Dell PowerStore vs FreeNAS comparison

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Dell PowerStore

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

FreeNAS and Dell PowerStore both compete in the network-attached storage domain. FreeNAS seems to have the upper hand for cost-effective and flexible solutions, while Dell PowerStore is preferred in environments needing advanced features and robust performance.

Features: FreeNAS provides open-source software, customizable storage solutions, and broad data protection capabilities, enhancing its flexibility and usability. Dell PowerStore stands out with integrated AI operations, a data-centric design, and scalable architecture, which supports complex data management tasks seamlessly.

Room for Improvement: FreeNAS could enhance its support services, offer more streamlined scaling options, and improve its user interface for non-tech users. Meanwhile, Dell PowerStore might focus on reducing its pricing to appeal to mid-sized companies, offer more straightforward integration with existing smaller IT setups, and refine initial setup procedures to require less technical expertise.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: FreeNAS offers a do-it-yourself deployment that suits tech-savvy users who enjoy hands-on control but might lack extensive customer support. In contrast, Dell PowerStore simplifies deployment with strong customer support, easing the adoption process for larger businesses.

Pricing and ROI: FreeNAS requires minimal initial investment, maximizing ROI for budget-conscious organizations by delivering cost-saving storage solutions. Dell PowerStore involves a higher upfront cost, justified by its performance and feature set, potentially offering greater long-term ROI for companies with complex storage needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerStore vs. FreeNAS Report (Updated: April 2025).

Dell PowerStore vs. FreeNAS

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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 PowerStore

Ranking in NAS

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Warehouse (4th), Enterprise SAN (1st), All-Flash Storage (1st), NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays (1st)

FreeNAS

Ranking in NAS

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Dell PowerStore is 12.2%, up from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FreeNAS is 2.0%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NAS

Featured Reviews

Brian Ricci

President at Pinnacle Computer Services, Inc.

It's constantly enhanced and has impressive reliability and data compression

The maintenance is a bit expensive. The service and support are there for three years, but after the third year, it is pretty pricey for renewal. I hope Dell addresses that. Everything is pricey these days anyway. It is not like the old days of Compellent. We used to be able to see the metrics for our customers. On Compellent, we could look up that customer and see all the metrics. That is not allowed for us now. We cannot do that anymore. I have to be explicitly allowed by the customer to do that, and some companies' security does not allow that.

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Vincenzo D'Aniello

Software developer at TREXON S.R.L.

Open-source with great disk management and task synchronization

The system itself allows you to add any feature. The only bad thing is that this maybe depends on FreeBSD, and sometimes finding documentation is difficult. For example, we knew that previous versions automatically enabled the Linux kernel, yet with the recent version, this was no longer the case. Now, there was the possibility of being able to create Debian-based jails, and finding the documentation was not easy or fast. That said, in the end, we succeeded. If you find the documentation, it is always incomplete and fragmented.

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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 way you're able to manage all your PowerStores as one solution is very good for us. PowerStore enables you to federate or cluster multiple appliances with automated load balancing. In terms of management, it's helpful that we can do it from a single interface where we're able to manage multiple PowerStores. When you have multiple PowerStores it works intelligently by running the workloads based on the needs of the infrastructure."

"The software upgrades are all included for no additional charge."

"Dell PowerStore has good value for money and some scalability features that are better than other products."

"The solution's migration feature is very valuable, but the most valuable thing is that more features appear with every iteration of the software."

"The platform's reliability and built-in replication between disk systems have made our customers happy. It has worked consistently well over the years."

"The solution's technical support is excellent. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"My company found the tool to be really easy to use, expand, and manage."

More Dell PowerStore pros

"It integrates well into either Windows or Linux environments."

"FreeNAS is much simpler and easier to use than other solutions, but we don't have the complete range of features that come with the full version."

"Its stability is the most valuable. It is reliable, and we don't have to worry too much about it."

"The solution has been very stable so far."

"What I like about it is that I can work on it from any computer or any device. The initial setup is very simple. The setup wizard is really helpful."

"It has the best storage capacity."

"The ease of use of the 'jail', the management of backups, and copies to easily create test and pre-production scenarios have speeded up the development and distribution of business apps."

Cons

"Data reduction needs improvement."

"Could use some additional automation."

"Dell PowerStore is an unfinished product compared to the HPE systems because it is relatively new."

"We need to find a way to ensure the cache data is safe and secure."

"Could be improved by including a synchronizing feature for the file systems."

"More demonstration and training options are needed."

"There are some management issues in Dell PowerStore. I have managed several pieces of Dell PowerStore's hardware area, and I could feel that it was almost like a step back in certain areas when it came to the management interface."

"After the smooth launch of the product in our company, only the areas around upgrades are a bit problematic. In our organization, we face difficulties when updating the product."

More Dell PowerStore cons

"The latest version of the dashboard doesn't work as good as the previous version."

"They can improve the integration with PSA systems. This functionality could be better."

"If you find the documentation, it is always incomplete and fragmented."

"The one thing that I find difficult to do which is very time-consuming is that I like to have a backup of the important files."

"FreeNAS should be better prepared for clustering."

"They should include clustering for the solution."

"The support for S3 needs to be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's price was comparable to other products for the use case, size, and setup."

"I rate the price of Dell PowerStore a seven out of ten."

"Dell PowerStore charges for the hardware warranty every three years. The price will depend on the storage model or how much hardware it has."

"The solution is expensive."

"The rate is always too high. Nobody likes paying for it. I have not seen a client yet who says that the price should be higher. Initially, people look at it, but when they see what the benefits are, it is a no-brainer. We can give them good pricing at the outset."

"Dell PowerStore is affordable and the license is just a face license which is great."

"The pricing is good. There's no need to pay for a license; it's all-inclusive."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

More Dell PowerStore pricing and cost advice

"Its price is okay. It suits our needs."

"Its licensing cost is based on the hardware capacity."

"For our configuration, we pay a little bit less than €10,000 ($12,000 USD) per year."

"We use the free version of the program."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

21%

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you think about Dell EMC PowerStore? Is it actually a new product?

PowerStore is flexible, scalable, simple, and performant with market-leading economics for a wide range of legacy and next-gen apps. It is only Flash and can support many workloads from today's app...

How does Dell's EMC PowerStore compare with its EMC Unity XT?

Dell EMC PowerStore is a unified storage platform that has the added benefit of being scalable. The automated management of resources feature provides a more simple administration. I found the flex...

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 offerings and integrated into the PowerStoreOS. The installation and setup have a ...

What do you like most about FreeNAS?

The ease of use of the 'jail', the management of backups, and copies to easily create test and pre-production scenarios have speeded up the development and distribution of business apps.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FreeNAS?

The core version is free and open-source.

What needs improvement with FreeNAS?

HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell PowerStore

Comparisons

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Dell PowerVault vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 9% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Dell PowerStore

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NetApp AFF vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 8% of the time

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Qumulo vs FreeNAS

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HPE StoreEasy vs FreeNAS

Compared 16% of the time

NetApp FAS Series vs FreeNAS

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Product Reports

Dell PowerStore

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Also Known As

PowerStore

No data available

Overview

Dell PowerStore stands out for its high performance, flexibility, and easy integration with VMware. It offers notable data compression and deduplication capabilities while providing powerful NVMe support and machine learning to optimize IT operations.

Dell PowerStore is designed to offer a comprehensive approach to IT infrastructure by enhancing performance and simplifying management. It is particularly suitable for companies that require scalable solutions to increase compute or capacity independently. Featuring built-in intelligence, PowerStore allows efficient storage consolidation and reduced footprint, while integration with CloudIQ enhances monitoring and analytics. However, there are areas for improvement, such as stability, enterprise features, and the user interface. Pricing is high, and support responsiveness needs attention. Organizations primarily use PowerStore for VMware environments, storage, and data protection, supporting high-performance databases and VMware workloads. It is utilized in data centers for disaster recovery and hybrid setups.

What are the key features of Dell PowerStore?

Flexibility: Independently scales compute or capacity
High Performance: Offers powerful NVMe support and machine learning
Integration: Easily integrates with VMware
Data Efficiency: Provides data compression and deduplication
Simplified Management: Built-in intelligence for efficient storage management

What benefits should users consider?

Performance Optimization: Enhance IT operations with machine learning
Scalability: Increase compute or storage capacity as needed
Integration Potential: Improve efficiency with VMware and CloudIQ
Data Protection: Reliable for disaster recovery and hybrid environments

In industries like IT, finance, and healthcare, Dell PowerStore supports efficient data management and enhances infrastructure performance. Organizations leverage it to manage extensive data, streamline virtualization processes, and facilitate migration from legacy systems, while integrating cloud and on-premises infrastructures for improved operations.

Dell Technologies

FreeNAS is an operating system that can be installed on virtually any hardware platform to share data over a network. FreeNAS is the simplest way to create a centralized and easily accessible place for your data. Use FreeNAS with ZFS to protect, store, backup, all of your data. FreeNAS is used everywhere, for the home, small business, and the enterprise.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Morroni Technologies Inc., Creative Integrations

Dell PowerStore vs. FreeNAS