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Dell EMC Unity XT reviews

Vendor: Dell Technologies
4.2 out of 5
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What is Dell Unity XT?

Dell EMC Unity XT is one of the best all-flash storage arrays on the market today. Dell EMC Unity XT arrays are designed for performance, optimized for efficiency, and built for a multi-cloud world. In addition, they support digital transformation, enabling businesses to reach the full potential of their data capital quickly and easily. Dell EMC Unity’s All-Flash and Hybrid Flash storage platforms provide the performance, efficiency, enterprise-class software, and virtualization integrations required for running a wide range of virtualized applications.

Get the Dell Unity XT Buyer's Guide and find out what your peers are saying about Dell Unity XT, Dell PowerStore, Pure Storage FlashArray and more!
Dell Unity XT is the #5 ranked solution in best All-Flash Storage Arrays. PeerSpot users give Dell Unity XT an average rating of 8.4 out of 10. Dell Unity XT is most commonly compared to Dell PowerStore: Dell Unity XT vs Dell PowerStore. Dell Unity XT is popular among the midsize enterprise segment, accounting for 69% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a educational organization, accounting for 63% of all views.
Buyer's Guide
Dell Unity XT
May 2025
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Dell Unity XT mindshare

As of May 2025, the mindshare of Dell Unity XT in the All-Flash Storage category stands at 7.3%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
All-Flash Storage

PeerResearch reports based on Dell Unity XT reviews

TypeTitleDate
CategoryAll-Flash StorageMay 29, 2025Download
ProductReviews, tips, and advice from real usersMay 29, 2025Download
ComparisonDell Unity XT vs Dell PowerStoreMay 29, 2025Download
ComparisonDell Unity XT vs NetApp AFFMay 29, 2025Download
ComparisonDell Unity XT vs Pure Storage FlashArrayMay 29, 2025Download
Suggested products
TitleRatingMindshareRecommending
Dell PowerStore4.417.3%97%109 interviewsAdd to research
Pure Storage FlashArray4.66.3%99%199 interviewsAdd to research
 
 
Key learnings from peers

Valuable Features

Dell Unity XT excels in simplicity, ease of management, and performance. Its intuitive interface and HTML5-based Unisphere make navigation user-friendly. Features like FAST cache and auto-tiering enhance speed. It provides seamless integration with VMware and supports multiprotocol environments including block and file storage. It offers data reduction, inline compression, deduplication, and efficient replication. Dell Unity XT is highly scalable, reliable, and offers excellent support, making it ideal for diverse mid-range needs.
  • "Dell Unity XT is quite scalable and can be scaled up to the petabyte level."
  • "Dell excels in service and support."
  • "Snapshots provide a unique feature for testing and make management more comfortable and easy."

Room for Improvement

Dell Unity XT needs improvements in deduplication and compression features to enhance competitiveness. Users desire a more flexible GUI and improved storage management capabilities. There are calls for better migration tools and integration with other systems. High costs are a concern, with requests for better pricing and scalability. Users are looking for enhanced replication processes and monitoring features. Dell Unity XT lacks certain functionalities present in previous versions like VNX, which users miss.
  • "The technical support sometimes takes three to four days to get hardware to facilities. I would rate customer service four out of ten."
  • "Recently, customers have been asking for a cloud tiering option in storages. Some Dell storages do not have cloud tiering, which is an optional commercial feature."
  • "Sometimes the response time is higher than expected due to a lack of issues."

ROI

Dell Unity XT delivers cost-effectiveness and functionality, excelling in storage and management. Users report tremendous value in areas like time savings, reduced server footprint, and increased uptime. Its ease of use and integration streamline administrative tasks. The system provides notable returns by reducing power consumption and optimizing storage. With the ability to virtualize servers and improve data management, Dell Unity XT enhances performance while maintaining a scalable and future-proof investment.

Pricing

Dell Unity XT offers competitive pricing, with base licenses including most necessary options. Many users find its cost-effective storage suitable for small to medium enterprises, though some mention higher initial costs. Licensing is generally straightforward, with bundled software providing simplicity and value. Price points start around $20K for decent configurations, with some configurations costing more. While seen as relatively affordable compared to competitors like HP and NetApp, pricing transparency and negotiation may be required for optimal deals.
  • "It is priced at around or under $50,000."
  • "The solution’s pricing is competitive."
  • "The product’s pricing should be improved."

Popular Use Cases

Dell Unity XT supports a wide array of uses across multiple sectors. Enterprises use it primarily for block storage, virtual machines, and high I/O databases. It’s favored for mid-range to low-end storage needs, general virtualization platforms, high-availability disaster recovery, NAS, and database storage. Customers appreciate its performance in VMware environments, SQL Server, Oracle databases, and with healthcare IT, financial services, and governmental structures needing reliable, fast storage.

Service and Support

Dell Unity XT's customer service and support receive varied feedback. While many praise their responsiveness and knowledge, often rating it highly, others experience issues with the post-merger support quality, finding the response time inconsistent. Some users note difficulties accessing higher-level support, and a few find the portal cumbersome. Many appreciate technical support's proactive approach, yet challenges still exist with staffing expertise and equipment provision in some regions, affecting satisfaction levels.

Deployment

Users found Dell Unity XT's initial setup very easy and user-friendly. The process often involved only a few steps guided by a well-designed wizard. Some challenges were mentioned, such as licensing complexities and initial configurations requiring external assistance, but these were rare. Most setups were completed quickly, often in less than a day, emphasizing the efficiency and simplicity of the system even for those with only basic experience.

Scalability

Dell Unity XT demonstrates impressive scalability. Users frequently succeed in expanding storage without notable challenges. Many efficiently add hardware components, such as disks, to enhance capacity. Several report satisfaction with its modular nature and seamless upgrades. The system caters to various needs, from small to medium-sized enterprises. However, some mention limitations on certain models. Overall, it provides flexibility and is highly rated for accommodating growth within set parameters.

Stability

Dell Unity XT demonstrates strong stability with most users reporting high reliability and minimal issues. There have been occasional firmware-related bugs and early release challenges, yet users observe improvements following updates. Positive feedback highlights its solid performance, especially in environments with long-term usage. While some mention initial glitches, the platform's stability is rated highly, reflecting satisfaction among users. Compared to earlier models, Dell Unity XT shows significant advancements in stability and reliability.
These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.
Download our Dell Unity XT Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers
By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
63%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Government
3%
Financial Services Firm
3%
University
2%
Construction Company
2%
Comms Service Provider
2%
Healthcare Company
1%
Retailer
1%
Real Estate/Law Firm
1%
Wholesaler/Distributor
1%
Energy/Utilities Company
1%
Insurance Company
1%
Non Profit
1%
Hospitality Company
1%
Media Company
1%
Outsourcing Company
1%
Legal Firm
1%
Transportation Company
1%

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Learn more about Dell Unity XT

Dell EMC Unity XT Features

Dell EMC Unity XT has many valuable key features, including:

  • Unified storage flexibility: With Dell EMC Unity XT you can consolidate separate storage platforms into a single Unity XT unified storage system via a simple and intuitive (HTML5) management GUI that also connects you to CloudIQ.

  • All-inclusive data protection: Dell EMC Unity XT offers a reliable way to protect application data with all-inclusive data protection services, including snapshots, data-at-rest drive encryption, replication, thin clones, and dynamic pools.

  • Software-defined solutions: Dell EMC Unity XT provides software-defined storage and HA for on-prem and in the cloud solutions.

  • Multi-cloud alignment: With Dell EMC Unity XT you have the ability to build and manage an effective data-first multi-cloud strategy. It allows you to consolidate public and private cloud resources that align with your business goals.

  • Metro node: This feature enables automated business continuity with zero RPO and RTO. It also provides greater flexibility through multi-platform support and replication to any array and has zero performance impact on the storage array.

  • Scalable file system: Dell EMC Unity XT is built with a robust 256TBu file system. The UFS64 file system includes up to 256 independent VMDK clones, 16 thin clones, space efficient snapshots with a simple space reclaim and low IO impact, file system shrink that can reclaim free blocks, simplified Quotas for User, and much more.

  • DevOps integrations: Dell EMC Unity XT supports the Container Storage Interface (CSI) plugin to run Kubernetes workloads.

Dell EMC Unity XT Benefits

Some of the benefits of using Dell EMC Unity XT include:

  • High-speed data access
  • Low latency
  • Dual-active controller architecture
  • Multi-cloud
  • Intuitive user interface
  • Cost efficient
  • Solid performance

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Dell EMC Unity XT users.

A Systems Engineering Manager at a manufacturing company says, "It is definitely one of the most robust, solid, well-performing products that I have dealt with. It is set it and forget it, which is pretty amazing." He also mentions, “We can do both block and file storage on one unit without purchasing a separate device.”

Peter S., Senior Technical Specialist at a healthcare company, states, “The most valuable feature is reliability. At the end of the day, it just runs. This solution is easy to work with and easy to maintain.”

PeerSpot user Melvin T., Senior Systems Engineer at Prosperity Bank, explains that the solution is “easy to use and we can add LUNs or space without interruption to end-users. We're able to access it from just about anywhere, as long as we have access to a browser. That feature is really neat because sometimes we will go to a different data center or a different site, and if we need to access it to see a LUN or to see any type of storage, we can do that. That's one of the big takeaways with Unity."

Dell Unity XT was previously known as EMC Unity, Dell EMC Unity.

Dell Unity XT customers

Draper, Rio Grande Pacific, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre

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Product Categories

Product Categories
All-Flash Storage

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Dell Unity XT reviews

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DK
Sales Account Manager - BFSI Sector at Frontier Business systems
Verified user of Dell Unity XT
Apr 23, 2025
Customer needs are addressed effectively with collaborative sales and service support

Pros

"Dell excels in service and support."

Cons

"Recently, customers have been asking for a cloud tiering option in storages. Some Dell storages do not have cloud tiering, which is an optional commercial feature."

What is our primary use case?

We deal with enterprise customers or key accounts such as Infosys, Wipro, and Tatas. Once we gather the requirements from our customers, they are sent over to our product team, which includes product specialists, solution architects, and pre-sales. They define the solution, which, once verified with the customer, goes to the OEMs like Dell, HP, NetApp, or Nutanix for commercial evaluation.

What is most valuable?

Customers often request OEMs preferring Dell, HP, or NetApp. Some customers are open to suggestions, and based on their requirements, needs, and commercial aspects, we decide whether to recommend Unity, PowerStore, or Isilon storages. If their growth is not significant, we might suggest mid-level Unity storage like Unity 300. For higher-level storage impact, we consider their future growth and may suggest PowerStore or Isilon for heavy media usage.
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Read full review (559 words)
Syed Habib - PeerSpot user
Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd
Verified user of Dell Unity XT
Jan 13, 2025
Product version discussed: Unity XT
Efficient data replication and fast IOPS have improved operational performance

Pros

"Snapshots provide a unique feature for testing and make management more comfortable and easy. "

Cons

"Sometimes the response time is higher than expected due to a lack of issues."

What is our primary use case?

We use our Dell system as a database. Another team, specifically the DPA team, manages this. It is amazing. We are using Oracle as our primary database and MySQL as an additional database. However, we do not have a central database because we operate as a bank. There is no appliance on the Oracle database using Oracle React.

What is most valuable?

Dell and a partner jointly implemented this solution in Auvink. We installed the Flash, which makes our IO operations fast and efficient. Replication is available, allowing us to replicate data simultaneously from one site to another. All-flash technology and vTXT enhance speed, and the IOPS are faster. The cache's IOPS are much better. Snapshots provide a unique feature for testing and make management more comfortable and easy. The platform is multi-supported and certification is more convenient and easy to manage.

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (403 words)
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Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Unity XT. Updated May 2025
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TL
System Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Verified user of Dell Unity XT
Nov 26, 2024
Data integration enhances workflows and has a straightforward setup but pricing poses a challenge

Pros

"Dell Unity XT offers data integration features. "

Cons

"The pricing is a bit higher than expected."

What is our primary use case?

I work with Dell Unity XT to configure and set up projects based on customer requirements. We use it mainly for storage solutions, integrating and setting them up according to needs.

How has it helped my organization?

Currently, the product is still in a unique environment and hasn't been fully utilized in active projects, so I cannot comment on the impact it has had on our organization as of now.

*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Read full review (340 words)
KA
Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd
Verified user of Dell Unity XT
Apr 23, 2025
Product version discussed: Unity 400
Stable performance and reliable storage solutions enhance my maintenance efficiency

Pros

"Dell Unity XT is quite scalable and can be scaled up to the petabyte level."

Cons

"The technical support sometimes takes three to four days to get hardware to facilities. I would rate customer service four out of ten."

What is our primary use case?

I am handling the maintenance of Dell Unity XT, particularly for a leading telecommunication company in Sri Lanka. They use Dell Unity XT as one of their storage areas.

What is most valuable?

Dell Unity XT is a stable product, and it rarely encounters hardware issues. My customers, including a leading telecommunication company, benefit from several storage areas. Unity 400 is a part of their storage solutions.
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Read full review (341 words)
Nagendra Nekkala. - PeerSpot user
Senior Manager ICT & at Bangalore International Airport Limited
Verified user of Dell Unity XT
Dec 28, 2023
The storage management is superb, with a user-friendly graphical interface and dashboards

Pros

"The storage management is superb, with a user-friendly graphical interface and dashboards. The performance is good. The integration, dashboards, and analytics are excellent. It gives me immediate output and quick access to the reports I need promptly. It's an excellent product with high stability. The solution is scalable. The support team is highly supportive, responsive, and efficient in providing solutions. This product is highly useful and well-suited for all types of automation."

Cons

"There is an issue with data duplication occurring on the flash memory. It should be improved. Timely updates and upgrades to the latest versions would be great. "

What is our primary use case?

As customers, we use it to manage CCTV camera files. It serves as the file server for sharing and storage purposes.

What is most valuable?

The storage management is superb, with a user-friendly graphical interface and dashboards. The performance is good, and it has high reliability for data applications. 

The integration, dashboards, and analytics are excellent. It gives me immediate output and quick access to the reports I need promptly.

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (428 words)
Vaidyanathan Swaminathan - PeerSpot user
Co-Founder at Tech RIdge Solutions
Verified user of Dell Unity XT
Oct 30, 2024
Streamlines data management, simplified configuration, and improved replication

Pros

"Performance is a top feature."

Cons

"Data replication needs improvement as the future roadmap for RecoverPoint appliance is not there."

What is our primary use case?

Unity XT is a flash-based solution that provides extreme performance due to SSD or flash drives. It includes features like data compression and was used in customer environments. The simplicity in terms of configuration and data replication, especially in conjunction with RPA RecoverPoint, are key features.

How has it helped my organization?

Managing Unity XT is very easy, and being from Dell EMC, it adds value. The product meets many customer requirements.

*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Read full review (306 words)
YogeshDasila - PeerSpot user
National Manager - Hybrid IT Solutions at NTT Security
Verified user of Dell Unity XT
Sep 6, 2024
Provides Data at Rest feature for data security

Pros

"Dell Unity XT is a unified box, and it is integrated with VVOL, our software-defined storage."

Cons

"In some countries, spare part availability is an issue for us."

What is our primary use case?

We are network service providers, and we use the server storage to create our own cloud or use it for our own internal applications.

What is most valuable?

Dell Unity XT is a unified box, and it is integrated with VVOL, our software-defined storage.

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (345 words)
MS
IT expert/sys admin at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Verified user of Dell Unity XT
Aug 24, 2023
Seamless and user-friendly experience for small or mid-level businesses at reasonable price

Pros

"Dell Unity XT is user-friendly and easy to use. "

Cons

"It isn't easy to find trusted partners for the product. The solution has issues with mid-level storage and does not come with enterprise storage. "

What is our primary use case?

We are using it as a unified storage solution for different workloads, databases, and data backup.

How has it helped my organization?

It provides simplified deployment, monitoring and management of storage resources. It is very user-friendly. 

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (502 words)