Dell EqualLogic PS series vs HPE MSA comparison

Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category. Dell Technologies is ranked #7 with an average rating of 9.0, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Dell Technologies holds a 1.9% mindshare in MS, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 19.9% mindshare. Additionally, 77% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.

Dell EqualLogic PS series

Read 18 Dell EqualLogic PS series reviews

336 Views
139 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

HPE MSA

Read 23 HPE MSA reviews

1,417 Views
1,141 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Dell EqualLogic PS series

HPE MSA

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

Dell EqualLogic PS series and HPE MSA are competing storage solutions targeting enterprise environments. HPE MSA emerges as more advanced due to its extensive features, justifying the investment despite the higher cost.

Features: Dell EqualLogic PS series offers seamless scalability, an easy-to-manage environment, and automated data management. HPE MSA stands out with its mixed protocol support, superior performance, and customizable options tailored for demanding enterprise needs.

Room for Improvement: Dell EqualLogic PS series could improve in providing more advanced protocol support and performance features. HPE MSA may enhance its cost efficiency, ease of use for initial setups, and integration options for non-tech users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HPE MSA offers straightforward deployment with robust customer service assisting smooth integration. Dell EqualLogic PS series provides more flexible deployment, focusing on ease of setup through high-level support and advisory services.

Pricing and ROI: Dell EqualLogic PS series is cost-efficient with lower setup costs, offering good ROI through scalability and support. HPE MSA, with a higher initial cost, promises excellent ROI with advanced features and performance, making it a valuable investment.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. HPE MSA Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. HPE MSA

April 2025

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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

Dell EqualLogic PS series

Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

HPE MSA

Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of Dell EqualLogic PS series is 1.9%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE MSA is 19.9%, up from 17.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

Featured Reviews

Abdul Rehman Abid

Manager Enterprise Solutions at Megaplus

Useful auto tiering, excellent support, and highly reliable

The initial setup of the Dell EqualLogic PS series is simple. The physical connectivity and rack mounting time depend on the size of the deployment. For example, if we have five of the Dell EqualLogic PS series we can mount and do the cabling within two hours. The initial configuration can be done within an hour. The estimated time to deploy from start to finish in this scenario is four to five hours maximum. One person can do most of the deployment, such as configuration, but a helper is needed to do the mounting of the cables.

Read full review

Pragnesh Sachania

Deputy Manager IT at La Gajjar

Scalable, easy to manage, and used for virtualization environments

We didn't face any issues with the technical functionality. However, we faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration. The HPE support person who did the installation was very technical. He answered all the queries, and we resolved the entire setup. We set up the storage as per our requirements. We previously used a physical server instead of virtualization. With the help of an HPE engineer and partners, we prepared a strategy for migrating the entire physical servers to our virtualization infrastructure. It took two days to deploy the solution. Six people were involved in the solution's deployment, including two from HPE and four from our IT team.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We were attracted by the flexibility of being able to put in a new shelf whenever we needed to, to expand."

"The technical support for EqualLogic has been universally outstanding."

"It is extremely reliable."

"You can always trust it. It is stable."

"The solution can scale."

"The technical support for the solution was really good."

"Dell's technical support is very good."

"If you have one datacenter fail, the VMs will start to run inside the other data center."

More Dell EqualLogic PS series pros

"The cost to performance for HPE StorageWorks MSA is good."

"The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility."

"The solution is very easy to use, it is not really complex for any user, such as non-technical individuals."

"The most valuable feature for customers is the autonomic tiering, which enhances their storage scalability as easily as possible."

"I like StorageWorks' snapshots for our backup system. We had a pool of SSD and traditional drives. StorageWorks has a feature that transfers the hot data to high-performing drives."

"MSA performs exceptionally well, particularly in regions with frequent power outages."

"The simple configuration feature is great. It is very simple, allowing you to set up MSA very easily."

"The solution is pretty transparent and works well."

More HPE MSA pros

Cons

"We need more space and we can't get any."

"The replication efficiency needs to be improved."

"There is no option for mixing RAID types in one device."

"If I need to have more space or more capacity, I need to replace the product. It would be ideal if we could scale without replacing the box itself."

"Synchronous replication uses space inefficiently."

"The product is reaching the end-of-lifecycle."

"Dell EqualLogic PS series could improve by providing fiber channel connectivity. Fiber channel connectivity is not supported, which is a requirement of advanced applications, such as SAP HANA. SAP HANA recommends fiber channel connectivity, but the Dell EqualLogic PS series is only an ISCSI data storage."

"I can't buy any more solutions provided by EqualLogic...Since I can't buy it anymore, I don't receive any updates on the solution. Also, this is the last year in which one can buy support for the solution."

More Dell EqualLogic PS series cons

"HPE StorageWorks MSA could maybe include a pay-top of texture feature or something like job replication."

"There is room for improvement in terms of scalability. There are times when we need to upgrade the device and the firmware. Sometimes, that can be a struggle."

"It would be ideal if there was a better management interface."

"Synchronized replication is very important for MSA; however, HPE StorageWorks MSA doesn't provide synchronized replication."

"I rate HPE support four out of 10. I'm not happy with them. We purchased mission-critical support, and we're supposed to get a response in four hours. Instead, I'm waiting days for them to replace the drive. They asked me to send back the failed one, and I don't know the address. After I sent it back, they told me they haven't received it. It's a nightmare."

"HPE should reintroduce customizable ports as they were in Gen 5, allowing customers to use both iSCSI or SC on a single controller."

"This product is getting a little bit older, so new features like deduplication are not included."

"The support contract is expensive, although they are very responsive."

More HPE MSA cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a fair price."

"Dell EqualLogic PS series can improve its scale-out feature. Sometimes the customer has a limited budget for storage expansion. When they want to expand their capacity, they need to buy a complete controller plus storage capacity, which sometimes is out of their budget. If Dell EqualLogic PS series support could scale up the environment in which only hard drive extension controllers should be supported, then customers can expand within a lower budget."

"It seemed expensive at first, but the durability lowered the cost of ownership dramatically over time."

"There are annual maintenance costs beyond the original licensing period."

"Price-wise, the solution is cheap. I rate it a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive."

"I didn't buy it. It was another person seven years ago. So, I don't really know, but all storage platforms cost a lot of money. It is probably in the mid-range, but you get what you pay for."

"Licensing is pretty straightforward."

"All features are out of the box. The license will be in the virtual, OS, or application layer."

More Dell EqualLogic PS series pricing and cost advice

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."

"The price of the solution is a little high and they should provide more competitive pricing. If you want to increases the storage size there are additional fees."

"I would rate the pricing as nine out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"The solution can be a bit expensive."

"This solution involves a one-time CapEx payment, followed by warranty extensions."

"When we bought this solution it was very reasonably priced and they were willing to deal."

"HPE StorageWorks MSA's licensing is perpetual and not integrated."

"This solution is quite expensive; they should lower the cost."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Government

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell EqualLogic PS series?

The technical support for the solution was really good.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell EqualLogic PS series?

The main issue was that when there were new storage solutions technologies available on the market, Dell EqualLogic PS Series was not compatible with the latest products. Right now, we have a stora...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Dell EqualLogic PS series?

I used the solution in my company since we had a virtual infrastructure, which served as our storage array with ESXi connections, which are also integrated with VMware solutions.

See all answers

What do you like most about HPE StorageWorks MSA?

The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StorageWorks MSA?

I am not satisfied with the licensing model and pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?

It needs more details on how to integrate with the cloud for backup scenarios. It should show more options for cloud backup support.

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell EqualLogic PS series

April 2025

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Buyer's Guide

HPE MSA

April 2025

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Also Known As

EqualLogic PS series

HP StorageWorks MSA

Overview

EqualLogic PS Series arrays bring a new level of performance to service more of your most demanding applications and virtualization requirements, while delivering the simplicity of the EqualLogic management experience. Featuring six array configurations, including 2U/2.5" drive options with All Flash and Hybrid Arrays, it is ideal for companies and organizations with growing data and performance needs.

Dell Technologies

Whether you need best-in-class performance or are looking to get the most capacity for your investment, MSA has a fast, affordable solution for you. And every MSA comes with an intuitive setup and management interface anyone can master.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Sample Customers

FAW Foundry, AW Engineering, Unimat, eLongNet Information Technology, BDO Brasil, Odyssey Space Research

Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank

Buyer's Guide

Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. HPE MSA

April 2025

Free Report: Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. HPE MSA

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