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Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs FreeNAS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerScale (Isilon)
Ranking in NAS
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
File and Object Storage (3rd)
FreeNAS
Ranking in NAS
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is 23.5%, up from 21.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FreeNAS is 3.0%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NAS
 

Featured Reviews

Jack Vo - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 7, 2024
Ensures that data is safely stored and easily accessible, providing peace of mind with robust security measures
Dell has the AI to protect the EMA We must write a script tailored to our specific use case whenever we upload an item, such as a file or an application, due to the demand for storing data for longer periods in cases of broken or corrupted files. With Dell PowerScale, data storage is reliable and…
Vincenzo D'Aniello - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 31, 2023
Open-source with great disk management and task synchronization
We mainly use the 'jail' service. In our company we develop javaEE software with deployment on a Tomcat server, then some nodejs services, relational databases such as Mysql and NoSQL such as Mongo, a GitLab environment like corporate code repository, corporate chat with rocketChat, and a Maven…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool's most valuable features are high density and scalability."
"The stability of the solution is good."
"PowerScale allows us to manage storage without managing RAID groups or migrating volumes between controllers. It has really simplified things. We're not having to worry about the underlying infrastructure. That takes care of itself. We just worry about the data. It's really easy for deploying and managing storage at the petabyte scale."
"The solution provides massive performance, scalability, efficiency, and ease of management."
"The best thing is that it works. We don't have to maintain it too much; we usually upgrade once a year."
"For maximizing storage utilization, PowerScale is great. When you write the data to it, it spreads it out to all the nodes, so you get all the performance from the entire pool."
"The tool comes with cheap disks and works fast for video content."
"The recent introduction of inline deduplication and compression has drastically improved our efficiency ratios to make it an economical product. This solution has also had a positive impact on our employees' productivity because it reduces the amount of admin that our staff needs to handle."
"Its stability is the most valuable. It is reliable, and we don't have to worry too much about it."
"What I like about it is that I can work on it from any computer or any device. The initial setup is very simple. The setup wizard is really helpful."
"It integrates well into either Windows or Linux environments."
"FreeNAS is much simpler and easier to use than other solutions, but we don't have the complete range of features that come with the full version."
"The solution has been very stable so far."
"It has the best storage capacity."
"The ease of use of the 'jail', the management of backups, and copies to easily create test and pre-production scenarios have speeded up the development and distribution of business apps."
 

Cons

"The product needs to improve CLI since commands are complex. The search option is also difficult since you must give the full path."
"Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is a little bit pricey, and its pricing could be improved."
"We used to have a chat feature available on the support site. It's not available to us anymore."
"The solution can be a bit complex for those not well versed in the technology."
"The product’s expansion capacity, pricing clarity, and ease of use need improvement."
"The price of the solution could be reduced."
"PowerScale is not suitable for virtual environments."
"Dell PowerScale's deployment is not easy."
"FreeNAS should be better prepared for clustering."
"The support for S3 needs to be improved."
"The one thing that I find difficult to do which is very time-consuming is that I like to have a backup of the important files."
"If you find the documentation, it is always incomplete and fragmented."
"They can improve the integration with PSA systems. This functionality could be better."
"They should include clustering for the solution."
"The latest version of the dashboard doesn't work as good as the previous version."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for this solution is reasonable."
"Price was also a significant factor in our decision to go with PowerScale. The team at EMC, now Dell EMC, came through with a highly competitive offer that tipped the scales towards their solution. There was only one other solution around the same price point, but it could not match PowerScale on features. That other solution is no longer on the market."
"This solution is priced slightly higher than others on the market but does offer good quality. With this solution's data reduction and compression, we were able to purchase less. Costs have dropped because of the data rate of compression and deduplication."
"It is an expensive product with a high storage capacity suitable for large data requirements."
"Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is an expensive solution."
"Our company finds the pricing high, but it decreases over time."
"The platform is not cheap. However, on the software side, you can choose what you want license. So, you can start your licensing with the features that you need, then after buying the platform add some other features."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Its price is okay. It suits our needs."
"For our configuration, we pay a little bit less than €10,000 ($12,000 USD) per year."
"Its licensing cost is based on the hardware capacity."
"We use the free version of the program."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
22%
Government
10%
Educational Organization
9%
Performing Arts
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?
The solution provides massive performance, scalability, efficiency, and ease of management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?
The pricing of Dell PowerScale is reasonable. However, it is on the pricier side. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees.
What do you like most about FreeNAS?
The ease of use of the 'jail', the management of backups, and copies to easily create test and pre-production scenarios have speeded up the development and distribution of business apps.
What needs improvement with FreeNAS?
The system itself allows you to add any feature. The only bad thing is that this maybe depends on FreeBSD, and sometimes finding documentation is difficult. For example, we knew that previous versi...
 

Also Known As

PowerScale, Dell EMC Isilon
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

OMRF, University of Utah, Translational Genetics Research Institute, Arcis, Geofizyka Torumn, Cyprus E&P Corporation, Colburn School, Columbia Sportswear, Harvard Medical School, University of Michigan, National Library of France,
Morroni Technologies Inc., Creative Integrations
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs. FreeNAS and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.