Dell PowerStore Reviews

PowerStore is joined to four application servers in a cluster. We're running an application that we use to monitor our activity in the financial markets. We collect all the data from the market—books, trades, orders—that we send to the market. In terms of volume, we are collecting about 100 million rows a day for the books, 10 million a day for the orders, and about 500 rows for public trades.

It is a mission-critical application because of compliance and the regulators. We have to maintain this kind of monitoring because it's a direct link to our activity in the regulated market.

An interesting feature is the guaranteed reduction when it comes to the physical capacity of the disk. We have 30 terabytes of SSD and that is equivalent to 100 terabytes of effective capacity. It allows us to reduce the costs of capacity.

Our previous solution was Dell EMC Compellent. What we have seen immediately is how easy it is to use PowerStore compared to Compellent. PowerStore is much simpler to manage.

The most valuable features include 

• easy of use 
• performance in terms of read-write capacity.

It is also important that you can add compute and capacity independently. We have sized the solution based on our current needs, but in the future we can choose to increase capacity if we grow our activity in the market. And if we have more business in our monetary system, we can increase compute. The ability to choose what we increase is a good feature.

The only area I can highlight for improvement is that the 4:1 data reduction target has not been reached. This may be due to an issue with Dell EMC's initial analysis of data compression. As a result, we have had to add new physical disks to reach our goal of total available disk space. Dell EMC has met us partway on this DRR issue by providing some of the additional disks free of charge, but we have had to purchase the remaining quantity of the disks we need.

We have been using PowerStore in our production environment for a few months, after using it in pre-production for about two months.

The stability has been very good so far.

We have not tested the scalability yet. All our data is well supported in the current solution, but we sized the new solution with more capacity than the previous one had.

The initial setup of PowerStore is a straightforward process. Setting up the Compellent was much more complex.

Overall, the setup took us about three weeks.

We ran it in a pre-production environment initially. We loaded all the data that was in production into the new environment and ran our application in both the pre-production and the production environments, just to test the stability and the availability of the application.

There are four people involved with the solution in our IT operations, and there are about 50 people who use the application that runs on it. Our application is a specific, department-level application, that is used for monitoring the activity in financial markets, so its use is limited to our business area. That is why the number of users is limited.

Dell EMC's support was very efficient during the setup of the entire solution. They handled the complete setup in terms of connections and also helped us with the software configuration and moving data from our old solution into the new solution.

We haven't seen ROI yet, but the return for us will be in the efficiency of monitoring our activities.

The pricing is in line with other vendors' pricing, more or less. There are no costs in addition to the standard fees.

We did not evaluate other solutions because Dell EMC is a partner for us and we're satisfied with them. We have evolved with their solutions and PowerStore is the best. Dell EMC is our vendor and provides us with all our other client-server solutions.

At the moment, I am satisfied by the simplicity and ease of use of the PowerStore.

Most of our PowerStore units are used for VMware VMs and vSphere. We migrated the VMs from our Unity storage.

We have two sites; the data center site (DC) and the disaster recovery (DR) site. We only use the PowerStore on the DC site. The project was put on hold due to COVID but we plan to continue with it this year.

VMware integration with the product is good. We use vSphere, which is one of the main VMware functions. In addition, we use vSAN for storage, and we have to use the SIEM.

This solution has helped us to simplify our storage operations, although we have a lot of storage devices and too few administrators. Because of this, we're looking for a software solution to assist us with administration. This is something that we will be doing next year.

Overall, we're quite happy with the product because we can move the data that is stored on more than 10 of our current storage devices to a single PowerStore. In terms of efficiency, this solution is the best choice for us.

The deduplication and compression features are quite impressive because when we enable this feature on other products, such as HPE 3PAR, we have a lot of latency. With PowerStore, we don't have that issue.

This device is less CPU intensive than the EMC Unity and the HPE 3PAR.

PowerStore supports the iSCSI interface, which we find helpful. We use one for our fiber channel but another one for iSCSI.

There is no Synchronize replication feature on the storage.

PowerStore should include more NAS functionality.

I have been using EMC products since 2003, although I began using Dell EMC PowerStore only last year.

Stability-wise, we have had no issues at all. In the past, all of our EMC products have been stable. We have not had the storage fail or had a faulty port. We have not even had to call support since putting it into production.

We plan to expand our usage in the future. One of our next goals is to purchase a PowerStore for our DR site because we need to have replication for our financial use case. We also plan to replace some of our other storage devices with PowerStore because we need to improve the overall efficiency.

We have not opened a technical support case with Dell for PowerStore but because most of our products are from Dell, we have dealt with them in the past. We have purchased approximately 100 servers from Dell and we have always been quite happy with their support. We don't have any issues with them and I would rate them a ten out of ten.

Every time we have an issue, they work with us to resolve the problem. There has never been a need for a repeat call and we are quite happy with that.

We have many Dell EMC Unity storage devices, including the Unity 450 and Unity 650, but we wanted a new, smaller storage unit.  

The main reason that we moved to PowerStore was the compression and deduplication.

The initial setup is easier than other products, such as Unity.

We were able to set up the storage and put it into production within one day. PowerStore is very quick to set up. By comparison, Unity will take at least two days to install.

We are happy with the pricing that we get from Dell.

This solution enables us to add compute and capacity independently, although we have not had to change our configuration.

PowerStore uses machine learning and automation for optimizing resources but we are just starting with it, so I don't know much about these features.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We are a reseller, and we use them to demonstrate to our customers the PowerStore interface as well as to power our own lab demos, running vCenter, NSX, and other software utilities.

For our demo lab, before we got PowerStore, we were running on a really outdated storage platform that was running out of space and didn't have enough internal resources to be able to power our customer demos. This product really helped facilitate and we do quite a few PowerStore demos since we have that device. 

Our older PowerStore is where most of our demos are located. We're just using it as a block of storage and storage to power the VMware environment. That's been our main use case.

The networking was difficult and complicated. It took as long to configure it correctly for the networking, as to roll it out. It would be good if there was a way to simplify the network complexity. 

It's also only supported with a limited amount of switches. If I hadn't bought the Dell switches, I would've had some issues with my legacy switches. That's been our number one issue with customers, when they say, "oh no, I'm going to use this other switch."

We have two PowerStores. We have one that's three years old, and we have a new one we just implemented a couple of weeks ago.

The solution is extremely stable. We haven't had any issues with it.

We only have the product in one location. Only six people have touched the solution. That's between the people who maintain it and sales architects who use it for demonstrations.

We have full Dell support. One time, my engineer was in the lab and knocked a power cable loose. I got an email within 15 minutes saying "you had an unexpected node failure, and do you need help?" They were on top of it. They are right there and they reach out proactively.

Positive

We had Compellent previously and that had aged out. It was six years old. Then we had EqualLogic that was in place just for NAS storage. That one also aged out and was running out of space. This product replaced both of those units.

I was involved in the initial setup of this solution. It was pretty straightforward. With the first implementation, we were done in about 12 hours. That included the networking switches. The unit, PowerStore itself, is probably deployed in only six hours.

The solution requires maintenance. I am not the one who performs the maintenance. Our lead engineer handles it.

We used Dell Professional Services during the implementation. I also had my lead PowerStore engineer and some of our sales architects shadow it, as well as a couple of my other engineers who hadn't used PowerStore. Dell let us have about four people shadow the installation so that my staff could get some knowledge as it got deployed.

We've seen an ROI. We're a reseller. Being able to do those demos for our customers helps us sell more products.

I don't really have any line of sight on the pricing. I heard it's comparable to the other Dell storage units.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. It's a really good product.

I'd advise potential new users to have a demo or do a hands-on lab to try it out. Also, make sure you buy supported switches.

We primarily use the solution for storage and data reduction. 

The initial setup is very straightforward.

The architecture is very good.

It's a reliable product. 

The data reduction feature is quite useful. It has a good reduction ratio during migrations.

The solution is stable. 

The solution only supports NPE. It doesn't support SSD or Flash. We'd like the option to be more flexible. If a customer finds out SSD is not supported, they will look for another option.

I implemented the solution around two years ago. I haven't used it for very long. 

It is a reliable, stable product. We haven't had any issues with it. Of course, it is not that old. That said, there are no failures and we have not had controller issues. there are no bugs or glitches. 

It is a scalable product. However, I have not needed to go and upgrade it or add more enclosures, et cetera. It can scale up. However, it can not scale out.

I have three customers that have already implemented the tool. More are coming online soon. Most of them are enterprises. We do expect expansion in the coming years. 

Technical support is more than perfect. We are quite pleased with the level of support on offer. 

I'm also aware of HP, which is a very similar solution. Sometimes the pricing of HP can be better.

The solution is very simple to set up. It is not a complex process. I monitor the process from a design and implementation point of view. 

The deployment takes about 15 minutes if everything is correct and on-hand. Then you move on to the management and you can have the flow up and running. We do the configurations and create the volume and handle the storage of the whole system.

I've implemented the solution three times at different sites. We implement the tool and do the migration. I work with a separate partner and we deploy to the users. 

The pricing is fixed. We have received a good price overall. Users must pay for the licenses. Most of the tools are included in an out-of-the-box delivery. There are no extra fees.

We're partners.

The solution is acceptable for both small and large companies. 

I'd advise new users to be mindful during the implementation process and make sure it is done right. They need to choose the correct solution and implement either block or unified. It's a good idea to look at the documentation before setting everything up.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for storage.

The solution is very easy to implement. 

It's stable.

The solution can scale. 

Its pricing structure is reasonable. 

There is a bit less functionality than, for example, NetApp. 

You cannot monitor as well with this product.

You cannot delegate permissions. For example, in NetApp, you can give two virtual storages and give them each to a different company. In Dell, you can only have one or two admins, and you cannot give permissions independently. It should be more flexible. 

I've been using the solution for half a year.

The stability of the product is good so far. There are no bugs or glitches. It's new. It hasn't crashed or frozen. I'd rate the stability eight out of ten. 

For now, the scalability is fine. I can grow double my size with no problem. I have yet to scale, however. I'd rate the scalability potential nine out of ten. 

There are 800 people using the solution right now. 

We do not have plans to increase usage. 

If I had any issues at the beginning, it was dealt with in the presence of the integrator, and he fixed it. I have yet to contact technical support to troubleshoot.

I've also used NetApp.

Before that, we also used HPE.

The company chose Dell PowerStore based on budgeting choices.

The implementation process is straightforward. It's not complex. It's easier to deploy than NetApp. The deployment takes about six hours for a basic setup.

You just set it up and connect it to the laptop and input the details. 

The technical team for deployment and maintenance only took one system admin. 

We had the help of an integrator during deployment. 

I have witnessed ROI while using the solution. It's been good so far.

The pricing is okay. It's expensive, yet fits within our budget. It has cost us less if we compare it to NetApp. We bought the license for the whole five years. There are no extra costs.

I'm not sure of the exact cost of the solution. 

I'm an end-user. I'm an administrator of Dell PowerStore. 

We are using the latest version of the solution. 

I've been very satisfied with the product.

The solution is easy to manage and implement. It's worth the money you pay for it. 

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Our company partners with the solution to offer customers storage as a service. We currently use the solution internally for our data center and to conduct tests or demos. 

We have not yet used the solution for customers because product lead time is slow and long. 

We are focused on providing our customers with quality service. The solution saves customers time and money because it handles migrations quickly and does not require additional IT resources or staff. 

The solution's scalability, capacity, and performance are great. 

Migrations are very easy and fast. The solution works well with native products such as VxRail, Unity, or VMware. 

Products that are not native sometimes cause migration issues. 

The solution should include access to Dell Demo Center. Our prior partnership included it and I was able to learn more about products, schedule demos, view functionalities, and run tests in real-time. Without access, I have to wait to get answers to my questions. 

More demonstration and training options are needed. It is important to understand the solution before speaking with customers about its functionality and benefits. 

Documentation and videos are not very rich and should include the whole interface with detailed information that can be shared with customers. 

I have been using the solution for one year. 

We don't have enough use cases to determine overall stability. The solution does perform well when scaling. 

The solution's scalability is great. Customers view this as an advantage because they can roll out in stages. 

The company previously used Dell Demo Center.

In my role as presales engineer, I implement products for a demo environment. I have knowledge of HPE 3PAR and NetApp but have worked almost exclusively with Dell products for twelve years. 

The setup is advertised as plug-and-play but it is not quite that easy. 

We installed the solution in-house for our demo environment. 

The price is high compared to the Tunisian market. The solution is T-level but is not priced that way. Customers want the option to scale in or out while managing costs. 

We are using PowerStore 1000 but that is already secondary level since 1200T and 1200X have been released. 

The price is more exciting when you consider the solution's scalability and performance. 

We were already with Dell so we knew the solution would easily manage our migrations. 

I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Typically, the customer uses it and we manage it. We primarily use it to host the sub server.

The usage of the system is very straightforward. It is simple and easy to use.

It has great snapshots. I can take a million snapshots and also schedule the timing.

There is no complicated configuration for queries and calls. You just create a model and go.

This generation of the product, overall, has been very nice. 

It is stable.

The solution can scale. 

There are a lot of features in IBM that we'd like to see in PowerStore as well. It has more deduplication and compression processes, all the storage, so that they do not depend on the tool embedded in the cluster. 

The pricing could be lower. It is very expensive.

I've been using the solution for at least six months. 

The stability is good. It is reliable. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. It's been perfect so far.

The solution can scale. We can attach an expansion as needed. So far, seeing as how I haven't collected all of the information in regard to scaling, I'd rate it seven out of ten.

We have three storage admins. The customer likely exceeds 20,000 users globally.

The client does not have plans to increase usage at this time. 

I've contacted technical support, They are fine. They are helpful and responsive. 

We have received a new storage device from HP. It is MSA storage.

While I did not see the deployment, my understanding is that it is easy.

The price is very, very expensive. It is more expensive than IBM, for example. Likely the cost is $400,000 whereas IBM may be $250,000. This is a one-time payment to buy the device. There are no subscription costs. There are no other costs for support.

We've looked into IBM SS7 300 as well. I'd recommend it as it has many abilities. It can carry some uploads from storage clusters. 

We are service providers.

The solution is on-premises at our company and we manage it for the customer remotely via a private cloud.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

We primarily use the solution as a POC. We have Extreme IOs that we're looking to replace, and this was brought in as a potential replacement for them.

For our scenario, it doesn't really fit the bill for where we're trying to go. The unit's fine. Unfortunately, it's a relatively greenfield type of product and we're looking for something with a little more robustness that's been in the field more. PowerMax works great, of course, and that's probably what we're going to go to instead. We just decided Power Store was just not going to fit the bill for what we needed. We needed something with a higher tier in the end.

The support is very good. 

For smaller shops, the solution is useful. 

We felt like this was just kind of a mix of Extreme IO and Unity. We weren't happy with Unity, which is why we weren't going to use Extreme IO. It seems like they just kind of merged two products and made this solution and while I'm sure it's great for smaller shops, we are not a small shop. 

It needs more mature code. 

The VASA plugins for ESX could be enhanced. My understanding is that that is in the roadmap.

I've using the solution for about a year. 

I'd rate the stability at a three or four out of ten. It could be more stable.  

On a scale from one to ten, I'd rate the solution at a six for scalability.

We've been quite happy with support. they are very good. 

We're trying out PowerMax, and will likely move in that direction instead of sticking with this product.

We have not witnessed any kind of ROI while using the solution. 

The pricing could be better. I'd rate it four out of ten. 

For new users, I would heavily suggest they evaluate their environment with real-world loads, not synthetic loads, when considering the solution.

I'd rate the product five out of ten.