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Dell SC Series vs IBM System Storage DS8000 Series 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 SC Series
Ranking in Frame-Based Disk Arrays
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
All-Flash Storage (18th)
IBM System Storage DS8000 S...
Ranking in Frame-Based Disk Arrays
3rd
Average Rating
9.4
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Frame-Based Disk Arrays category, the mindshare of Dell SC Series is 15.2%, up from 6.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM System Storage DS8000 Series is 16.9%, down from 33.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Frame-Based Disk Arrays Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell SC Series15.2%
IBM System Storage DS8000 Series16.9%
Other67.9%
Frame-Based Disk Arrays
 

Featured Reviews

RafaelGamaluis - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
reviewer1392684 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect; Senior Manager Mainframe Technical Service at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Great Global Copy and Global Mirror features with an easy initial setup
We're just a customer. We don't have a business relationship with the company. I'm an outsourcing service provider and I've had a lot of experience using the solution. We have everything from DS8100 disc storage, all the way up to 8990s. I'd advise new users to read the implementation installation guide. Most of the questions are answered in there. People just tend to skim over it and don't get into the details. However, it's important in making everything run smoothly and understanding the solution. That's probably the best advice I've actually heard from anybody. At the end of the day, don't be someone who skips the instructions, and all of a sudden you have a pile of parts. I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The setup is straightforward."
"The most valuable features are the with back-end dedupe, and the thin nodes. For a 20TB or 60TB, we're using almost a one-to-two ratio."
"One time, we had a drive fail and we were notified before we even saw it on the device."
"I find this version to be more budget-friendly compared to products from other vendors. This aspect greatly benefits my customers. It's highly advantageous due to its affordability. The operational aspect is also noteworthy. Additionally, its availability and performance are commendable. The speaker are also equally powerful."
"We replicate between SAN to SAN for a lot of features and supportability. It also helps us when we want to upgrade to a newer SC Series or move the data from one data center to another."
"This is a solution with good performance that I recommend, and for anybody who is considering it, I would tell them to give it a shot."
"It has a good price point and offers some value-added enterprise features."
"It's definitely scalable, definitely fits the majority of our use cases, in high-performance environments such as Oracle, SQL, and so forth."
"The Global Copy and Global Mirror features are the solution's most valuable aspects."
"These are global mirror and replication for DR, which allow us to do a lot of DR testing."
"We have had no outages now for literally six years and that's really impressive."
"I really recommend the IBM DS8000 solution as it is the most advanced technology available for storage solutions."
"The solution is very stable; there aren't any problems there at all as it doesn't have bugs or glitches and doesn't crash or freeze, and we've found it to be very reliable."
"The main benefit is from the standpoint of recovery; recovery time and being able to quickly replicate data."
"The high throughput feature is the most powerful thing in this product."
 

Cons

"If Dell SC Series could have supported the protocol NVMe over TCP, that would have been great. It does not."
"This product is too expensive compared to others, and I don't see any value in using it."
"I don't think the solution is very scalable."
"Overall, I'd like to see more synergy between Dell EMC's higher-tier platforms and their mid-tier platforms."
"We had some issues with the battery in the previous version that we were unable to resolve."
"We can definitely see a need for it being a multi-controller system for customers who want to scale beyond the current capability."
"I would like to improve the processing ability."
"We need more discount, but it's good."
"I would like it to be easier to use. Some of it is so complex that we've got a lot of scripts and automation and things tied around it."
"Sometimes when we do encounter problems, but not a complete system shutdown, that gets a little bit frustrating."
"The solution should embedded replication switches into the hardware instead of using them externally."
"We need the GUI feature to be improved. If the GUI is good, then it is easier to manage with just the clicks, rather than going in with CLI and commands to do the stuff."
"On the open system side, it's a little different."
"The GUI isn't as user-friendly as other options."
"The pricing of the solution is difficult to deal with. Lower pricing would be preferred."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have reviewed many platforms over the years. It is probably the best solution for its value."
"The pricing of this solution is competitive."
"Compared to other solutions out there, it's affordable."
"The maintenance is usually pretty good. It's not like some of the others where they increase it in the fourth, fifth, or sixth years."
"Support typically depends on the array. It can range anywhere from $7,000 to a couple of hundred thousand dollars."
"This solution could be better priced in comparison with other vendors."
"We were able to afford two tiers of flash storage at a price where the competition was giving us one tier or just a handful of discs."
"It's a very affordable solution."
"The license is very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Construction Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Large Enterprise8
 

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 SC Series can be expensive for many companies, we received good discounts. The ...
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 already good. We cannot identify any significant areas that need improvement.
What is your primary use case for Dell SC Series?
We use Dell SC Series in a VMware environment.
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

SC Series Storage, Compellent
System Storage DS8000
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

TGen, Frost Science, Gerrie Electric
Renfe, Park Nicollet Health Services, Ricoh Americas Corporation, SK Energy, SWK STADTWERKE KREFELD AG
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell SC Series vs. IBM System Storage DS8000 Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,588 professionals have used our research since 2012.