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Dell Unity XT vs Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.2
Everpure FlashArray offers reduced costs and maintenance, improved performance, and notable ROI through efficient resource usage and data management.
Sentiment score
3.1
Dell Unity XT delivers ROI with cost-effectiveness, scalability, improved performance, reduced costs, and seamless management for virtual transformation.
Sentiment score
7.5
Users praised Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series for boosting efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing data management, and improving processing speeds and scalability.
Operational tasks such as provisioning storage and monitoring performance happen faster, and less downtime risk and hardware consolidation mean we support more workloads with fewer resources and less data center overhead.
System Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
We have never had an outage in my four and a half years, but in our company's ten or eleven years, there has never been any planned upgrades that required downtime.
System Engineer at Data Sciences Corporation
In the long term, spanning three to five years, the total cost of ownership becomes cheaper, considering power consumption, data center footprint, and NVMe technology usage.
Manager, Infrastructure Services Storage & Backup Vmware UNIX at Mphasis
Since we obtained Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series, we have certainly generated more revenue from customers regarding the disaster recovery system that we did not have in the past.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.2
Everpure FlashArray's globally available customer service excels in responsiveness and expertise, ensuring minimal downtime with proactive support.
Sentiment score
6.2
Dell Unity XT's support is praised for professionalism, but users note responsiveness issues post-merger; proactive monitoring is appreciated.
Sentiment score
10.0
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series receives high praise for customer support, with fast issue resolution and effective assistance in Poland and Greece.
Pure's support organization is responsive with minimal bureaucracy, making support a key factor in customer retention.
Director of Engineering at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would rate the technical support an 11 out of 10.
Cyber Security Consultant at Jonkoping Energi AB
Everpure FlashArray is probably not cheap storage, but it provides great performance, scalability, and everything a customer needs.
Sr. Engineer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
The support team is familiar with the product and is available on-site during support times, which improves our experience.
Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd
Dell solutions are backed by excellent service and support.
Sales Account Manager - BFSI Sector at Frontier Business systems
The technical support sometimes takes three to four days to get hardware to facilities.
Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd
I would rate the customer support a perfect 10.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
Everpure FlashArray is praised for scalable modular design, though noted for challenges in large expansions and higher costs.
Sentiment score
7.0
User feedback highlights Dell Unity XT as highly scalable, meeting diverse organizational needs, especially for mid-sized and enterprise demands.
Sentiment score
7.7
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is scalable for various businesses, though performance beyond block-level storage has limitations.
A big banking client had around 300 petabytes of data on Pure Storage.
Manager, Infrastructure Services Storage & Backup Vmware UNIX at Mphasis
Our customers can scale up or scale out, raise the performance, and expand the storage spaces by investing every year.
Senior Ai Architect at Logicalis
We have successfully upgraded the controllers, scaled capacity, and scaled arrays without much impact on the system and with seamless planning.
Platform Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Dell Unity XT is quite scalable and can be scaled up to the petabyte level.
Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd
For NetApp, we can recommend the FAS 8000 series.
TSG Manager at Navigator Systems
Regarding scalability, Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is the highest.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
For scalability, I would rate Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series at about 90%; it is very good.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
Everpure FlashArray ensures high reliability with minimal disruptions, offering robust stability and exceptional performance for mission-critical applications.
Sentiment score
8.4
Dell Unity XT is praised for reliability and stability, swiftly resolving initial issues with firmware updates and improvements.
Sentiment score
9.0
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is praised for its exceptional stability, reliability, and high availability, ensuring consistent performance and minimal downtime.
For stability, I rate it a ten out of ten.
Senior Storage Administrator at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
We have continuous 99.9% uptime and do not experience any users reporting performance issues due to latency.
Senior Storage Engineer at Ensono
The vision Pure Storage FlashArray offers through the GUI is clearer; we can discern the status, what is cabled, and how direct flash is enabled.
Technical Lead at Wipro Limited
I would rate the overall stability of Dell Unity XT an eight out of ten.
Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd
 

Room For Improvement

Everpure FlashArray upgrades focus on user customization, cloud integration, scalability, encryption, automation, and reducing pricing for SMBs.
Dell Unity XT requires improvements in deduplication, management interface, VMware integration, pricing, and enhanced cloud functionalities.
The Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series needs software, performance, scalability upgrades, and better integration with hyper-converged infrastructure and backup solutions.
Integrating object storage into the FlashArray would benefit entry-level and SMB customers by offering a more unified solution.
Lead Technical Architect at ePlus Technology, inc.
Storing cold data on expensive arrays doesn't make financial sense, and tiering to any of the big three cloud providers would be advantageous.
Director of Engineering at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
As a technical professional, I lack visibility into the system logs.
Senior Network Engineer at Holy Redeemer Health System, Inc.
In the future, if Dell storages include this option, especially for Unity, it would help us target SME or medium enterprises for quicker closures and support the sales team.
Sales Account Manager - BFSI Sector at Frontier Business systems
I believe if Dell can integrate AI to predict potential failures, especially in hardware like hard disks, that would be very useful for proper maintenance.
Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd
The pricing is a bit higher than expected.
System Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The type of connection that is used in Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series should be improved.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series can be improved with a 25 gigabyte connection or 100 gigabyte connection.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
 

Setup Cost

Everpure FlashArray offers cost-effective premium storage with predictable costs, justifying its price with performance, features, and reliability.
Dell Unity XT provides affordable enterprise storage with bundled software, straightforward licensing, and competitive pricing starting at $25K.
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series offers cost-effective pricing with bundled features, additional licenses, and enhanced benefits for partners.
They're expensive.
Director of Engineering at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
While they say it's free, we actually pay for support upfront.
Senior Network Engineer at Holy Redeemer Health System, Inc.
Some smaller organizations may find it slightly expensive, but for enterprises, when considering performance, future hardware investments, and overall benefits, it is a very cost-effective solution for mid and enterprise organizations.
Senior Storage Engineer at Ensono
It is priced at around or under $50,000.
System Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The cost is not cheap nor expensive.
Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd
Commercially, Dell Unity XT is viable and competitively priced.
Sales Account Manager - BFSI Sector at Frontier Business systems
The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is very good.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is very good because we are a Lenovo partner.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
 

Valuable Features

Everpure FlashArray offers fast performance, scalability, and user-friendly management with data reduction, seamless upgrades, and comprehensive support.
Dell Unity XT excels in performance, ease of use, and scalability, featuring intuitive management and seamless integration for diverse environments.
The Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series offers simplicity, affordability, reliable performance, and efficient storage management, meeting diverse enterprise needs.
FlashArray's integration with the Pure One instrument provides a centralized platform for efficient management of all arrays.
Presales Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Another noteworthy aspect is their platform, Pure One, a cloud-based analytics platform that automatically creates a case and sends out a part if a disk or controller fails.
Lead Technical Architect at ePlus Technology, inc.
It handles internal data migration seamlessly in the background without going offline, achieving a hundred percent uptime.
Director of Engineering at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Dell Unity XT integration with VMware helps scalability and availability through seamless operations and enhanced performance.
Assistant Manager, Technology Support & Services at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
It helps with data cost management and is seen as a mid-range product with good performance.
System Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
We installed the Flash, which makes our IO operations fast and efficient.
Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd
On the DE storage, the most valuable feature, in my opinion, is the performance.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
The synchronization between the two systems stands out for me due to its reliability and simplicity regarding the swap and the active-passive disaster recovery.
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
 

Categories and Ranking

Everpure FlashArray
Sponsored
Ranking in All-Flash Storage
2nd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
231
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell Unity XT
Ranking in All-Flash Storage
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
198
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series
Ranking in All-Flash Storage
22nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Everpure FlashArray is 7.2%, up from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell Unity XT is 6.4%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is 1.6%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
All-Flash Storage Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Everpure FlashArray7.2%
Dell Unity XT6.4%
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series1.6%
Other84.8%
All-Flash Storage
 

Featured Reviews

Sowjanya MV - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead at Wipro Limited
Has improved performance for mission-critical workloads and enabled seamless non-disruptive upgrades
The availability is 99.99%, which is the main factor any customer would need because their data should be available whenever they want to access it. This is one main critical thing. It is very easy to upgrade since Pure Storage FlashArray handles it well. Everything is non-disruptive now; previously, there were forklift shifts, but now that is not the case. Pure Storage FlashArray says no to forklift upgrades. Usually hardware requires downtime, but Pure Storage FlashArray has improved their footprint so that they are not asking for downtime; everything is just a non-disruptive activity, which is why customers are more inclined towards Pure Storage FlashArray. Customers want more of the models in their environment due to the performance they are giving, and everything is in one Pure1 Array console where we can view all the models on one page or just an orchestration tool. You don't miss anything; you have replication, notifications about replication, and details about which host groups replication is happening in and if that replication is successful or failed. On a daily basis, our purpose is to create volumes for infrastructure; our daily activities include creating volumes and mapping them to the host, doing any migrations from a VM, clearing the data stores, and carving the volumes to those VMs. One key factor is the data compression with a ratio of 5:1, focusing on space efficiency, inline deduplication, and the compression Pure Storage FlashArray works on; that is a major factor we can suggest to any customer. Analytical capabilities are crucial. Daily, we check the throughput and consumption, and Pure Storage FlashArray provides predictions for one year regarding usage. This prediction helps plan updates well ahead. For support, we just raise a case, and they follow up and get it done. There is also AI readiness, but with the model R2, we don't have much of that AI readiness. For others, we do have AI readiness that predicts capacity based on daily or monthly trends, enabling us to analyze how much space we need or if we need to expand the disk shelf. From an operational point of view, a good feature is that if you accidentally delete a volume, it will be retained in the destroyed state for the next twenty-four hours, which is not the same with any other vendor. I have worked in this storage domain for the past fifteen years, and this option is remarkable, benefiting any L1 or L2 engineer. Additionally, from a compliance perspective, Pure Storage FlashArray has REST APIs enabled. I have not explored automation much, but from a security standpoint, it is strong with encryption data. If you want to automate, you can easily integrate with all clouds and explore Pure Cloud for scheduling workloads, including volume creation. Customers find benefit in Pure Storage FlashArray's single management pane of glass due to the dual controller and active-active setup. If one of the controllers goes down, all workloads automatically shift to the other controller, ensuring their data is safe and accessible at all times. This is a highlighted feature that any customer desires because their data should always be accessible. For SAN workloads, we use Pure Storage FlashArray because for SAN FC fiber channel, we don't use it; we use NetApp for NAS activities. We have clearly split this, so SAN is for mission-critical applications, while network-attached storage handles file systems. This architecture helps us maximize the benefit from Pure Storage FlashArray due to the significant workloads from this giant retail client. From a footprint and energy consumption perspective, you can see energy consumption from the Pure1 storage portal on a daily basis, and it is very compact. The three models we use consume only three units, which is quite low. From a footprint and data center perspective, it doesn't occupy much space. As everything moves to cloud, there are requirements to avoid excess spending on data centers, and Pure Storage FlashArray is efficient in energy consumption and is environmentally friendly.
NR
TSG Manager at Navigator Systems
Ease of implementation and robust performance enhance multi-OEM support experience
We are limited only to hardware replacement, not administration tasks. We work on AMC products through Annual Maintenance Contracts. We provide support up to the 680 model. The XT680F is a newer model, and we support from 380F to 680F. The FlashSystem 8000 series is all-flash, and there is also a 5000 series flash model. We can compare IBM DS series, including the 8000 series for recommendations. For NetApp, we can recommend the FAS 8000 series.
GP
System Administrator at PORTGUARDIAN.COM SRL
Reliable synchronous replication has protected our infrastructure and improved disaster recovery
I do not have anything else to add about how I'm using Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series beyond what I have already discussed. I do not have comprehensive information about all the features, but I can say that we have obtained many performance benefits from the storage using SSD Enterprise disk. Regarding Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series's AI capabilities, I think the best practice is to use it with double factor authentication and AI integration. I believe the accuracy and reliability of output for Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series are very good, but I do not have detailed information; I would need to think deeply and try to understand more thoroughly on the web interface to provide more specific feedback. My advice for others looking into using Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is to seek a stable infrastructure with a standard price—not a high price, not a low price, but a standard price with high performance. My overall rating for this product is 10.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Construction Company
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business71
Midsize Enterprise38
Large Enterprise159
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise48
Large Enterprise96
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

Which should I choose: HPE 3PAR StoreServ or Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform F Series?
Both are great platforms, but if you are considering all flash solutions, I would recommend you to consider Pure Stor...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashArray?
I find the pricing of Everpure FlashArray to be quite high compared to other storage solutions; however, the reliabil...
What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashArray?
I believe we have covered the most important features; the architecture of Pure Storage is essential, and features su...
What is the Biggest Difference Between Dell EMC Unity and NetApp AFF?
I saw that you have doubts about what you chose. I have a lot of experience with the constructor, honestly I can reco...
What is the Biggest Difference Between Dell EMC Unity and NetApp AFF?
They’re both great solutions and I’ve used both. EMC is being VERY aggressive on pricing which may be the undoing of...
What is the Biggest Difference Between Dell EMC Unity and NetApp AFF?
First of all the decision should be taken looking at similar products in terms of capacity and performance. I will sh...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is very good because we are a Lenovo partner. For installation ...
What needs improvement with Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series?
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series can be improved with a 25 gigabyte connection or 100 gigabyte connection.
What is your primary use case for Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series?
My main use case for Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series is storage for our infrastructure and replica with another data cen...
 

Also Known As

Pure Storage FlashArray
EMC Unity, Dell EMC Unity
ThinkSystem DE Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nielsen, Lamar Advertising, LinkedIn, Betfair, UT-Dallas
Draper, Rio Grande Pacific, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Unity XT vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
906,829 professionals have used our research since 2012.