We performed a comparison between Dell EMC PowerStore and IBM FlashSystem based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: When compared, both solutions received similar ratings in all categories except for service and support. Users of IBM FlashSystem were more satisfied with the service.
"Data deduplication is one feature I found to be the most valuable in the tool...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The solution offers amazing performance."
"This is the best all-flash storage array on the market."
"The solution is very reliable."
"The most valuable feature of Pure Storage FlashArray is its high stability level."
"The product cheaper compared to other solutions concerning the technology that they are using."
"Processes that used to take 40 minutes to two hours can be completed in five minutes."
"FlashArray has many valuable features. It's very user-friendly and it has high availability, so there is comparatively less downtime. During maintenance, there is no shutdown procedure, so you can directly power off the Array and manage the shutdown process without any data loss, which is a unique feature. Managing replication and data migration is also very easy."
"You can add compute and capacity independently. We have sized the solution based on our current needs, but in the future we can choose to increase capacity if we grow our activity in the market. And if we have more business in our monetary system, we can increase compute. The ability to choose what we increase is a good feature."
"The compression is excellent."
"Has a great mapping feature."
"The solution's technical support is excellent. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable features of Dell PowerStore are the support for NVMe and SCM, which provides end-to-end performance and high IOPS, minimizing latency. It is a full-fledged storage solution."
"When compared to Pure Storage, Dell PowerStore's cost was quite attractive."
"PowerStore is easy to use. All the drives use soft encryption. To upgrade it, you download the app, and it runs by itself. It's very easy to deploy, share, and create volumes."
"Dell EMC PowerStore is scalable."
"The most valuable features of IBM FlashSystem are performance and security."
"IBM FlashSystem is a flexible solution with plenty of features."
"The storage system is one of the best in the world."
"The Flash core models offer amazing performance."
"The speed, performance, and stability are the best features of IBM FlashSystem."
"The most crucial feature of IBM FlashSystem is compression."
"The solution allows for easy migrations from previous products or vendors via its embedded storage virtualization function."
"IBM FlashSystem is a stable solution."
"It was not proactive communication."
"We would like to be able to connect to data tape for backup, specifically to the LTO backups."
"Pricing could be better in comparison to other solutions."
"The price of Pure Storage FlashArray could be better."
"Larger capacity and more storage ports would be the two things I'd like to see."
"Its price could be cheaper. It is not the cheapest one out there, but I'm not directly involved in the figures and negotiations."
"We understand that they're thinking about it, but one of the things that would be nice is if they added some basic file-level capabilities to the platform. The idea is that they would run a basic NFS or CIF share from the controllers. FlashBlade is the powerhouse for File and Object storage, but if you don't need all that power, a lightweight file function would make FlashArrays more versatile."
"The price should be lower."
"The solution's pricing could be better."
"The only thing is that with PowerStore, we don't have a solution for the file object."
"The only area I can highlight for improvement is that the 4:1 data reduction target has not been reached. This may be due to an issue with Dell EMC's initial analysis of data compression. As a result, we have had to add new physical disks to reach our goal of total available disk space."
"There is no Synchronize replication feature on the storage."
"The price is on the higher side."
"We would consider this solution if the pricing is competitive with other options, as it offers a very good solution. However, the current price is slightly higher than the competition."
"The NAS part is very poor. It's very basic. Even Dell EMC has said that to us. We are waiting for version 3 of PowerStore for that. This must be improved and it is in the roadmap."
"More demonstration and training options are needed."
"It is slightly more expensive, however, it all depends on your supplier."
"We use some open-source tools for monitoring, such as Grafana and it should be bundled along with IBM FlashSystem."
"The data reduction pool feature sucks and is not recommended for use with heavy workloads."
"The solution's pricing is a bit high so there is room for improvement."
"The solution is quite expensive. That's one of the downsides to using it."
"The solution has a low number of NVME host attachments at 16 per IO group over the fiber channel."
"The interface could improve in IBM FlashSystem."
"Sometimes the performance is effective but it gets resolved in the process."
IBM FlashSystem products are enterprise computer data storage systems that store data on flash memory chips. Unlike storage systems that use standard solid-state drives, IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. This hardware provides performance, reliability, and efficiency benefits versus competitive offerings.
Dell PowerStore is ranked 1st in All-Flash Storage with 35 reviews while IBM FlashSystem is ranked 6th in All-Flash Storage with 35 reviews. Dell PowerStore is rated 8.4, while IBM FlashSystem is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Dell PowerStore writes "Saves us power and floor space, and we can quickly assign new data stores for our developers' VMs". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM FlashSystem writes "Reliable and easy to configure with simple data migration capabilities ". Dell PowerStore is most compared with Dell Unity XT, Dell PowerMax NVMe, NetApp AFF, HPE Nimble Storage and HPE Primera, whereas IBM FlashSystem is most compared with NetApp AFF, HPE Primera, HPE Nimble Storage, Dell Unity XT and Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform. See our Dell PowerStore vs. IBM FlashSystem report.
See our list of best All-Flash Storage vendors.
We monitor all All-Flash Storage reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.