Dell PowerScale (Isilon) Reviews

We connected our mainframe system to Isilon. The NFS is being provisioned from Isilon and hosts millions of files. It is our primary storage solution. 

Isilon is flexible in supporting various data workloads while keeping them protected. Dell continues to release updates and patches which enhance the use of this solution. This includes offering ransomware protection.

We are working with Dell to implement a cyber security solution, which is called the air gap solution. We also have Dell Data Domain systems. We back up the data from Isilon or any other system into Dell Data Domain. From Dell Data Domain, we offload to the air gap and secure the data into the air gap or Isilon. 

The system is robust. It has had a big impact on the efficiency of our organization. It serves as storage for our core application, which is a revenue-generating application. It plays a key role in our business. 

Isilon has the ability to scale file data, although we have not explored this within our business yet.

The offloading of data from Isilon to ECS object storage has been cost-effective.

Isilon has limitations on the number of files that can be generated.

I have been using this solution for seven years. 

This is a stable solution. 

This is a scalable solution. 

The customer service for this solution is really good. We have a dedicated support account manager and system engineer from Dell who assists us when we need it. 

Positive

We do have another solution that we leverage for our NFS protocols. The other system is a little bit more efficient or robust. We also have protocols that we leverage on the other system. They are really good compared to Isilon.

The general cost for a system like this is expensive. The total cost depends on your use case. You need to pay for every additional feature that you use. 

I'm impressed by the way the system provides scalability. From an administration standpoint, it's really simple to use. The GUI and interface is easy to manage. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

We use this solution for high concurrency connection and data capacity.

It has improved our organization by filling a gap in some of our home-built applications. It provides a single unified space across the scalable infrastructure. There are no longer multiple points of entry required for the workload.

The recent introduction of inline deduplication and compression has drastically improved our efficiency ratios to make it an economical product. This solution has also had a positive impact on our employees' productivity because it reduces the amount of admin that our staff needs to handle.

PowerScale has helped us reduce our overall risk. We lean on the regulatory compliance and SCD drives to ensure data security. It offers various data multi-protocol capabilities. They recently introduced S3, as well as traditional file workloads including SNB, NFS, and SFTP. The security is built-in and includes SED and self-encrypting drives. This allows us to instantly monitor compliance.

The scalability of this solution has been most valuable. We have been able to start with a specified workload size and be able to double, triple, or tenfold it without having to change the environment.

The biggest weakness is small file handling. Small file compression options are not enabled out of the box. It would be good to have this enabled by default.

I have been using this solution for ten years. 

This is a stable solution. 

This is a scalable solution. It offers multiple petabytes and tens of thousands of concurrent connections.

Other solutions that we have used have been administratively intensive.

We have been leveraging this platform and folding it into our application stack. This has removed the need for a third-party solution which has reduced overall costs and provided ROI. 

This solution requires maintenance. Once the platform is properly deployed, there is a BAU component of maintenance including the replacement of hard drives.

I have been really happy with this product. I have not seen other products in the marketplace that offers this stability and maturity. 

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten. 

The solution is easy to use.

The product has global name recognition.

The performance, overall, is quite impressive.

The stability of the solution is good.

The solution lacks a cloud version.

It would be useful if the solution could direct to AWS or Google Cloud effectively or have an AWS version. With the global lockdown conditions, you can't get to the site. It would be easier if it was connected to the cloud.

The solution can be a bit complex for those not well versed in the technology.

I've been using this solution for a few years now.

The solution, so far, has been very stable for us. We don't have issues with Isilon itself, however, every once in a while we do face a few stability issues.

The solution is scalable, however, it's quite complex, so it's not exactly straightforward. For organizations that have a lot of items they need to upgrade, it's good to have support to help. However, the solution can scale if a company needs to.

We have a few hundred users on the solution right now.

The technical support aspect of the solution has been good. We've been satisfied with their level of attention and find them to be knowledgable and helpful.

We didn't previously use a different solution, however, we are looking to switch solutions now, simply due to the fact that we would like to migrate to the cloud.

The initial setup was a bit complex for personal not knowledgeable with the solution. When you are just shown a manual, it does take a while to understand how everything works. It's not exactly straightforward.

While the initial setup isn't too expensive, it can end up being expensive depending on how many machines you have or how big you are.

We're a reseller of Isilon products.

I'm not sure which version of the solution we are using. It's one of the version seven releases.

Right now, we are researching moving from on-premise to cloud, and want to know whether there is something that is more convenient than Isilon when moving to a cloud server. 

For example, with EMC, if you have something on-premise, and if you want a cloud version, you should rather take ECS. The company finds the concept a bit confusing, so they are looking around for something that is similar in terms of ease of use, and yet has a cloud version as an option.

As it stands now, I'd advise new users to rather use the Dell EMC service and learn on the job. It will be faster to get set up and be able to handle the solution.

It's still a fairly good solution. Overall, I'd rate it eight out of ten.

The solution is primarily used by companies with extremely large file systems to manage. They typically have one or two petabytes of files and usually a lot of videos as well.

The solution is extremely easy to manage. This is its most valuable feature.

The solution isn't suitable for small environments or small customers.

The price point would be too high for companies that don't need a very large amount of storage space.

The redundancy is a little bit expensive.

The solution is stable.

The solution can scale well. It has an automatic tiering system. You can have 60 petabytes of storage. The solution offers very powerful scaling.

The initial setup is not complex. However, if you're not dealing with it regularly, it could be complex. It has a moderate amount of difficulty.

Deployment takes about two weeks and you need two people to handle it.

We use the on-premises deployment model.

The solution is very good for file management, but not for other things.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

We use the solution for high-performance storage.

The solution's configuration needs to be more straightforward. Also, its performance could be better than Panasas. In addition, its price needs improvement as well.

We have been using the solution for three to four years.

The solution is stable.

We have two end users for the solution.

The solution's technical support is better than Panasas. They resolve the issues quickly.

Positive

The solution's initial setup is complicated.

The experts from Dell's support team remotely configure the solution for us. They execute the process efficiently. It takes one or two days to complete.

It is an expensive solution. They should include technical support services with their contract.

Dell is more expensive than Panasas. But it has good technical support services.

I rate the solution a nine out of ten. It has a seamless AI system. I advise others to work with good network engineers during the configuration.

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is mostly used for CCTV and unstructured data storage.

The solution provides massive performance, scalability, efficiency, and ease of management.

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is a bit expensive compared to other products.

I have been using Dell PowerScale (Isilon) for three to five years.

We have tried hybrid and all-flash nodes for both models. We can expand any of the nodes because there is lots of additional storage. We can also add accelerator nodes for increased performance.

I rate the solution a seven out of ten for scalability.

The solution provides excellent enterprise support. There is a small delay with the L3 connection, which I hope will be resolved soon.

We have seen a return on investment with the hybrid model. However, we haven't seen a return on investment with the all-flash model because it is a bit more expensive than other products. It takes three to five years to see a return on investment with the solution.

I usually recommend this product for enterprise companies that require massive capacity. It is not for small and medium-sized businesses. The solution provides faster backup. I would recommend the solution to other users. We use Dell PowerScale (Isilon) for long-term data retention. Dell is doing an excellent job of raising product awareness among partners and customers through advertisements.

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

Dell PowerScale helps to capture large amounts of data in a short time. 

The tool comes with cheap disks and works fast for video content. 

Dell PowerScale needs to reduce its price. 

I have been working with the product for ten years. 

The solution is stable. 

Dell PowerScale is scalable. 

The tool's support is good. 

Dell PowerScale's installation is fast. You need one engineer to handle the deployment. Its maintenance is easy because of its high redundancy. 

I rate the product a ten out of ten. 

The tool's most valuable features are scalability and stability. 

Dell PowerScale's deployment is not easy. 

I have been using the product for eight years. 

I rate the tool's stability a ten out of ten. 

Dell PowerScale is scalable.