Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerScale (Isilon)
Ranking in NAS
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
File and Object Storage (3rd)
Hitachi Virtual Storage Pla...
Ranking in NAS
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (4th), Frame-Based Disk Arrays (1st), All-Flash Storage (11th), NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2024, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is 26.5%, up from 22.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform is 5.4%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NAS
Unique Categories:
File and Object Storage
8.0%
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
15.5%
Frame-Based Disk Arrays
33.3%
 

Featured Reviews

RL
May 20, 2024
Supports managed servers and gives a lot of operational flexibility
We use the solution internally to support our own managed servers and run our own support center. From a business point of view, I like the way the solution cooperates. Dell PowerScale works well to help our organization manage and run its storage from any location. We used to have systems at different locations, which required a lot of coordination. We made it work, but with the current solution, one guy can do the work that earlier required two or three full-time equivalents. Dell PowerScale has helped us to reduce or eliminate data silos. I rate the solution's flexibility a six out of seven for supporting various data workloads while keeping them protected. It did not really limit risk. It gives a lot of operational flexibility in a way that reduces risk because then the solution is better up to date every time you use it and is consistent across the different data sources. That's good and adds value, but we were already doing that in the old situation. Dell PowerScale just made it easier. When envisioning the future of our containerized solutions in terms of cloud integration, we will adopt a hybrid strategy. Some of our customers are not able to move to the cloud, where we have to support them. We're following what the customer can do. In many cases, their initial transition into the cloud was not as successful as they thought. In the Dutch market, people are now a little more business-minded while looking into the cloud. That's why I believe that hybrid will be the way forward. As an integrator, the needs of our customers drive our decision-making process when it comes to selecting a cloud, on-premises, or hybrid environment for containerized applications.
FarrukhSyed - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 20, 2023
It's a high-performing solution with strong architecture
I work for one of the largest commercial banks in Pakistan. We deploy Hitachi Virtual Storage in our primary data center and our remote disaster recovery site.  It is used for all banking applications like credit and debit card transactions, reconciliation, general ledger, etc.  The bank has…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Our users are able to easily roll back snapshots without going through IT."
"This has been a valuable solution for our business overall. It offers business continuity and replication features."
"Ability to scale the number of nodes without having to build additional clusters."
"It's easy to manage. The web UI is very intuitive, and there's CLI also that you can use to manage it."
"I don't have to rebuild the cluster to add a node."
"The solution's scalability is very good."
"There are also the policies that you set up on replication and purging files, and policies for something called WORM. That's a "write once, read many," where you can't overwrite certain files or certain data. It puts them in a "protected mode" where it becomes very difficult for someone to accidentally delete. We use that for certain files or certain directories, because we're dealing with video and some video has to be protected for chain-of-custody purposes. The WORM feature works great."
"It assists with eliminating storage silos because it provides SMB and NFS protocols. PowerScale has also helped free up our employee's time to focus on other business priorities."
"In terms of performance and ability, the product can stand up against its competitors since the solution offers two controller systems to users."
"This is one of the most stable, high-end solutions in this area."
"The most valuable feature of Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform G Series is the platform and overall usage has been good. We have not had very many issues."
"Data optimization, compression, and deduplication are the most important features for us."
"The deduplication is useful for us because we don't have that much money for our lab infrastructure. Deduplication means we have more storage available. And the IOPS are really fast."
"The biggest benefit of the Hitachi platform is 100 percent storage uptime. It's also highly cost-effective."
"Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform 5000 Series exhibits good performance and has good IOPS: 300 IOPS. The technical support for this product is also good."
"The product offers high stability."
 

Cons

"We had some issues with level 1 support. We had to fight with them on repeated issues. There is room for improvement in level 1 support."
"The cost of Dell PowerScale is currently high and there is room for improvement."
"The solution’s interface and pricing could be improved."
"It would be nice to see tools like Superna Eyeglass built into PowerScale."
"If they integrated some functions, as they have on Data Domain with a cyber recovery vault, it would be ideal."
"I'd like to see more Iceland products in the cloud so that we can port our data into different environments if needed. I would also like to see a virtual appliance or software-defined Iceland product."
"The solution can be a bit complex for those not well versed in the technology."
"The thing that they are working on now, and we are following closely is more native cloud integrations. The way that we envision workloads in the future is around moving compute to data instead of the other way around. So, we would like to have a single pane glass to manage storage across a variety of different platforms, including native cloud. That would be awesome."
"The controllers in the product do not provide options for scalability."
"In terms of what could be improved, it could use a better, faster web console and other consoles. It is so boring waiting, waiting and waiting for it to refresh."
"The complex setup, ease of use, and snapshot operations of this product need to be improved."
"This product should be easier to install and set up."
"If they had a certain approach to layered storage, it would be better. For example, adaption to the browser, or having a centralized console."
"The admin tools in the Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform definitely have certain shortcomings that require improvement."
"The solution is priced higher than its competitors."
"The initial setup was difficult, as we don't have access to assistance. We had some issues around configuration. We needed to know things like what kind of rate is the best, or what kind of replication is ideal. We had to seek out answers online to get the information we needed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is reasonable."
"Dell PowerScale is expensive on the start-up side but we can recoup those costs quickly by not having to reapply the savings to other equipment."
"The solution is expensive; it is not the cheapest solution out there. If you look at it from a total cost of ownership perspective, then it is a very compelling solution. However, if you're looking at just dollar per terabyte and not looking at the big picture, then you could be distracted by the price. It is not an amazing price, but it's pretty good. It is also very good when you consider the total cost of ownership and ease of management."
"The pricing is expensive, but I think it's a fair value because it does manage itself. It definitely is much simpler than any of the other scale-out storage platforms that we've looked at in the past."
"Our company finds the pricing high, but it decreases over time."
"Price was also a significant factor in our decision to go with PowerScale. The team at EMC, now Dell EMC, came through with a highly competitive offer that tipped the scales towards their solution. There was only one other solution around the same price point, but it could not match PowerScale on features. That other solution is no longer on the market."
"We paid an additional fee to have Dell's ProDeploy Plus team implement it."
"Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is an expensive solution."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"The price is good enough considering the performance, and we are satisfied."
"The solution is expensive."
"We pay for a support contract agreement."
"The main difference between Hitachi and other vendors is the cost. At the time that we bought the solution, it was the best option but the price, compared to other vendors, is a little high."
"Architecture-wise, it's actually at a competitive price point. It is not cheap."
"Pricing could be better, because the cost is very high."
"I give the price of Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform a nine out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?
The solution provides massive performance, scalability, efficiency, and ease of management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?
Dell PowerScale is expensive on the start-up side but we can recoup those costs quickly by not having to reapply the savings to other equipment.
What do you like most about Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform F Series?
The deduplication is useful for us because we don't have that much money for our lab infrastructure. Deduplication means we have more storage available. And the IOPS are really fast.
What needs improvement with Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform F Series?
One problem is that there are too many management tools for the F Series and for all the other Hitachi storage systems. There are four or five such solutions. Maybe these could be combined in the f...
What is your primary use case for Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform F Series?
We're only using the F Series in our lab for hosting lab infrastructure for all our colleagues. We needed fast storage.
 

Also Known As

PowerScale, Dell EMC Isilon
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform F Series, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform 5000 Series, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform E Series, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform N Series, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform G Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

OMRF, University of Utah, Translational Genetics Research Institute, Arcis, Geofizyka Torumn, Cyprus E&P Corporation, Colburn School, Columbia Sportswear, Harvard Medical School, University of Michigan, National Library of France,
Turkcell, Owens Corning, Region Nord, Net Credit Financial Group (NFC Group), Russian Railways
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs. Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.