Dell PowerMax vs TrueNAS F-Series comparison

Dell Technologies and iXsystems are both solutions in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category. Dell Technologies is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.8, while iXsystems is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.0. Dell Technologies holds a 8.9% mindshare in N, compared to iXsystems’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of iXsystems users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 24, 2025

Dell PowerMax and TrueNAS F-Series compete in the storage solutions category. Dell PowerMax stands out due to its pricing and support services, while TrueNAS F-Series benefits from advanced features considered worth the investment by many users.

Features: Dell PowerMax features robust performance, scalability, and advanced data protection, appealing to large-scale enterprises. TrueNAS F-Series offers flexibility, open-source benefits, and customizable storage, ideal for those seeking adaptable solutions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell PowerMax has a streamlined deployment process and dedicated customer support, facilitating an easy transition for enterprises. TrueNAS F-Series supports smooth deployment with extensive documentation but relies more on community-based support, which may require in-house expertise.

Pricing and ROI: Dell PowerMax involves a significant initial investment but provides long-term reliability and favorable ROI for larger deployments. TrueNAS F-Series has a lower upfront cost, appealing to budget-conscious buyers looking for reliable storage. Dell PowerMax delivers long-term value, whereas TrueNAS offers immediate cost-effectiveness.

To learn more, read our detailed NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

August 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 FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 3.1%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerMax is 8.9%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of TrueNAS F-Series is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell PowerMax	8.9%
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	3.1%
TrueNAS F-Series	0.2%
Other	87.8%

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

Featured Reviews

Jaehoon Oh

Chief Technology Officer at Lambda256

Supports efficient storage management through volume snapshots and offers reliable non-disruptive upgrades

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could be enhanced. I can see the performance statistics in the Pure Storage console, but it does not show the performance by 4K byte unit. It displays IOPS and bandwidth, but IOPS is about real use, and I want to know how many IOPS are currently running in 4K byte units. I cannot see that IOPS because most storage systems report their performance by 4K byte unit. I want to see Pure Storage performance by 4K byte unit to compare with other storage or other internal NVMe SSD.

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Mohammed Anas

AI Solutions Architect at TierOne

Advanced data insights and automation drive exceptional performance and flexibility

There is still room for improvement in the architecture and scale-out structure of the platform. While Dell PowerMax supports data reduction and intelligent data placement, its scale-out growth model could be further enhanced. Currently, PowerMax can scale from two nodes to 16 nodes, expanding from terabytes to petabytes based on workload and application requirements, but greater flexibility could reduce dependency on pre-planning. Additionally, improvements could be made in areas such as AI integration, user interface, support, and customizations. From a performance perspective, PowerMax has evolved from the 2500 and 8500 series, which provide enhanced features for multi-tenancy, container workloads, multi-access protocols, and channel connectivity. These models also deliver better security, higher performance, and greater capacity, though continuous refinement is still possible.

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Taro Matsunaga

Engineer at Fairway-corp

A storage solution for file sharing with unified storage

We use the solution for file sharing We like TrueNAS because of the services it offers. TrueNAS F-Series provides unified storage. We can run an SMB server, enabling connections through Windows. Additionally, it supports VNAC. We are using all hardware but use those features sparingly. However,…

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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 uses newer technology for deduplication and compression."

"The high availability of the product is the most valuable feature."

"It's incredibly easy to use and greatly simplified our ability to both deploy and manage our storage subsystems."

"The latency is good."

"FlashArray has some fresh efficiency features. I've never seen a storage solution with a compression rating this high before. It's at least 4-to-1 on Oracle databases. It's the best flash storage for Oracle."

"The standout features for us in Pure FlashArray X NVMe are its robust DDoS protection, seamless transparent failover, and failback capabilities ensuring high availability."

"The database workloads are pretty fast because I frequently move data from here to there."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe will quickly overcome all the hurdles you face, including network and latency issues."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"The UI is very easy to use. We can add volumes and manage them easily."

"The stability is amazing. Zero downtime reported over the last years."

"It is very stable. We expect superior performance and reliability from this particular storage system."

"A huge benefit of the PowerMax has been the decreasing of our physical footprint. We recently did a consolidation where we went from 58 tiles down to 5. If we had used just the PowerMax, we could have gone from 58 tiles down to 2 tiles, which is huge space savings. If you have 56 newly available floor tiles on a raised floor data center, which you previously had to cool and provide power to, then now, not only are my costs going down, I now have more revenue opportunities because I have more space to put new customers."

"Dell PowerMax serves compact drive, industry-specific open systems, and mainframes. For small virtualization needs, Dell PowerMax 2500 is suitable, while for database or large channel-based protocols, Dell PowerMax 8500 is appropriate."

"We use ESRS for our call-home, and a lot of times, Dell EMC will respond to the issue before we even know it."

"It is a true, stable product."

"NVMe technology improves input/output performance."

More Dell PowerMax pros

"It provides unified storage."

Cons

"Right now, the box itself is just strictly working as a backend storage system. It would be fantastic if we could access it directly like a NAS device through network access or SIS drives. I think they have an interface, but I am not sure how good it is. If we could address a box directly on the network without having to go through a server, it would be great. The replication schemas could be improved. We are not using replication on the storage level right now. We use a different type of replication. If their replication would be as good as the one that we have, I would probably run the replication schema because it might be faster, but I don't know that for a fact. So, I cannot say that they have good replication. All I can say is that they need to inform us better."

"We've seen that when we create a POD in synchronous mode, it increases the latency."

"In the next release, I would like to see real-time analytics for further insight into consumption models."

"Our use cases require more multi-tenant capabilities and additional VLAN interfaces for separating different customers. We currently use it to provide storage, sometimes shared storage, to different customers, but it is less flexible in comparison to a dedicated solution."

"We need better data deduplication."

"It's more multi-tenant functionality in their Pure1 manage portal that is lacking."

"Efficiency improvements would always be welcome, but I'm not sure if they could get more efficient."

"The tool's portfolio is minimal. It is expensive."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"If you go to Pure or you go to NetApp, they deliver in one month. If you go to Dell or HP, they will take up to six months for delivery. This is not a business model for today."

"The tool is costly compared to other similar products. The product's pricing needs to be improved. I would like the product to include the replication feature in its future releases."

"The initial setup process is difficult."

"While Dell PowerMax NVMe is very reliable storage and cannot experience downtime, we sometimes face challenges in our territories regarding the availability of critical parts."

"I would like the scalability to improve, as it requires additional footprints."

"The initial setup could be easier."

"PowerMax Storage needs improvement in the area of monitoring tools. It should have more functions and more complicated analysis options inside the monitoring tools."

"The disadvantage of PowerMax is its cost."

More Dell PowerMax cons

"The solution’s UI could be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is an investment that we've budgeted for. While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits. We don't regret purchasing it."

"Our licensing fees are $500,000+ USD."

"The support cost per array is about $20,000 a year for 24/7 support."

"The tool's pricing is cheap; I rate it a six to seven out of ten. Most of our sales are not subscription-based. We sell the hardware, and customers keep using it. They only renew the service part annually. The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there."

"Pretty much everything that you need is licensed when you buy the product. Licensing to me is different than the maintenance cost, but they can bleed into one another. We buy the product, and we expect three years of support bundled into what we negotiate on our storage arrays. I would start to see maintenance costs going into the fourth year, but we're not there yet."

"As far as the licensing costs, everything is included in the license."

"Its price could be better. It is not too expensive, but it is the high-end cost. It is kind of a Rolls-Royce. You pay a lot, but you get a lot out of it. So, the price pressure on the way down would be great, but at the end of the day, if you need to do the work, you just pay for it."

"Given its price, Pure is not the first option."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"Our costs for the product are three million."

"The pricing for this solution is good compared to other products in the market."

"Dell PowerMax NVMe's price is expensive."

"The pricing is comparable to other vendors."

"The pricing might be a bit high for small organizations, so it's more suitable for larger enterprises."

"One area for improvement, one that everybody always comes to, is price... it's still quite expensive to purchase these big arrays... For us, the pricing doesn't make Dell EMC uncompetitive."

"The cost is expensive. While VMAX now has good pricing, PowerMax is a little expensive."

"Support pricing is very high. Our support contract is about to expire and Dell EMC provided us with an extremely high renewal quote. It was four times more than the support contract for our previous EMC VNX solution."

More Dell PowerMax pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	16
Large Enterprise	54

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

The price of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is very expensive, though I do not know the actual price because I am using the E...

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What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could ...

See all answers

What's the difference between DELL EMC Powerstore and Powermax NVMe?

Dell PowerStore is an all-solid-state midrange storage system. It has many internal elements taken from other Dell of...

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What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerMax NVMe?

First, it's an enterprise storage solution. This is very important for us. Another important feature is replication.

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

When comparing Dell PowerMax NVMe with other vendors, such as IBM enterprise solutions, the price is relatively higher.

See all answers

What do you like most about TrueNAS F-Series?

It provides unified storage.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for TrueNAS F-Series?

The product is expensive. I rate the product’s pricing a two out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with TrueNAS F-Series?

The solution’s UI could be improved.

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 24% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 16% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 25% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 12% of the time

Dell VMAX All Flash vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 10% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 7% of the time

HPE Nimble Storage vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 2% of the time

More Dell PowerMax Competitors

No data available

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

August 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerMax

August 2025

Download Dell PowerMax product report

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

August 2025

Download TrueNAS F-Series product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

Dell PowerMax NVMe, Dell EMC PowerMax, PowerMax

No data available

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

Pure Storage

PowerMax leads in mission-critical enterprise storage with advanced architecture and AI-driven automation, ensuring secure and efficient IT optimization. Its multi-node NVMe scale-out framework delivers unmatched performance and consolidation, backed by Dell’s Future-Proof Program.

PowerMax is renowned for its robust reliability, performance, and efficient data reduction capabilities. Users benefit from its NVMe architecture, aiding significant scalability and cost efficiency through effective deduplication and compression. Unisphere simplifies management, while CloudIQ provides enhanced monitoring. With high availability and strong IOPS capabilities, PowerMax effectively manages demanding workloads and ensures seamless operations. Its compact design and increased storage capacity enhance user experience, particularly with easy maintenance and robust performance.

What are the key features of PowerMax?

Reliability: Ensures consistent service uptime and data integrity.
High Performance: NVMe architecture provides exceptional speed and efficiency.
Data Reduction: Deduplication and compression drive down costs.
Management Tools: Unisphere interface for easy system management.
CloudIQ: Advanced monitoring for predictive insights.
High Availability: Supports mission-critical and demanding workloads.

What benefits should users expect from PowerMax?

Performance Optimization: Handles low latency and high IOPS needs.
Scalability: Expands effortlessly with growing data and workload demands.
Enhanced Monitoring: Predictive analytics for proactive management.
Efficient Maintenance: Streamlined processes reduce downtime and costs.

Dell PowerMax is predominantly employed in mission-critical applications such as SQL, Oracle databases, ERP systems, and high transactional environments. Healthcare, finance, and e-commerce sectors leverage its high performance, scalability, and NVMe technology for low latency and redundancy. It is adept in storage consolidation, data analytics, and disaster recovery.

Dell Technologies

TrueNAS F-Series offers reliable storage consolidation, data backup, virtualization, and cloud storage. Users praise its high performance, scalability, and ease of use.

The product enhances efficiency, collaboration, and productivity, making it a valuable choice for organizations of all sizes seeking cost-effective and dependable storage solutions.

iXsystems

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Rackspace, Open Line

1. Acronis 2. Acumatica 3. Atlassian 4. Autodesk 5. Barracuda Networks 6. Cisco Systems 7. Cloudflare 8. Dell EMC 9. DigitalOcean 10. Equinix 11. Google Cloud Platform 12. Hewlett Packard Enterprise 13. IBM 14. Inspur 15. Intel 16. Juniper Networks 17. Konica Minolta 18. Linode 19. Malwarebytes 20. Microsoft Azure 21. NetApp 22. Oracle 23. Palo Alto Networks 24. Red Hat 25. Rackspace 26. SAP 27. ServiceNow 28. SolarWinds 29. VMware 30. Western Digital 31. Xerox

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

August 2025

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