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Dell EqualLogic PS series vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

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
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM FlashSystem
Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
112
Ranking in other categories
NAS (5th), All-Flash Storage (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of Dell EqualLogic PS series is 2.6%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 15.6%, down from 17.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM FlashSystem15.6%
Dell EqualLogic PS series2.6%
Other81.8%
Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)
 

Featured Reviews

HansThilen - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly scalable and astoundingly stable solution offering its users an extremely good technical support
Regarding an area to improve, I would say that from Dell EqualLogic family, I can't buy Dell EqualLogic PS series. I can't buy any more solutions provided by EqualLogic, so the solution will have to make certain improvements in the future. Since we can't buy anything from EqualLogic in our company, we plan to move to another solution. 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.
OmarIsmail1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers high performance and dependable support for fast storage needs
The most valuable feature of IBM FlashSystem is its robust back code. When integrated properly into the environment and configured according to the guidelines, it provides a very solid infrastructure that does the job on demand. Additionally, IBM FlashSystem offers competitive pricing and reliable performance. The hardware is dependable, ensuring that it functions effectively when the setup is done correctly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support for EqualLogic has been universally outstanding."
"The solution has been working well overall."
"It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Technical support, when we had access to it, was very good."
"The product is very stable."
"Its high availability. It has a lot of redundancy and good management software as well as good alerting."
"The technical support is very good."
"Dell EqualLogic PS series is a highly stable solution."
"One of the valuable features is the performance, it is one of the best in the market."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is compression."
"User friendly management interface."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is replication...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."
"The initial customer technical support was efficient and effective."
"Ability to manage third-party arrays and virtualise them: One screen to control multiple arrays. Simplified administration."
"The valuable features are high availability, compression, and a failover mechanism. It's a very highly available storage solution."
"Speed (IOPS/second) – It is most vital for applications that need low latency and high speed for transferring the data."
 

Cons

"There is no inline deduplication capability."
"The solution is out of date and the new version has a lot of advanced features."
"There is no option for mixing RAID types in one device."
"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."
"We need more space and we can't get any."
"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."
"6510 and 6610 have two iSCSI connections in each controller. Why do 6110xxx members have only one, and why do the same members have the possibility of having an active iSCSI interface in the passive controller? It could make a lot of noise with a failover."
"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."
"IBM FlashSystems is lagging in optimizing storage technologies."
"This solution needs a management console where we are alerted to issues and can report them, or escalate them through email or another method."
"The array level RAID does not seem available."
"The basic setup can be challenging when it comes to certain IP addresses and the configuration of the IP. You have to go in to different menus to makes changes and ensure it is stable."
"It is slightly more expensive, however, it all depends on your supplier."
"The support could improve by allowing you to speak to someone when you call rather than them calling you back. However, once we do have contact with one of their technicians they are excellent."
"There could be some extra features added."
"Our customers have raised concerns about the limitations of the FlashSystem 5200 and 7300, which only offer a 32-gigabyte connection."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"​It is a fair price."
"All features are out of the box. The license will be in the virtual, OS, or application layer."
"There are annual maintenance costs beyond the original licensing period."
"Initial packages include all upgrades and services."
"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."
"I don't think I would say that the product is less expensive...The product's price is not an issue for our company, considering the relationship we have with Dell and the customer support we receive."
"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 price of IBM FlashSystem is reasonable and competitive."
"Among IBM, Dell EMC, and Pure Storage, IBM is the cheapest. The price is also based on our location, the size of our entity, and our regular annual purchases from them. We are a very big IBM customer, so we normally get very high discounts. We are not a big customer of Pure Storage. We don't buy that much from Pure Storage per year. Everything is included in the price. There is no extra license for different functions."
"The cost of the IBM FlashSystem is lower than the HPE solution."
"Regarding licensing make sure you add at least three years software maintenance from IBM at the beginning, because you will not be able to download firmware updates or any fixes/patches without this."
"The price is a little bit high so is rated a six out of ten."
"There are no licensing fees, it is a one-time purchase of the IBM FlashSystem."
"Overall the price of the solution is expensive and this includes the license."
"The pricing is competitive in our country."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise57
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell EqualLogic PS series?
The technical support for the solution was really good.
What needs improvement with Dell EqualLogic PS series?
An improvement that could be made is to have a storage solution with all SSD hard disks, as we currently have a Dell EqualLogic PS series with traditional hard disks. It's not simple to replace a h...
What is your primary use case for Dell EqualLogic PS series?
Dell EqualLogic PS series is the storage of our server, which serves our use case. The deployment of Dell EqualLogic PS series takes about five days.
What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?
Some improvements are required in IBM regarding response time and resolution time, though not about competence. Product-wise, it performs well. We have not used AI features yet, and I believe havin...
 

Also Known As

EqualLogic PS series
IBM Storwize
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

FAW Foundry, AW Engineering, Unimat, eLongNet Information Technology, BDO Brasil, Odyssey Space Research
Celero, Friedhelm Loh Group, Clarks, Mingkang Natregro Health Food Group, Sofia, Etisalat Fights Fraud, UF Health Shands Hospital, Generali, Elecon Engineering Company Limited, Ventiv , Technology, CPFL Energia, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., SciQuest, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Paddy Power, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Interconnect Services, Severstal IP-Only AB, PVU Group GmbH
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell EqualLogic PS series vs. IBM FlashSystem and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.