Dell PowerStore Reviews

I don't use Dell PowerStore myself, but we sell it, set it up for customers, and we are also the best certified, Europe-wide, I think, also for the PowerStore area with Bechtle.

You need block storage whenever you want to give your virtual machines storage where the hard drives are essentially located. For that you rather need block storage, or for databases.

The challenge with Dell PowerStore was MetroCluster, so recently it's been feature-wise MetroCluster over Fibre Channel. I think with the new update, Dell PowerStore has that now as well, and there was a discussion going on for years where people said Fibre Channel is a very German topic and people prefer to use Ethernet. The Americans recently realized they would develop this, and they even introduced the feature for Bechtle as well.

I consider the active-active MetroCluster the most valuable function on Dell PowerStore.

To growth and business success, Dell PowerStore contributes definitely because the appliances have these expansion enclosures and scale-up and scale-out work pretty well with Dell PowerStore, up to a certain degree. Ultimately the machines themselves are also very powerful. I think especially in growth phases, small and medium-sized businesses benefit from the fact that because it has a dual-controller architecture, both controllers run simultaneously and also work accordingly. They get an extremely good package for the money they invest.

The things where Dell PowerStore should be improved have now been improved and are being introduced with the new update.

Then it's actually great regarding everything with Dell PowerStore. You can always talk about the price.

For a rating of ten, what's missing is knowing quite reliably that you end up with the right support team for your problem because way too often you have a problem, call support, and then end up with people who repair laptops. They say they have no idea. The last time I had to do a major troubleshooting, you had to somehow go to Dell America, or I think you get routed via Ireland or something. That's sometimes a bit complicated, and if everything were German-speaking, that would of course be even better, but you can't always expect that.

I have been working in my field for three years.

I wouldn't know what could keep up with Dell PowerStore regarding stability and reliability.

On a scale from one to ten regarding stability and reliability, I would rate it a ten.

I find Dell's support great. I can't imagine a time when they said no idea, go look somewhere else.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate it a nine.

From other manufacturers, I consider Dell PowerStore alongside something similar to NetApp FAS and Pure Storage, which is also in the block storage area. Every manufacturer has something going for them, but Dell definitely offers the best overall package.

Quality has its price regarding Dell PowerStore. The feature set of Dell PowerStore is so competitive that it can easily put the market admirers in its pocket and simply represents a better product.

I actually haven't really dealt with licensing that much yet.

The network is always a big thing with implementations of Dell PowerStore because especially Dell PowerStore with the network—you want jumbo frames, and on Dell networks they're set a bit differently on the switches.

Regarding AI initiatives, I'd say quite good, because not everyone has a manual in their head on how to use Dell PowerStore. If you can use AI to do certain things for you and to troubleshoot, I think that's quite good.

I would rate this review a nine overall.

Dell PowerStore is primarily used for both block and file storage because it functions as a unified block and file storage system.

The most valuable features in Dell PowerStore are the Metro Volume features that are built-in without requiring an additional component. Unity required a VPLEX to have a Metro, but Dell PowerStore has an inbuilt option to have a Metro Volume.

Dell PowerStore has supported operational success.

I would like to see additional features or functionalities for the Metro in Dell PowerStore, especially because there are a few workloads still not supported.

The workloads I would like to see supported in Dell PowerStore are mainly for VMware, and other workloads are not officially mentioned, such as Hyper-V and Nutanix. I would also like to see improvements in the replication, which is currently completely network level replication. If everything goes through SAN, that would be much better.

I have been using Dell PowerStore recently, specifically for the last six months.

I would assess the stability and reliability of Dell PowerStore as very good, considering it as a midrange storage solution.

I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues with Dell PowerStore.

I do not use any performance metrics or benchmarks because we have not experienced any latency or anything from the user end with Dell PowerStore. We are not using any tool to assess performance.

I would rate the technical support for Dell PowerStore as eight on a scale from one to ten. I have contacted support a couple of times, and the experience has been satisfactory.

The response time for Dell PowerStore is good, and the first-level support quality is satisfactory.

Positive

Before using Dell PowerStore, I worked with Unity, the normal version, not XT.

I decided to switch to Dell PowerStore after six years because it reached end-of-support.

The deployment of Dell PowerStore was straightforward.

I did not take part in the deployment of Dell PowerStore in my system.

Before finally choosing Dell PowerStore, I did not really evaluate other options.

Dell PowerStore does not play a role in my organization's AI initiatives.

My role in using Dell PowerStore is as an administrator.

I would recommend Dell PowerStore to others in the mid-range segment. My overall rating for Dell PowerStore is eight out of ten.

It's connected to our VMware environment. We have two appliances. We are using 1200T. We are clustering between two sides in the same building.

Dell PowerStore is very stable. After we completed the installation, we haven't made many changes except for a few updates. The Dell support is very good to work with. 

Dell PowerStore has a nice user interface and works as it should. It's fast and stable to work with, and it seems to be good for our purpose. 

The cybersecurity and data resiliency features are also good. Management capabilities are also good.

They could improve the upgrade process. Currently, there are many manual steps required before upgrading the firmware. Making that process more automatic would be beneficial.

We have been using the solution for about two years.

The workload performance is very good, but we have a rather small installation of Dell PowerStore. It's connected to our vCenter and VMware. We just use it as block storage for VMs.

In our case, we haven't needed to scale yet, as we have half the capacity not being used. If we want to expand the volume of disk storage, we only need to install more disks, making it easy to scale.

I would rate their support a ten out of ten.

Positive

I have only worked with EMC and Dell.

The initial setup was very easy. I have also updated it a few times. The system requires updates approximately once every year, and Dell support is very good.

We worked with a Dell consultant. Our experience was excellent.

The solution helps us save money and provides good returns.

It might not be the cheapest product on the market. The purchase was made two years ago, and I'm not certain if the price has increased or decreased since then.

I would rate Dell PowerStore a ten out of ten. 

Our use case specifically for Dell PowerStore is for our e-commerce and data saving purposes. For our partners, we are helping to build Dell PowerStore solutions because it's very easy to reduce the size of the data. It's possible to reduce the size of data five to one compared to other competitors, which is a huge advantage. It saves space in the rack and provides other benefits.

Dell PowerStore caters to the needs of small and medium organizations. From the technical perspective, it's a perfect product for SMB and enterprise customers because of its simplicity to deploy and run. It is easily manageable.

The five to one data compression with Dell PowerStore is valuable. This compression ratio is a huge advantage in the market. We are positioning this as the first valuable feature advancing beyond our other competitors, such as HPE and Lenovo.

From our region perspective, it would be beneficial to have support with local languages for Dell PowerStore. However, English is acceptable for us as it serves our needs.

We have been using Dell PowerStore for two years, and we are satisfied with the storage because it's possible to manage all parts of the storage and align it to our needs fully.

Dell PowerStore supports growth and operational success at our company and our clients' companies. We can operate fully and be ready at any time because of Dell services and support. The RMA rate is perfect for this product.

The benefit of using Dell PowerStore is that we have comprehensive and excellent support from Dell. While we haven't experienced any issues with Dell PowerStore, when we have technical questions, we receive prompt and efficient support from Dell services. This is the main advantage for us in choosing Dell PowerStore. We could have solved our internal problems with cheaper versions from other vendors, but we chose Dell PowerStore because of the additional services we receive.

Positive

Before Dell PowerStore, we used PowerVault ME5, but we only used it for half a year because we realized we needed a more advanced solution.

Dell PowerStore is a price performance product positioned as mid-range, making it the best fit for our needs.

We have not calculated the return on investment from implementing Dell PowerStore because we only have two Dell PowerStore units, making it difficult to count with such a small amount. However, since we can run our business fully online, I believe we have seen a return on investment, though I don't have specific numbers.

We are not currently considering any other solution besides Dell PowerStore. In the near future, we might implement an SCI solution, but what we have now is sufficient. For our partners, we sell and resell all Dell technology solutions, including VxRail, Dell PowerStore, PowerFlex, and PowerScale. We have competence in all these products.

Customer service for Dell PowerStore deserves a rating of nine out of ten, leaving room for improvement. Before Dell PowerStore, we used PowerVault from Dell, but we needed more efficient and advanced storage. Dell PowerStore as a mid-range solution, fits our needs very well. As a distributor, Dell PowerStore is the main storage and driver for our partners. Internally, we are building AI cases on PowerEdge servers currently. While we are not including Dell PowerStore today, we plan to do so in the future. Our partners are already using Dell PowerStore for AI purposes, with one recent case involving hospital image storage. 

I would rate Dell PowerStore 10 out of 10.

Dell PowerStore is our Tier 2 storage used for general-purpose servers and applications.

The most valuable feature of Dell PowerStore, compared to previous products, is probably the ease of installation and upgrades. 

The benefits our organization has received from installing Dell PowerStore include a smooth transition from previous storage, Unity and previous Dell storage, making for an easy migration.

One of the big differences when we were looking at Pure is that they had more of an in-place upgrade option going forward, kind of future-proofing things. We hear Dell is working towards that, but they weren't quite there, especially three years ago.

We acquired our first Dell PowerStore three years ago.

In terms of reliability and stability, everything has been stable with Dell PowerStore, so I cannot complain.

Dell PowerStore has had no problem scaling to our needs. We have expanded a couple of times in the last few years and had no issues.

If I were giving advice to another company looking at Dell PowerStore, I would say that you cannot go wrong with Dell, as the sales and support teams are always top notch.

Positive

As a long-time Dell EMC customer, we did look at Pure Storage as well, but we ended up sticking with Dell.

We had a Professional Services engagement that helped with the installing and configuration of Dell PowerStore. My experience with Professional Services for Dell PowerStore was good, smooth, and without problems.

The return on investment from Dell PowerStore has been as expected.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate Dell PowerStore an eight overall.

Our company's use case for these products includes SAN storage, virtual machines, and VM storage, particularly with Dell PowerStore, which we have been using for approximately four years now. 

The best feature of Dell PowerStore is its flexibility for expanding data storage. Dell PowerStore has helped our organization as it is a proven SAN solution that is expandable if we need it to be, and it is web-driven for manageability.

If I could improve anything about Dell PowerStore, there are a couple of in-the-weeds features that I would want to see, such as the size of snapshots to know when we can expire some of them.

We have been using Dell PowerStore for approximately four years. 

From what I have seen, it is absolutely scalable.

Our organization has about 700 to 750 employees.

I would evaluate the customer service and technical support as good. We normally go through our reseller, and then they contact Dell, and we collaborate together.

Positive

The change to Dell PowerStore occurred when Compellent, our previous solution, reached end of life. We transitioned from Compellent to Dell PowerStore.

I have seen a return on investment with Dell PowerStore as it does what we wanted it to do. It gives me peace of mind.

I have experience with the pricing and licensing. I was involved in the purchasing process, though I was not the final decision-maker.

If someone asked me about Dell PowerStore, I would say that it is priced appropriately.

We did not evaluate anyone else when we made the transition. Our reseller, with whom we have had a relationship for 20 years, looked out for our best interest.

We use PowerScale for our AI requirements, particularly with end-user cameras and similar applications. 

I rate Dell PowerStore eight out of ten.

Some of the primary use cases that we deploy Dell PowerStore for is for fairly normal infrastructure things. We have one offer at the moment where we have a customer considering a replacement of Oracle database appliances with Dell PowerEdge servers and Dell PowerStore. 

It's for a utility company which requires strict governance standards. Furthermore, they are implementing Cyber Vault, which complements their end-to-end Dell infrastructure.

It is hard for me to quantify how Dell PowerStore has supported growth or operational successes for those companies because I'm not directly involved with the clients. 

We have had some successful projects in the last year from small to medium-sized projects. The notable aspect is not just from the customer's point of view. Internally, our project teams have confidence when they're working with that technology.

The biggest trust element is people are very happy to depend on a Dell infrastructure. When we talk to them about infrastructure, we will say, 'We need an infrastructure for a certain project.' 

We work with our Dell partner team to see which experts we need to get involved. When that brings Dell PowerStore into it, the features users appreciate include ease of use, security, dependability, and scalability. 

The natural progression of the Dell PowerStore family into bigger offerings and the integration between them is something that clients appreciate.

The initial setup was a bit cumbersome. 

We have been using the solution since shortly after product launch, with a range of clients having different levels of demand, and we tend to move with the technology as it advances.

Based on our experience with different customers, there has been uniform success rather than any issues. We are prepared to address any issues that might arise.

While I cannot comment extensively on the technical aspects, what's appealing to customers about Dell PowerStore is the scalability. They can start small, invest for what they need now, and have the confidence that when it grows, they will be able to scale with what they need.

I own the partnership and interface into the company, focusing more on that aspect than the specific technical details.

When we took over the clients, they had a real mismatch of solutions. They had a lot of HPE, some Oracle, and some generic equipment that they had acquired.

The initial setup was a little bit cumbersome. We had a bit of an adoption process internally. It wasn't immediately straightforward on day one.

We frequently engage the Dell account team or our own alliance team in the deal to ensure we get an SE who understands the specific business area and can adjust the offer accordingly.

I am not sufficiently involved with the projects to provide information about the ROI they actually see from implementing Dell PowerStore.

The pricing of Dell PowerStore is quite on point and very competitive overall. We are very in sync and in step, with our own account team and also with the account teams of our customers, which works out favorably commercially.

We have a focus on HPE or NetApp storage because that's their corporate requirement. We don't lead with these in discussions but have them available due to some client demands.

Make sure that you validate that Dell PowerStore is the right part of the Dell family. If it is, don't hesitate. 

Validate that with your Dell representatives. An SE can assess the exact requirements, or there might be a subject matter expert if it's a particular vertical implementation. Ensure you're on the right path before you proceed. 

Overall, I rate Dell PowerStore eight out of ten.

I am always hesitant to say something is a ten out of ten. There is always room for improvement. We see how they continue to evolve the product sets to match the evolving demands. In certain use cases, it's a ten out of ten, however, with the use cases changing every day, it presents different challenges.

I use Dell PowerStore primarily for the main site, storing database data, and I also use it for data replication between two different sites. Additionally, there are sites where I have it as an independent storage box directly attached to the respective site. For other sites, I use it as shared storage between two different hosts in the data center or servers, employing it as block storage.

I have not clustered any of them; they are always independent per site.

Most of our clients are onboarded with Apex AI Ops, also known as Cloud IQ, to monitor most issues arising in the storage box. This simplifies the lives of these clients because initially we had an on-premise virtual machine that sometimes could go offline, but now it is cloud-based and monitored via AI. It provides different alerts, so I can easily know when a client's storage is getting full or if there's a faulty battery before the client even reports the issue to the support desk. I would say it's a helpful feature.

Dell PowerStore is more of a simplified Dell Unity. For now, I could say it is workable, where it is very easy for me, who supports different clients having these storage boxes, to operate on. I don't see much improvement, though if you look at Unity, we used to have the ability to upgrade the storage even with slight degradation, but looking at Dell PowerStore, it has improved with more detailed health checks than Unity. However, it refuses to carry out upgrades unless it's bypassed by the Dell support team.

Dell PowerStore is more simplified compared to Unity, and the first training I did was under Dell PowerStore. If I haven't forgotten, here in Uganda, I was among the first team to deploy Dell PowerStore, which is why I did the first version of Dell PowerStore certification.

I like the thin clones of Dell PowerStore because what happens with the clones in Unity is that they come much more as snapshots at the VMware level, whereas with Dell PowerStore, I can easily make it an independent volume from the base volume.

Compression and deduplication technologies are features that end users will not feel that much unless there's a very big difference. I once had a client who was using Nimble, HP Nimble, and when we moved them to VFlex, which is something that came end of life at Dell, there was small storage usage in Nimble, but when it went to the other side, there was very big usage due to the uncompression. These types of compression do apply in storage, but end users only feel the effect when they migrate from the platform.

Dell PowerStore has better performance considering it first came as an all-flash solution, unlike other products like Unity, which came with HDDs. In Dell PowerStore, most of the models I've worked with have come with NVMe disks, although initially they did have different interfaces that were not NVMe.

I work for a service provider company where I do support, and I have been supporting Dell PowerStore for almost four years, covering two different sites like between primary and secondary sites and also for some independent sites.

In terms of stability, I haven't seen any lagging or crashing. Dell PowerStore products are stable and I have not experienced crashing with these kinds of products.

I would say scaling up is still as easy as these other Dell storage boxes. I have not scaled out.

Technical support under Dell PowerStore, apart from the back-end Dell PowerStore node troubleshooting for partition being full, is just normal, easy tasks. I don't need to contact support unless a disk fails. I have some orders for failed batteries which I am still waiting on because I was told they are shipped via water.

Negative

I have used Dell Unity, Dell PowerStore, and Dell ME. I have experience with Enterprise Storage.

My initial deployment of Dell PowerStore was not difficult at all because I had prior knowledge of Unity, specifically Unity 380 if I haven't forgotten, so it was a very easy deployment. That client had only two servers connected directly to Dell PowerStore, making it very easy for me.

The last time I deployed Dell PowerStore was for a company called Ithuba from South Africa, and it took us about two days because we first rack-mounted on the first day on site. On the third day, I had to go back to do an upgrade on Dell PowerStore.

Regarding maintenance, we do blow out the dust from the front of the disks and also perform firmware upgrades in Uganda. Sometimes Dell calls us as service providers to inform us that a particular client has very old code that needs upgrading.

Dell PowerStore has a more simplified, user-friendly interface compared to the different storage products I have from Dell.

I am not familiar with Lifecycle Extension, formerly branded as Anytime Upgrade.

I rate it a ten out of ten due to its simplified interface, where even a new beginner can easily navigate. I simply click to access compute storage and volumes. My overall review rating for this product is ten out of ten.