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Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs NetApp FAS Series vs NetApp Private Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is 17.8%, up from 17.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp FAS Series is 12.3%, up from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp Private Storage is 1.3%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NAS
 

Featured Reviews

Eric Burgueño - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplified data management, tremendously reducing our users’ cognitive overhead
The only thing that I think PowerScale could do better is improving the HTTP data access protocol. At the present, you cannot protect access to data via HTTP or HTTPS the same way that you can secure data access through other protocols like NFS or SMB. You can either access a file because it can be access by anyone in the organization, or you cannot at all. There is no in-between. HTTP is not considered a first-class data access protocol, so the Unified Permission Model that would allow a user to authenticate before being able to access a private file, does not apply. However, with the recent introduction of S3 starting from OneFS 9, I believe the necessary plumbing is already there for HTTPS to also be elevated to a first-class protocol in the future because both protocols sit behind a web server under the hood. It does not sound like it would be too complicated to implement, but it would be a valuable feature and it is currently missing.
Paweł Jabłoński - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for VMs with replication a feature, but need upgraded SSDs
We use this solution. I configured and updated it. Of course, I was also a user of applications that store data on that storage. We already have an SSD solution. So, rather than planning to go with an SSD solution, we are focusing on expanding it. If a company wants to deploy something new, it should choose a product with SSD, and NVMe disks. Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten.
Pramod-Talekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Well-suited for virtualized environments and highly stable solution
We are in a VMware Intra environment, so we are utilizing NetApp Storage for our virtualization infrastructure NetApp offers multiple features that we utilize for our projects. At the moment, we are extensively using SnapMirror Flex. There is room for improvement in the support. It has been a…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Eyeglass is used to monitor for malware, which is very useful for us."
"The best thing is that it works. We don't have to maintain it too much; we usually upgrade once a year."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its performance."
"It is stable and very user-friendly."
"Our main goal is to do disaster recovery with whatever solution we use and Isilon makes it pretty simple to replicate those workloads over to our secondary data center."
"Dell has the AI to protect the EMA."
"The solution has simplified management by consolidating our workloads. Rather than managing all the different workloads on different storage arrays, Windows Servers, etc., we just have one place per data centre where we manage all their unstructured data, saving us time."
"Dell PowerScale helps in saving costs related to power and rack space, reducing physical hardware from over one hundred to twenty-nine chassis."
"Snapshot, deduplication, and compression features are valuable."
"It is very flexible. It integrates well with the public cloud and other components, so everything can be API driven. Therefore, it is very easy to automate it."
"You can use different protocols at the same time. Monitoring is also very easy in NetApp FAS Series. There is a free tool for monitoring."
"​NAS stability"
"The file sharing feature is most valuable."
"The input and output per second performance are satisfactory."
"The migration of the volume on the cluster is very useful and easy to use."
"End-users like that they can rely on the Snapshot technology so they can do their restores themselves."
"Disaster recovery. And I like the security very much. I think they have the needed options for security. Can manage NPS using the same tools and process that we use today."
"The solution scales well."
"It gave us a platform which could clearly arrange all our files and volumes."
"NetApp has really added a lot of features over the years to improve the product and performance. They can do things now like control ingress. They can control egress."
"Very stable and very scalable."
"The most valuable feature of NetApp Private Storage is out-of-the-box integration with the SAN switches. They are much easier compared to Dell solutions. Additionally, the connector that comes with the solution that allows connection back to the Cisco SAN switches is very good. In Dell, I would need to use an FCIP or CIP port that is required."
"NetApp is faster than other storage brands."
"As opposed to cloud, we have full control over security, use, who uses it. We own a number of different companies, so we can partition however we want."
 

Cons

"I would like to see increased reporting and statistics functionalities."
"The improvement should be in AI. Everything is going towards AI."
"Improvements could be made to reduce the costs and the high level of knowledge needed to maintain and use them."
"Dell's customer service needs improvement."
"There is room for improvement in its handling of object storage."
"Because of the magic that it does 'under the hood,' it is very difficult to find out within the system where all your storage is going. That's a little bit of a ding that we have on it. It does so much magic in order to protect itself from drive failures or multiple drive failures, that it automatically handles the provisioning and storage of your data. But by doing that, finding out why a file of a certain size, or a directory of a certain size, is using more storage than is being reported in InsightIQ, is very difficult to discern."
"Improvements could be made on the object storage side."
"We had some issues with level 1 support. We had to fight with them on repeated issues. There is room for improvement in level 1 support."
"One area that needs improvement is the hyper-converged solution. Although NetApp has a solution, compared to Nutanix, it falls short."
"It may need more flexibility to fight with other competing arrays."
"A big problem with physical appliances is that updating them can be a bit burdensome."
"The WAFL is slow."
"NetApp FAS Series should introduce an FTP application for the broadcast and post-production market."
"NetApp could improve costs while making the solution more straightforward to use and deploy."
"There was a bug when creating new custom roles that automatically gave volume deletion permission, which was a problem, but they finally fixed it."
"Needs to ​add wizards for newer, inexperienced users."
"I would like to have the Active-Active feature. Some competitors already have it. I would like NetApp to add it to stay competitive."
"The solution could improve by having better support experts. For example, they do not have clear instructions on configuration."
"I'm not sure how easy it is to use on the cloud versus on-prem. If they have different user experiences, they should work to make the two as similar as possible to make it easy for a user to understand both even if they only deal mainly with one."
"NetApp Private Storage is still integrated into the ISCSI connectivity and the FC protocol. I would recommend them to migrate to the FCIP because the SAN switches are moving further to an FCIP, and are scaling out of the ISCSI connectivity. Sooner or later, that will be an issue for NetApp Private Storage. An NFCIP should be available to them moving three years down the line."
"I think that it should work better with Microsoft solutions, more integrated with Microsoft. We also need integrated NAS and block storage."
"The users find the new version's GUI complicated to use."
"There may actually be so many features that the end-user gets lost in the volume."
"I would like to see the GUI management simplified in the next release."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Dell PowerScale is expensive on the start-up side but we can recoup those costs quickly by not having to reapply the savings to other equipment."
"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."
"Dell PowerScale is an expensive solution compared to other products like Qumulo."
"The price of the solution is high."
"Dealing with the product costs and licensing areas is getting easier since Dell is simplifying the licensing process and licensing packages offered to users."
"Pricing for this solution is reasonable."
"The price of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is reasonable."
"When we need to implement a less expensive solution we use Huawei. NetApp FAS Series is a little bit expensive compared to the average of the market."
"NetApp FAS Series is a reasonably high-priced solution, partially because we select the configuration that duplicates the entire system."
"The solution’s cost is reasonable."
"The product's pricing is reasonable."
"The tool is expensive."
"The scalability is pretty good, but it's too expensive."
"The pricing of NetApp FAS Series is not cheap, but in comparison to other vendors, NetApp FAS Series is affordable because they also have deduplication, compression, and inline compression. They focus on storage only, which is really good; it works."
"The solution is more expensive than other vendors."
"NetApp Private Storage is cheaper here in India compared to other solutions, such as Dell."
"The price of NetApp Private Storage is similar to other solutions. There is typically an annual license required for this solution."
"We negotiate whatever deal we can get on the type of storage that it is, but it's totally under our control,."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The price could be lower."
"In general, I am pleased with the pricing, though it is a little high."
"The product is costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
19%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
57%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Computer Software Company
25%
Real Estate/Law Firm
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Retailer
11%
 

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)?
Every time we purchase a PowerScale solution, we buy four nodes for one data center and four for another, with five y...
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?
Dell's customer service needs improvement. Specifically, hardware failures under warranty should be addressed within ...
Which SAN product would you choose: IBM FlashSystem (FS9500) vs PureFlash Array/X NVMe vs PureFlash Array/XL NVMe?
Have you considered a NetApp FAS Storage for your NAS needs? I am sure it fits very well.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp FAS Series?
The pricing of NetApp FAS Series is not cheap, but in comparison to other vendors, NetApp FAS Series is affordable be...
What do you like most about NetApp Private Storage?
NetApp is faster than other storage brands.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp Private Storage?
The product is costly. Also, we need to pay for features like SnapMirror, etc. I rate its pricing a nine out of ten.
What needs improvement with NetApp Private Storage?
NetApp is a great storage device, but sometimes support is not accessible. Also, the current version has removed most...
 

Also Known As

PowerScale, Dell EMC Isilon
No data available
NPS
 

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,
Children's Hospital Central California, Plex Systems, PDF PNI Digital Media, Denver Broncos, PDF KSM Legal, Clayton Companies, Virginia Community College
ASE IT, Concerto Cloud
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, NetApp, IBM and others in NAS. Updated: March 2025.
849,475 professionals have used our research since 2012.