Dell PowerMax Reviews

My company's use case for Dell PowerMax is that it's a partner of mine and it's for a WMS, warehouse management system platform that hosts all the manufacturing distribution sites.

The most valuable feature of Dell PowerMax, in my opinion, is its uptime. The benefit to my partner's organization using Dell PowerMax is mainly reliability; we have it deployed in an active-active configuration using SRDF, with VMware as the hypervisor, designed to handle component failure, site failure, and it works as advertised.

I am a big fan of the command line interface (CLI), and I'm not a fan of the UI that they've deployed over the recent years; I feel that you can do more with the command line platform than you can with the actual UI. What would be better about the command line for Dell PowerMax is that you can do way more with it, as you have more control of the platform and way more executables; the UI is limited relative to the command line.

I have been using Dell PowerMax for 15 years.

There has been no downtime with Dell PowerMax; it's been extremely reliable, easy to manage, easy to upgrade, and trustworthy as we've upgraded over the years from one version to another.

In terms of customer support for Dell PowerMax, I come from the old EMC world, and you can't get better support than Dell Technologies. I would rate Dell PowerMax support as a ten, as I have never had an issue with Dell support as it relates to this product.

Positive

Before Dell PowerMax, we were on Clariions, which shows how far back this goes.

I install Dell PowerMax, I support it, and I manage it every day.

My client has seen significant ROI since the install, and when you don't go down, that's an ROI in and of itself.

I think the pricing of Dell PowerMax is definitely expensive, but you get what you pay for; the way you want to measure a platform is its uptime and availability, and if it never goes down, it's easy to upgrade and extremely reliable.

I evaluated competing products years ago, but not in the last two refreshes; we won't consider anything else.

If I could improve Dell PowerMax, I would say that after using the Symmetrix platform for the better part of 30 years, which is probably the most reliable technology in the marketplace, I would recommend not changing it, as I am somewhat of a bigot and I love it. 

My partner's organization is about 5,000 employees.

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Dell PowerMax overall as a ten.

We are one of the largest telco companies in Pakistan. We use Dell PowerMax NVMe for telecom IT, which includes different workloads hosted on different systems. We use systems like UNIX, VMware, Windows, and Linux to map Dell PowerMax NVMe.

The solution's most valuable feature is the data reduction ratio. You can store a 5:1 ratio of your data in Dell PowerMax NVMe. For example, if you have 200 terabytes of usable capacity, you can save up to five times of data on that capacity. That means you can save one petabyte of data on just 200 terabytes of usable capacity.

The solution's end-to-end NVMe capabilities have improved our operations. Everything is fast, and you don't have to map your storage to old hybrid storage technologies. Our organization has experienced positive change, and the solution has improved our uptime, availability, performance, and capacity.

The solution should integrate better with OpenShift and Kubernetes architecture. We also use OpenShift in our environment, and I had some problems integrating Dell PowerMax NVMe with the OpenShift Kubernetes environment. The solution's integrations and usability could be better.

I have been using Dell PowerMax NVMe since June 2021.

Dell PowerMax NVMe provides high stability and availability if it's designed and deployed properly. We didn't have even a single outage in the four years we used the tool.

The solution's data reduction is so good that we didn't feel the need to scale it. Dell PowerMax NVMe falls into the enterprise domain. It is recommended for enterprise customers and customers who want their mission-critical workloads hosted on enterprise storage.

Mid-tier storage is available only for mid-tier customers. For all enterprise customers, PowerMax fits very well in terms of availability, capacity, and performance.

Dell has very flexible technical support. You can open SRs ranging from one to five severity levels, and even their live chat is available for Dell PowerMax NVMe. We often open it if there is a very severe issue. I think the solution's technical support is phenomenal.

One of Dell PowerMax NVMe's top competitors in the Pakistan market is the Huawei Dorado 8000, which people have deployed in large numbers. As a telco, we have also deployed Huawei Dorado 8000, but Dell PowerMax NVMe stands out in terms of performance.

We are a customer, and the initial setup was done by the Dell customer engineers. We were not involved in the solution's deployment. We were just involved in the migration process.

The tool has improved our performance KPIs, response time, throughput, and solution IOPS. We don't have to worry about the performance of our workloads when they are hosted on Dell PowerMax NVMe because it automatically adjusts performance profiles according to our desired SLAs.

Since Dell PowerMax NVMe is an enterprise storage, its price is premium.

I would recommend the solution only to enterprise users who have the budget.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

I use Dell PowerMax NVMe for data storage and management within my organization.

A valuable feature of PowerMax is its ability to encapsulate storage, such as storage virtualization. This capability is particularly useful when it is necessary to migrate data from one storage to another without downtime. 

Additionally, the NVMe technology improves input/output performance. This makes it a valuable asset for our organization's storage solutions.

Dell PowerMax needs more connectivity options for projects that require separate web access. Usually, users propose PowerMax, however, this could be better addressed. 

Additionally, features related to AI technology could be improved by learning more from Pure Storage.

The system of the storage is well-designed with NVMe disks, allowing direct communication between the disk and the CPU memory, making it stable for future use.

PowerMax offers a range of features for big projects, making it a suitable choice for scalability.

The technical support by Dell PowerMax is satisfactory, however, there is room for improvement. Dell could be more proactive in their approach, similar to Pure Storage.

Neutral

Previously, I worked with Pure Storage and Infinidat among others before using Dell PowerMax NVMe.

The setup of PowerMax NVMe is complex and involved. The integration with backup options and software requires careful attention.

The price of Dell PowerMax depends on the project size. It is the best choice for large projects in terms of price and features compared to midrange solutions.

I evaluated Pure Storage solutions before settling on Dell PowerMax.

Dell PowerMax NVMe is recommended for its advanced capabilities in data storage and management, and I would rate the solution eight out of ten. 

The additional features I would like in the future include more proactive data collection and analytics similar to Pure Storage.

I use it as a production storage solution.

The upgradability and extendibility for the size of the storage unit are noteworthy. When discussing PowerStore or PowerMax, the primary point I mention is that they use all-flash storage. This means that with more concurrent sessions on my device, we need to discuss input and output per second, which I use. PowerStore is the best solution for me in these terms.

The disadvantage of PowerMax is its cost. It is expensive, mainly due to pricing. The issue is only with pricing, as I can find the PowerVault ME cheaper than PowerMax.

I have been using the solution since 2004.

The solution is very stable.

I can't believe Dell, in the back area, is not offering better upgradability for PowerStore or PowerMax compared to HPE.

I would rate customer service as nine out of ten.

Positive

The price is starting from $500,000. It's expensive.

Dell is an end-to-end solution. Dell is the best vendor worldwide, with an end-to-end solution starting from a mouse to Telza Hyperfix or HyperConverged devices. 

If I talk about HyperFlex or storage, it's a very good solution compared to all competitor vendors. However, I found a problem in upgradability. It was surprising when searching yesterday that Huawei offers storage upgradability with fifteen device options and superior controllers. 

Dell and HPE only offer three upgradable devices. I can add three enclosures. Dell and HPE have the lowest credibility for PowerStore, as they talk about three expandable devices in a single system, while HPE offers customers the option to add eight devices, and Huawei claims they support up to twenty-four devices. You can see the difference among Dell, HPE, and Huawei in this aspect.

Overall, I rate the product eight out of ten.

I use the solution in my company, specifically the SAN storage in the core banking applications for our banks running in Bahrain and Egypt. Most of the projects were the same for billing applications and core banking.

The most valuable features of the solution are its compression ratio, performance, desk support, seamless configuration, the software's native migration, the NDM, and open replicators, which are very good advantages of the tool I experienced during the projects I implemented.

There are so many configurations in the tool that cannot be done by anyone who is not a Dell personnel. Not everything can be done by a partner in the tool. Handling file changes and modifying some configurations regarding mainframe integration with Dell PowerMax cannot be managed by Dell and not the partners.

Dell has to allow partners or give authorization for the partners to do some configuration for Dell PowerMax. If you need to do something in a BIN file, you need to get approval from Dell, but I feel you should be able to do it by yourself as a partner. I don't understand why one needs to engage Dell in every single detail regarding any integrations with mainframe work, integrations with third-party storage, or BIN file changes when you can do it yourself. I also don't understand why a partner should need to engage with Dell and pay a professional service to Dell for everything. Dell can be more friendly, like in the case of PowerStore or PowerScale. There are many storages Dell has been releasing, and even PowerProtect can do everything. Only Dell PowerMax has a lot of problems.

There are some limitations to the tool when you want to migrate data from third-party storage. Not all third-party storages are supported to be connected to Dell PowerMax NVMe. There are so many old operating systems that are no longer supported by Dell PowerMax, like Oracle Solaris 10, Windows 2000, and Windows 8.

I have been using Dell PowerMax NVMe from 2018 or 2019. My company serves as an implementer and a partner of Dell.

It is a very stable solution. The tool is 100 percent stable. The tool is stabler than any other storage in the market.

The tool's scalability is very good because Dell PowerMax supports scaling up configurations, like attaching enclosures to the processors using some links, so it is also quite easy.

I like the solution's technical support. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.

Positive

I have used Hitachi's storage, specifically the high-end ones, along with Pure Storage and IBM. SAN storage is still at the top of the pyramid. The difference between Dell and other storage revolves around performance and scalability. Dell PowerMax NVMe offers the best performance compared to other vendors.

The product's initial setup phase is easy. Only a script running in the management module control station is required to deploy the tool, so it is very quite easy.

For racking and stacking, it might need two or more people, especially if the hardware is more and if there are many expansions of multiple engines. It might need two or three people to stack it because it is quite heavy. I think one person is enough if it is only one controller and one expansion.

From an enterprise storage perspective, I think it is an expensive tool, but it is the best product. I think it is expensive and the cost one must pay for the best solution.

I have never gone too deep to figure out the need to use the end to end NVMe technology in PowerMax but I was suffering for the past three or four years. Many customers share Dell PowerMax because they think it is an NVMe, but the switches and servers connected to PowerMax weren't supporting NVMe. We weren't taking advantage of the feature itself in PowerMax because the servers and switches weren't NVMe- supported appliances.

I have not used the tool's real-time machine-learning capability.

Most of the maintenance involves replacing ports, which can be replaceable. When it comes to engines and modules and something big like the processor or something, we need a customer engineer from Dell or an authorized partner to help us.

The tool can support AI because it offers the maximum performance that you can get from a SAN or enterprise storage. If the customer wants to use some AI applications, I think Dell PowerMax NVME is sufficient for all the computing.

I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

We're trying to converge a lot of storage equipment, around ten units, from two different locations into redundant PowerMax sites. We need to converge all the VNX and HVAs from Hitachi to something like enterprise storage like PowerMax.

During the Request for Proposal (RFP) process with Dell, we know that the throughput of PowerMax will be convenient for us and it will handle our data center workloads.

We already have NVMe in the company, and we're very satisfied with NVMe technology within PowerMax that impacted our IO performance. 

First, it's an enterprise storage solution. This is very important for us. 

Another important feature is replication. 

However, many features are common across vendors such as Hitachi. Whether it's replication and encryption, we find the same features with IBM or Hitachi. There are minor differences, but not significant.

Replication is important because we replicate some data. Encryption is also crucial. Additionally, data reduction is vital. The more the storage can reduce data volume, the lower the cost.  

Good documentation is important. We currently have a lot of documentation from Dell.

Configuration could be easier to manage, and implementation should be easier to install and configure. 

Dell can improve the Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance. Sometimes, when we need to replace a component, the SLA says four hours, but for some reason, the technician doesn't arrive until the next business day or even six to eight hours later before the case is placed. So, focusing on respecting the SLA is where Dell could improve.

PowerMax is still in the evaluation stage. However, I do have experience with other Dell products such as PowerStore. 

We can scale it out easily, but it is a bit tricky to scale up. When we scale up with Dell PowerStore, it has a "cluster" approach, but scaling closer isn't clustering. It's more like unified management of two or three "folks." Dell calls it a cluster because there's no I/O shredding, zoning, or LAN data shredding, which would be true clustering.

Dell support is crucial. It's important to us that the vendor responds and respects the SLA. We don't anticipate any problems with Dell, so we consider them a good vendor and a good business partner.

Dell can improve the Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance. Sometimes, when we need to replace a component, the SLA says four hours, but for some reason, the technician doesn't arrive until the next business day or even six to eight hours later before the case is placed. So, focusing on respecting the SLA is where Dell could improve.

Positive

We've been using Dell EMC midrange storage for a few years now.

We're moving from older Dell platforms, previously known as EMC. We're transitioning from VNX, including VNX 7600, 5600, and 5400, to newer storage platforms, primarily Dell EMC PowerMax.

I have also used Dell EMC Data Protection Advisor (DPA).

The pricing is comparable to other vendors. There aren't significant price differences. Since the price is high, a few hundred thousand dollar difference between vendors isn't a major deciding factor. So, they're comparable, but it's more about the support, implementation, and configuration of their product.

We're in the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The RFP is not closed. Dell is one of the vendors we're considering, and we're working with them to figure out migration and other technical details. They're not the only vendor; we're also considering IBM, Hitachi and others.

considering it's an enterprise storage solution, I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

We use Dell PowerMax NVMe since Dell services were very good, and the product configuration suited our needs. It was easy to integrate into our infrastructural environment since we had other Dell servers.

Dell PowerMax NVMe has been a well-suited solution for us, being compatible with our existing infrastructure and aiding in seamless service.

The solution is easy to use with applications that are user-friendly. It also offers ease of accessibility.

There is room for improvement in adjusting into the existing infrastructure easily without much of the technical contribution.

I have been using Dell PowerMax NVMe for approximately eight years.

The stability of Dell PowerMax NVMe is high; I would rate it nine out of ten.

Scalability is an important feature, and I would rate Dell PowerMax NVMe eight out of ten on scalability.

Customer service and support are excellent. I would rate them ten out of ten.

Positive

I did not use a different solution before Dell PowerMax NVMe.

The initial setup was moderately difficult; there were a couple of areas where support was required.

The deployment was done by a third-party integrator.

The return on investment has been more than three times in monetary terms.

The pricing was quite competitive and the lowest among the competition.

I evaluated NetApp and IBM storage solutions.

I would recommend this solution to other people.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

I use the solution in my company for mission-critical core banking applications.

If you ask me, technically, the tool is the same as most of the vendors have the same thing. If you ask me about Huawei, I can tell you about the tool's many features.

Dell PowerMax NVMe's advantage is just the support.

The tool's disadvantages are its cost and lack of ease of use. According to the latest market trends, certain technologies are lacking.

The main challenge with the product was to have control over the simultaneous failures of controllers. For recovery, manual intervention is required.

The tool's cost, active controller part, installation, maintenance, scalability, and recovery parts can be considered for improvement.

I have been using Google Cloud for five years. I have a Dell PowerMax NVMe 8000 and a Dell PowerMax NVMe 8500. I was a partner integrator with Dell. I have twenty-four years of storage experience.

It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

It is not a very scalable solution. Other vendors offer much more scalability options than Dell PowerMax NVMe.

There is something called transfer of ownership known as LUN tagging, but other boxes don't offer such a feature.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

The solution's technical support was good, and it is one of the tool's main advantages. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.

Positive

I am also a solution architect for Huawei.

We are talking with one of our vendors and customers, who were keen to get involved with OPSWAT. With most vendors, whenever there is an NFS and compliant storage, all the products offer support. I just wanted to understand why only a few products are listed in Google's support portal.

I have been using Huawei for almost seven and a half years now. Prior to that, I was a business partner of HP and Oracle. I was Dell's partner for almost ten years. Before that, I was IBM's partner for five and a half years.

The product's initial setup phase is okay. If you compare Dell's setup phase, Huawei is convenient and easy to install.

For Dell's installation phase, around two people are required. For Huawei's installation phase, one person is required. Huawei's installation can be managed remotely. I am a solution architect, so I don't do the deployments now.

There is no ROI. I have seen the tool used, and pretty much all the vendors are the same.

The tool is very expensive. I rate the tool's price as a one out of ten.

We are talking with one of our vendors and customers, who were keen to get involved with OPSWAT. With most vendors, whenever there is an NFS and compliant storage, all the products offer support. I just wanted to understand why only a few products are listed in Google's support portal.

The tool has a fully symmetric architecture, so it offers an active controller there. Controller failure is not something that we can withstand, especially if there are two simultaneous controller failures. With the other vendors right now, considering what we are working for, tools can support up to seven controller failures, which is so for any banking operations.

I don't know how the tool's real-time machine-learning capability has impacted our company.

The maintenance of Dell PowerMax NVMe requires companies to have resources along with extensive technology experience. It is the same for any vendor.

I have not really seen any AI features in the tool.

For the technical specifications, I can rate the tool as a seven out of ten.

I rate the overall tool as a seven out of ten.