Dell PowerStore is used for SAN in our organization.
Storage Backup Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Intuitive storage management has transformed our global SAN and strengthened disaster recovery
Pros and Cons
- "Since implementing Dell PowerStore, it's very fast and very secure."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
I prefer Dell PowerStore because the user interaction is excellent and the GUI is also outstanding. Previously, Dell produced Unity devices for SAN along with VNX, but VNX is so complicated. The GUI is not suitable for a basic or beginner user, and beginners need to learn extensively about VNX. In contrast, when you log in to Dell PowerStore's GUI, the user interface is so intuitive that you can easily find your use case.
I appreciate that Dell PowerStore is a scale-out solution where we can add multiple clusters and nodes. With Unity, we could add only certain clusters or nodes, but in Dell PowerStore, we can add multiple enclosures as well.
We are using five clusters in Dell PowerStore across different regions, with three for production and two for data protection, binding the production to disaster recovery. For disaster recovery, it performs well compared to others. I believe Dell PowerStore is the best compared to PowerVault, which I find less efficient and not recommended for big enterprises.
Dell PowerStore does not require any downtime for upgrades because we have redundancy with clusters. If controller A goes for an upgrade, controller B takes all the processes without impacting any users. The deduplication process in Dell PowerStore is superior compared to VNX and Unity.
What needs improvement?
I don't have any ideas for improvements regarding Dell PowerStore as everything seems good and they continuously implement bug fixes and upcoming patches.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have 2.4 years of experience using Dell PowerStore, and before that, the product was used for around 3.5 years in the project.
Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerStore
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about Dell PowerStore. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the stability of Dell PowerStore as a 10 out of 10. I have not experienced any downtime, bugs, or glitches, and it's much better than previous technologies.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the scalability of Dell PowerStore as a 9 out of 10 because occasionally some bugs occur, but they are usually fixed quickly.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate Dell's technical support as a 10 out of 10 because they respond quickly, especially when we have Dell PowerStore in multiple regions. If we cannot connect with one region, we try another, and the available engineer will assist us.
Compared to other solutions in the market, Dell performs very well. If we face any hardware issue and raise a ticket, they respond as quickly as possible compared to other technologies.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we were using Unity devices and VNX for SAN. Dell PowerStore offers superior deduplication compared to both VNX and Unity.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment of Dell PowerStore is easy. The ports are easily configured within four to six hours, and the whole deployment process takes about six to seven hours, including port configuration and LDAP setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution could be a perfect 10, but sometimes the cost is high when we need to add more enclosures to Dell PowerStore. Although I do not know the current cost, I believe the cost can be improved.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I would recommend Dell PowerStore because it's cost-efficient compared to PowerMax. For big enterprises, instead of using PowerMax, we can utilize a couple more clusters in Dell PowerStore.
What other advice do I have?
We are deploying Dell PowerStore on-premises using an auto-cloud through the network.
I don't have any information about how Dell PowerStore was purchased. We didn't use any specific scenario like the AWS marketplace or a direct purchase.
We are unable to determine the number of users using Dell PowerStore because we are providing LUNs to multiple hosts, with multiple users accessing a single host. For instance, one VM can be accessible by a hundred users, and with 30 plus VMs, that's a large number we cannot calculate.
The environment for Dell PowerStore is essentially a global one.
Since implementing Dell PowerStore, it's very fast and very secure. Vulnerabilities are identified in upcoming patches, and Dell provides patches quickly, which is significantly more helpful than waiting three to four months for other products to release their next patch.
We cannot determine how much data we have consolidated using Dell PowerStore because multiple teams are working, and from my end, I'm just monitoring the LUNs and providing reclamation.
We are using Apex AI Ops. The insights from Apex are good as we use it to monitor the cluster health and status, and the connectivity is also good compared to PowerVault, which had some bug issues preventing proper connection with Apex IO.
Some hosts using Dell PowerStore are based on Linux and Unix. Not all hosts are dependent on Windows, as some are configured for Linux and Unix. From our end, I only provide LUN provisioning and reclamation, and I don't have extensive knowledge about Linux.
We utilize built-in integrations, but from our storage team's perspective, we just provide the LUNs to the Windows team, which uses VMware ESXi hosts. I don't think we use Kubernetes.
I have no understanding of the importance of adding capacity in single drive increments versus drive packs.
My overall rating for Dell PowerStore is 9 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Apr 16, 2026
Flag as inappropriateChief Executive Officer at Contour Data Solutions
Achieve major consolidation and cost reduction with efficient virtualization support
Pros and Cons
- "I rate Dell PowerStore a 10 out of 10."
- "Some of the data metrics we get out of Pure from a support perspective online are a little bit more robust than the Dell PowerStore metrics, but it's not a negative against Dell."
What is our primary use case?
Our use case for Dell PowerStore is virtualization.
What is most valuable?
We find that Dell PowerStore scales efficiently, as we've had good success with performance, availability, and deduplication. The benefits we see when we put Dell PowerStore in include a smaller footprint; we consolidated 10 racks into two racks, going from all Cisco UCS, Pure, and Dell Compellent into one Dell PowerStore. It was a two Dell PowerStore cluster with about 26 Dell servers, so we went from 10 racks down to two, leading to major consolidation.
What needs improvement?
Dell PowerStore has provided us with great success; the overall management ease, throughput, and dedupe have been excellent, and since we've only had it for two years, I don't really have much negative feedback or things to improve upon. It's a newer technology for us, so we're still evaluating it thoroughly.
If I could add any feature to Dell PowerStore, I would say we're looking to test, but I'm not ready to answer that question because we are looking to move away from VMware and are testing out OpenStack and Zen, so we don't know how that integration would work.
The only room for improvement I would mention is that, comparing it against a legacy product we had, we were a Pure shop, and some of the data metrics we get out of Pure from a support perspective online are a little bit more robust than the Dell PowerStore metrics, but it's not a negative against Dell. I see them getting there. As they continue to upgrade Dell PowerStore, I would assume that having more analytics would be the most important piece on any platform, but Dell's done a great job with it, so that's why it wasn't a heavy concern for us.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Dell PowerStore for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Overall, since we've had Dell PowerStore, we've had no issues; we've had easy code upgrades, and being a single active-passive cluster, we've had no problems. Since implementation two years ago, reliability has been good, and we have not had a need to call Dell for support. With my experience of using Dell technology products for the better part of my career, support is usually the reason you go with Dell.
How are customer service and support?
Dell support on the storage side for Dell PowerStore is unmatched.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were a Pure shop, and now we're a Dell shop on that front, and we are satisfied with it.
How was the initial setup?
It was remarkably easy to deploy Dell PowerStore; it was plug and play, with no need for any kind of material, as they've done a really good job making the deployment model user-friendly.
What was our ROI?
We've seen ROI with Dell PowerStore at every level, including financial benefits and reduced power consumption, which makes it easier to manage on a single platform. The financial metrics around Dell PowerStore are significant, but I can't disclose those; however, we saw significant financial savings. Doing back-of-the-napkin math, I'd say we saw about 40% cost reduction in our overall footprints with Dell PowerStore.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing for Dell PowerStore has been excellent; it's a great price per capacity.
What other advice do I have?
As we move into more virtualization aspects with Dell PowerStore, I think we don't need more documentation than what they currently have available, as it's a straightforward platform that is not complex.
Regarding success stories about Dell PowerStore, there's a lot of data out there, and the Dell teams have done a phenomenal job answering questions, so I feel they have a significant amount of resources available.
I rate Dell PowerStore a 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
Last updated: Apr 16, 2026
Flag as inappropriateBuyer's Guide
Dell PowerStore
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about Dell PowerStore. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
886,906 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Storage has delivered strong consolidation, performance, and cost savings for daily operations
Pros and Cons
- "I would recommend Dell PowerStore to others and I think it is the best option on the market at the moment, especially for enterprise storage where Dell PowerMax is still the top storage solution."
- "Personally, I feel that Dell PowerStore is a little bit costly in the market compared to other products, but this is just my personal perspective."
What is our primary use case?
I am still dealing with Dell PowerStore storages, as it is still under my job scope. I have been able to consolidate data using Dell PowerStore through migration. This consolidation is a business-as-usual job for me.
What is most valuable?
Since using Dell PowerStore, I have found features like scalability and replication most valuable, as they are very solid for their product.
It is easy to use Dell PowerStore for moving and optimizing workloads within the cluster, based on monitoring performance; I normally use migration or add more paths for load balancing to optimize the storage.
The importance of Dell PowerStore's compression and deduplication technologies lies in achieving cost savings, and I find that the ratio is very good; it ranks at the top in terms of storage compression and deduplication rates.
What needs improvement?
I see room for improvement for Dell PowerStore, especially since the market is moving towards AI, cloud, and virtualization; I believe AI can greatly help with troubleshooting, data analysis, performance monitoring, and reporting, and I think Dell will invest a lot to enhance these features.
I assess Dell PowerStore's data resiliency and cybersecurity features as very secure, from my point of view, because it is not like an open system; however, I believe there is still room to improve, as I need to raise requests for vulnerability fixes to Dell on a monthly basis.
While I consider the product to already be complicated, I believe it still has room for simplification, such as enhancing the centralized GUI features and allowing for batch jobs instead of having to click through tasks one by one.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell PowerStore for many years, more than ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Regarding its management capabilities, I think if it comes to new users, they may not be familiar with the command line; however, from my point of view with many years of experience, I find it very stable and manageable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easy to scale Dell PowerStore, whether to expand, scale up, or scale out, as it is straightforward with just a few commands.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate their technical support as an eight, noting that personally, I feel the support was better ten years ago; back then, I received more help from storage support, especially regarding non-storage issues. My current assessment of their support would be about seven or eight.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have experience with other products with Dell, as I already left Dell for a couple of years and I'm currently in an end-user company doing maintenance for storage, where I also support IBM and Hitachi products.
In evaluating other solutions, I see that the competition to Dell PowerStore is not much, with the majority being Hitachi, Huawei, and Pure Storage, which is also quite good.
Besides Dell PowerStore, I am using other storages such as IBM, Hitachi, and Huawei from multiple vendors.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with the deployment of Dell PowerStore has been substantial, as I was a so-called delivery engineer in Dell for more than six years, being the person to deploy.
I find that deployment can be quite difficult for non-experienced people, as new team members coming to Dell might not pick up the concepts quickly without proper training and many years of real physical experience.
What about the implementation team?
As for Lifecycle Extension, also formerly branded Anytime Upgrade, I manage scheduling and coordination as an end-user; most work is still done by Dell support representatives, so I do not have much to comment on in this area.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Personally, I feel that Dell PowerStore is a little bit costly in the market compared to other products, but this is just my personal perspective.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I do not have experience with IBM Maximo; I primarily worked with IBM SAN storage products like V Storage and S Storage. I have only a little experience with Nutanix Unified Storage, not being really hands-on with it.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Dell PowerStore to others and I think it is the best option on the market at the moment, especially for enterprise storage where Dell PowerMax is still the top storage solution.
I assess the workload performance offered by Dell PowerStore as very good, and I am very satisfied with the performance from Dell PowerStore, as it is a high-end storage solution.
I do not really use APEX AIOps, also known as CloudIQ in Dell PowerStore, but I have seen some demos and find it to be a very impressive product that consolidates everything together; I really hope we can have this in the future.
While I work with Dell servers, including Dell PowerEdge, there are not many because I am from the storage team and servers are managed by a different team. I purchase products directly from vendors rather than through the AWS marketplace.
I have been working in this field overall for about six years. I am definitely planning to use other all-flash storages in the future, as I need to see different angles and requirements; storage requests come from application owners, and I strive to fulfill those needs.
I would rate this review an eight overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Apr 16, 2026
Flag as inappropriateSenior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
Has improved deployment speed and reduced infrastructure costs through seamless virtualization integration
Pros and Cons
- "Dell PowerStore has helped reduce my organization's capital expenditures because once the storage is made available to the VMware environment in a clustered way, it makes it easy for the end user or VMware administrator to deploy virtual machines instantly."
- "I would have preferred if Dell PowerStore could have a common operating system across all their products, as that would be of great advantage."
What is our primary use case?
For Dell PowerStore, the major use case is for data, primarily in banks. Dell PowerStore was sold for their data, which supports their FinTrak applications. For Unity, the use case is for their VMware environment as a data store.
How has it helped my organization?
Dell PowerStore has helped reduce my organization's capital expenditures because once the storage is made available to the VMware environment in a clustered way, it makes it easy for the end user or VMware administrator to deploy virtual machines instantly. The protocol between the VMware environment and the storage, whether it is 16 gig, 25 gig, 32 gig, or 100 gig, makes deployment faster.
What is most valuable?
For data resiliency and cybersecurity features in Dell PowerStore, Dell has another solution called Dell PowerScale, which is what most customers we sold Dell products to leverage. That solution works with their data domain appliances along with NetWorker, which is the backup software, and then the Vault infrastructure that also backs up with the data domain for vaulting and backing up or replication to the Vault environment.
Compression and deduplication features in Dell PowerStore are important because they allow me to save data and remove duplicate data. When replicating to another site, these features reduce bandwidth, which also reduces pressure on the network. This is why enabling deduplication and compression is important.
What needs improvement?
Regarding areas for improvement in Dell PowerStore, I noticed a minor inconvenience. I would have preferred if Dell PowerStore could have a common operating system across all their products, as that would be of great advantage.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working on Dell PowerStore for five years since I joined Tennessee.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I do not have significant comments regarding the stability of Dell PowerStore.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability for Dell PowerStore, a few months ago we completed a scale-up for one of the banks, Stanbic Bank, by adding an additional shelf to the controller. They were running out of space, so we had to scale up by adding a shelf. There is no difficulty in that process because space was allocated before the addition of the shelf.
How are customer service and support?
My experience overall with technical support from Dell for Dell PowerStore is very satisfactory. Their support is good and helps you through to the point where all problems are solved. I rate technical support from Dell for Dell PowerStore as 10 out of 10. Their support has been fantastic.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The solutions I have worked with that are similar to Dell PowerStore are NetApp and Huawei.
How was the initial setup?
The experience with deployment for Dell PowerStore is not complex. It is simple and straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
Because we are a partner, we purchase Dell PowerStore directly from Dell through our distributor.
What was our ROI?
I feel the end user will be able to speak much about return on investment with Dell PowerStore and should be able to provide detailed feedback on that.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Dell PowerStore is expensive, but those that can afford it can purchase it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
When I compare Dell with other vendors regarding technical features and pricing, I think both are better, but there will always be one ahead of the others. Even though they are good, there is always one ahead.
What other advice do I have?
The best features in Dell PowerStore that I find most beneficial are generally those that are most important. If they were not important, I do not think the OEM or the product owner would include those features there, as they are based on the benefits they render to the customer or to the end user.
The workload performance in Dell PowerStore is great. As I mentioned earlier, none of the customers have complained that they had any issues with workload or writing to the storage.
I work with management capabilities in Dell PowerStore mostly with the implementation and then administration, focusing on how to administer it and how to implement it.
I do not work with CloudIQ in Dell PowerStore, which is also called APEX AIOps.
I have not enrolled in the Lifecycle Extension, formerly branded as Anytime Upgrade.
The decision to choose Dell PowerStore is the customer's choice. I can present two or three solutions to the customer, and because of the features and the customer's needs, their experience, or what they have read about the solution, it depends on the customer to choose the one that suits their demands.
I only integrate Dell PowerStore with VMware.
The integration of Dell PowerStore with VMware is seamless.
I have given this review an overall rating of 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Last updated: Apr 16, 2026
Flag as inappropriateIT Lead System Administrator at John I. Haas
Reliability and clean interface significantly boost operational efficiency and reduce management time
Pros and Cons
- "The features of Dell PowerStore that I appreciate the most are that it just works; it's tried and true and amazing, and we never have to worry about it."
- "Dell PowerStore does not have features that specifically cater to the needs of our company or industry that are outstanding among others, but reliability is crucial, and ease of management is also important."
What is our primary use case?
We use Dell PowerStore for all of our file storage and our local storage in general. We have all of our VMs running on it, data backups, and file storage is a big thing for us, with everything else in the cloud.
What is most valuable?
The features of Dell PowerStore that I appreciate the most are that it just works; it's tried and true and amazing, and we never have to worry about it.
A lot of the interface is very clean and easy to use, making it very easy to get done what we need to get done.
One of the benefits I have seen from using Dell PowerStore is ease of use. While it is one of the biggest things, another huge benefit is that we have implemented other solutions and had issues with them—hardware, software, whatever it may be—and we don't have those issues using Dell PowerStore; it just works and is very reliable.
What needs improvement?
How Dell PowerStore could be better or improved is still to be determined with AI. Currently, it suits many of our needs, and there isn't much to want out of it because they are very good and innovative with their solutions.The first thing that comes to mind for improvement would be education. While I know that some educational resources exist, knowing about them would be beneficial, and if I dealt more with our representative to get more education on some aspects, that would be helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Dell PowerStore off and on for 15 years, and recently, for the last two years, we have gone back with Dell PowerStore.
How are customer service and support?
If I would give a rating to Dell support on a scale of one to 10, it would be close to a 10. Ten is hard because that's perfect and nobody's perfect, but I would say it's up there, around eight or nine for sure, as they are always very helpful and responsive.
What would make it a 10 is hard to say since that's a perfect score, but it ticks many of our boxes and we really enjoy working with Dell. I don't have anything negative to say.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before we decided to go with Dell PowerStore, we did consider other solutions and used to have a different solution. Then it caused problems, so we ended up going back with Dell and implementing Dell PowerStore.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on my investment in Dell PowerStore. One of the biggest ways is through time savings; we don't have to mess with Dell PowerStore as it just works, and that in itself is a huge ROI.
Comparing Dell PowerStore to our previous solution, we have significantly decreased our time spent on management.
Annually, we used to spend considerable time configuring, reconfiguring, troubleshooting, and contacting support because things weren't working. It's night and day using Dell PowerStore—we don't do any of that, which is great.
What other advice do I have?
Whether Dell PowerStore supports our AI initiatives is to be determined, as we have been figuring out how we are going to implement these technologies. What we are planning to do with AI in the context of Dell PowerStore is still undecided since it's a new technology, but we are exploring options. Dell PowerStore does not have features that specifically cater to the needs of our company or industry that are outstanding among others, but reliability is crucial, and ease of management is also important.
I see Dell products growing with our future needs. I feel very comfortable with the scalability of the Dell PowerStore solution for our long-term plans. I can expand and keep using, and scale what we need to do. We don't have any performance metrics or benchmarks in place to measure success with Dell PowerStore; uptime is significant, and it has been great.
For the size of our company, Dell PowerStore has supported our growth and operational success very well. Dell as a whole has been awesome, always there to support us. We are working on a PC refresh right now, and our representative has been very helpful, always a phone call away.
On a scale of 1-10, I rate Dell PowerStore a 9.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Apr 16, 2026
Flag as inappropriateInfrastructure architect at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Streamlines deployment and frees up staff with user-friendly solutions
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Dell PowerStore is the ease of deployment and general use."
- "I wish there were more options to fine-tune things. Some of the information requires deeper investigation to get data efficiency per data store."
What is our primary use case?
My use case for Dell PowerStore is virtualization and primary data storage.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Dell PowerStore is the ease of deployment and general use. The ease of use of Dell PowerStore means that we don't have to have as many storage admins, and general people can now use it as opposed to just having specialized teams for that.
Dell PowerStore has freed up staff to do other things, and they don't have to focus as much on the care and feeding of things on a day-to-day basis. We save approximately 40 man-hours a month, which is significant.
What needs improvement?
Some of the issues I have with Dell PowerStore are more gripes than actual issues. I wish there were more options to fine-tune things. Some of the information requires deeper investigation to get data efficiency per data store.
I would rather see this as one holistic view, instead of having to dive down to each one to find where a data store is not performing as well as desired.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell PowerStore since 2020.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Dell PowerStore has been very reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think Dell PowerStore can grow, especially because we've done in-place upgrades. We've gone from a 1000T to a 3200 live, so we were able to increase the generation from Generation 1 to Generation 2, and then also increase the performance envelope by changing out the controller.
How are customer service and support?
I have used customer services for Dell PowerStore. It has been very favorable. Most of the customer service we've dealt with has been out of Oklahoma for the mid-range tier products, and I've had really good interactions with them over the years.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Dell PowerStore, we were still Dell customers, using Compellent and Unity. We migrated over to Dell PowerStore as an option.
How was the initial setup?
Dell PowerStore is mature now, though we were very early adopters and dealt with different teething pains. It's a mature product now and the ease of use and incremental scalability makes it very attractive for mid-enterprise teams. It fits a wide envelope of use cases, from basic standpoint to high-performance workload that can run without any issues.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am familiar with the pricing and licensing of Dell PowerStore. The pricing is currently difficult due to global circumstances. The initial attraction was ease of expansion, one thing at a time, but with tariffs there's a lot of fluctuation. The pricing itself is fine, and the fact that we can expand one drive at a time makes it easier to manage capital expenses versus investing in an entire big array.
What other advice do I have?
My overall rating for Dell PowerStore is eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Apr 16, 2026
Flag as inappropriateAnalista De Suporte Senior 4 at iLand Soluções
High-performance storage has supported critical projects and now delivers flexible capacity growth
Pros and Cons
- "Dell PowerStore is a great machine for storage with big performance when data is needed."
- "There are some issues in the firmware and operational system for Dell PowerStore, such as certificate issues from legacy firmwares."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Dell PowerStore are running mission-critical production workloads where low latency, high IOPS, and predictable performance matter. Most deployments are for virtualization platforms (e.g., VMware vSphere) hosting mixed workloads such as application servers, databases, and general VM farms.
I also use it for storage modernization and consolidation projects, replacing legacy arrays, improving performance, and simplifying operations, while keeping room for easy scale-out/scale-up capacity growth as demand increases.
How has it helped my organization?
Dell PowerStore has had a positive impact mainly in performance, stability, and operational efficiency.
Better performance and consistency: we’ve seen lower latency and more predictable behavior for mixed workloads, especially in virtualized environments, which improves overall application responsiveness.
Reduced operational friction: provisioning and day-to-day management are straightforward, and scaling capacity is typically an online, low-risk process—so it’s easier to evolve the environment without disrupting production.
Improved consolidation/modernization: in modernization projects, PowerStore helped simplify the storage footprint while delivering a more modern all-flash platform and a cleaner operational model.
Support and reliability: when issues arise, having responsive enterprise support and a solid platform reduces downtime risk and increases confidence for critical workloads.
Overall, it helps teams spend less time “babysitting storage” and more time focusing on delivering services to the business.
What is most valuable?
Consistent performance with low latency (all-flash NVMe architecture): it handles demanding mixed workloads very well, especially in virtualized environments where “noisy neighbors” can be a problem.
Simple, online scalability: expanding capacity is typically straightforward and doesn’t require disruptive operational steps, which is critical for production.
Modern, easy-to-manage platform: the management experience is clean and the overall day-to-day operations (provisioning, monitoring, maintenance routines) are efficient for infrastructure teams.
Strong support experience: when something needs attention, Dell support tends to be responsive and effective, which matters a lot in critical environments.
What needs improvement?
PowerStore is already a strong platform, but I’d like to see improvements mainly in operational maturity and automation, especially for large or mission-critical environments:
CloudIQ / APEX: more actionable insights
Fewer generic alerts and more “what to do next” guidance, better root-cause correlation, smarter prioritization, and clearer remediation steps.
Upgrade experience: stronger guardrails and pre-checks
More robust pre-upgrade validation, clearer impact analysis, and safer/cleaner workflows to increase confidence, particularly in conservative environments (e.g., healthcare).
Proactive lifecycle and certificate management
Better built-in visibility and notifications for certificate/lifecycle items, with clearer guided actions to prevent surprises.
Deeper automation and API-driven operations
More ready-to-use automation examples/integrations (Terraform/Ansible style patterns), and richer API coverage for day-2 operations beyond basic provisioning.
If the next release pushes harder on these areas, it will reduce operational overhead and make the platform even more compelling for critical workloads.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell PowerStore for approximately five years.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted Dell’s technical support and customer support multiple times, and my experience has been very positive.
I can’t speak for every region, but in Brazil the local Dell support team is responsive and knowledgeable. When something is urgent, you can reach the right people quickly and get practical guidance without unnecessary back-and-forth.
That said, in rare complex or high-impact cases, resolution can take longer because the issue may need escalation to specialized teams outside the country. This is expected with enterprise products, and communication throughout the escalation process has generally been clear.
On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate Dell support a 10 based on my overall experience.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Overall, the initial setup is straightforward for an experienced infrastructure team. The deployment flow is guided and clear, and if you follow Dell’s documentation and best practices, it’s usually a smooth “step-by-step” process.
The part that can feel more complex is the upfront planning, mainly networking and host connectivity (iSCSI, NVME/FC, NVMe/TCP), multipathing, and getting the environment aligned with the customer’s standards. Once those pieces are validated, the rest of the deployment tends to be quick and predictable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
PowerStore vs Unity XT (Dell)
PowerStore – Pros: more modern all-flash NVMe platform, strong performance/latency, and a forward-looking feature direction.
PowerStore – Cons: typically positioned at a higher tier, so it may not be the best fit for simpler workloads or tighter budgets.
Unity XT – Pros: very solid and mature array, often a great fit for “general purpose” enterprise workloads, usually with a more budget-friendly positioning.
Unity XT – Cons: may not match PowerStore’s performance ceiling and modern architecture for more demanding scenarios.
What other advice do I have?
I’d rate Dell PowerStore 9 out of 10 overall.
Advice to other organizations considering PowerStore:
Validate the use case and sizing up front: be clear about performance needs, growth expectations, and workload profile (especially in virtualized environments).
Plan the connectivity properly: iSCSI/FC/NVMe-TCP design, multipathing, and networking standards make a big difference in having a smooth deployment and stable day-2 operations.
Adopt a solid upgrade/change process: in critical environments, treat firmware upgrades with proper pre-checks, a maintenance window, and, when needed, Dell support involvement.
Get value from monitoring and best practices: use CloudIQ, health checks, and recommended configurations to stay ahead of issues.
If performance, scalability, and enterprise reliability are priorities, PowerStore is a strong choice, just make sure the environment is well designed and managed with good operational discipline.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Last updated: Apr 16, 2026
Flag as inappropriateCTO at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Integrated storage has simplified growth planning but still needs better visibility and ESG insights
Pros and Cons
- "With Dell PowerStore, we have achieved twenty percent savings compared to the previous solution."
- "I would rate Dell PowerStore seven or eight out of ten. There are always areas for improvement, which I mentioned earlier."
What is our primary use case?
Dell PowerStore is mainly used for shared storage platforms in small to medium-sized environments where performance is needed, but not necessarily extreme performance, and where a robust and easy-to-use platform is required.
Dell PowerStore could cover use cases in large enterprises for specific domains where organizations want to work in silo mode and avoid high-end platforms that require substantial investments. However, it is clearly built more for small and medium-sized businesses. We use it both internally and for projects we carry out with our clients.
What is most valuable?
The features I find most valuable in Dell PowerStore are the simplicity of use and the variety of configuration choices available, which are more important to us than performance alone. We wanted integrated environments that include the server, switch, and storage components in relatively small form factors, with controlled power consumption and the ability to scale in a flexible and linear way.
Compared to previous solutions, Dell PowerStore mainly improved scalability. We realized we could make smaller upgrade steps and better support the growth of our different sites. Previously, with each storage upgrade project, we questioned whether we should replace the entire infrastructure because the costs were disproportionate. We wanted to move towards something more compatible with an OPEX model for internal re-invoicing rather than major investment projects.
Dell PowerStore helps with growth because we operate in an economic context that remains relatively tight, with a market that has shown uncertainty for at least the last eighteen months. This scalability and predictability allow us to make the right decisions when launching a project. We can determine exactly how much a project will cost in terms of infrastructure needs. We can also make it easier to launch new projects because we have scalability with relatively small steps, unlike before when major investments meant new projects might not consume all the hardware we provisioned. We had to amortize the volume, CPU capacity, and memory, which were not necessarily consumed right away, resulting in wastage relative to our investments. This situation eventually led us to favor the public cloud, and now we are returning more to what we control: on-premises and sovereign cloud.
What needs improvement?
Dell PowerStore could be improved on the recommendation and dashboard side. I would also mention overall visibility, having a single ecosystem in which we can find all of our hardware, whether it is Dell PowerStore or other Dell equipment, and ideally, third-party integrations to have complete visibility into what is happening on the different sites and to integrate it quickly into a global dashboard and single view for users and administrators. This would allow us to know where we stand in terms of capacity planning and performance. A section on corporate social responsibility and energy consumption with advice on what we could improve compared to new hardware and new disk formats that could reduce our footprint would also be beneficial.
I would rate Dell PowerStore seven or eight out of ten. There are always areas for improvement, which I mentioned earlier. However, it does meet day-to-day needs. What we would like is perhaps more visibility, especially on the corporate social responsibility aspect, which is becoming important as we are being pushed for increasingly detailed annual reports covering power consumption, CO2 emissions during operation, emissions during production, and transport costs. Software-based optimizations that help us gain efficiency on the storage side would also be valuable. These optimizations could tell us how much less we consume compared to traditional equipment and how much more storage we provide per square meter. Those are things that could be interesting.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell PowerStore for approximately six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Dell PowerStore is rather stable as a system and reliable. When there are disks to replace or cards, it is done on time. I believe we have good support from Dell. The support teams handle that part effectively.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have not used technical support for Dell PowerStore on these environments, or if we did, it was not for major, crippling incidents. Any questions that arose were handled by the internal technical teams.
How are customer service and support?
The good relationship we have with Dell today and the partnership we have developed with them, both for our internal uses and for our external customers, made us choose Dell PowerStore in the end.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We looked at other solutions that are perhaps a bit more low-cost before choosing Dell PowerStore. We evaluated solutions mainly for file use cases, such as QNAP or Synology, and for slightly more machine-hosting needs, we looked at DataCore as well.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment experience with Dell PowerStore is relatively simple, consistent with all Dell products. We have teams who have been trained on these technologies since the EMC days, so we are in continuity with what we have known previously.
What about the implementation team?
We have teams who have been trained on these technologies since the EMC days, so we are in continuity with what we have known previously. There was good support from the internal teams with real expertise, and the product remains fairly simple nonetheless.
What was our ROI?
With Dell PowerStore, we have achieved twenty percent savings compared to the previous solution. The savings are mainly on the upgrade thresholds. It is hard to provide a definitive ROI figure because it is more about savings and flexibility that we have gained. For us, there is a real simplification in terms of administration time and a direct saving. We would need to push the analysis further, and that is why we are waiting for those metrics on energy consumption.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We bought Dell PowerStore because it suited us, so I do not really have any comment to make on the price. After all, it is always too expensive, but that is the argument of a buyer.
What other advice do I have?
Around eighty percent of our remote sites are equipped with this type of machine, which is what makes the solution successful, with a total cost of ownership that has perhaps been optimized by twenty to twenty-five percent compared to what we had before. The main gains are on the upgrade steps where we gain financial agility. The overall rating for this review is seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Last updated: Apr 16, 2026
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Updated: April 2026
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