Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Dell SC Series vs IBM System Storage DS8000 Series comparison

Dell Technologies and IBM are both solutions in the Frame-Based Disk Arrays category. Dell Technologies is ranked #3 with an average rating of 9.0, while IBM is ranked #2. Dell Technologies holds a 11.7% mindshare in FBDA, compared to IBM’s 34.4% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of IBM users who would recommend it.
Dell SC Series
Read 54 Dell SC Series reviews
  • 71 Views
  • 60 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
IBM System Storage DS8000 S...
Read 6 IBM System Storage DS8000 Series reviews
  • 225 Views
  • 128 Comparison Views
85% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report
Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Dell SC Series and IBM System Storage DS8000 Series based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Frame-Based Disk Arrays solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE REPORT
To learn more, read our detailed Dell SC Series vs. IBM System Storage DS8000 Series Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Dell SC Series vs. IBM System Storage DS8000 Series
April 2025
Download the complete report
Helped 848,716 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell SC Series
Ranking in Frame-Based Disk Arrays
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
54
Ranking in other categories
All-Flash Storage (18th)
IBM System Storage DS8000 S...
Ranking in Frame-Based Disk Arrays
2nd
Average Rating
9.4
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Frame-Based Disk Arrays category, the mindshare of Dell SC Series is 11.7%, down from 17.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM System Storage DS8000 Series is 34.4%, up from 28.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Frame-Based Disk Arrays
 

Featured Reviews

Steven McClendon - PeerSpot reviewer
Superior platform with excellent snapshots and cost-saving auto-tiering
I'm a big fan of the SC Series platform. Its feature set is superior to some of the other platforms. The snapshots on SC are excellent, allowing for multiple snapshot schedules for any one system. The auto-tiering functionality intelligently moves new data to the highest performance tier and then progresses it down to less expensive tiers over time, providing cost savings for customers.
Read full review
reviewer1392684 - PeerSpot reviewer
Great Global Copy and Global Mirror features with an easy initial setup
We're just a customer. We don't have a business relationship with the company. I'm an outsourcing service provider and I've had a lot of experience using the solution. We have everything from DS8100 disc storage, all the way up to 8990s. I'd advise new users to read the implementation installation guide. Most of the questions are answered in there. People just tend to skim over it and don't get into the details. However, it's important in making everything run smoothly and understanding the solution. That's probably the best advice I've actually heard from anybody. At the end of the day, don't be someone who skips the instructions, and all of a sudden you have a pile of parts. I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
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

"It has been one of the most stable products in our data center."
"With auto-tiering, it's easier to understand than most arrays, knowing that all of your writes go to the tier that you specify, with easy-to-create storage profiles."
"Its feature set is superior to some of the other platforms."
"It has good dedupe and compression. Also, the built-in data migration capabilities are pretty good, as is the federation. When we started migrating the workloads from different storage platforms, like NetApp and XtremeIO, it helped us in moving to that direction."
"It was very easy to install, maintain, and provides excellent manageability."
"Technical support is very good. I do use it from time to time and it's always excellent."
"The solution is stable."
"The solution has a wide variety of valuable features. The data progression works well. We use the snapshot functionality quite a bit and really like it."
More Dell SC Series pros
"The Global Copy and Global Mirror features are the solution's most valuable aspects."
"The high throughput feature is the most powerful thing in this product."
 

Cons

"The administration and support (on the way that they delivered) was a little bit slow."
"I would like to improve the processing ability."
"It's not very efficient anymore. There are better products out there."
"One option I would like to see is, when you're up on the view-screen, to be able to incorporate getting to what HPE call the iLO, the Integrated Lights-Out. To be able to get that instead of having to go back and trying to find IP addresses and re-institute those would be good. It would be good to be able to that put on the initial splash screen."
"The configuration could be easier in Dell EMC SC Series."
"Compellent comes in the form of a component that's not true of a unified storage platform."
"This solution could be improved if overall performance was improved and operated with a higher speed and supported a higher volume of RAM."
"What I understand is that this is a 13 year old architecture, so it has lived its life and they're phasing it out. Honestly, we were initially struggling with the integration with VMware (but it was fixed with the VMware 6.5) and, then, it was around a 10GB network. At that time, it had the longevity to go to 100GB as well. It got us thinking about, when we go into the containerized architecture, what do we need to do to fix the infrastructure?"
More Dell SC Series cons
"The solution should embedded replication switches into the hardware instead of using them externally."
"The GUI isn't as user-friendly as other options."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is reasonable, but it is expensive."
"We have found it to be affordable. Comparing the cost with other hardware, it seems to be right in line with the compute and the storage that we get with it."
"We were able to afford two tiers of flash storage at a price where the competition was giving us one tier or just a handful of discs."
"The SC Series was priced fairly. I wouldn't call it either expensive or cheap because we had a very tight budget, so if they were able to fit in that type of budget, they met our expectations."
"The pricing of Dell EMC Compellent is competitive."
"It's a very affordable solution."
"This product is too expensive compared to others, and I don't see any value in using it."
"Compared to other solutions out there, it's affordable."
More Dell SC Series pricing and cost advice
"The license is very expensive."
report
See which vendors are best for you
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Frame-Based Disk Arrays solutions are best for your needs.
See recommendations
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
University
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell SC Series?
I find this version to be more budget-friendly compared to products from other vendors. This aspect greatly benefits my customers. It's highly advantageous due to its affordability. The operational...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell SC Series?
Cost considerations are crucial when choosing between solutions like Dell and NetApp. Sometimes Dell offers better performance for less money. That said, the costs can vary.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Dell SC Series?
In the future, I want any box that comes on-premises to have the provision to integrate with cloud storage. If I want a second copy or need to replicate data from on-premises to the cloud, this pro...
See all answers
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Dell SC Series Logo
Dell PowerStore vs Dell SC Series
Compared 60% of the time
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Dell SC Series Logo
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Dell SC Series
Compared 9% of the time
IBM FlashSystem vs Dell SC Series Logo
IBM FlashSystem vs Dell SC Series
Compared 9% of the time
Dell Unity XT vs Dell SC Series Logo
Dell Unity XT vs Dell SC Series
Compared 9% of the time
NetApp AFF vs Dell SC Series Logo
NetApp AFF vs Dell SC Series
Compared 6% of the time
More Dell SC Series Competitors
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM System Storage DS8000 Series Logo
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM System Storage DS8000 Series
Compared 100% of the time
More IBM System Storage DS8000 Series Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Dell SC Series
April 2025
Dell SC Series reportDownload Dell SC Series product report
Buyer's Guide
IBM System Storage DS8000 Series
April 2025
IBM System Storage DS8000 Series reportDownload IBM System Storage DS8000 Series product report
 

Also Known As

SC Series Storage, Compellent
System Storage DS8000
 

Overview

Dell EMC SC Series arrays provide a unified platform for the ultimate in performance, adaptability and machine-driven efficiency. SC Series software delivers modern features that help you meet aggressive workload demands using the fewest drives necessary. With an open, future-ready design, SC Series storage integrates seamlessly with applications and infrastructure, enabling you to scale on a single platform and add capabilities without forklift upgrades.

Dell Technologies
IBM System Storage DS8000 series is a high-performance, high-capacity series of disk storage that supports continuous operations. The DS8000 series includes the DS8800 (Models 951 and 95E) and the DS8700 (Models 941 and 94E).
IBM
 

Sample Customers

TGen, Frost Science, Gerrie Electric
Renfe, Park Nicollet Health Services, Ricoh Americas Corporation, SK Energy, SWK STADTWERKE KREFELD AG
Buyer's Guide
Dell SC Series vs. IBM System Storage DS8000 Series
April 2025
Free Report: Dell SC Series vs. IBM System Storage DS8000 Series
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell SC Series vs. IBM System Storage DS8000 Series and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
DOWNLOAD NOW
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.
See our Dell SC Series vs. IBM System Storage DS8000 Series report.
See our list of best Frame-Based Disk Arrays vendors.

We monitor all Frame-Based Disk Arrays reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.