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DataCore SANsymphony vs Dell PowerPath comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

DataCore SANsymphony
Ranking in Storage Software
2nd
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (4th), HCI (7th), Storage Performance (1st)
Dell PowerPath
Ranking in Storage Software
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Storage Software category, the mindshare of DataCore SANsymphony is 27.3%, up from 27.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerPath is 17.3%, up from 9.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Storage Software
 

Featured Reviews

OliverPalz - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides efficient synchronous mirroring capability and dynamic data management functionality
The initial setup is relatively easy but requires a certified DataCore implementation engineer to deploy the solution in a production environment. The deployment following the qualified procedure, typically takes about a week, depending on the amount of storage and the specific environment. With my experience, I can set up the system within two to four hours; however, the qualification process, which includes detailed planning and testing, adds additional time. It involves gathering the customer's requirements, preparing comprehensive documentation for validation, and conducting tests in collaboration with the customer. This documentation includes a site planning checklist, a pre-installation checklist, and a functional test plan to ensure everything is in order before deployment. Overall, I rate the process an eight.
Derrick Brockel - PeerSpot reviewer
A resilient and reliable solution that has many load-balancing technologies and provides high availability
People who want to buy the solution must create a scorecard of Dell PowerPath against other products. They must run database tests. They must consider factors like pricing, performance, ease of use, visibility, and reliability. They must also run tests to understand which product recovers faster. Overall, I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The features I have found most valuable are the active-active, or so-called grid technology, and the integration into our VMware-vCenter."
"The dashboard is very intuitive, and there are many counters to diagnose what happens during a short period (like when a backup is in progress)."
"Supporting of Automated-Storage-Tiering (AST) is a good feature that saves money."
"The synchronous mirror allows us to operate a fully redundant storage solution that is distributed across two sites."
"It is a stable solution."
"Oracle OLTP benchmark to test how it improves the performance while using flash drive NVMe."
"It allows data to be available from two DataCore servers."
"DataCore has helped provide flexible, highly available, high-performance storage that otherwise would have been outside our price range."
"The user interface is good."
"It provides a high availability and will increase the performance of any server or operating system."
"The product is very reliable."
"The solution has improved our performance, reliability, and redundancy."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that disaster recovery scenarios are very good and easy to use in Dell PowerPath since it is available in a simplified form."
"OS-aware multipathing is a valuable feature of the product."
"We have found the solution to be quite flexible and very scalable."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is migration without disruptions."
 

Cons

"The cloud reporting interface is quite poor compared to other vendors."
"There is room for improvement in the graphical interface."
"I found it a little unnecessary to have to rename the configurations within the graphics console in order to have unique names."
"If you're dealing with big databases or transactional databases, it might not be the best-suited solution. The design of DataCore's solution isn't oriented towards this type of data."
"DataCore needs a more efficient and better way to keep track of metrics and counters so that we can do baseline analysis to measure performance."
"When I sometimes reboot for maintenance, the connectivity from the iSCSI initiator host could be improved."
"For customers or technicians that don't speak and understand English, it could be great to have other languages support, all the more so given the number of countries in which SanSymphony is used."
"One limitation of this solution is that it's Windows-based, e.g. one requirement to install DataCore SANsymphony SDS is putting it on a Windows server machine. It relies on Windows and that is a limitation because there are some customers who are looking for non Windows systems."
"The product must adapt to other storage technologies like HPE 3PAR."
"Although PowerPath is very mature and has been on the market for more than 15 years there are still a lot of bugs that have been profiled with PowerPath, specifically, during any OS upgrade."
"Customers do not choose PowerPath unless they have Unix or Linux."
"While I utilize it for data migration, I would love to do that data migration in a GUI from an ease of use perspective."
"The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The technical support is good but they are not available all the time."
"The solution should provide extensive reports on backups and backup failures."
"The solution is quite stable, although they have not quite worked out all of the kinks."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"DataCore SANsymphony's pricing is very high and should be much cheaper."
"The solution is cost effective."
"Make sure you are made aware of the annual subscription cost when purchasing."
"The pricing and licensing are better with DataCore."
"Pricing has improved but it is still expensive."
"It is relatively expensive, and the additional costs for hardware and storage can make it a significant investment for customers."
"In my case, the licensing per terabytes is very high and it must be licensed for each extra functionality."
"The cost is at the same level as other storage solutions and it is easy to understand the licensing."
"The product is a little bit expensive."
"The price of the solution is fair."
"I rate the product's price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is affordable, and ten is really expensive. Dell PowerPath is an expensive tool."
"Pricing is good. I don't have any issues with the pricing of this solution."
"The solution is expensive."
"There are no additional costs associated with the product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
7%
Transportation Company
16%
Healthcare Company
13%
Retailer
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DataCore SANsymphony SDS?
The cost changed from a perpetual license to a subscription model, and it seems reasonable. I am technical personnel and not deeply involved in sales, but the pricing appears fine.
What do you like most about DataCore SANsymphony?
The dashboard is very intuitive, and there are a lot of counters to diagnose what happens during a short period (like when a backup is in progress).
What needs improvement with DataCore SANsymphony?
In my opinion, there should be improvements in how to get and filter logs. However, this is not a frequent need because they have great support that offers quick and knowledgeable assistance. Other...
What do you like most about Dell PowerPath?
The solution has improved our performance, reliability, and redundancy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerPath?
The product is a little bit expensive. It is a little pricey because it provides multipathing with other OSs. I rate the pricing a five out of ten.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerPath?
The product must adapt to other storage technologies like HPE 3PAR. When we use 3PAR storage, we have to use another technology to load balance. The product must be integrated with other products l...
 

Also Known As

DataCore Virtual SAN
PowerPath
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Volkswagen , Maimonides Medical Center, NASA, Thorntons, Inc., TUI, ISCO Industries, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, United Financial Credit Union, Derby Supply Chain Solutions, Mission Community Hospital, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Colby-Sawyer College, Mount Sinai Health System, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Quorn Foods, Bitburger, University of Birmingham, Stadtverwaltung Heidelberg, NetEnt to name a few.
Healthcare Residential Service Company
Find out what your peers are saying about DataCore SANsymphony vs. Dell PowerPath and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.