Dell PowerScale vs NetApp V-Series [EOL] comparison

Dell Technologies and NetApp are both solutions in the NAS category. Additionally, 96% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerScale

Read 92 Dell PowerScale reviews

13,669 Views
7,245 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

NetApp V-Series [EOL]

Read 3 NetApp V-Series [EOL] reviews

100% willing to recommend

Dell PowerScale

NetApp V-Series [EOL]

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Dell PowerScale and NetApp V-Series [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, NetApp, CTERA and others in NAS.

To learn more, read our detailed NAS Report (Updated: May 2026).

Buyer's Guide

NAS

May 2026

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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 PowerScale

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

NAS (1st), File and Object Storage (2nd)

NetApp V-Series [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Bill Engelmeyer

Systems Engineer at Unisity LLC

Flexibility and reliability have supported seamless data growth

I cannot think of anything to improve about Dell PowerScale (Isilon). The hardest challenge we have is due to how we've bought things over time. The way that we moved to the PowerEdge platform for the newer systems creates a scale problem as I still buy the older style systems, which are more dense storage. They're different chassis, so the problem we run into in the data center is the depth of the actual equipment. The newer equipment, if we buy an FX910 or a 900, it's a lot shorter in scale than if I buy an 83,000, which is much bigger. This makes it more complicated for deployment.

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it_user487899

Infrastructure Administrator at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Flexible, allowing us to provide NAS and SAN solutions with the same hardware

According to my experience, for certain HPC environments, we encounter certain Memory/CPU limitations when we have a large number of IOPS. This is why, in order to support such loads, several cabs are required in parallel, complicating the configuration and administration. Another handicap is the management of the LACP that, when we are talking about environments with less than 20 calculation nodes, may not balance correctly despite setting the RR option.

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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

"I would rate Dell PowerScale (Isilon) as a product a ten out of ten."

"The technical support has been excellent. I would give them a ten out of ten for support."

"Dell PowerScale aligns with our organization's strategic goals of improving operational efficiency because we are able to provide a centralized location for file systems."

"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is all the capabilities together."

"Its scalability has been huge for us."

"Features like ransomware protection, file lock retention, and third-party integrations (e.g., Superna for ransomware protection) are significant benefits."

"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."

"Dell PowerScale is a scalable solution. It allows non-disruptive upgrades and maintenance of the system."

More Dell PowerScale pros

"We are very happy with this solution as it brings us the scalability and stability of Data Ontap and the versatility of NetApp solutions in order to provide different types of services for our customers' requirements (NAS, CIFS, FC / FCoE)."

"You have the ability to connect a third-party storage back end, EMC VMAX in our case, and have all NetApp functionalities available."

Cons

"The deployment of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is not really complex but depends on the hardware deployment."

"The legacy file system for Epsilon didn't scale into the cloud and didn't have a separate OS. It would be key if this was made possible."

"It is a bit higher priced than some of the other systems."

"I would like to see Dell PowerScale (Isilon) improved by enhancing the user interface, OneFS, to make advanced conversation and troubleshooting more specific, upgrade and batch management, providing deeper built-in analytics for performance and capacity planning."

"In the past year, it hasn't been as great. They seem to just follow KBS."

"Dell's customer service needs improvement."

"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."

"If I could improve one thing on Dell PowerScale (Isilon), it would be better object storage as it recently breached into S3, and that capability could be broadened."

More Dell PowerScale cons

"We have had some performance issues."

"According to my experience, for certain HPC environments, we encounter certain Memory/CPU limitations when we have a large number of IOPS."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Dell PowerScale is an expensive solution compared to other products like Qumulo."

"We paid an additional fee to have Dell's ProDeploy Plus team implement it."

"The general cost for a system like this is expensive. The total cost depends on your use case. You need to pay for every additional feature that you use."

"Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is an expensive solution."

"Our company finds the pricing high, but it decreases over time."

"The price of the solution can fluctuate. The price can be competitive or other times not. The price of the solution could be better."

"We use the TNA approach which is a great opportunity for us to better manage the licenses based on how much consumption is available for the different customers so we can use that approach and scalability."

"It is an expensive solution."

More Dell PowerScale pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	25
Midsize Enterprise	23
Large Enterprise	51

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is cost-effective.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?

I think Dell PowerScale (Isilon) could improve some functions such as Apache S3 or containerized storage support, as these aspects are not well-developed. Their support system is weak; many issues ...

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What is your primary use case for Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?

Our primary use cases include virtualization storage and external storage via NFS.

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Comparisons

NetApp FAS Series vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 19% of the time

Everpure FlashBlade vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 9% of the time

Qumulo vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 6% of the time

VAST Data vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 4% of the time

Dell ObjectScale vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 4% of the time

More Dell PowerScale Competitors

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs NetApp V-Series [EOL]

Compared 38% of the time

Dell EqualLogic PS series vs NetApp V-Series [EOL]

Compared 33% of the time

AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery vs NetApp V-Series [EOL]

Compared 29% of the time

More NetApp V-Series [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerScale

May 2026

Download Dell PowerScale product report

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

May 2026

Download NetApp V-Series [EOL] product report

Also Known As

PowerScale, Dell EMC Isilon

No data available

Overview

Dell PowerScale leads in unstructured data management with unified file and object storage, massive scalability, security, and cloud adaptability, enhancing AI, analytics, and enterprise applications with exceptional performance and resilience.

Dell PowerScale Isilon provides a comprehensive platform for unstructured data, excelling in scalability, management, and performance. With features like single-pane management, SyncIQ, and SmartQuotas, it handles large datasets with flexibility and robust security. Its multi-protocol support and seamless expansion improve operational efficiency. While it offers strong data protection, enhancements in cloud integration, cybersecurity, and performance are sought. Users note potential for cost reductions and streamlined configurations and mention desired improvements in object storage handling and NFS support.

What are the key features of Dell PowerScale Isilon?

Single-pane management: Simplifies data control and monitoring through a unified interface.
SyncIQ: Ensures efficient data replication for business continuity.
SmartQuotas: Provides intelligent quota management for optimized storage allocation.
Multi-protocol support: Facilitates cross-platform data access and integration.
Seamless storage expansion: Allows effortless scaling to accommodate growing data needs.

What benefits should users consider when reviewing Dell PowerScale Isilon?

Operational efficiency: Reduces workload with easy management and automation.
Enhanced security: Offers comprehensive data protection and recovery options.
Scalability: Supports large-scale data storage with flexible growth capabilities.
Performance: Delivers high-speed data processing for demanding applications.
Integration flexibility: Adapts to on-prem and hybrid cloud environments for diverse deployment needs.

Organizations across industries utilize Dell PowerScale Isilon for large-scale unstructured storage, supporting applications like video archiving, genomic data storage, and high-resolution imaging. Educational institutions, research centers, and media enterprises rely on its scaled-out storage capabilities, providing centralized, secure storage for diverse applications in hybrid, cloud, and on-prem environments.

Dell Technologies

NetApp V-Series storage virtualization controllers provide leading data protection, data management, and storage efficiency for your existing EMC, HDS, HP, IBM, Fujitsu, and NetApp E-Series storage arrays. Reclaim 35% or more capacity and reduce what you must spend for new disk drives to handle data growth by using NetApp storage efficiency features such as deduplication, thin provisioning, and compression. Optimize your workload performance with our broad flash portfolio.

NetApp

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,

City of Houston, Health Choice Network, SVC Bank, Plex Systems, Larsen & Toubro, IWD, JCVI

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, NetApp, CTERA and others in NAS. Updated: May 2026.

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