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Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs MinIO comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

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 PowerScale (Isilon)
Ranking in File and Object Storage
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
NAS (2nd)
MinIO
Ranking in File and Object Storage
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the File and Object Storage category, the mindshare of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is 6.7%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MinIO is 15.2%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
File and Object Storage Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerScale (Isilon)6.7%
MinIO15.2%
Other78.1%
File and Object Storage
 

Featured Reviews

BE
Systems Engineer at Unisity LLC
Flexibility and reliability have supported seamless data growth
I cannot think of anything to improve about Dell PowerScale (Isilon). The hardest challenge we have is due to how we've bought things over time. The way that we moved to the PowerEdge platform for the newer systems creates a scale problem as I still buy the older style systems, which are more dense storage. They're different chassis, so the problem we run into in the data center is the depth of the actual equipment. The newer equipment, if we buy an FX910 or a 900, it's a lot shorter in scale than if I buy an 83,000, which is much bigger. This makes it more complicated for deployment.
Abdelrahim-Ahmad - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Scientist at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Provides good object storage functionalities
MinIO should provide an easier subscription model for companies that don't have a huge amount of data. Our company has a maximum of 100 terabytes of data. The solution should provide more bugging tools in the open-source version to encourage people to buy the support services. It's not an easy decision. If I go to the management and tell them that I need to buy a service, there should be an easier subscription model for companies that don't have huge amounts of data. For me, getting a subscription for 15,000 a year for a system already in production might be a bit hard. I think MinIO supports a minimum of one petabyte or 100 terabytes of data. Since we don't have such huge amounts of data, buying a subscription for the solution is a bit difficult. Hence, we're only using the open-source version for now. If MinIO becomes really crucial for our business, we could ask the management to get a subscription.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The features of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) that I appreciate the most include the scale of architecture and the way it is designed, which benefit my company by providing less downtime and less overhead."
"You plug in a new node and data starts migrating over to it, and IT spreads out the load. We've added multiple nodes to the system since deploying it. The process is pretty seamless, and we are able to do it with no downtime. It's a very easy process to do."
"I assess the stability and reliability of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) as perfect, as we haven't had any hiccups with it so far."
"Dell PowerScale overall is easy to use."
"Its most valuable feature is the DR capabilities replication."
"The solution is extremely easy to manage. This is its most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its performance."
"Eyeglass is used to monitor for malware, which is very useful for us."
"The stability of MinIO is good."
"The tool’s integration is very easy. This feature has helped us reduce development time. The solution also has many out-of-the-box features like versioning support and management of roles and permissions. The product also supports clustered deployment."
"For starters, MinIO has a good user interface. You can access it through the browser and perform operations like creating the object."
"It performs efficiently compared to other solutions."
"Nice web interface, easy to use, with a low memory footprint."
"The container installation features are good. The S3 feature provisions the storage buckets making it easy. It allows me to spin up the public buckets with open-source technology."
"The solution has good compatibility with different kinds of storage."
"Good interface and a good approach to development and testing environments."
 

Cons

"I think Dell PowerScale (Isilon) can be improved, as the cost models are quite expensive for administration."
"That said, for the other security features, it would be helpful if Tenable - and I know it's outside the scope of this question itself - had Isilon-specific plugins."
"The management and monitoring tools comprise a disparate suite of products and the roadmap is very unclear. We've got four different products that look after the Isilon, management-wise, and it's a bit of a mess."
"Data storage performance needs to be improved."
"The product’s expansion capacity, pricing clarity, and ease of use need improvement."
"The improvement should be in AI. Everything is going towards AI."
"Improvements could be made on the object storage side."
"The biggest weakness is small file handling. Small file compression options are not enabled out of the box. It would be good to have this enabled by default."
"The solution should have high availability. Also, support should be quick."
"Limited storage provided in the free version."
"Its reverse proxy features could be better."
"The documentation of the solution should improve."
"Lacks documentation for non-Kubernetes users."
"The product's security is open by default, without any SSL."
"The monitoring capability is really bad and needs to be improved."
"There is a lack of good addons to integrate without having to use third-party applications."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is excellent."
"The solution's licensing cost varies based on capacity and performance requirements."
"Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is an expensive solution."
"We use the TNA approach which is a great opportunity for us to better manage the licenses based on how much consumption is available for the different customers so we can use that approach and scalability."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The general cost for a system like this is expensive. The total cost depends on your use case. You need to pay for every additional feature that you use."
"It is an expensive product with a high storage capacity suitable for large data requirements."
"We paid an additional fee to have Dell's ProDeploy Plus team implement it."
"My company hasn't tried the version of the solution where we need to pay to use it."
"This is an open-source solution but I am using the licensed version."
"MinIO is a free open-source solution."
"This solution is open source so it is free."
"We use the solution's open-source version."
"We use the solution's open-source version."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise44
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise9
 

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)?
Regarding pricing, Isilon can be cost-efficient; if you are using more capacity nodes without needing more performance, it won't affect your budget much. However, multiple factors play a role in de...
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?
When it comes to Dell PowerScale (Isilon), I think that because it differs when you have a normal customer and a developer, usually we know what is needed and how we use it, everything. If you ask ...
How does Red Hat Ceph Storage compare with MiniO?
Red Hat Ceph does well in simplifying storage integration by replacing the need for numerous storage solutions. This solution allows for multiple copies of replicated and coded pools to be kept, ea...
What do you like most about MinIO?
I like that if you have a problem, you can buy the home server. It is stable and robust.
 

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,
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs. MinIO and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
884,012 professionals have used our research since 2012.