Dell SC Series vs VAST Data comparison

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Pure Storage Logo
19,368 views|10,287 comparisons
99% willing to recommend
Dell Technologies Logo
2,016 views|1,691 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
VAST Data Logo
3,790 views|2,651 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Dell SC Series and VAST Data based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, NetApp, Pure Storage and others in All-Flash Storage.
To learn more, read our detailed All-Flash Storage Report (Updated: April 2024).
768,246 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It is an SSD array that has awesome performance, low submillisecond latency, and does what it is supposed to do. It just works, which is difficult for things to do anymore.""Pure Storage is extremely reliable — it's never failed.""It helps to simplify storage because it has an easy front-end to access everything.""With Pure Storage, we don't see any latency or IOPS. It has been a very seamless integration.""They are quite responsive and our local team was pretty good.""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.""Their REST API is wonderful, well-documented, and easy to use.""The product cheaper compared to other solutions concerning the technology that they are using."

More Pure Storage FlashArray Pros →

"Easy management of volumes: You can create volumes and easily assign them to VMware clusters, increasing their size.""It has been one of the most stable products in our data center.""The user interface is good, I would rate it a nine out of ten.""The interface is easy to use which makes the product user-friendly.""The Dell support is helpful and the response is quick. The agents' knowledge is very good.""One of the most valuable features is the capability to switch between all-flash to hybrid, which have have actually done for one of our arrays. We started with the hybrid, with the limited if I'm not mistaken, and then over a period of time, we swapped all the hybrids with the SSDs. This was one of the big features because it gave us the capability to not stick with just one kind of media. Secondly, since it has sorted clustering, we were able to bring in the newer boxes and have it all clustered together. These were the two main features that we really looked into, which benefited our use case from an expansion/growth perspective. Another valuable feature is the ease of management.""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.""Customers are most impressed with SC's provisioning because you don't need to buy a large amount of storage upfront. It's pay-as-you-grow. It also has solid compression and duplication features."

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"This has been one of the most reliable storage systems that I have ever used.""The solution is useful for machine learning and scientific applications, including computer simulations."

More VAST Data Pros →

Cons
"The 3PAR SSD arrays that we have are still failing a lot so even though we're under warranty, we still have to get someone out and usually have someone troubleshoot so that usually adds onto the cost. With Pure, we've had a disc fail and we pop it out and you pop it in and it's good to go.""I would like to see active replication. I know that it's available now but I haven't tried it yet. I hope that it works.""In the next version of this program, I would like to see increased security, higher encryption, and faster throughput.""I would like to see more detailed reporting on the data. However, it would be nice to know what are the exact VMs usage after deduplication and/or what that VMs actual latency and bandwidth is, outside of VMware.""It is way in excess of what we need. If anything, we could see a bit more speed. I'm just comparing it with what some of my colleagues who are implementing their own systems do.""In the next release of the solution I would like to see Vormetric native block encryption.""One thing I'd like to see in a future release is integration between their main storage array and what they call their FlashBlade product; to be able to snapshot directly from the primary array into multiple different backup copies on FlashBlade.""I would like to see data tiering to AWS."

More Pure Storage FlashArray Cons →

"While the scalability is good, there are certain limitations.""The SC Series doesn't support NVMe storage.""Technical support should respond more quickly because the turnaround time is very high.""The price could be improved.""From a performance point of view, it's getting a bit old.""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.""The ease of use could be improved. It took me a while to learn it.""While the price is competitive, in the next release it would be better if they could reduce the fees."

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"The read/write ratio is an area in the solution with some flaws and needs improvement.""The write performance could be improved because it is less than half of the read performance."

More VAST Data Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "We feel that the pricing is fair and the licensing process was easy for both."
  • "There is always room for negotiation."
  • "The price was slightly higher than others, but competitive, if you consider all the other features that you get from it."
  • "It is a more expensive solution, but it is worth it. You are getting what you paid for."
  • "For pricing, you have to take into account their performance on deduplication and compression in a $/GB comparison."
  • "We have seen a reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO)."
  • "It is a cheaper solution."
  • "Pure Storage is all-flash, so this sometimes tends to make it a bit more expensive in the beginning."
  • More Pure Storage FlashArray 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."
  • "It's a very affordable solution."
  • "We have reviewed many platforms over the years. It is probably the best solution for its value."
  • "It is one of the most cost effective systems for us. We have been able to run it longer than most, getting the most benefit and money out of it."
  • "We have found the solution to be affordable."
  • "It has a good price point and offers some value-added enterprise features."
  • "Compared to other solutions out there, it's affordable."
  • "The scalability seems a bit more expensive than even buying a brand new one so far. That has been kind of a drawback."
  • More Dell SC Series Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "We acquired VAST Data as a one-time, capital purchase."
  • "Price-wise, VAST Data is not the cheapest, not the most expensive one."
  • More VAST Data Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Both are great platforms, but if you are considering all flash solutions, I would recommend you to consider Pure… more »
    Top Answer:We consume less physical storage because of the solution’s deduplication and compression.
    Top Answer:We have customers who use a three-year or five-year license. We also have customers who use Evergreen.
    Top Answer:I find this version to be more budget-friendly compared to products from other vendors. This aspect greatly benefits my… more »
    Top Answer:There are costs involving the solution, vendor fees and product safety which are additional.
    Top Answer:I would like to improve the processing ability.
    Top Answer:The solution is useful for machine learning and scientific applications, including computer simulations.
    Top Answer:Price-wise, VAST Data is not the cheapest, not the most expensive one.
    Top Answer:The read/write ratio is an area in the solution with some flaws and needs improvement.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    SC Series Storage, Compellent
    Learn More
    Overview

    Pure Storage FlashArray is the world’s first enterprise-class storage array that runs exclusively on the nonvolatile memory express (NVMe) protocol for memory access and storage. It represents a totally state-of-the-art type of storage technology. It offers users shared accelerated storage that delivers cutting-edge features in the realms of performance, simplicity, and consolidation. Pure Storage is fresh and modern today and will be for the next decade. Without forklift upgrades or planned downtime, Pure Storage takes the work out of storage ownership and delivers unprecedented customer satisfaction.

    Pure Storage FlashArray is built with simplicity and reliability in mind. The solution can be implemented and optimized in hours, as opposed to other similar solutions that can take days. It has no moving parts, which removes areas where it could potentially be vulnerable to suffering errors. It is highly stable and gives users the ability to manage system shutdowns in a way that  prevents data loss.

    Benefits of Pure Storage FlashArray

    Some of the benefits of using Pure Storage FlashArray include:

    • A much higher level of speed than similar pieces of technology. Pure Storage FlashArray maximizes the speed at which data can be transferred while at the same time minimizing system latencies that might slow the transfer down. Additionally, it offers users quick memory read and data access speeds.

    • A higher bang for your buck in terms of the storage capabilities you get for the money you pay. They are smaller in size than more standard storage technologies, but they offer flash memory, which enables users to store larger amounts of data than the current standard.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Pure Storage FlashArray is a highly effective piece of storage technology which stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its overall robustness and the value that it offers by way of its reliability and ease of use. It provides users with many valuable features that allow them to maximize what they can do with this solution. Pure Storage FlashArray’s reliability and ease of use make it a highly valuable solution. 

    PeerSpot user Prabakaran K., a technical consultant at Injazat Data Systems, notes the robustness of this solution when he writes, "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."

    PeerSpot user Jason D., a cloud solutions architect at a tech services company, notes three features that make this solution valuable when he writes, "We've had different types of storage, and three things of this solution are valuable. The first one is its outstanding performance. The second one is its stability. In the about three years that we've had it, we've had component failures, but we never had a service interruption or any data loss. The third one, which is really critical, is that it is super easy to use in terms of provisioning, storage, and managing the arrays. I'm able to maintain a multi-site environment with a couple of dozen arrays with a single mid-level storage admin."

    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.

    Innovation to break decades of data storage trade-offs.

    Sample Customers
    Nielsen, Lamar Advertising, LinkedIn, Betfair, UT-Dallas
    TGen, Frost Science, Gerrie Electric
    Norwest Venture Partners, General Dynamics Information Technology, Ginkgo Bioworks
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Healthcare Company12%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Computer Software Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization31%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company21%
    Healthcare Company14%
    Manufacturing Company14%
    Pharma/Biotech Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Government11%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    University6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise57%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise40%
    Large Enterprise42%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business48%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise34%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise57%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise63%
    Buyer's Guide
    All-Flash Storage
    April 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, NetApp, Pure Storage and others in All-Flash Storage. Updated: April 2024.
    768,246 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Dell SC Series is ranked 24th in All-Flash Storage with 49 reviews while VAST Data is ranked 18th in All-Flash Storage with 2 reviews. Dell SC Series is rated 8.4, while VAST Data is rated 10.0. The top reviewer of Dell SC Series writes "Automated architecture that proactively optimizes your database ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VAST Data writes "Stability-wise, a device that has been up and running for years". Dell SC Series is most compared with Dell PowerStore, Dell Unity XT, IBM FlashSystem, Huawei OceanStor and HPE Nimble Storage, whereas VAST Data is most compared with Pure Storage FlashBlade, NetApp AFF, Qumulo, Dell PowerScale (Isilon) and DDN SFA7990X.

    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.