Dell PowerStore Reviews

We're evaluating the product. We're evaluating various storage platforms. We're looking for ACI, block, and file storage. 

One of the biggest factors for us is security. We want to make sure we're as secure as possible.

We're a Dell shop to begin with, in our architecture. There are benefits to keeping Dell as the main brand and staying consistent. Dell is the product of choice in our shop.

The simplicity and performance are great. It meets a lot of our objectives.

We're still trying to figure out the cyber-resilient data approach to security. We're checking all the boxes from a performance perspective; security is a big factor and we're looking into it. It's very interesting.

We do use Cloud IQ. It's still new to us. We use it a lot for lifecycle management for our PowerEdge cache management. It's good for firmware and patch management. We're hoping we will be able to automate a lot of those activities (versus doing everything manually).

The overall energy consumption is good. We're saving on our consumption. It's more economical compared to other products and technologies. It has a slight edge; however, it may not be overly significant. It does make sense if you have multiple PowerStores. It would have multiple savings, depending on the amount you use. 

We've condensed our footprint and become more efficient. We've reduced our footprint by 50% at least.

The integration with VMware is great. That's our biggest play on-prem. 

From an air gap perspective and data protection, I'd like to see more immutable backups. We'd like to see some improvements on the security side. 

I'm currently in the evaluation period. It's been six to 12 months.

I haven't seen any issues with stability. From the performance we've experienced, we haven't had any problems.

I did deal with support at the outset. We're a big Dell company, and we love the support and account managers that help facilitate things.

Positive

We're currently evaluating Dell and Pure Storage. We're more of a Dell shop and are leaning towards Dell. I see the benefit and value of Dell.

The initial setup was user-friendly. The product is simplistic. The UI makes it easy to navigate.

It's cost-effective.

We are not using the solution for any AI-driven workloads. However, we know it's coming. It'll position us better in the future.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

I have implemented Dell PowerStore primarily for use cases involving straight-up service in virtualization, which includes fewer VDIs and more generic services.

The solution's most valuable feature is that the full NVMe offers great latency, which is the most effective way to give our customers the benefits of all-flash storage, especially since they won't really notice the bandwidth more than the latency.

The challenges my company was trying to address with the implementation of Dell PowerStore revolve around floor space saving. In Germany, one mostly has to deal with a conservative customer base. If there is a storage that is seven years old and now if one wants to change it, then there are these big machines, with which one can get a lot of terabytes out of it, and that is definitely a big point. When it comes to the area of data reduction, Germany is very conservative, and it may not be possible to reach 4:1 data reduction, but it is still good as the tool's usability is very simple compared to other systems.

Dell PowerStore's ability in the area of overall energy consumption is very good compared to the other systems, which have spinning disks. All-flash storage solutions are a lot more effective, but it is a big concern as energy prices are high. In terms of whether my company could reduce the power consumption with Dell PowerStore, I would say that my company had a use case with a customer around three weeks ago where their old Dell EMC VNX Storage System used to draw about 2500 watts compared to Dell PowerStore which drew about 800 watts, which is a really a big saving looking at the twenty-four hours and seven days of usage of the system.

My organization uses Dell CloudIQ to manage and analyze Dell storage around 50 percent of the time. It makes a lot more sense when one has a lot more Dell hardware because it provides one with a single pane of glass management and an overview of the systems.

After assessing Dell PowerStore's Cyber-resilient data approach to security, I would say that its secure and immutable snapshots are a big feature in Europe. The tool was lacking for quite a time in the area of cyber-resilient data approach to security, but now it has become very good. I think Dell PowerStore is a state-of-the-art system.

I have been able to reduce our organizational footprint and data consolidation using Dell PowerStore, considering that the tool has helped with data reduction by around a 2.5:1 ratio. If I compare the footprint of Dell PowerStore with our company's previously used solution, I would say that the products used in the past did not help with any kind of reduction of data. As a company that has partnerships with different vendors, we have Pure Storage in our portfolio. Pure Storage is better than Dell PowerStore, specifically in the case of data reduction. The algorithm behind Pure Storage performs a bit better, but looking at the price difference, Dell PowerStore is available at a better deal.

The tool is deployed mostly on an on-premises model. The deployment is split into an 80 percent and 20 percent model. Around three to seventeen customers use the tool with VMware, while a few customers use OpenStack.

After upgrades, there were a few bugs in the product, and it can be considered as an area of concern where improvements are required.

I have been using Dell PowerStore since 2021. I was still a customer back in 2021 who bought a Dell PowerStore and then switched to the partner side at the beginning of 2022. Since 2022, I have dealt with 30 to 35 product implementations.

There were a few bugs in the product after the upgrades. My company had to face a few bugs in the latest upgrades of the tool owing to which we had to reboot the solution, and it is a big no-no for us considering that the product is a part of the virtualization stack, but if you are not really counting that and stay at the target code, which the tool recommends actually, then it is good.

In my company, we have a few appliances which we scaled out. The problem is mostly that single drive additions are really expensive. For most customers, it is actually more efficient to buy a whole Dell PowerStore, which is kind of hard to explain to most customers.

My company mostly contacts Dell's support team for mission critical services. Dell's support team's response has always been completely positive. The quick response from the tool's dedicated German support team for storage ensures that our company gets new leads and connects you to the right set of people from Dell. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.

Positive

Considering the other solutions my company has used, I would say that Dell PowerStore, with all its features from previous releases, offers good functionalities. The big pro associated with Dell PowerStore stems from its price point since one gets a lot more compared to other products in the market.

The product's initial deployment phase has been straightforward. You can't get anything wrong with the deployment process associated with the product. I had two or three systems on which the validation was successful, but the actual deployment failed. It is not a big problem since you can just re-initialize it and start over.

Though I don't get real hard data about the savings part attached to the product, customer feedback has been extremely positive. There are no issues with the product's performance since Dell PowerStore is an NVMe product.

I rate the tool an eight and a half out of ten.

We have implemented Dell PowerStore for small sites needing mirrored storage. To ensure high availability, the storage is set up in two different locations, possibly in the same building but far apart.

For example, when you have a large warehouse that could have almost 800 meters between the server rooms, we put one in one server room and one in the other. If something happens to the one on one side of the building, you still have the other one.

There have been no significant benefits to the organization because Dell PowerStore is expensive, and we have found that it offers the same functionality as other storage solutions.

Powerstore's cyber-resilient approach protects our data well. We haven't had any problems. 

Dell PowerStore is too expensive, and it could be less complicated. It isn't as user-friendly as other options, especially regarding the user interface.

We have been using Dell PowerStore for about one year.

It is hard to know how stable PowerStore servers are since we've only used it for a year, but they have worked so far. 

We contacted them once about to test a VxRail solution. That was quick, and it was working, so it's hard to gauge their support. 

Neutral

We also use Nimble Storage for other sites. They likely decided to use Dell based on server pricing and simplifying purchases by choosing the same vendor for storage. However, we are considering returning to Nimble Storage.

Dell PowerStore is too expensive for what it does.

Currently, we are exploring Huawei solutions because they offer the same thing for a third of the price. 

I rate Dell PowerStore Rack Servers seven out of 10. 

We mainly use the solution for virtual server infrastructure and block storage (not file storage use).

The main challenge we addressed was having some kind of mid-range all-flash array. It's one of the best use cases. 

The budget is good. It's really good, price-wise. It's cost-effective.

We have some VMware use cases for VMware infrastructure and it is good for that. We can use it for its data reduction capabilities. We have moved from 1.48 to 1.27. 

It offers good snapshots.

We use Cloud IQ for analysis. It's simple to quickly check and you don't have to be near the array to do so. 

The cyber-resilient data approach is good. It has all the features we need as a security company. The read-only snapshots are great.

There could be better reporting. We should be able to do some better metrics and they should be stored for longer so we can do better investigations. 

I've been using the solution for about four years. 

The stability is good. However, the sizer is not quite right. From my experience, the same number with the same read/write ratio and the same log size is off compared to my own notes. It's stable, yet the CPU utilization is higher. Sometimes, we need to move stuff off of it since we can see it's being over-utilized. 

The scalability is good for our use case. Sometimes I wish the cluster capabilities were more like XtremIO.

In the last year, we've noticed that there has been a drop-off in Dell support. In the past, I've had a better experience. The merge didn't benefit the support.

Neutral

We used to use XtremIO. We didn't fully switch. We decide which to use depending on the use case and budget. Other companies offer discounts from time to time. We'll compare and have an auction to see who wins. Price is just one factor. We also evaluate the support experience, for example. 

The deployment is very easy.

We install the solution ourselves. We did not use an integrator or consultant. 

We've witnessed an ROI after switching from some other infrastructure. It identified some areas in which we could get some good reductions and could decrease the data center footprint. 

We're constantly evaluating other solutions and comparing the options for price, support, and other metrics.

We aren't really using any integrations. We also don't use it for AI-driven workloads. 

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. It's a great product. It's improving over time. When it was first released, I'd rate it four or five out of ten. However, it keeps getting better. The only problem I see is the support. 

We use Dell PowerStore with the VMware platform for block storage.

Our customers implement Dell PowerStore for the performance and deduplication compression ratio. For all the PowerStores that Dell deployed, I am around three dot eight or three dot six compression. It depends on the VMs and the customer's infrastructure, but it's quite good.

Our deployments are always on-premises for organizations in multiple industries, including medical and production. The environments are small, with around 20 terabytes of data or less.

We integrate PowerStore with VMware. We can't use PowerStore if we don't have a virtual platform like VMware or Hyper-V. We use VMware-certified professionals.

CloudIQ is a good tool for monitoring all our systems. It creates alerts that notify us if something is wrong and it also creates tickets automatically to Dell.

The most valuable aspects of Dell PowerStore are integration with VMware and reliability.

Dell PowerStore is an unfinished product compared to the HPE systems because it is relatively new. The synchronous replication was only added recently.

I have been using Dell PowerStore for four years.

PowerStore is stable. We install it and forget it for four years until it is time to replace it. 

We only sell one PowerStore to our clients, so there has been no need to scale but if needed more disks can be added.

The Dell support is good. The response time is good and the people are reliable. I am happy with the support.

Positive

We have worked with HPE, Huawei, and Pure Storage. Dell PowerStore is a young product compared to HPE. HPE has a lot of experience. Huawei is aggressive with pricing and has good products in Europe. Pure Storage is good but heavy and costly compared to Dell PowerStore.

For me, the deployment is easy because I'm very experienced. We had a lot of issues passing from version two to version three. I had to call Dell support each time we upgraded from version two to version three but once we're on version three, it is good.

I would rate Dell PowerStore eight out of ten.

We have customers in the United States Army across the continental U.S. and overseas. All the data centers in the army are heavily powered by Dell.

We deploy PowerStore based on our customer's requirements. Some are on-prem, others in the Cloud, and some use a hybrid model.

PowerStore has helped our customers manage their missions and support all of their employees with data.

Dell PowerStore's energy consumption is on par with the competition.

We have integrated PowerStore with VMware and Nutanix. The integration has helped consolidate resources and downsize data centers.

PowerStore is easy to use, powerful, reliable, and highly customizable to customers' needs.

Dell PowerStore needs to continue evolving and incorporating new cutting-edge technology.

I have been using Dell PowerStore for two years.

The scalability of Dell PowerStores depends on the environment. Some are more complex than others, especially if we are using VDI infrastructure. Having all the services consolidated makes it hard to scale.

The technical support is outstanding.

Positive

On-prem deployments are easy but hybrid ones can be more complex.

We also evaluated HPE but decided on Dell PowerStore because our customers are more knowledgeable about Dell which is more predominant in the market.

I would rate Dell PowerStore ten out of ten.

PowerStore's ability to help reduce our customer's environmental footprints is a mixed bag because of the power consumption that has increased due to servers becoming more powerful. So even though the consolidation reduces the power consumption in some areas, it increases in others.

I use the solution in my company for the storage of the data in our centralized IT infrastructure.

The benefits my company and I have experienced from the use of the solution revolve around the continuity in operations that the product offers.

The solution's most valuable features are deduplication and availability. The product also offers reliability and generally doesn't crash.

My company uses a local cloud and not Dell CloudIQ to manage and analyze storage.

The challenges my company was trying to address with the implementation of Dell PowerStore, were that we wanted to achieve upgrades in an app mode. A majority of the upgrades should be done in an app mode because the boxes are always in production, or else when you need to stop it for operational reasons, it becomes very difficult for our company since our business functions twenty-four hours every day. I want Dell to offer updates via app mode. 

When it comes to workload consolidation, Dell has been helpful depending on the business because now we need to put the workloads on an on-premises model and also on the cloud as our system is very complex. My company has a lot of applications on the cloud and some others in the data center and on-premises version, so we need to have the ability to put applications in both areas. 

My company already uses the 4:1 data reduction feature attached to the product, but now we want to have something more complex like a 10:1 reduction functionality, as it reduces the cost associated with an all-flash storage solution.

In terms of Dell PowerStore's Cyber-resilient data approach to security, I would say that my company believes Dell Technologies to be better than the other brands. My company has dealt with several brands, and we believe that Dell is the best in terms of the functionalities it offers.

My company uses Dell PowerStore's integration capabilities since, in the centralized infrastructure, we work with solutions like VMware, Veeam, and Dell PowerProtect. Everything is integrated together in our company's environment. My company is going to use the tool's integration capabilities to enhance our resilience. 

It is very important for my company that Dell PowerStore offers good integration capabilities, especially since it helps with backup, which is an important aspect. If there is a cyber incident, you must restart all the data from the box, and at such a time, if you don't have good integration capabilities, it can be difficult for you to store the last saved data on the storage.

I use Dell PowerStore for AI-driven workload, as it is something that is very important for our company since the AI part helps us get all the benefits attached to the product and helps store the data.

The product can improve by offering AI-based functionalities to users. AI-based functionalities can enhance the tool's performance in moments when the demand is high from the users. The AI-based features can also help users maintain data in a more reachable manner during high demand. Dell PowerStore's throughput limit of the boxes can be improved.

I have been using Dell PowerStore for seven years. I am a customer of Dell.

The product is reliable and stable.

When the partners designed the solution for our company, they knew our requirements, so in the past seven years, my company has not had the need to extend its capacity. After considering the need for the original capacity of our company, the partners added 20 or 30 percent more capacity for the future.

My company gets support from the partner who installed the product in our organization. My company uses the data center model as a service. When the partner designed the architecture for us, though our company participated in seeing it, they did the operation and maintenance.

In the past, my company has used products like Veritas, HP, and HPE. Currently, my company works with Dell to implement cyber resiliency when it comes to storage products.

My company has not deployed the product, and it was done by one of the partners of our organization's in our data center. My company did not have the detailed procedure required to deploy the tool. The product's deployment phase was very fast.

The solution is deployed using Azure Cloud. Around 85 percent of the product is deployed on Azure, and the rest 15 percent is deployed on AWS.

I have experienced a return on investment from using the product, especially in areas like maintenance and lack of outages.

Based on my assessment of Veritas, HP, Dell, and HPE, I see that Dell offers more cyber resiliency than other tools. There is a combination of factors to consider when assessing different products, including areas like benefits, features, and costs. The price of Dell PowerStore is similar to the product offered by Veritas, HP, and HPE. There are only differences when it comes to the area of features.

I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

There is a lot of deduplication and compression involved, virtualization projects, and some databases where we get better compression and deduplication.

The number of IOPs we get compared to the previous model, Unity, is much more robust. It provides the best compression and deduplication, saving money and ensuring efficiency since the deduplication is inline.

PowerStore is robust compared to the previous models like Unity, and it provides excellent compression and deduplication.

The replication part needs improvement, particularly the integration of RecoverPoint. The best solution for application is RecoverPoint, but PowerStore does not have direct integration with it currently.

I have been working with PowerStore for three to three and a half years now.

The stability of the product is high. I would rate it eight out of ten.

PowerStore is very scalable. I would rate its scalability an eight because we have no issues expanding storage.

I rate Dell's technical support very high. Their experts are available and whenever I open any case, it gets resolved in minimal time. I am 100% satisfied with the quality of the support.

Positive

The initial setup is very simple.

The price is medium, not very high or low. However, it should be more flexible. They price it based on effective capacity, not raw capacity.

Huawei is the main competitor, and it has some good features and architecture compared to PowerStore.

I can recommend PowerStore to other users, 100%.