Dell PowerScale vs NetApp Private Storage comparison

Dell Technologies and NetApp are both solutions in the NAS category. Dell Technologies is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while NetApp is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.0. Dell Technologies holds a 14.5% mindshare in N, compared to NetApp’s 2.8% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerScale

Read 87 Dell PowerScale reviews

13,669 Views
7,245 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

NetApp Private Storage

Read 15 NetApp Private Storage reviews

1,690 Views
1,690 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Dell PowerScale

NetApp Private Storage

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

Dell PowerScale and NetApp Private Storage are prominent in the storage category, each offering notable benefits. Dell PowerScale stands out for its scalability and ease of management, providing enhanced features while requiring minimal IT resources. This advantage is highlighted by superior user feedback on scalability and support.

Features: Dell PowerScale offers key features such as policy-based file placement, SmartQuotas, and InsightIQ, enhancing storage utility and performance. The system supports scalable access from multiple hardware platforms, and continual OS improvements come without new licensing, making it a comprehensive storage solution. NetApp’s unified storage system is highly flexible with strong integration capabilities, providing backwards compatibility and robust cloud integration features.

Room for Improvement: Dell PowerScale could improve cloud integration with easier updates and more node options for smaller offices. Enhancements to the WORM feature and InsightIQ’s reporting are also needed, as well as expanding HTTP data protection. NetApp should focus on simplifying configuration and addressing support challenges. Making licensing less complicated would also be beneficial for user satisfaction.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell PowerScale and NetApp Private Storage primarily support on-premises deployment, with Dell PowerScale proving more adaptable to hybrid cloud environments. Dell’s technical support is generally well-regarded, though some users experience initial assistance challenges. NetApp support is inconsistent, often requiring escalation to resolve issues satisfactorily.

Pricing and ROI: Both Dell PowerScale and NetApp Private Storage are perceived as costly, but Dell's flexible licensing and comprehensive features offer a compelling ROI. Dell users find value in long-term cost efficiency and reduced administrative workload, while NetApp users appreciate reliability and integration, despite finding the pricing steep.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerScale vs. NetApp Private Storage Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerScale vs. NetApp Private Storage

April 2026

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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:

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerScale

Ranking in NAS

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

File and Object Storage (2nd)

NetApp Private Storage

Ranking in NAS

11th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Dell PowerScale is 14.5%, down from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp Private Storage is 2.8%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NAS Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Dell PowerScale (Isilon)	14.5%
NetApp Private Storage	2.8%
Other	82.7%

NAS

Featured Reviews

Bill Engelmeyer

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.

Read full review

Atilla Celiloglu

Broadcast Technology Director at tv8

Has supported continuous broadcasting with reliable performance and consistent operations

They can make more solutions for cloud integration in NetApp Private Storage. It should be easier to use the cloud S3 integration, maybe from a NetApp interface, where users can choose the type of storage before sending to S3. I would like to see more audit and performance logs via cloud integrations and ONTAP. Without the need for separate software.

Read full review

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."

"Of all the components in our IT system, it's probably the least troublesome."

"This has really changed the way our company can acquire and process data in the field, allowing us to differentiate ourselves against all our competitors."

"Dell PowerScale (Isilon) definitely deserves ten out of ten for scalability."

"The stability of the solution is good."

"It assists with eliminating storage silos because it provides SMB and NFS protocols. PowerScale has also helped free up our employee's time to focus on other business priorities."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the unlimited scalability. The tool has high availability and high storage capacity."

"This is the best platform that we could have for storage utilization. It is affordable and scalable. At the end of the day, it's something that we find very easy to use."

More Dell PowerScale pros

"Integration with other NetApp solutions and merging them is manageable."

"When it came time to replace, we evaluated EMC, NetApp, IBM again and chose NetApp and have not regretted it."

"Really, I sell only NetApp because I know it and it's really good and very predictable."

"Very stable and very scalable."

"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."

"We feel that NetApp gave us a platform (base) which could clearly arrange all our files and volumes."

"The solution is stable."

"We get our data faster and it's very reliable; we don't go down."

More NetApp Private Storage pros

Cons

"The pricing could be reduced."

"Data storage performance needs to be improved."

"If I could improve one thing on Dell PowerScale (Isilon), it would be better object storage as it recently breached into S3, and that capability could be broadened."

"One downside of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is that it is really complicated to configure."

"Dell's customer service needs improvement."

"They should add some new services that should be for on-premises, and more analytics should be there for the data, allowing for a deep dive from that analytics, which is currently missing."

"Dell PowerScale's deployment is not easy."

"Always, there is room for improvement in terms of cybersecurity, as new challenges are continually emerging in the market."

More Dell PowerScale cons

"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."

"There may actually be so many features that the end-user gets lost in the volume."

"The solution could improve by having better support experts. For example, they do not have clear instructions on configuration."

"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."

"There is room for improvement in the support. It has been a problem for our team."

"We had to write a number of custom tools or scripts ourselves to use it as a staging area between our on-premises datacenter and our cloud installation."

"I would like to see the GUI management simplified in the next release."

"I think that it should work better with Microsoft solutions, more integrated with Microsoft. We also need integrated NAS and block storage."

More NetApp Private Storage cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our company finds the pricing high, but it decreases over time."

"The only drawback for us is that it's a large upfront investment. This was a huge decision for a startup company to make. It took a bit for us to get over the line on it, but we have not regretted it."

"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's a high-cost offering amounting to three or four million Swedish kronor, or about $400,000 or euros, for approximately 480 terabytes of storage."

"The price of the solution is high."

"Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is an expensive solution."

"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."

"The pricing is expensive, but I think it's a fair value because it does manage itself. It definitely is much simpler than any of the other scale-out storage platforms that we've looked at in the past."

More Dell PowerScale pricing and cost advice

"The price could be lower."

"NetApp Private Storage is cheaper here in India compared to other solutions, such as Dell."

"We negotiate whatever deal we can get on the type of storage that it is, but it's totally under our control,."

"The product is costly."

"In general, I am pleased with the pricing, though it is a little high."

"The price of NetApp Private Storage is similar to other solutions. There is typically an annual license required for this solution."

"It is an expensive solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Financial Services Firm

11%

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	21
Large Enterprise	49

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	7

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) is cost-effective.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?

I think Dell PowerScale (Isilon) could improve some functions such as Apache S3 or containerized storage support, as these aspects are not well-developed. Their support system is weak; many issues ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp Private Storage?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetApp Private Storage?

It consists of a large production company and national television channels broadcasting 24/7. We wanted to choose a stable product with flawless SLA levels for an organization that broadcasts 24/7....

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering NetApp Private Storage?

I believe it will deliver the expected performance and stability for television channels and production studios. On a scale of 1-10, I rate NetApp Private Storage an 8.

See all answers

Comparisons

NetApp FAS Series vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 19% of the time

Everpure FlashBlade vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 10% of the time

Qumulo vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 6% of the time

VAST Data vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 4% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Dell PowerScale

Compared 2% of the time

More Dell PowerScale Competitors

NetApp FAS Series vs NetApp Private Storage

Compared 12% of the time

QNAP NAS Storage vs NetApp Private Storage

Compared 10% of the time

FreeNAS vs NetApp Private Storage

Compared 8% of the time

Buurst SoftNAS vs NetApp Private Storage

Compared 8% of the time

Qumulo vs NetApp Private Storage

Compared 8% of the time

More NetApp Private Storage Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerScale

May 2026

Download Dell PowerScale product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp Private Storage

May 2026

Download NetApp Private Storage product report

Also Known As

PowerScale, Dell EMC Isilon

NPS

Overview

Dell PowerScale leads in unstructured data management with unified file and object storage, massive scalability, security, and cloud adaptability, enhancing AI, analytics, and enterprise applications with exceptional performance and resilience.

Dell PowerScale Isilon provides a comprehensive platform for unstructured data, excelling in scalability, management, and performance. With features like single-pane management, SyncIQ, and SmartQuotas, it handles large datasets with flexibility and robust security. Its multi-protocol support and seamless expansion improve operational efficiency. While it offers strong data protection, enhancements in cloud integration, cybersecurity, and performance are sought. Users note potential for cost reductions and streamlined configurations and mention desired improvements in object storage handling and NFS support.

What are the key features of Dell PowerScale Isilon?

Single-pane management: Simplifies data control and monitoring through a unified interface.
SyncIQ: Ensures efficient data replication for business continuity.
SmartQuotas: Provides intelligent quota management for optimized storage allocation.
Multi-protocol support: Facilitates cross-platform data access and integration.
Seamless storage expansion: Allows effortless scaling to accommodate growing data needs.

What benefits should users consider when reviewing Dell PowerScale Isilon?

Operational efficiency: Reduces workload with easy management and automation.
Enhanced security: Offers comprehensive data protection and recovery options.
Scalability: Supports large-scale data storage with flexible growth capabilities.
Performance: Delivers high-speed data processing for demanding applications.
Integration flexibility: Adapts to on-prem and hybrid cloud environments for diverse deployment needs.

Organizations across industries utilize Dell PowerScale Isilon for large-scale unstructured storage, supporting applications like video archiving, genomic data storage, and high-resolution imaging. Educational institutions, research centers, and media enterprises rely on its scaled-out storage capabilities, providing centralized, secure storage for diverse applications in hybrid, cloud, and on-prem environments.

Dell Technologies

NetApp Private Storage provides efficient, cost-controlled storage solutions with fast, seamless cloud integration, ensuring robust security and scalability for diverse applications.

NetApp Private Storage integrates smoothly with cloud platforms like Azure or AWS, offering a unified approach to storage through the ONTAP operating system. With SAN integration, disaster recovery, and strong security measures, it supports scalability and diverse use cases. Users appreciate its effective backup solutions and reliability, enhanced by Snapshot functionality. However, enhanced cloud integration tools and user-friendly interface improvements are desired. Users often confront configuration complexity and support access issues, along with costly upgrade cycles due to hardware limitations.

What are the key features of NetApp Private Storage?

ONTAP Operating System: Facilitates unified storage management across platforms.
Integration Capabilities: Ensures seamless connections with cloud providers like AWS and Azure.
Disaster Recovery: Provides robust options to safeguard data.
Security Measures: Offers strong protection against potential threats.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing storage demands.

What benefits should users consider?

Cost Control: Allows efficient management of storage expenses.
Ease of Use: Simplifies complex storage management tasks.
Speed: Enhances data processing and access times.
Reliability: Ensures consistent performance across applications.
Flexibility: Adapts to a variety of storage environments and needs.

NetApp Private Storage is employed in industries requiring robust storage solutions, supporting OpenStack cloud backends, VMware environments, and media broadcasts. It aids in database server replication and hybrid flash storage, managing marketing data and facilitating ESXi backend solutions through NFS shares, SnapMirror, and file replication. Recognized for simplifying storage management and connectivity, it efficiently supports demanding applications across sectors.

NetApp

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,

ASE IT, Concerto Cloud

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerScale vs. NetApp Private Storage

April 2026

Free Report: Dell PowerScale vs. NetApp Private Storage

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