Dell PowerMax vs Huawei OceanStor comparison

Dell Technologies and Huawei are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. Dell Technologies is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.8, while Huawei is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.9. Dell Technologies holds a 4.8% mindshare in AFS, compared to Huawei’s 2.3% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Huawei users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 2025

Huawei OceanStor and Dell PowerMax compete in the enterprise storage market. Dell PowerMax appears to have the upper hand in terms of advanced features and cutting-edge technology, while Huawei OceanStor offers a more budget-friendly option with excellent value-for-money propositions.

Features: Huawei OceanStor is recognized for its flexibility and hybrid storage capabilities, notably through efficient space use via tiering and horizontal scalability. The solution's stability, comprehensive support, and ease of management are key attractions. Dell PowerMax excels with a focus on performance, near-zero downtime, and enterprise-level availability. Its advanced data reduction, NVMe support, and robust replication features, along with extensive analytics, are top features driving its attractiveness for mission-critical applications.

Room for Improvement: Huawei OceanStor could work on improving management simplicity, strengthening integration with cloud technologies, and enhancing technical support quality. There's also a need to address issues related to documentation transparency and energy efficiency. Dell PowerMax, while robust, faces challenges with complex management tools and stability issues. Users seek better pricing, easier cloud integration, and more user-friendly tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Huawei OceanStor provides a straightforward deployment mainly for on-premises environments. Although some challenges arise with technical support responsiveness and language barriers, it generally offers a decent deployment experience. Dell PowerMax also deploys effectively across different environments but features complexities in support frameworks. Both products highlight the importance of improved and more intuitive support systems.

Pricing and ROI: Huawei OceanStor offers competitive pricing, making it more affordable compared to premium options, with a focus on value propositions like perpetual licensing and notable ROI. Dell PowerMax, priced at a higher tier, justifies its cost through superior features and performance. Though some users call for better pricing models, PowerMax's advanced capabilities are seen as aligning well with enterprise-grade needs, offering performance improvements and operational cost savings.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerMax vs. Huawei OceanStor Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerMax vs. Huawei OceanStor

December 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

1.0

Organizations reduced costs and improved performance with Pure FlashArray X NVMe, achieving quick ROI and efficient resource management.

Sentiment score

8.2

Organizations gained rapid ROI from Dell PowerMax with enhanced performance, cost efficiency, and improved data center capabilities.

Sentiment score

8.5

Huawei OceanStor offers significant cost savings and performance improvements, with some organizations seeing returns and efficiencies within a year.

If you wait more than seven years to buy another one, you get a return on your investment.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

During a DCDR setup and migration from VMAX to Dell PowerMax, what was planned as a two-day downtime was completed in just three to four hours.

Jasdevjuneja

Works

The performance metrics or benchmarks I use to measure success with Dell PowerMax include uptime as well as our response times on our platforms, both of which are exactly where we want them to be, which is five nines and as fast as possible.

reviewer2706717

Senior Manager, Disaster Recovery, Storage & UNIX Systems at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

My client has seen significant ROI since the install, and when you don't go down, that's an ROI in and of itself.

Rocco Guerriero

Chief Executive Officer at Contour Data Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerMax report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Huawei OceanStor report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.1

Pure FlashArray X NVMe's technical support is praised for responsiveness, despite occasional follow-up issues, earning high customer satisfaction.

Sentiment score

8.3

Dell PowerMax support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though some seek improvements in response times and escalation access.

Sentiment score

6.0

Huawei OceanStor's customer support is mixed, with strengths in efficiency but weaknesses in language barriers and complex case handling.

Customers always have their issues resolved promptly.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

Technical support is good at least through vendors, not directly with the principal.

Shakeel Qureshi

Infrastructure Specialis at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

I would rate Dell PowerMax support as a ten, as I have never had an issue with Dell support as it relates to this product.

Rocco Guerriero

Chief Executive Officer at Contour Data Solutions

ProSupport Next Business Day offers part replacement within four hours for data leaks.

Mohammed Anas

AI Solutions Architect at TierOne

Dell support for Dell PowerMax is exceptional, rating a perfect 10 out of 10.

Jasdevjuneja

Works

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerMax report

Huawei took longer to respond and send a new device when something critical happened.

reviewer2507187

Manager, Information Technology Security at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Huawei OceanStor report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Pure FlashArray X NVMe offers scalable storage with low latency, easy upgrades, though capacity customization and high costs are noted.

Sentiment score

7.7

Dell PowerMax excels in scalability and performance, supporting diverse enterprise storage needs with minimal disruption and high flexibility.

Sentiment score

7.5

Huawei OceanStor is praised for its scalability and flexibility, although scaling may involve additional costs for some users.

It hasn't broken down anytime in the last six to seven years, despite hurricanes, earthquakes, and power outages.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

Scalability is not an issue.

reviewer2706753

Senior System Engineer at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Dell PowerMax is good for enterprises, and it also depends on how much workload you're going to bring in on Dell PowerMax in terms of performance and how many users are going to use the database you're hosting.

MayankChauhan

Lead Consultant - Cloud & Infrastructure Services at Infosys

PowerScale is better suited for AI and overall buzz solution currently.

Mohammed Anas

AI Solutions Architect at TierOne

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerMax report

Huawei OceanStor is capable of scaling up to a few megabytes and is equipped to handle varied network protocols.

reviewer2236056

Product Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Huawei OceanStor report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.1

Pure Storage offers exceptional stability and reliability with outstanding support, consistently achieving high user ratings for performance and service.

Sentiment score

8.7

Dell PowerMax is highly reliable with excellent performance, minimal downtime, and exceptional stability, receiving high praise from users.

Sentiment score

7.9

Huawei OceanStor offers high stability and reliability, with effective fault tolerance and minimal downtime, resolving initial component issues efficiently.

I would rate the stability of the product at seven out of ten.

Gary Cheung

Project Manager at a government with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

These patches can be applied on the fly without requiring software upgrades or system downtime.

Jasdevjuneja

Works

I would rate it nine out of ten since there are no required downtimes, even during firmware upgrades.

Moin-Shah

System and Storage Admin at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

There has been no downtime with Dell PowerMax; it's been extremely reliable, easy to manage, easy to upgrade, and trustworthy as we've upgraded over the years from one version to another.

Rocco Guerriero

Chief Executive Officer at Contour Data Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerMax report

Huawei OceanStor is stable and reliable for storage solutions.

reviewer2236056

Product Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Other than the data store running out of space, I haven't had any issues with the technology.

reviewer2507187

Manager, Information Technology Security at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Huawei OceanStor report

Room For Improvement

Pure FlashArray X requires cost-effective improvements in UI, integration, cloud features, multitenancy, analytics, backup, AI, and scalability.

Dell PowerMax needs better deduplication, automation, cloud integration, documentation, pricing, and customer support for enhanced user experience.

Huawei OceanStor users face challenges with integration, support, performance, and pricing, suggesting improvements in various technical and operational areas.

One way to improve the product is to add an operational assistant that doesn't depend on VMware.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

I would like to see some AI features that would allow arrays to intelligently identify threats or unusual behavior in the data pattern and give an alert.

Santhosh Sridhara

Cloud Architect at DXC Technology

Storage replication should be essential.

Shakeel Qureshi

Infrastructure Specialis at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

Compared to competitors such as NetApp, which integrates with public cloud hyperscalers (GCP, Azure, AWS), Dell PowerMax lacks in this aspect.

Jasdevjuneja

Works

Dell can assist by providing plug-and-play integrated templates that allow customers to drag, drop, modify, and connect with any target system for generating snapshots without logging into the storage directly.

Moin-Shah

System and Storage Admin at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Dell PowerMax NVMe is very reliable storage and cannot experience downtime.

Kazi Amranul Houqe

First Assistant Vice President (FAVP) & Unit Head of Server & Storage Management Unit at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerMax report

Huawei currently lacks a solution for high-performance AI, unlike other companies like DDN, WekaIO, or IBM BlueStore.

reviewer2236056

Product Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The stated capacity was not a true reflection of the actual capacity.

reviewer2507187

Manager, Information Technology Security at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Huawei OceanStor report

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers see Pure FlashArray X NVMe as a justified premium investment due to performance and comprehensive licensing.

Dell PowerMax is costly but premium, with high support costs, yet discounts are possible through vendor negotiations.

Huawei OceanStor offers competitive pricing and valuable features, though its licensing model may increase costs, yet remains cost-effective.

While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits.

Enes SUZER

Manager, System Infrastructure & Security at Organik Kimya San. ve Tic. A.S.

The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

The higher cost compared to other vendors is justified by additional features, vendor-managed upgrades, and superior support services.

Jasdevjuneja

Works

It is the best choice for large projects in terms of price and features compared to midrange solutions.

Gianpaolo-Mazzola

Presales Engineer at Project Informatica srl

The price is starting from $500,000.

Mohamed Abdel Salam

Senior Sells at Enterprise Sigma Technology

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerMax report

Huawei is priced competitively, encouraging companies to consider it over other products.

reviewer2507187

Manager, Information Technology Security at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees

Huawei OceanStor's pricing is very aggressive, making it highly competitive.

reviewer2236056

Product Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Huawei OceanStor report

Valuable Features

Pure FlashArray X NVMe offers exceptional performance, reliability, scalability, and seamless VMware integration, enhancing workload efficiency and user experience.

Dell PowerMax is valued for reliability, performance, scalability, NVMe technology, and ease of use, making it ideal for enterprise storage.

Huawei OceanStor offers scalable, high-performing storage with easy management, strong support, and competitive pricing for diverse business needs.

Its data compression feature is the best that we have ever seen.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed.

Enes SUZER

Manager, System Infrastructure & Security at Organik Kimya San. ve Tic. A.S.

We are satisfied with the performance as it is significantly faster compared to traditional storage options.

Gary Cheung

Project Manager at a government with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

NVMe provides additional fast cache, similar to random access memory (RAM), which improves overall system performance and read/write experience for users.

Jasdevjuneja

Works

Dell PowerMax NVMe is very supportive of our operational growth since we require daily performance from our core banking systems and need to facilitate data movement efficiently.

Moin-Shah

System and Storage Admin at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

The key benefits of using Dell PowerMax, quantified in terms of saved hours and saved costs, is having one single platform that provides functionality to all of our internal customers.

reviewer2706717

Senior Manager, Disaster Recovery, Storage & UNIX Systems at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerMax report

Huawei OceanStor offers good IOPS and is reliable and energy-efficient.

reviewer2507187

Manager, Information Technology Security at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees

The main selling point of Huawei OceanStor is its ability to handle all storage protocols, including block, file, and object.

reviewer2236056

Product Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Huawei OceanStor report

Categories and Ranking

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerMax is 4.8%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Huawei OceanStor is 2.3%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell PowerMax	4.8%
Huawei OceanStor	2.3%
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	1.4%
Other	91.5%

All-Flash Storage

Featured Reviews

Jaehoon Oh

Chief Technology Officer at Lambda256

Supports efficient storage management through volume snapshots and offers reliable non-disruptive upgrades

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could be enhanced. I can see the performance statistics in the Pure Storage console, but it does not show the performance by 4K byte unit. It displays IOPS and bandwidth, but IOPS is about real use, and I want to know how many IOPS are currently running in 4K byte units. I cannot see that IOPS because most storage systems report their performance by 4K byte unit. I want to see Pure Storage performance by 4K byte unit to compare with other storage or other internal NVMe SSD.

Read full review

MayankChauhan

Lead Consultant - Cloud & Infrastructure Services at Infosys

Delivers essential support and performance for intensive operations in real-time environments

Our infrastructure is spread across the private as well as a public cloud. Our requirement was that the IOPS latency should not be more than one millisecond. If anything goes beyond one millisecond, it's a problem for us. We wanted a system that could handle the transactions and meet our latency requirements. There are performance benefits for sure. The amount of deduplication and compression offered by Dell PowerMax is quite good, especially with databases. Dell PowerMax delivers optimum performance and reliable support, integral for handling failures and ensuring operational continuity. The performance capacity optimization and support we receive from Dell are also valuable.

Read full review

ChukwuemekaOnyemelukwe

Infrastructure Administrator - Server, Storage & Virtualization at MicroAccess Ltd

Uses a proprietary technology with simple interface and has easy deployment

If you are not generating a substantial amount of data, the available storage space might suffice, making scalability less of a concern. However, if your data generation increases and you require more storage, Huawei OceanStor offers solutions to expand your storage capacity. Expanding storage resources can involve additional costs and configuration efforts. Acquiring more storage solutions and ensuring their integration with your existing setup might require a significant investment of time and resources. While this process can be complex, it allows for seamless scalability as your data storage needs grow. I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	55

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	26
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

The price of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is very expensive, though I do not know the actual price because I am using the E...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could ...

See all answers

What's the difference between DELL EMC Powerstore and Powermax NVMe?

Dell PowerStore is an all-solid-state midrange storage system. It has many internal elements taken from other Dell of...

See all answers

What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerMax NVMe?

First, it's an enterprise storage solution. This is very important for us. Another important feature is replication.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC PowerMax NVMe?

When comparing Dell PowerMax NVMe with other vendors, such as IBM enterprise solutions, the price is relatively higher.

See all answers

What do you like most about Huawei OceanStor?

Huawei OceanStor has the capability of SSDs, high-performance disks, and higher disk support.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Huawei OceanStor?

Huawei OceanStor's pricing is very aggressive, making it highly competitive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Huawei OceanStor?

Huawei currently lacks a solution for high-performance AI, unlike other companies like DDN, WekaIO, or IBM BlueStore....

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 19% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 8% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 7% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 20% of the time

Dell VMAX All Flash vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 8% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 7% of the time

HPE Nimble Storage vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 3% of the time

More Dell PowerMax Competitors

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 19% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 14% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 13% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 5% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series vs Huawei OceanStor

Compared 3% of the time

More Huawei OceanStor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

December 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerMax

January 2026

Download Dell PowerMax product report

Buyer's Guide

Huawei OceanStor

December 2025

Download Huawei OceanStor product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

Dell PowerMax NVMe, Dell EMC PowerMax, PowerMax

OceanStor Dorado V3 All-Flash Storage System, OceanStor 18000 V3 Series Storage Systems, OceanStor 6800 V3 Storage System

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

Pure Storage

PowerMax leads in mission-critical enterprise storage with advanced architecture and AI-driven automation, ensuring secure and efficient IT optimization. Its multi-node NVMe scale-out framework delivers unmatched performance and consolidation, backed by Dell’s Future-Proof Program.

PowerMax is renowned for its robust reliability, performance, and efficient data reduction capabilities. Users benefit from its NVMe architecture, aiding significant scalability and cost efficiency through effective deduplication and compression. Unisphere simplifies management, while CloudIQ provides enhanced monitoring. With high availability and strong IOPS capabilities, PowerMax effectively manages demanding workloads and ensures seamless operations. Its compact design and increased storage capacity enhance user experience, particularly with easy maintenance and robust performance.

What are the key features of PowerMax?

Reliability: Ensures consistent service uptime and data integrity.
High Performance: NVMe architecture provides exceptional speed and efficiency.
Data Reduction: Deduplication and compression drive down costs.
Management Tools: Unisphere interface for easy system management.
CloudIQ: Advanced monitoring for predictive insights.
High Availability: Supports mission-critical and demanding workloads.

What benefits should users expect from PowerMax?

Performance Optimization: Handles low latency and high IOPS needs.
Scalability: Expands effortlessly with growing data and workload demands.
Enhanced Monitoring: Predictive analytics for proactive management.
Efficient Maintenance: Streamlined processes reduce downtime and costs.

Dell PowerMax is predominantly employed in mission-critical applications such as SQL, Oracle databases, ERP systems, and high transactional environments. Healthcare, finance, and e-commerce sectors leverage its high performance, scalability, and NVMe technology for low latency and redundancy. It is adept in storage consolidation, data analytics, and disaster recovery.

Dell Technologies

OceanStor Dorado V3 is the industry's first all-flash storage that puts NVMe into commercial use. It is specially designed for enterprises' mission-critical businesses, meeting the most-demanding performance and reliability requirements of databases, VDI, server virtualization, and SAP HANA.

Huawei

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Rackspace, Open Line

Piraeus, Clinique Univeritaires Saint-Luc

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerMax vs. Huawei OceanStor

December 2025

Free Report: Dell PowerMax vs. Huawei OceanStor

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