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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 11.3% 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
  • 87 Views
  • 70 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
IBM System Storage DS8000 S...
Read 6 IBM System Storage DS8000 Series reviews
  • 233 Views
  • 138 Comparison Views
85% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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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.

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To learn more, read our detailed Dell SC Series vs. IBM System Storage DS8000 Series Report (Updated: March 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Dell SC Series vs. IBM System Storage DS8000 Series
March 2025
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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 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 March 2025, in the Frame-Based Disk Arrays category, the mindshare of Dell SC Series is 11.3%, down from 17.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM System Storage DS8000 Series is 34.4%, up from 28.9% 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.
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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.
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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What is most valuable about the Dell EMC SC Series system was its reliability."
"The interface is easy to use which makes the product user-friendly."
"The product offers good performance and is quite powerful."
"Connecting it up, you can run it within a few hours."
"Everything is sub-5 MS for us. What I've found is that, with all-flash, when an app from my business is slow, I pretty much know it's them and not me. It leads to a performance conversation that has really hit an interesting threshold point where we are better than what they need. So now we get to have that "refactoring your application" conversation a lot quicker because now the performance on the infrastructure side isn't in question anymore."
"The solution is stable."
"Easy management of volumes: You can create volumes and easily assign them to VMware clusters, increasing their size."
"Its leading feature is the price-performance ratio, which is very good."
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

"Technical support should respond more quickly because the turnaround time is very high."
"It would be helpful if the solution offered higher performance, at least on the back end."
"The price could be improved."
"The connection should be better integrated with the network to offer a better view of the system."
"This solution could be improved if overall performance was improved and operated with a higher speed and supported a higher volume of RAM."
"The lower model, the 3000, should have duplication. It doesn't right now. It's only from 5000 that this is offered, but it depends on the performance. It could be they don't offer it on lower models because the duplication is too much of a burden to the performance."
"In some customer cases, customers experienced more performance or latency."
"Some menus aren't so intuitive."
More Dell SC Series cons
"The GUI isn't as user-friendly as other options."
"The solution should embedded replication switches into the hardware instead of using them externally."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has a good price point and offers some value-added enterprise features."
"The pricing of this solution is competitive."
"Always keep in mind, this is not just a enclosure with disks is a complete SAN as a service. There is software, license, and storage in one single solution."
"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."
"We have the basic license for the use of this solution and it is a permanent license. The overall cost could be less, it is expensive."
"It is one of the most cost effective systems for us. We have been able to run it longer than most, getting the most benefit and money out of it."
"Support typically depends on the array. It can range anywhere from $7,000 to a couple of hundred thousand dollars."
More Dell SC Series pricing and cost advice
"The license is very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
University
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
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
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Comparisons

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Dell Unity XT vs Dell SC Series
Compared 10% of the time
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Dell SC Series Logo
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Dell SC Series
Compared 10% of the time
IBM FlashSystem vs Dell SC Series Logo
IBM FlashSystem vs Dell SC Series
Compared 9% 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
March 2025
Dell SC Series reportDownload Dell SC Series product report
Buyer's Guide
IBM System Storage DS8000 Series
March 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
March 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: March 2025.
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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.