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Dell PowerFlex vs Dell VxBlock System comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 PowerFlex
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
HCI (4th)
Dell VxBlock System
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Storage Solutions solutions, they serve different purposes. Dell PowerFlex is designed for HCI and holds a mindshare of 11.6%, up 9.7% compared to last year.
Dell VxBlock System, on the other hand, focuses on Converged Infrastructure, holds 12.1% mindshare, down 16.2% since last year.
HCI
Converged Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Serdar De - PeerSpot reviewer
Initial setup has been straightforward and it has reasonable pricing
We are new to this, so we are still learning about the valuable features The solution is okay overall. It could be easier to learn. We haven't had any issues. They could have more AI functionality in the future.  I have been using the solution for six months. I have not encountered any problems…
AKINJIDE OKE - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful for virtualized environment, node management, configuration deployment, and system management with artificial intelligence
I've worked with Dell and had the privilege of working with many OEMs. I started my career as a system engineer, working with HPE as a partner, and then moved to other OEMs like IBM and Lenovo. Currently, I work with a small team. I don't believe any solution is bad. It's just that you might not have identified what the solution is addressing. It's about choosing the right solution for your needs. In terms of hardware or infrastructure, it's an Intel platform. What differentiates everyone is the additional value they can provide. Dell has many values that meet customer needs. I look at the customer's objectives and requirements as an IT professional to find the best solution. I haven't seen any drawbacks regarding the infrastructure deliverables or the value built into the tool. However, Dell as an organization could improve its channel management. For example, we've been trying to resolve an issue with our portal for two weeks. I'd like to see more simplification regarding integration, deployment, and connectivity for future releases. In deployment, I'd like to see simplification in creating VNets and positioning VMware across nodes. I want a template that simplifies the creation of VNets and VMware positioning. I'd push for more simplification and an intuitive graphical GUI that simplifies things with just a click.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"My overall product rating would be nine out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is integration."
"It has reduced downtime. Before, on our previous solution, we used to have downtime on some of the servers because of the sort of convention. But currently I've not experienced any downtime on any of the servers, and there is no more resource congestion."
"The solution is scalable."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the storage space it offers."
"It is more stable, more powerful, and has more integration features."
"It is easy to use for management and operations teams because the tools are in one place."
"We've had no issues with scaling the solution."
"Customers use the Dell VxBlock System for new applications or solutions. For example, I'm working on a new mixing solution for a whole country in Africa. When we talk about it, there are many locations, and we're looking for efficiency, utilization, and solutions that can expand the application database we're deploying. It's used a lot for server consolidation and to consolidate environments into new ones for easy management. It's also used in health environments where they need to create infrastructure for products or solutions they want to launch to the market quickly."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the speed."
"With a converged infrastructure, it's easy to troubleshoot from network to server issues from a single point of reference."
"The monitoring and management parts are the most valuable. Monitoring is specifically valuable because you have one console to monitor everything. This console is called Vision."
"Virtual machines for the infrastructure."
"Everything is delivered to me in a single box, which simplifies management."
"Its performance is very good."
"Good flexibility and speed."
 

Cons

"We are still hoping for better ways to incorporate AI. We have to extend third-party access to PowerFlex by calling the API. It would be easier if the product had built-in AI integration. If PowerFlex can contribute more to AI, it would be more useful."
"Compared to similar solutions, Dell PowerFlex is not cost-effective and has room for improvement."
"I am not really impressed by the technical support of this solution."
"The tool needs to improve its storage. It should also make migration to the cloud easier."
"It would be great to get earlier access to beta builds because we have to develop providers on our own. The APIs and enablers for custom automation could also be improved."
"The support of containers needs to be improved. At present, it is limited to VMware. There needs to be direct communication with the hardware rather than through a hypervisor."
"The initial deployment was complicated and required a lot of data nodes, IPs, internal vLANs, data vLANs, and many other things."
"The tool is a bit difficult to configure, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The hardware lifecycle is not documented very well. For example, now you can buy a piece of equipment, but you don't know if the hardware is going to be a team production next month or next year."
"There are components of VxBlock that are not managed or supported by Dell because some of the components are from Cisco. Thus, when there are problems with compute nodes, though Dell was managing the interaction, we had to rely on Cisco to solve the issue. When Cisco was not responding as quickly as Dell would for their components, it made it difficult for us because we needed to have the failed nodes back up and running. As such, the disparate ownership of components in the equipment is an issue."
"This solution does not support Hyper-V, and we would like the new version to be supported and certified to work with Hyper-V."
"I'd like to see more simplification regarding integration, deployment, and connectivity for future releases. In deployment, I'd like to see simplification in creating VNets and positioning VMware across nodes. I want a template that simplifies the creation of VNets and VMware positioning. I'd push for more simplification and an intuitive graphical GUI that simplifies things with just a click."
"It is a good product, but for us, it is like a black box. We are not really sure about its internal components, and how to do the terminal upgrade, and how to make sure about the security of the device. We understand how it works, but in order to do the upgrades, we have to get help from the company. We cannot do it ourselves. In another model that we had, the internal team could do the upgrade but not in this one. There is no clear process for a new upgrade or update. They should provide a software intelligence tool that has a dashboard where you can see the current firmware, the latest firmware, and the documentation and the process for the upgrade. For VxBlock, we have different management consoles. There is no single management console that you can use to manage all components inside VxBlock. Their scale up and scale out process is also not clear. Their support is also a little bit slow in responding to the cases."
"The consistency of disc quality could be improved."
"There is a need for single console management."
"We are finding it a bit challenging in terms of the management of a specific VxBlock component. Currently, we have different units as a part of the block storage. We have one for Cisco equipment and one for Dell. When we have an issue in the infrastructure, Dell EMC VxBlock System should automatically detect it and send a notification to VC support, but, unfortunately, it is doing that only for one unit. It is not working for Cisco components. We have informed them about this area of improvement, and they are working on this. The way different parts are integrated should be improved. We should have one console to log in to see all the infrastructure in terms of each machine and hardware."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of this solution is fair."
"The price could be improved."
"The pricing for this solution is good."
"If one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the price as eight and a half. The tool is expensive."
"From my perspective, pricing is expensive. If they can reduce the pricing or offer more customer incentives, it would attract more users."
"The solution's price is medium."
"The solution's pricing could be much cheaper and affordable."
"The price of the solution is fair, it is priced in the average range amongst competitors."
"Compared to other solutions, Dell VxBlock System is more expensive."
"We purchased this solution with a ten-year manufacturer warranty, and we have a three-year warranty with our local partner."
"Its price is high. That's why people are now moving to hyper-converge."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are the major differences between VxRail and Dell EMC PowerFlex?
VxRail vs. Dell EMC PowerFlex VxRail provides stable solutions for technical problems while at the same time not being too expensive for a company to invest in. Even if the user is working with a l...
What do you like most about Dell EMC VxBlock System?
With a converged infrastructure, it's easy to troubleshoot from network to server issues from a single point of reference.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC VxBlock System?
The cost is not overly expensive but not cheap either. Considering the features and everything, it is very good. Price-wise, it is reasonable but not the least expensive option.
What needs improvement with Dell EMC VxBlock System?
There is a need for single console management. Everything should be accessible through a single console to ensure ease of management. So far, there are no issues since the storage and other systems...
 

Also Known As

VxFlex, VxRack FLEX, PowerFlex
VxBlock, VCE VxBlock System, Dell EMC VxBlock, VxBlock 1000
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Canopy, 8x8Inc., Atos, Canadian Pacific, City of Denton, CenturyLink, BNP Paribas, Asyaport, EDF, CSC, Fox Sports, Insight, Hunter, KPIT, Paetec, Rosetta Stone, Sonda, Xerox
Atos, Canadian Pacific, IDS, City of Denton, CenturyLink, BNP Paribas, Asyaport, EDF, CSC, Fox Sports, Insight, Hunter, KPIT, Paetec, Rosetta Stone, Sonda, Switch, Xerox
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, VMware, Nutanix and others in HCI. Updated: May 2025.
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