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Dell EqualLogic PS series vs HPE MSA comparison

Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category. Dell Technologies is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.0, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.8. Dell Technologies holds a 2.3% mindshare in MS, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 19.7% mindshare. Additionally, 78% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.
Dell EqualLogic PS series
Read 19 Dell EqualLogic PS series reviews
  • 337 Views
  • 337 Comparison Views
78% willing to recommend
HPE MSA
Read 26 HPE MSA reviews
  • 1,413 Views
  • 1,385 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

Dell EqualLogic PS series and HPE MSA are competing storage solutions targeting enterprise environments. HPE MSA emerges as more advanced due to its extensive features, justifying the investment despite the higher cost.

Features: Dell EqualLogic PS series offers seamless scalability, an easy-to-manage environment, and automated data management. HPE MSA stands out with its mixed protocol support, superior performance, and customizable options tailored for demanding enterprise needs.

Room for Improvement: Dell EqualLogic PS series could improve in providing more advanced protocol support and performance features. HPE MSA may enhance its cost efficiency, ease of use for initial setups, and integration options for non-tech users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HPE MSA offers straightforward deployment with robust customer service assisting smooth integration. Dell EqualLogic PS series provides more flexible deployment, focusing on ease of setup through high-level support and advisory services.

Pricing and ROI: Dell EqualLogic PS series is cost-efficient with lower setup costs, offering good ROI through scalability and support. HPE MSA, with a higher initial cost, promises excellent ROI with advanced features and performance, making it a valuable investment.

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To learn more, read our detailed Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. HPE MSA Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. HPE MSA
July 2025
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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

Dell EqualLogic PS series
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE MSA
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of Dell EqualLogic PS series is 2.3%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE MSA is 19.7%, up from 16.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
 

Featured Reviews

Abdul Rehman Abid - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful auto tiering, excellent support, and highly reliable
The initial setup of the Dell EqualLogic PS series is simple. The physical connectivity and rack mounting time depend on the size of the deployment. For example, if we have five of the Dell EqualLogic PS series we can mount and do the cabling within two hours. The initial configuration can be done within an hour. The estimated time to deploy from start to finish in this scenario is four to five hours maximum. One person can do most of the deployment, such as configuration, but a helper is needed to do the mounting of the cables.
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Pragnesh Sachania - PeerSpot reviewer
Scalable, easy to manage, and used for virtualization environments
We didn't face any issues with the technical functionality. However, we faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration. The HPE support person who did the installation was very technical. He answered all the queries, and we resolved the entire setup. We set up the storage as per our requirements. We previously used a physical server instead of virtualization. With the help of an HPE engineer and partners, we prepared a strategy for migrating the entire physical servers to our virtualization infrastructure. It took two days to deploy the solution. Six people were involved in the solution's deployment, including two from HPE and four from our IT team.
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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution has been working well overall."
"We were attracted by the flexibility of being able to put in a new shelf whenever we needed to, to expand."
"It is extremely reliable."
"You can always trust it. It is stable."
"The technical support for EqualLogic has been universally outstanding."
"It is stable and scalable."
"The solution can scale."
"The technical support for the solution was really good."
More Dell EqualLogic PS series pros
"Monitoring is a very big thing. Other great features include block storage; volume creation and the data reliability scalability, which makes the solution really good."
"The solution is scalable and easy to manage."
"The solution is pretty transparent and works well."
"The most valuable feature for customers is the autonomic tiering, which enhances their storage scalability as easily as possible."
"MSA performs exceptionally well, particularly in regions with frequent power outages."
"The most valuable features are data deduplication and snapshot replication."
"I like StorageWorks' snapshots for our backup system. We had a pool of SSD and traditional drives. StorageWorks has a feature that transfers the hot data to high-performing drives."
"The simple configuration feature is great. It is very simple, allowing you to set up MSA very easily."
More HPE MSA pros
 

Cons

"6510 and 6610 have two iSCSI connections in each controller. Why do 6110xxx members have only one, and why do the same members have the possibility of having an active iSCSI interface in the passive controller? It could make a lot of noise with a failover."
"Synchronous replication uses space inefficiently."
"Individual file recovery would be a nice additional feature."
"There is no inline deduplication capability."
"The only challenging part in the tool was related to some site recovery area. In order to exploit the site recovery area, my company had to purchase additional VMware products."
"Dell EqualLogic PS series could improve by providing fiber channel connectivity. Fiber channel connectivity is not supported, which is a requirement of advanced applications, such as SAP HANA. SAP HANA recommends fiber channel connectivity, but the Dell EqualLogic PS series is only an ISCSI data storage."
"Dell EqualLogic PS series could improve the performance because in our hybrid configuration the read speed is faster than the write speed."
"There is no option for mixing RAID types in one device."
More Dell EqualLogic PS series cons
"HPE should reintroduce customizable ports as they were in Gen 5, allowing customers to use both iSCSI or SC on a single controller."
"There is room for improvement in terms of scalability. There are times when we need to upgrade the device and the firmware. Sometimes, that can be a struggle."
"We faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration during installation."
"The solution could improve by adding configuration tools."
"I rate HPE support four out of 10. I'm not happy with them. We purchased mission-critical support, and we're supposed to get a response in four hours. Instead, I'm waiting days for them to replace the drive. They asked me to send back the failed one, and I don't know the address. After I sent it back, they told me they haven't received it. It's a nightmare."
"It would be ideal if there was a better management interface."
"It would be beneficial to have an add-on feature to improve analytics or insight capabilities inside the app."
"It should show more options for cloud backup support."
More HPE MSA cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price-wise, the solution is cheap. I rate it a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive."
"Dell EqualLogic PS series can improve its scale-out feature. Sometimes the customer has a limited budget for storage expansion. When they want to expand their capacity, they need to buy a complete controller plus storage capacity, which sometimes is out of their budget. If Dell EqualLogic PS series support could scale up the environment in which only hard drive extension controllers should be supported, then customers can expand within a lower budget."
"All features are out of the box. The license will be in the virtual, OS, or application layer."
"Licensing is pretty straightforward."
"I don't think I would say that the product is less expensive...The product's price is not an issue for our company, considering the relationship we have with Dell and the customer support we receive."
"I didn't buy it. It was another person seven years ago. So, I don't really know, but all storage platforms cost a lot of money. It is probably in the mid-range, but you get what you pay for."
"There are annual maintenance costs beyond the original licensing period."
"It seemed expensive at first, but the durability lowered the cost of ownership dramatically over time."
More Dell EqualLogic PS series pricing and cost advice
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"I would rate the pricing as nine out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"This solution involves a one-time CapEx payment, followed by warranty extensions."
"The price of the solution is a little high and they should provide more competitive pricing. If you want to increases the storage size there are additional fees."
"The solution can be a bit expensive."
"When we bought this solution it was very reasonably priced and they were willing to deal."
"This solution is quite expensive; they should lower the cost."
"HPE StorageWorks MSA's licensing is perpetual and not integrated."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell EqualLogic PS series?
The technical support for the solution was really good.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Dell EqualLogic PS series?
An improvement that could be made is to have a storage solution with all SSD hard disks, as we currently have a Dell EqualLogic PS series with traditional hard disks. It's not simple to replace a h...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Dell EqualLogic PS series?
Dell EqualLogic PS series is the storage of our server, which serves our use case. The deployment of Dell EqualLogic PS series takes about five days.
See all answers
What do you like most about HPE StorageWorks MSA?
The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StorageWorks MSA?
I did not compare the cost of HPE MSA with others because we buy with a framework contract, and HP is the only brand available on that contract, so we have no comparison.
See all answers
What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?
The user web interface is a bit slow, but it is really easy to use, although you still have to wait a bit when you send an operation. We have had some drive failures, but with the redundancy, we ha...
See all answers
 

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Dell EqualLogic PS series
July 2025
Dell EqualLogic PS series reportDownload Dell EqualLogic PS series product report
Buyer's Guide
HPE MSA
July 2025
HPE MSA reportDownload HPE MSA product report
 

Also Known As

EqualLogic PS series
HP StorageWorks MSA
 

Overview

EqualLogic PS Series arrays bring a new level of performance to service more of your most demanding applications and virtualization requirements, while delivering the simplicity of the EqualLogic management experience. Featuring six array configurations, including 2U/2.5" drive options with All Flash and Hybrid Arrays, it is ideal for companies and organizations with growing data and performance needs.
Dell Technologies

Whether you need best-in-class performance or are looking to get the most capacity for your investment, MSA has a fast, affordable solution for you. And every MSA comes with an intuitive setup and management interface anyone can master.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise
 

Sample Customers

FAW Foundry, AW Engineering, Unimat, eLongNet Information Technology, BDO Brasil, Odyssey Space Research
Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank
Buyer's Guide
Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. HPE MSA
July 2025
Free Report: Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. HPE MSA
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