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Dell PowerScale vs NetApp Private Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 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
Ranking in NAS
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
File and Object Storage (1st)
NetApp Private Storage
Ranking in NAS
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Dell PowerScale is 14.6%, down from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp Private Storage is 3.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NAS Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerScale14.6%
NetApp Private Storage3.0%
Other82.4%
NAS
 

Featured Reviews

SK
Solutions Architect at a university with 10,001+ employees
Operates seamlessly and minimizes downtime while meeting enterprise file share demands
The features of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) that I appreciate the most include the scale of architecture and the way it is designed. These features benefit my company by providing less downtime and less overhead. While I have not calculated an exact number regarding the reduction in downtime, we have always been using the product, so we have no baseline to compare it to. However, it is a very good product. Dell PowerScale (Isilon) scales very well with the growing needs of my company.
Atilla Celiloglu - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, Dell PowerScale (Isilon) has made the management of the data and networks easier."
"The tool's most valuable features are scalability and stability."
"On a scale of one to ten, with one being worst and ten being best, I would rate Dell PowerScale (Isilon) a ten."
"The features of Dell PowerScale (Isilon) that I prefer the most include some of the newer technologies that are on it, which would include SmartSync and the ability for the data mover to continue to make incremental changes."
"The technical support has been excellent. I would give them a ten out of ten for support."
"The system is robust, has had a big impact on the efficiency of our organization, and serves as storage for our core application, which is a revenue-generating application that plays a key role in our business."
"Customer service is absolutely satisfying, rating at least nine out of ten, as they have managed previous issues well."
"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."
"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 has its own dedicated operating system, so it will not be affected by any wireless piggybacking or malware."
"In terms of quality and uptime, it is the thing to have."
"The most valuable feature is integration."
"Really, I sell only NetApp because I know it and it's really good and very predictable."
"When it came time to replace, we evaluated EMC, NetApp, IBM again and chose NetApp and have not regretted it."
"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."
"If your company has the budget for NetApp Private Storage I would recommend it."
 

Cons

"Dell's customer service needs improvement."
"The solution can be integrated with an automation system. Dell uses another framework developed in-house. They can integrate it with machines."
"There aren't many templates still coming out for it. They need to provide templates so we can copy and paste what we've done in the past to future, new things."
"If they integrated some functions, as they have on Data Domain with a cyber recovery vault, it would be ideal."
"My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Dell PowerScale has been expensive."
"Dell PowerScale can improve on its multi-tenant part because as a service provider, we have bigger clusters in data centers where we can serve multiple customers and grant them dedicated management points and automation features that can be managed in a multi-tenant environment."
"I would like to see Dell PowerScale (Isilon) improved by enhancing the user interface, OneFS, to make advanced conversation and troubleshooting more specific, upgrade and batch management, providing deeper built-in analytics for performance and capacity planning."
"The product itself is capable of very much, but the initial deployment experience can be lacking possibly because it does not incorporate any design phase."
"The hardware does not last as long as it could with new software."
"I think that it should work better with Microsoft solutions, more integrated with Microsoft. We also need integrated NAS and block storage."
"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."
"The solution could improve by having better support experts. For example, they do not have clear instructions on configuration."
"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 think that it should work better with Microsoft solutions, more integrated with Microsoft. We also need integrated NAS and block storage."
"This product is probably one of the most complex to set up on the market."
"The documentation could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 solution's licensing cost varies based on capacity and performance requirements."
"It is a really expensive solution."
"The price of the solution is high."
"Dell PowerScale is an expensive solution compared to other products like Qumulo."
"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 solution."
"We negotiate whatever deal we can get on the type of storage that it is, but it's totally under our control,."
"In general, I am pleased with the pricing, though it is a little high."
"It is an expensive solution."
"NetApp Private Storage is cheaper here in India compared to other solutions, such as Dell."
"The product is costly."
"The price could be lower."
"The price of NetApp Private Storage is similar to other solutions. There is typically an annual license required for this solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise51
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?
I believe the support engineers need to improve their skills. In our case, the engineer provides adequate hardware support, but they lack expertise in supporting Dell PowerScale's API and Kubernete...
What is your primary use case for Dell EMC PowerScale (Isilon)?
Dell PowerScale's primary use case for our organization is server virtualization.
What needs improvement with NetApp Private Storage?
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 ...
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....
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.
 

Also Known As

PowerScale, Dell EMC Isilon
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,
ASE IT, Concerto Cloud
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerScale vs. NetApp Private Storage and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,692 professionals have used our research since 2012.