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Dell PowerVault vs IBM SAN24B-4 Express comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 PowerVault
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Fibre Channel (1st)
IBM SAN24B-4 Express
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
10th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.8
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Enterprise SAN category, the mindshare of Dell PowerVault is 15.3%, down from 29.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM SAN24B-4 Express is 4.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise SAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerVault15.3%
IBM SAN24B-4 Express4.9%
Other79.8%
Enterprise SAN
 

Featured Reviews

Storage has supported long-term CCTV archiving and improves on-premises application performance
I think it would be good regarding how Dell PowerVault could improve to have, in addition to the excellent support service that exists, some training courses, forums, and a training school for using these tools. Many people specialize only in this kind of equipment, and others have no idea how to configure them or how they work and always end up depending on people who have spent a long time working with these systems and know how to handle them more because of experience than because of information that can be easily obtained about using this equipment. Everything regarding additional aspects that could be improved in Dell PowerVault has already been mentioned.
Alejandro Rivas Detomasi - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager | Service Delivery Coordinator at kyndryl
It has short-wave and long-wave capabilities.
In my experience, it is one of the most reliable options in SAN switches. Let´s say that the SAN24 is the perfect combination between two great brands (IBM hardware and Brocade´s software). In my experience, Brocade´s software is the best for SAN implementation; easy to use and intuitive in every aspect. Brocade is always updating its IOS (operating system), adding new functionalities to its switches and correcting minor errors. If you add all these things to IBM hardware and support, you can trust that your SAN is going to have near-zero downtime.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The biggest advantage of the product that really stands out for me is its price and the comparison of price with performance; its price is very good, and the performance according to this price is sufficient based on backup requirements, so it is perfect."
"I like the tool's CloudIQ feature."
"PowerVault comes with free software that performs functions like data deduplication and replication, which is cost-effective and delivers added value to the product."
"Dell PowerVault is user-friendly and easy to deploy."
"We've even used PowerVault series that we intended to use for five years for almost eight years, and it was still working fine, providing good ROI compared to any other brand, which are the overall advantages of Dell PowerVault."
"The MD3260 is a great unit, inexpensive, hold tons of drives, its expandable, and the cost is low."
"Dell's technical support is excellent."
"The security of the backup and the overall system that Dell PowerVault brings to the table is definitely the most valuable feature."
"In my experience, it is one of the most reliable options in SAN switches."
 

Cons

"Only once when the storage array seem to be very slow and caused VMware Hosts to not see the volumes."
"The product is generally stable, but there have been instances, to my knowledge, where we faced issues in the controller during software upgrades. The availability is not at the desired level during these upgrade processes, as we sometimes need to shut down both controllers. This could be an area for improvement."
"We've had some control issues."
"PowerVault could be improved by increasing its memory cache capacity and adding the ability to export data to the cloud."
"Dell PowerVault is block-oriented storage only."
"The negative aspect I mentioned is regarding the support; sometimes I spend a lot of time explaining issues and it is not time-effective."
"I would like Dell to improve on the configuration of the disk groups. Only one group is expandable. Once you configure the other disk group types, you cannot expand them. It limits scalability. If you want maybe to grow a disk group, you lose information, and then you need to build it up again, which is not a good use case for customers."
"The price of the solution could be lower."
"This product can improve in the out-of-the-box features; for example, licensing 16 ports instead of 8."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost, compared to other solutions, is on the higher end."
"They are offering a wide range of support models for the customers such as basic support that is budget-friendly, but they also provide a professional support solution that is a bit costly"
"Dell PowerVault's price is the tool's main attraction."
"I rate the price of Dell PowerVault a nine out of ten."
"The price is reasonable and we are satisfied with it."
"The solution is more cost-effective than the competitors. It’s an affordable option for small businesses."
"I rate Dell PowerVault a six or seven out of ten for pricing."
"I rate the product price a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
17%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise14
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerVault?
I think the price, implementation cost, and licensing of Dell PowerVault is reasonable. Considering the resources it delivers, the security, and the reliability the platform gives us, all the costs...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerVault?
I do not see the option for scheduled snapshots in Dell PowerVault because I did not find the information. However, I do use the snapshot option on Dell PowerVault to protect against cyber-attacks....
What is your primary use case for Dell PowerVault?
I work with Dell PowerStore, PowerEdge, and PowerVault, but not PowerProtect. I have been dealing with Dell PowerVault for one year. I use Dell PowerVault for backup storage, as this is the major u...
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Also Known As

PowerVault
SAN24B-4 Express
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dayco, FAW Foundry, University of Cambridge, Finder, Stadtwerke Pforzheim GmbH & Co.
ADP, McKesson Technology Solutions, Migros Zurich, Mars Incorporated, Grupo Hefame, Williams-Sonoma
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco and others in Enterprise SAN. Updated: April 2026.
893,915 professionals have used our research since 2012.