dell PowerStore meets my business needs today in terms of security because it provides cyber and data DLP protection. Dell PowerStore has the ransomware attacks recovery capability. They support Zero Trust and end-to-end encryption, so they obviously support cybersecurity.

I am overall able to consolidate data with Dell PowerStore.

The data reduction rate I can quantify as a ratio format of 5:1.

It is easy to scale Dell PowerStore up.

Until now, we have not faced any downtime with Dell PowerStore. Small glitches happen, but they are resolved, and almost 95% to 98% of the time it is up. It is good and with the AI power, we get almost 90 to 95% less manual effort from the manual effort previously required.

The area of improvement is not much from my use in the last two years, and it is okay. However, sometimes the parts replacement takes much time. I think this is due to some issue, such as if we get a hard disk fail or something. The new hard disk replacement is taking more time, maybe there is a storage shortage or global issue going on. That is why that issue is there, but other than that, all things are working fine.

I started almost two years back.

The support from Dell is nice. We get support every time when we send the email or raise a ticket. Support is without question and Dell is top-notch support.

My experience with the integrator has been positive because we get support whenever we need it.

It is easy to scale Dell PowerStore up.

The support from Dell is nice. We get support every time when we send the email or raise a ticket. Support is without question and Dell is top-notch support.

I can give a score of nine for support.

Previously I was working with HP, and now I am with Dell. I see that HP is in terms of storage costs more, but Dell is providing better cost, better benefits, better tools, and better security features. All is good compared to other competitors.

My experience with deployment is straightforward and very easy.

We are using the integration with VMware, and it is working fast with a good integration system.

For ROI, previously it was taking more than hours if we have large data in TB. Now it is like 50 to 45 minutes. So it is saving 50 minutes. In terms of cost, it is also cost saving because of AI, we are getting automation and all the capabilities. So it is saving money, but for the cost part, I can say it is 20% less from the normal storage.

That SDR is what I am using new.

We are the customer for Dell PowerStore as a user.

All my deployments are hybrid.

I have seen measurable benefits in performance and operational efficiency; the management of Dell PowerStore is good, actually.

Management of Dell PowerStore is easy and very good.

We have default features enabled where we get some automation like alerts and some storage capacity alerts, like when it reaches 90% or some disk failure. We are using basic AI features now and are exploring the AI capability of Dell PowerStore.

It reduces my capital expenditures, so my CapEx.

In percentage, it is almost 10 to 15% reduction cost. In the last five years, it is almost 15 to 20%. So that is why the average is 15%.

I would say it is easy to use Dell PowerStore for moving and optimizing workloads in the cluster because they have almost 2x faster performance and basically, data is very safe.

I would give this review an overall rating of nine out of ten.