Dell ObjectScale vs Quantum ActiveScale comparison

Dell Technologies and Quantum are both solutions in the File and Object Storage category. Dell Technologies is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.1, while Quantum is ranked #24. Dell Technologies holds a 7.3% mindshare in FaOS, compared to Quantum’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Quantum users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 26, 2025

Dell ObjectScale and Quantum ActiveScale are competing in scalable storage solutions. Dell holds the upper hand with competitive pricing and support, while Quantum is favored for its extensive features.

Features: Dell ObjectScale provides advanced metadata search, multi-tenancy support, and seamless scalability, suitable for dynamic storage needs. Quantum ActiveScale offers robust data protection, streamlined workflow integration, and exceptional durability, important in secure environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:Dell ObjectScale deployment is flexible and adaptable with strong support that enhances the experience. Quantum ActiveScale is known for efficient setup and comprehensive customer service, ensuring smooth transitions.

Pricing and ROI: Dell ObjectScale is cost-effective with competitive setup costs and fast return on investment. Quantum ActiveScale, with higher initial expenses, provides substantial ROI through advanced features and long-term benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell ObjectScale vs. Quantum ActiveScale Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell ObjectScale vs. Quantum ActiveScale

September 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

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the File and Object Storage category, the mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 5.7%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell ObjectScale is 7.3%, down from 8.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Quantum ActiveScale is 0.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

File and Object Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell ObjectScale	7.3%
Pure Storage FlashBlade	5.7%
Quantum ActiveScale	0.5%
Other	86.5%

File and Object Storage

Featured Reviews

Parul-Patel

Senior Network Engineer at Holy Redeemer Health System, Inc.

High performance and throughput enhance IT backup management

The multi-dimensional scale-out design feature of Pure Storage FlashBlade is not in use in our environment. Regarding data reduction technologies, we don't get much deduplication because the data is already deduplicated from our FlashArray before we get to backup, so there is no benefit of deduplication. Regarding the integration with cloud-native ecosystem tools, we are not on cloud; we are strictly an on-premises solution. Pure Storage FlashBlade is not used by any end-user; it's used only for IT backup, with only about four people in our group managing it. I cannot recommend Pure Storage FlashBlade to other users depending upon their financial situation because it's an expensive solution, and the cost is very high, including licensing and renewal every year. I rate Pure Storage FlashBlade an eight out of ten.

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SamuelThomas

Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.

Managing efficiently with user-friendly interfaces for monitoring and managing resources

We normally recommend Dell ECS to enterprise customers and government customers Dell ECS is very easy to handle, primarily because the web UI dashboard and everything is very easy to manage for every customer. They can monitor the DPS, access failures, bandwidth, failed requests, and latency.…

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Frank Lai

Architecture Department at Supermicro Computer

Good performance and reliable but the setup is complex

We would like to see a self-sufficient installation. Nowadays it's open-source, but the installation is still tied to the vendor, which means it is unlikely that it is going to scale. I want them to tap into the broader community. It is really emerging, they have a year over year, 50% annual growth. With a 10-year-old company, it will certainly bring a lot of interest, and will certainly make it more successful, if they tap into that growing customer base. They have to make themselves relevant to the industry. The industry is totally geared to the Cloud, DevOps, and geared for agility. The software with the appliance in my set is already outdated, and it is not that it cannot sell, but it has to be tapping into the emerging and growing sectors to continue with the customers and businesses. This is what the requirement is, to improve their technology. Which means that they have to make themselves relevant to the industry.

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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 snapshots, replication, and the ability to have immutable blades are the most valuable features. You're putting data snapshots out in those blades, and they cannot be touched. Its performance is great."

"The most valuable features include the ease of implementation, ease of use and the speed that you can do backup and recovery on."

"Among its most appealing features are its ease of handling and minimal maintenance requirements."

"FlashBlade offers low latency, high throughput, and seamless scalability."

"I would rate Pure Storage FlashBlade a ten out of ten."

"The product is scalable and easy to expand."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the rewrite speed and the nonstop services."

"The initial setup was straightforward. If you know how to plug in power and network you're pretty much qualified. They were on site to configure the network, the box to fit into our network architecture. Other than that, we self-managed from there."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

"It's my understanding that the initial setup is straightforward."

"Dell ECS is a cost-effective solution that provides ease of use and availability."

"It is a stable solution."

"The performance is good."

"The performance and support from Dell EMC are very good."

"Dell ECS is very easy to handle, primarily because the web UI dashboard and everything is very easy to manage for every customer."

"The performance is good."

"Some of the best features with Dell ECS are that it's scale-out storage with compatibility, which are the main drivers, along with very good support from Dell EMC that usually makes customers happy."

More Dell ObjectScale pros

"The technology is stable which is good."

"Workflow is easy to manage and maintain."

Cons

"They need better integration with public clouds along with a better hybrid solution."

"The speed could be improved."

"Commvault has mainly driven the Analytics, providing data and reports. However, the product has room for improvement, especially regarding storage analytics. Upgrading firmware has caused issues, requiring feature disabling to revert to traditional backups. The firmware upgrades sometimes affect Commvault backups."

"There is some room for new features related to authentication and integration with Kubernetes, and other solution using S3 Bucket."

"An area for improvement in Pure Storage FlashBlade is its price. It could be reduced. The technical support for Pure Storage FlashBlade also needs improvement. It used to be good, with more experienced engineers. Nowadays, it isn't, and it takes longer for support to solve problems."

"I would like to see the licensing fees improved as well as the price per terabytes."

"I would like to have Snapshots and Snapmail in the next release. People who came from a NetApp background, especially expect these features."

"It would be nice if you could store file-based in the same box with the same technology."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

"Dell EMC ECS could improve by having Relational Database Services(RDS) to review progress. Additionally, if the training was provided it would be a benefit, it would be good for our engineers."

"In Taiwan, they don't have professional technical support."

"We have had issues when the ECS is expiring or the NetBackup is expiring images."

"While there can be occasional issues with routing to the wrong region that lead to slight delays, it's typically business as usual."

"Dell ECS is not fully compatible with S3, as it supports around ninety percent of S3 APIs, which can be improved. Additionally, sometimes there is an issue with memory where it hangs, and they can improve garbage collection, which takes up a lot of space during cleanup."

"The solution’s stability could be improved."

"There is room for improvement in the DPI reports, as they could be made more user-friendly."

"Dell ECS could improve the price of the solution. It is expensive."

More Dell ObjectScale cons

"Lacks some ability to integrate with different systems."

"We would like to see a self-sufficient installation."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pure Storage FlashBlade is a hardware appliance, and it's very expensive if you compare its price with other solutions. You can get the same features and benefits from its competitor, VAST Data, but for half the price of Pure Storage FlashBlade."

"Our licensing is renewed annually."

"Licensing fees are paid yearly."

"The price could be cheaper."

"In my opinion, we have paid the right price for the product. I don't think that it is too much or too little."

"The price of this solution could be made more affordable."

"Our customers have seen a reduction in TCO."

"I feel that the price could always be lowered."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

"It is an expensive solution. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product."

"It is an inexpensive product."

"The charges for this solution are made in blocks of models, which are purchased depending on what features an organization requires."

"Dell EMC ECS is too expensive."

"It's a lease-based model, so it's capacity-based. We already negotiated the price a lot, but we're still doing that with Dell because somehow the product was not installed successfully, so there was a lot of struggle in the distributor territory between Dell and the environment itself. I would give the solution a 6 out of 10 for the pricing. There's a little room for improvement."

"The price of Dell ECS should be reduced."

"The solution's cost is quite reasonable."

"The product is quite expensive."

More Dell ObjectScale pricing and cost advice

"Quantum ActiveScale is open-source."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

21%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

13%

University

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	20

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	11

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power out...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The pricing of Pure Storage FlashBlade is expensive compared to other products I used from other companies in the pas...

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What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

I believe there is not much improvement needed because they have everything we need, but the interface is a little bi...

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What do you like most about Dell EMC ECS?

The tool is easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC ECS?

The pricing is moderate and at par with the market. As a service provider, we receive good margins, indicating a favo...

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What needs improvement with Dell EMC ECS?

There are some limitations with integration with certain cloud providers, particularly with Google Cloud Platform in ...

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Comparisons

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 19% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp StorageGRID vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 3% of the time

More Pure Storage FlashBlade Competitors

NetApp StorageGRID vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 14% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 14% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 14% of the time

MinIO vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 10% of the time

Cloudian HyperStore vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 3% of the time

More Dell ObjectScale Competitors

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Quantum ActiveScale

Compared 47% of the time

Qumulo vs Quantum ActiveScale

Compared 24% of the time

More Quantum ActiveScale Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

September 2025

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell ObjectScale

October 2025

Download Dell ObjectScale product report

Buyer's Guide

File and Object Storage

September 2025

Download Quantum ActiveScale product report

Also Known As

No data available

EMC ECS, Dell EMC Elastic Cloud Storage (ECS)

ActiveScale, Quantum ActiveScale Object Storage, ActiveScale Object Storage

Overview

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

Dell ObjectScale is a next-generation S3 object storage platform known for scalability, performance, and efficiency. It integrates with Dell EMC products, combining hardware and software for seamless user experience in the AI era.

Dell ObjectScale implements the S3 protocol, integrating smoothly with Dell EMC solutions like ISILON. Its architecture supports data compression and interoperates with multiple protocols for enhanced performance. Enterprise features include immutability, geo-replication, and user-friendly management. However, it needs better integration with other systems, enhanced security, and disaster recovery. Write performance and scalability improvements, competitive pricing, and documentation enhancements are key areas for progress. The interface could be more straightforward, with more remote management features and native analytics.

What features does Dell ObjectScale offer?

S3 Protocol Implementation: Brings industry-standard access with wide application compatibility
Seamless Dell EMC Integration: Ensures stability and ease of use with existing systems
Data Compression and Protocol Interoperability: Enhances performance and storage efficiency
Immutability and Geo-Replication: Provides enterprise-level data protection
Optimized Pricing: Balances cost with comprehensive support

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Scalability: Supports expanding data requirements effectively
Integration Flexibility: Works with many existing systems for better interoperability
Ease of Management: Streamlines hardware and software operations
Enterprise-Level Features: Delivers advanced protection and efficiency

Industries leverage Dell ObjectScale for cloud-based object storage, archiving, and backups. It's favored for unstructured data management, CCTV integration, and document archiving. Strong in data analytics, it integrates well with high-capacity applications, enhancing data retention strategies across fields.

Dell Technologies

StorNext File System
Increase productivity and reduce time to critical business insights with StorNext® File System. StorNext architecture delivers the necessary performance to get your business moving forward.

Quantum

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

Atos

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Dell ObjectScale vs. Quantum ActiveScale

September 2025

Free Report: Dell ObjectScale vs. Quantum ActiveScale

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