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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

"Customer Service: Very good general Dell Storage support is very responsive."
"The stability is quite good. Once you deploy all the equipment, it's very stable."
"Dell's technical support is excellent."
"The MD3260 is a great unit, inexpensive, hold tons of drives, its expandable, and the cost is low."
"The security of the backup and the overall system that Dell PowerVault brings to the table is definitely the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is easy to manage and easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is easy to manage and easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerVault is its ability to provide small to medium-range storage. It doesn't have any specific standout features, but it's great for applications, such as surveillance where a large number of videos need to be recorded and performance isn't a priority."
"In my experience, it is one of the most reliable options in SAN switches."
 

Cons

"We could set up the installation through a web server, but it's not very reactive on the web server. For example, when you launch a task, and you don't know exactly if the task has begun or if the task is in progress, or if it's finished. You have to wait for three to five to ten minutes to be sure that the task is running or in progress or finished. So at that point, it's not very good."
"Only once when the storage array seem to be very slow and caused VMware Hosts to not see the volumes."
"If the solution came with a synchronous application, it would be particularly advantageous for small businesses operating across multiple sites."
"The technical support from Dell could be better."
"The implementation process takes a while."
"I would like to see improvements made to the user interface."
"The scalability is present but it is a bit complex to scale to the desired level. When we needed to increase the performance, we faced some issues."
"There is room for improvement with Dell PowerVault as we did have some promises about dedupe and compression that did not turn out as promised, but Dell trued up and gave us more storage for no cost."
"This product can improve in the out-of-the-box features; for example, licensing 16 ports instead of 8."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the price of Dell PowerVault a nine out of ten."
"I rate the solution's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."
"The price of Dell PowerVault could be reduced. It is more expensive than some IBM solutions."
"Dell PowerVault's price is the tool's main attraction."
"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 would rate the pricing model a nine out of ten, with one being expensive and ten being cheap."
"The cost, compared to other solutions, is on the higher end."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
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 Business17
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.
894,998 professionals have used our research since 2012.