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Dell SC Series vs Hitachi Universal Storage VM [EOL] vs VMAX [EOL] comparison

Dell Technologies and Hitachi Vantara are both solutions in the Frame-Based Disk Arrays category. Additionally, 94% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Hitachi Vantara users who would recommend it.
Dell SC Series
Read 55 Dell SC Series reviews
  • 1,596 Views
  • 128 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
VMAX [EOL]
Read 16 VMAX [EOL] reviews
    84% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive Summary
    We performed a comparison between Dell SC Series, Hitachi Universal Storage VM [EOL], and VMAX [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

    Find out what your peers are saying about Hitachi Vantara, Dell Technologies, IBM and others in Frame-Based Disk Arrays.

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    To learn more, read our detailed Frame-Based Disk Arrays Report (Updated: February 2026).
    Buyer's Guide
    Frame-Based Disk Arrays
    February 2026
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    Helped 881,757 peers since 2012

    Review summaries and opinions

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

    Featured Reviews

    RafaelGamaluis - PeerSpot reviewer
    RafaelGamaluis
    Architect Engineer, IT INFRASTRUCTURES Project Manager at Vilavi
    User interface offers clarity and detailed information while technical support consistently delivers
    The best features of Dell SC Series are stability and replication. The replication solution is excellent, and they have a solution named Live Migration. It is a robust platform. The interface and the GUI (graphical user interface) for administrating the Compellent are exceptional, with abundant information that is very clear. The management capabilities are excellent, and the stability of our storage hardware is remarkable.
    Read full review
    it_user1205586 - PeerSpot reviewer
    it_user1205586
    Chief Solutions Architect at Science Applications International Corporation
    Good price-performance ratio, provides simplified provisioning and management
    We use this solution for provisioning and management The most valuable features are simplified provisioning and management, de-duplication, and built-in encryption. The exterior display needs to be improved. Sorry, I like the blue lights the competition has, but maybe we can see green led lights…
    Read full review
    Ali Yazıcı - PeerSpot reviewer
    Ali Yazıcı
    IT Service Manager at Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank
    Good interface that is customizable, and the technical support is good
    Our primary use of this product is for our core banking servers over FC It is a high end storage, minimal downtime, reliable, good performance, get speedy support when we need. The user interface is good, and it is also customizable. snap and clone operations easy.  Stability and availability…
    Read full review

    Quotes from Members

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

    Pros

    "We see very low latency with very high IOPS for mixed workloads."
    "It has good dedupe and compression. Also, the built-in data migration capabilities are pretty good, as is the federation. When we started migrating the workloads from different storage platforms, like NetApp and XtremeIO, it helped us in moving to that direction."
    "There's some new stuff coming with 7.3, which just got released, where they're spreading the sparing across the whole array, rather than having a dedicated spare disk, and have it sit there and do nothing until one of them dies, and then it kicks in - and having to rebuild all of that. Now, they'll do the sparing across all the disks and they say that is going to add not only space but performance to the array, with 7.3."
    "The Dell support is helpful and the response is quick. The agents' knowledge is very good."
    "Its feature set is superior to some of the other platforms."
    "I think that Dell EMC is one of the best technical support services in Ukraine."
    "One time, we had a drive fail and we were notified before we even saw it on the device."
    "I've found the stability to be very good."
    More Dell SC Series pros
    "The most valuable features are simplified provisioning and management, de-duplication, and built-in encryption."
    "VMAX3 is our main system for storage. All our systems and all our virtualizations are connected to it. In terms of expanding it, we are replacing it with a new system, the PowerMax 2000. So our current VMAX3 platform will be decommissioned soon. We are switching to PowerMax 2000 because we are looking for improved performance. We see it as the best fit for our requirements in terms of the performance and the overall cost."
    "A rock solid foundation to deploy applications which cannot incur a disruption of service."
    "The most valuable features are the interface and performance."
    "We have never had a bad experience with it because we never had failures. It has good data availability and the performance is also okay."
    "This solution is resilient."
    "It works with our replication technology, which is not SRDF, which is native replication technology."
    "I like the many new features, especially the all-flash solution."
    "Deploying, Expanding, and Modifying systems are easier than ever."
    More VMAX [EOL] pros
     

    Cons

    "Some menus aren't so intuitive."
    "What I understand is that this is a 13 year old architecture, so it has lived its life and they're phasing it out. Honestly, we were initially struggling with the integration with VMware (but it was fixed with the VMware 6.5) and, then, it was around a 10GB network. At that time, it had the longevity to go to 100GB as well. It got us thinking about, when we go into the containerized architecture, what do we need to do to fix the infrastructure?"
    "I would like to see an integrated key manager in the controllers. Currently, it's an external product. It would be nice to have the option of having a built-in key for self-encrypting drive features."
    "We had times that we needed a file service solution. We've used FluidFS, but it's a solution that is being transitioned out."
    "The tool's pricing is high and not suitable for medium companies."
    "In some customer cases, customers experienced more performance or latency."
    "An issue we had was that the controller went down during an upgrade because of their upgrading the code. One side of the switch was down."
    "Dell SC Series is no longer available, while Dell PowerStore, which supports NVMe over TCP, is different and not very affordable."
    More Dell SC Series cons
    "The exterior display needs to be improved."
    "The pricing is a bit expensive. That is the reason we are now currently we are looking for other solutions. That's the reason we are looking at AFF and Unity. We are also considering PowerStore."
    "I would like this solution to integrate the solution that EMC vPlex offers."
    "The way you configure larger size volumes needs improvement."
    "I would like to see support for high-availability."
    "Resilience replication, reporting, and performance need to be improved."
    "I'd like to see improvements where we can scale out an existing array and remove older controllers\drives\etc., within the same subsystem."
    "Better speed to release new features that have become industry standards. EMC created so many standards in the past. Now, it seems they are playing a me-too game and lagging behind in some areas, specifically data reduction."
    "The cluster support should be improved."
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "Always keep in mind, this is not just a enclosure with disks is a complete SAN as a service. There is software, license, and storage in one single solution."
    "Support typically depends on the array. It can range anywhere from $7,000 to a couple of hundred thousand dollars."
    "We have the basic license for the use of this solution and it is a permanent license. The overall cost could be less, it is expensive."
    "This solution could be better priced in comparison with other vendors."
    "This product is too expensive compared to others, and I don't see any value in using it."
    "Compared to other solutions out there, it's affordable."
    "The SC Series was priced fairly. I wouldn't call it either expensive or cheap because we had a very tight budget, so if they were able to fit in that type of budget, they met our expectations."
    "We have found the solution to be affordable."
    More Dell SC Series pricing and cost advice
    "This solution has a good price-performance ratio."
    "There are additional costs to the standard licensing fee, and it just depends on the package."
    "Our licensing fees are billed on a yearly basis."
    "Our licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
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    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    Computer Software Company
    10%
    University
    9%
    Performing Arts
    9%
    Manufacturing Company
    8%
    No data available
    No data available
     

    Company Size

    By reviewers
    Large Enterprise
    Midsize Enterprise
    Small Business
    By reviewers
    Company SizeCount
    Small Business26
    Midsize Enterprise10
    Large Enterprise20
    No data available
    By reviewers
    Company SizeCount
    Small Business2
    Midsize Enterprise6
    Large Enterprise17
     

    Questions from the Community

    What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell SC Series?
    In our case, we received favorable pricing with Dell because of our strong partnership. While I acknowledge that Dell...
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Dell SC Series?
    For us, it is a great product. The deduplication and compression could potentially be improved, though they are alrea...
    See all answers
    What is your primary use case for Dell SC Series?
    We use Dell SC Series in a VMware environment.
    See all answers
    Ask a question
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    Comparisons

    Dell PowerStore vs Dell SC Series Logo
    Dell PowerStore vs Dell SC Series
    Compared 17% of the time
    HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell SC Series Logo
    HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell SC Series
    Compared 7% of the time
    HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs Dell SC Series Logo
    HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs Dell SC Series
    Compared 7% of the time
    Dell PowerMax vs Dell SC Series Logo
    Dell PowerMax vs Dell SC Series
    Compared 7% of the time
    Dell Unity XT vs Dell SC Series Logo
    Dell Unity XT vs Dell SC Series
    Compared 6% of the time
    More Dell SC Series Competitors
    No data available
    No data available
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    Dell SC Series
    February 2026
    Dell SC Series reportDownload Dell SC Series product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Frame-Based Disk Arrays
    February 2026
    Hitachi Universal Storage VM [EOL] reportDownload Hitachi Universal Storage VM [EOL] product report
    Buyer's Guide
    VMAX [EOL]
    January 2026
    VMAX [EOL] reportDownload VMAX [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    SC Series Storage, Compellent
    HUS VM
    Symmetrix VMAX
     

    Overview

    Dell EMC SC Series arrays provide a unified platform for the ultimate in performance, adaptability and machine-driven efficiency. SC Series software delivers modern features that help you meet aggressive workload demands using the fewest drives necessary. With an open, future-ready design, SC Series storage integrates seamlessly with applications and infrastructure, enabling you to scale on a single platform and add capabilities without forklift upgrades.

    Dell Technologies

    The Hitachi Universal Storage Platform VM delivers proven enterprise-class functionality — advanced virtualization of externally attached storage, logical partitioning, thin provisioning and universal replication — in flexible, cost effective service oriented configurations. 

    Hitachi Vantara
    Symmetrix VMAX accelerate your transformation to the software-defined data center with the world's most powerful, trusted, and smart family of storage products.
    Dell Technologies
     

    Sample Customers

    TGen, Frost Science, Gerrie Electric
    Hanergy Global Solar PV Application Pte Ltd
    Wentworth-Douglas Hospital, Kindred Healthcare, Cosentry, Sumitomo Life Insurance Company, Shriners, BZWBK
    Buyer's Guide
    Frame-Based Disk Arrays
    February 2026
    Download Free Report
    Find out what your peers are saying about Hitachi Vantara, Dell Technologies, IBM and others in Frame-Based Disk Arrays. Updated: February 2026.
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