Dell PowerStore vs Dell PowerVault comparison

Dell PowerStore and Dell PowerVault are both solutions in the Enterprise SAN category. Dell PowerStore is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while Dell PowerVault is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3. Dell PowerStore holds a 23.3% mindshare in ES, compared to Dell PowerVault’s 21.2% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Dell PowerStore users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Dell PowerVault users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerStore

Read 173 Dell PowerStore reviews

23,799 Views
2,142 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Dell PowerVault

Read 33 Dell PowerVault reviews

3,010 Views
1,836 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Dell PowerStore

Dell PowerVault

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

Dell PowerVault and Dell PowerStore compete in the storage solutions category, targeting small to medium businesses and enterprises seeking advanced scalability and performance, respectively. PowerStore appears to have the upper hand due to its performance, adaptability, and integration capabilities.

Features: Dell PowerVault provides reliable storage with RAID systems and data deduplication software, making it cost-effective for basic needs. Its lack of standout features limits it to smaller operations. Dell PowerStore excels with NVMe storage, high compression, and excellent scalability, catering to varied workloads and providing robust VMware integration.

Room for Improvement: Dell PowerVault needs enhancements in memory cache, protocol support, and scalability. Its deduplication and compression features are missing, necessitating better integration with existing IT infrastructure. Dell PowerStore faces challenges with its complex upgrade process, high pricing, and limited replication capabilities, suggesting a need for improved software updates and cybersecurity features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both PowerVault and PowerStore are easy to deploy in on-premises settings, but PowerStore also offers cloud compatibility. Customer service is highly rated for both, though PowerVault's technical support response times are slower than PowerStore's more satisfactory service.

Pricing and ROI: Dell PowerVault is affordable, offering a substantial ROI for small businesses. In contrast, Dell PowerStore, though more expensive, justifies its cost with advanced features and performance, positioning itself as a valuable investment for scalable, robust storage needs. Both products yield considerable returns, with PowerVault focusing on cost-effectiveness and PowerStore on advanced features and flexibility.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerStore vs. Dell PowerVault Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerStore vs. Dell PowerVault

March 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 883,692 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

5.5

Dell PowerStore users achieved lower costs, enhanced efficiency, and increased productivity, justifying initial investment through deduplication features.

Sentiment score

5.2

Dell PowerVault offers significant cost savings and performance, providing strong ROI, especially for budget-conscious users despite some mixed reviews.

If you purchase storage with 300 terabytes, you can easily achieve one petabyte of effective capacity.

AdnanAli Khan

Regional Sales Manager at New Horizon Computers

It's been trouble-free the entire time, with very high performance, as it has been designed and built properly.

reviewer2709102

Storage Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

We have seen a return on our investment in Dell PowerStore; definitely our cost per terabyte has been very good compared to some of the other vendors that we would have been using previously, and our performance benchmarks have exceeded what we were expecting.

Eoin O’Brien

Director of Global Platform at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

Since we already have a very simple environment and a quite resource-optimized environment, I think the major return on investment with Dell PowerVault was above all being on a super stable, reliable platform that gives us the confidence to continue growing using the same platform.

RicardoCardoso

IT Team Leader Latam at MC Bauchemie

I believe Dell PowerVault is the best option on the market at the moment, especially for entry-level and budget solutions.

TheinLin

System Engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.5

Dell PowerStore's customer support is praised for knowledge and proactivity, but some report delays and inconsistent international service.

Sentiment score

5.6

Dell PowerVault support is highly rated for responsiveness and technical expertise, though regional delays and varied partner support occur.

I would rate the technical support of Dell PowerStore between nine and ten out of ten.

Tiby Thomas

Solution Architect at CDA

They're responsive, knowledgeable, and have a quick turnaround.

reviewer2598762

Systems Engineer at a government with 11-50 employees

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Dell support as a ten, focusing on that aspect alone, because it's what allows me to sleep at night.

Alan Farrely

Head of IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

Supporting Dell PowerVault is very easy.

Gehad Said

Senior Presales Solutions Engineer ( DELL EMC & VMware) at NTT DATA

The technical support for Dell PowerVault is pretty good and they usually get back to us in a couple of hours with a technical engineer.

RichardLynch

Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

When things get more complex and there are interdependencies with other vendors, Dell still struggles a bit, for example, regarding Microsoft products.

Erhan Parlaz

Sr. Sales Consultant at Teccle Group

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.9

Dell PowerStore offers seamless scalability and performance, though cost and planning are important considerations for optimal use.

Sentiment score

6.3

Dell PowerVault offers scalable storage for small-medium businesses but faces limitations and complexities in larger environments.

The solution's scalability is a ten out of ten.

Amjed Antari

Pre-Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

It scales up and scales out both ways, and as our data keeps growing, it is very easy to just keep attaching and keep growing.

Nikhil Desai

Associate Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Scaling up can be done from a single enclosure that already has two controllers to a maximum of four storage units with up to eight controllers, and a massive amount of storage can be added.

KiewietKritzinger

Nutanix at Senior System Engineer

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

I don't face any issues with security with Dell PowerVault.

Gehad Said

Senior Presales Solutions Engineer ( DELL EMC & VMware) at NTT DATA

Dell PowerVault has features that specifically address the needs of small and medium-sized businesses because it is always very well received with the price-performance ratios that we have repeatedly seen out in the field.

Erhan Parlaz

Sr. Sales Consultant at Teccle Group

It is a system that was chosen specifically for this capability, allowing extension as needed and providing scalability on demand.

reviewer2791290

Moe Infrastructure Data Center at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.6

Dell PowerStore is praised for stability and reliability, with high uptime, though minor update issues occasionally occur.

Sentiment score

7.2

Dell PowerVault is highly stable and reliable for small enterprises, despite lacking an active-active controller for scalability.

When I removed all the cables, it failed over within five minutes.

reviewer2707638

Consultant

It's quite stable and reliable in general.

reviewer2794212

Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

I have not experienced any downtime, bugs, or glitches, and it's much better than previous technologies.

Mohammed Ajmal

Storage Backup Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

This was especially important given the choice to store video that is extremely critical both from a general point of view and from a legal point of view, where data must be kept and secured.

reviewer2791290

Moe Infrastructure Data Center at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

Dell PowerVault has been stable.

RichardLynch

Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

The stability and reliability of Dell PowerVault have faced several failures, but these are not related to system outages at customers, rather related to hard drives or a security feature that then did not work.

Erhan Parlaz

Sr. Sales Consultant at Teccle Group

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report

Room For Improvement

Dell PowerStore needs improvements in dashboard, lifecycle management, monitoring, integration, cloud features, cost, UI, and stability.

Dell PowerVault requires interface, integration, deduplication, and performance improvements, alongside cost flexibility and enhanced support options.

Something needs to be done with the caching to ensure that if some issue occurs, there needs to be an ability to disable caching during maintenance to make it static, safe, and good.

reviewer2402940

CISO Admin at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees

Pricing must also be considered, as Dell PowerStore is quite expensive compared to competitors in the market like HPE Alletra, Huawei Dorado, or Hitachi storage, for example.

Kashif-Naseer

Unit Head - Technology Services at Shahnawaz Ltd

The main reason why people move to Pure Storage is because it's simplified.

Kevinsa Heng

IT Director at a recreational facilities/services company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

It would be beneficial for Dell to enhance outreach to new customers directly to prevent resellers from scaring them away with higher pricing.

VasanthKumar4

Associate Vice President - Technical Services Group (TSG) at HGS

Only when environments become more complex, especially in the enterprise area, does Dell PowerVault struggle in the software area, including centralized management.

Erhan Parlaz

Sr. Sales Consultant at Teccle Group

There are two aspects to consider: replication, meaning replicating data from one site to another concerning Dell PowerVault, and another very important area where significant improvement is needed—everything related to expansion rules.

reviewer2791290

Moe Infrastructure Data Center at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report

Setup Cost

Dell PowerStore offers competitive pricing and value, with a straightforward licensing model and good price-to-performance ratio for NVMe storage.

Enterprise buyers find Dell PowerVault cost-effective but note varying initial and additional costs affecting overall affordability.

Likely the cost is $400,000 whereas IBM may be $250,000.

Hamed Mohamed

Adv. Service Manager at ECC Solutions

Based on my experience, the cost of Dell PowerStore for around 500 GB of capacity is very competitive compared to any other platform in the market.

SachinSharma4

Deputy General Manager at HCLSoftware

I asked for a new quotation on a server, and it is quite expensive; it is really expensive.

Nicolas Philippe

Responsable Plateformes Et Cloud at a media company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

I don't think it's terribly priced, but Pure Storage is cheaper.

RichardLynch

Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

If you use a PowerVault with SSD hard disk, it begins to be rather expensive.

HansThilen

System Technician at Lidingö stad

I think the price, implementation cost, and licensing of Dell PowerVault is reasonable.

RicardoCardoso

IT Team Leader Latam at MC Bauchemie

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report

Valuable Features

Dell PowerStore is praised for its performance, scalability, VMware integration, and management efficiency, offering cost savings and reliability.

Dell PowerVault offers stability, easy management, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, ideal for enterprises handling large data tasks like surveillance.

This includes storage sharing, adding servers to the service, and the wireless host connection on the network side.

Naresh K

Senior System Administrator at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees

Dell PowerStore offers good integration capabilities, especially since it helps with backup, which is an important aspect.

reviewer2402997

CISO at a construction company with 10,001+ employees

In terms of whether my company could reduce the power consumption with Dell PowerStore, I would say that my company had a use case with a customer around three weeks ago where their old Dell EMC VNX Storage System used to draw about 2500 watts compared to Dell PowerStore which drew about 800 watts, which is a really a big saving looking at the twenty-four hours and seven days of usage of the system.

Lukas Rueckerl

Data Center Consultant at a retailer with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

We've even used PowerVault series that we intended to use for five years for almost eight years, and it was still working fine, providing good ROI compared to any other brand.

VasanthKumar4

Associate Vice President - Technical Services Group (TSG) at HGS

What differentiates Dell PowerVault from other storage solutions is the performance combined with the ability to meet significant bandwidth consumption needs.

reviewer2791290

Moe Infrastructure Data Center at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

Dell PowerVault is easy to integrate, especially with third-party solutions, as we use it inside Oracle VM and Oracle Linux virtualization along with a backup solution.

TheinLin

System Engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerVault report

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerStore

Ranking in Enterprise SAN

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

173

Ranking in other categories

Data Warehouse (4th), NAS (1st), All-Flash Storage (1st), NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays (1st)

Dell PowerVault

Ranking in Enterprise SAN

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Fibre Channel (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Enterprise SAN category, the mindshare of Dell PowerStore is 23.3%, down from 29.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerVault is 21.2%, down from 27.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise SAN Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Dell PowerStore	23.3%
Dell PowerVault	21.2%
Other	55.5%

Enterprise SAN

Featured Reviews

reviewer2304864

Vmware Windows Senior Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Resilience has supported proactive management and secured audit readiness across multiple sites

The resilience in Dell PowerStore benefits my company from an auditing perspective because we know we have that resilience in place. I see Dell PowerStore playing a bigger role in the future because we are starting to use it more, and that is pushing it. The biggest return on investment for me when using Dell PowerStore is scalability. Scalability is key. I can amplify that scalability is the biggest return on investment because we have redundancy between two sites; if something goes down, we have to manage it, but we want to do it proactively.

Read full review

Erhan Parlaz

Sr. Sales Consultant at Teccle Group

Reliable midmarket backups have supported disaster recovery while centralized management needs work

Areas where I feel Dell PowerVault could be improved include especially the enterprise area and multiple interfaces in other areas, for example, backup software solutions and their integration. Handling extensive storage management functions such as snapshots, replication, and provisioning with Dell PowerVault is very well suited for the midmarket or even smaller midmarket environments. Only when environments become more complex, especially in the enterprise area, does Dell PowerVault struggle in the software area, including centralized management. I would welcome it if Dell PowerVault were a bit easier to manage in centralized management via the GUI, as it was in the past, because at the moment mid-sized companies find it not so straightforward to clearly calculate things such as how and where to use something, especially in the snapshot area. There is still room for improvement due to the missing interfaces and also the flexibility.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Outsourcing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	55
Midsize Enterprise	34
Large Enterprise	87

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	13

Questions from the Community

What do you think about Dell EMC PowerStore? Is it actually a new product?

PowerStore is flexible, scalable, simple, and performant with market-leading economics for a wide range of legacy and next-gen apps. It is only Flash and can support many workloads from today's app...

See all answers

How does Dell's EMC PowerStore compare with its EMC Unity XT?

Dell EMC PowerStore is a unified storage platform that has the added benefit of being scalable. The automated management of resources feature provides a more simple administration. I found the flex...

See all answers

What's the difference between DELL EMC Powerstore and Powermax NVMe?

Dell PowerStore is an all-solid-state midrange storage system. It has many internal elements taken from other Dell offerings and integrated into the PowerStoreOS. The installation and setup have a ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerVault?

The cost depends on which model you use for Dell PowerVault. If you use a PowerVault with SSD hard disk, it begins to be rather expensive. If you use it with an ordinary standard hard disk, the pri...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell PowerVault?

If we speak about the negative side of Dell PowerVault, I do see some areas for improvement. A quicker management user interface would be beneficial. It is a bit slow, but it is acceptable. It stil...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Dell PowerVault?

A few use cases for Dell PowerVault that I would mention are backup, storage, and VMware vSphere. Dell PowerVault helps the company streamline workflows, and in general, we use it more as a file se...

See all answers

Comparisons

HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 13% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 12% of the time

Everpure FlashArray vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 8% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 8% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 6% of the time

More Dell PowerStore Competitors

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain vs Dell PowerVault

Compared 9% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs Dell PowerVault

Compared 9% of the time

Lenovo Storage V Series vs Dell PowerVault

Compared 5% of the time

NetApp ASA vs Dell PowerVault

Compared 5% of the time

ExaGrid EX vs Dell PowerVault

Compared 4% of the time

More Dell PowerVault Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerStore

March 2026

Download Dell PowerStore product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerVault

March 2026

Download Dell PowerVault product report

Also Known As

PowerStore

PowerVault

Overview

Dell PowerStore is a scalable, high-performance platform supporting both modern and traditional workloads, enhancing IT operations with AI-driven automation and advanced data reduction features.

Designed for flexibility, Dell PowerStore integrates seamlessly with VMware, providing robust security and high IOPS. Users benefit from fast NVMe storage, intelligent data management, and scalable performance to handle diverse workload demands. However, improvements are needed in replication, enterprise functionalities, and UI complexity. Stability and support issues highlight the need for enhanced monitoring and pricing strategies.

What are the key features of Dell PowerStore?

Advanced Compression: Optimizes storage capacity effectively.
Data Deduplication: Reduces redundant data, improving efficiency.
Scalability: Easily adjusts to growing business needs.
VMware Integration: Enhances virtualization performance.
AI-Driven Management: Simplifies IT operations.
NVMe Storage: Provides fast, reliable access to data.
Robust Security: Ensures data protection.

What benefits does Dell PowerStore offer?

High Performance: Supports demanding applications with high IOPS.
Flexible Design: Adapts to changing workload requirements.
Cost Efficiency: Promotes ROI through data reduction and scaling.
Enhanced Management: Streamlines operations with AI and integrations.
Improved Data Handling: Efficiently manages databases and storage.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and IT, Dell PowerStore is critical for VMware virtualization, high-performance databases, and backup storage. It supports hosting virtual machines, mirroring storage, and handling SAP and Oracle databases effectively. Its role in hybrid and on-premises setups showcases its adaptability and integration capabilities for mission-critical tasks.

Dell Technologies

PowerVault MD3 storage arrays help you cost-effectively address the challenges of data growth with versatile solutions that are optimized for smaller-scale storage consolidation, flexible virtualization projects and high business continuity.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Dayco, FAW Foundry, University of Cambridge, Finder, Stadtwerke Pforzheim GmbH & Co.

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerStore vs. Dell PowerVault

March 2026

Free Report: Dell PowerStore vs. Dell PowerVault

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