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Cisco MDS Series vs Dell PowerVault comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco MDS Series
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
4th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerVault
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Fibre Channel (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Enterprise SAN category, the mindshare of Cisco MDS Series is 10.0%, up from 5.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerVault is 11.9%, down from 28.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise SAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerVault11.9%
Cisco MDS Series10.0%
Other78.1%
Enterprise SAN
 

Featured Reviews

VK
Product Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Reliable storage networking has ensured seamless multi-protocol access and continuous redundancy
Currently, I do not have any major suggestions for improvement as everything is working well without issues. If additional functions could be introduced to simplify usage, I would suggest that AI functionality or better integration capabilities would be advantageous for Cisco MDS Series. Any new AI-related features or functionality added to Cisco MDS Series would represent a positive advancement.
Storage has supported long-term CCTV archiving and improves on-premises application performance
I think it would be good regarding how Dell PowerVault could improve to have, in addition to the excellent support service that exists, some training courses, forums, and a training school for using these tools. Many people specialize only in this kind of equipment, and others have no idea how to configure them or how they work and always end up depending on people who have spent a long time working with these systems and know how to handle them more because of experience than because of information that can be easily obtained about using this equipment. Everything regarding additional aspects that could be improved in Dell PowerVault has already been mentioned.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is its reliability, support, and scalability."
"This solution is required for any type of IT infrastructure for Storage Networking and provides high availability for storage service."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is security."
"The product is very stable and performs well."
"The product is easy to use."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the devices, databases, and zoning."
"Cisco MDS 9148 SAN switch model is the best product, highly reliable and low cost, easy to deploy, easy to upgrade, easy to configure, easy to administer, and it gives effective performance when used for SAN switch connectivity between hosts and storage boxes."
"It enables us to integrate and load balance between multiple layer one fiber vendor links, which is very useful."
"It is an inexpensive storage solution."
"It is easy to take a snapshot with a single click on the volume, and we can also automate the snapshot on a daily schedule at a specific time."
"It helped us improve our whole VMware infrastructure and improve functions there."
"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerVault is its performance."
"The security of the backup and the overall system that Dell PowerVault brings to the table is definitely the most valuable feature."
"For us, the initial setup was easy."
"We've even used PowerVault series that we intended to use for five years for almost eight years, and it was still working fine, providing good ROI compared to any other brand, which are the overall advantages of Dell PowerVault."
"PowerVault comes with free software that performs functions like data deduplication and replication, which is cost-effective and delivers added value to the product."
 

Cons

"Cisco MDS Series could improve by adding more gigahertz. However, they are doing this over time."
"Cisco MDS Series can improve by having API functionality for automation and programming."
"The licensing model could be less complicated."
"I find it difficult to operate and troubleshoot."
"I do not have a central management software to manage these products due to the licensing cost. It would be beneficial to have central management software for easier handling."
"It is quite a stable product. It should be shipped with the latest firmware to avoid download and upload schema at the beginning of the initial setup. There should also be the possibility of downgrading the firmware when required. WebUI needs DCNM instead a web-based GUI should be made available like Brocade san switch."
"Cisco MDS Series can improve by having SAN Manager with life cycle management features and Integration with 3rd party storage monitoring tools."
"The GUI client is Java-based and we know that Java is not secure, so everyone disables it."
"There is room for improvement with Dell PowerVault as we did have some promises about dedupe and compression that did not turn out as promised, but Dell trued up and gave us more storage for no cost."
"The price of the solution could be lower."
"The MD3220i needs to allow for larger drive sizes."
"There have been situations when our customers requested professional support and the price of that feature is quite high."
"I would like Dell to improve on the configuration of the disk groups. Only one group is expandable. Once you configure the other disk group types, you cannot expand them. It limits scalability. If you want maybe to grow a disk group, you lose information, and then you need to build it up again, which is not a good use case for customers."
"Dell PowerVault does not have an NFS feature. If you want to use it, you need to purchase Unity XT models for unified infrastructure."
"Sometimes integrating into a cluster can be difficult as you have to do it manually."
"Inter-site replication needs enhancement, particularly in Fibre Channel."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing cannot be considered an advantageous trait of the solution since it is expensive. I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"It's perpetual licensing and maintenance is a recurrent cost."
"The price of the Cisco MDS Series is high."
"I rate Dell PowerVault a six or seven out of ten for pricing."
"I rate the price of Dell PowerVault a nine out of ten."
"I would rate the pricing model a nine out of ten, with one being expensive and ten being cheap."
"The product is inexpensive."
"The cost, compared to other solutions, is on the higher end."
"I rate the product price a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high."
"I rate the solution's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."
"The solution is more cost-effective than the competitors. It’s an affordable option for small businesses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Healthcare Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco MDS Series?
The pricing could be improved as the solution is very expensive. I am on a yearly payment basis.
What needs improvement with Cisco MDS Series?
Currently, I do not have any major suggestions for improvement as everything is working well without issues. If additional functions could be introduced to simplify usage, I would suggest that AI f...
What is your primary use case for Cisco MDS Series?
Cisco MDS Series is primarily used for connecting storage arrays. The multi-protocol feature supports all protocols and functionality working seamlessly. Virtual SANs operate without any issues. Pe...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerVault?
The cost for Dell PowerVault is already a good point for us, as it is very cheap for our customers. Regarding our operations with Dell PowerVault, it is very inexpensive.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerVault?
I already see disadvantages in Dell PowerVault where if we can work to increase the storage up to 10 tera, for example, this will be better. However, as you know, we have a limit for the usable cap...
What is your primary use case for Dell PowerVault?
Dell PowerVault acts as an entry storage, and I am proposing it for small businesses regarding its use cases. The customer already needs SAS storage or SAN for Dell PowerVault. If the customer need...
 

Also Known As

Cisco MDS 9100, Cisco MDS 9222i, Cisco MDS 9700
PowerVault
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Rugby League
Dayco, FAW Foundry, University of Cambridge, Finder, Stadtwerke Pforzheim GmbH & Co.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco MDS Series vs. Dell PowerVault and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
912,565 professionals have used our research since 2012.