Dell PowerConnect Switches Reviews

We are a small operation and don't have a so-called data center. Our requirements are not complex and we really just need a firewall for downloading material. We use 48 port units. The switches have that capability and give us enough flexibility for when the time comes to really start segregating things. The product is used extensively but it doesn't require much maintenance. I'm an IT manager and we're Dell customers. 

The most valuable feature of this product is its reliability. Dell products are generally quite reliable in terms of all the servers and the desktop. 

I think accessibility and management could be improved. It would be helpful if it could be configured on a tablet or mobile. 

It would be great if at some point they came up with some web-based GUI app that allows you to easily manage and configure your switches.  

I've been using this product for six years. 

Over the many years we've been using this solution, we've had maybe one of two issues, usually related to crashes in our network rather than problems with the solution. There haven't been any connectivity issues. 

Scalability is not an issue in this product. 

I don't think the initial setup is complex, we managed to do it ourselves without any problem. As long as all your cabling is properly numbered and you know where they lead on your patch panel, then you're okay.

There are no additional costs other than purchasing the solution which is quite reasonably priced. 

In terms of costs and reliability, they are okay. It might not be able to do more complex things so anyone looking to use the solution would need to figure out their requirements. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of 10. 

On-premises

We use the solution in our data center.

It's easy to set up. We can put it in production in a couple of minutes. 

It has excellent technical support.

It is very scalable.

The solution is stable and reliable. 

The product is very affordable.

It has everything we need. I can't think of what we would want in the next release.

I've been using the solution for more than ten years.

The product is stable. It's reliable. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze.

The solution is easily scalable. We can configure a lot of features to stack and virtual links.

Technical support is great. they are helpful and responsive. 

It's very easy to set up. It's not complicated at all. 

It's a simple product and easy and low-cost to buy.

We have a lot of products here in many versions, in different versions. We use OS 10 or OS 9. It's many different products here. 

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. I'd advise potential users to try it as it is easy to use.

On-premises

Our primary use case is we connect people to them.

They are easy to work with and very reliable.

The one issue you face in the industry there is always some planned obsolescence in these switches.

I have been working with Dell PowerConnect Switches for the past ten years.

There is high reliability since we have used them for close to twenty years and only had possibly one failure.

We do not stress out our systems and so there is very little need for extra maintenance.

The initial setup was easy you just turn them on and plug them in.

The initial cost was high but since they have lasted for over ten or twenty years they are worth it.

I would rate Dell PowerConnect Switches a ten out of ten.

We are customers of Dell and I'm a systems administrator. Our primary use case for the product is connecting the main core, the data center, with core switches. We have six floors in the building and on each floor we have two switches we connected using stack technology with a fiber network in between.

There are many valuable features - the cost was the best we found with comparable products. The technology is good and the interface is simple. We haven't had any bugs, disconnections or delays. It's good because we use it for streaming videos and things like that. There were no issues during implementation and we haven't had any issues in the time we've been using the product. 

A possible way the product could be improved would be to allow integration between other brands like HP or Cisco. It would be great if you could use the interface with more than one brand. Compatibility would be a good feature but it's unlikely to happen. 

Stacking and fiber cords would be good additional features in the next release. Because of the stackings, you lose some boards and the two switches. If they made a core cable that would be better. 

This is a new product for us and we've been using it for the last four, five months only. We're using the latest version. 

We haven't needed to contact technical support. 

In the previous project I used Sophos but it's for a different purpose with junior board switches. Now we're dealing with a security project so it's a different kind of project with different requirements. 

The initial setup was very straightforward and easy. It's a good feature in Dell switches.

Deployment throughout the building, including core switches, data switches, connecting the wires and fiber cable took about 10 days. We had two people assisting us from the vendor company and three people from our company. Initial deployment is the responsibility of the vendor. 

We evaluated numerous options before choosing Dell including Fortinet, HP and Cisco. But really it was this solution that worked given our budget and for installation, it was a good solution in terms of technical support, scalability, availability and a lot of things. It satisfied our requirements.

I would rate this product an eight out of 10. 

On-premises

The primary use case of this solution is for storage and connectivity.

The support is just so good that there is no reason to re-evaluate because of the impact on the trust structure of operations. 

There has never been a recorded event, even though we have had maybe, sixty, sixty-five, or even seventy incidents on the Proactive Care interventions data that have taken place.

I can recall at least three in the last five years, with physical outages, that were recovered without any impact on the operations. 

The most valuable features are the jumbo frames and the stacking.

Proactive care is the highest level of support contract that you can have.

Everything from A to Z is better managed with Dell Support.

Scalability, especially with the power connect series is something that you have to take into account before starting the project because any changes to an ongoing project can be difficult.

I have been using this solution for eleven years.

This solution is 100% stable. There are no issues. There are failures, but the failures are backed up. Most of our failures have been studied by Dell Proactive Care before they even occur.

If there is an issue, like a hardware failure, then the configuration is set up in a way that there is a redundancy. The redundancy is confirmed, it's then checked and double-checked.

The impact on the operation is zero.

Usually, we don't even update them. We only apply patches to the storage switches, when they go, or when they are phased out.

That's usually the only time we do any maintenance on them, because it's such a critical factor, if the storage goes down, that has a massive impact on the environment.

Generally, there is no maintenance unless it is proactive maintenance or if there is a major fault.

Scalability, especially with the power connect series is something that you have to take into account before starting the project because any changes to an ongoing project can be difficult.

The hardware has already been purchased, and the contract has already been disclosed.

Scalability is dependant on your perspective. You can add another power connector that is the same with the same details, but scalability when it comes to sizing and increasing the capacity is more difficult and more complex.

The technical support is better than Cisco's. It's awesome and better than the others.

For the knowledge-based articles, the support web page is better designed. It is more categorized and structured.

Everything from A to Z is better managed with Dell Support.

For LAN switching it's always been Cisco.

For LAN switches it's always been Cisco and for Storage Networks it's always been with Dell.

I have never mixed them.

The initial setup is straightforward with complex settings. It's not as simple as taking it out of the box and assign an IP. Some parameters need to be checked.

Dell is very good at documenting, they provide best practices, and they check to see if you have applied those setting before activating the Proactive Care support contract.

Depending on the size, the deployment takes one or two days. If you have some experience it's easy and flexible.

I would say that a client without experience could perform the setup because the command line interface is very similar to Cisco. The entry-level two thousand series are pretty straightforward. The eight thousand and higher series would require some assistance from Dell to get the latest firmware, the proper configuration, and the proper support contract.

My advice would be to go with Proactive Care.

Proactive care is the highest level of support contract that is available or provided by Dell.

I would say it's recommended, especially for the power connector for a higher level and various switches like the eight thousand series and higher. 

My advice would be to always call for Proactive Care support contracts because they will make sure you get the best service that is available.

There is no need for improvement because they are proactively maintained by Dell themselves.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

Very good value. This switch has a fairly easy to use web interface. It has nice features such as VLAN, config management, and other advanced networking features. I use a 6248 as my main switch. It handles all the traffic flawlessly and has never needed to be reset in the 4 years it has been on. My whole network consists of PowerConnect switches. They do everything I need them to.

I really haven't had any problems with these. I haven't used some of the more advanced features. For my small 100 node network, these switches have all the features I need.

If you need some advanced features and reliable core networking components at an affordable price, these switches are for you. I have used them for years now and never had any problems. Sometimes I wonder how Cisco isn't losing money to companies like Dell.

Data center and distribution

The network is very stable, except for the detail that occurred in the update where we had problems due to a command to perform mirroring

The features I've found most valuable are that the product is very easy to configure and inexpensive.

A big issue with this product is that when our customer migrated the data center, one cluster blocked the whole network and because we had a new approach, some commands were not compatible with the new version.

Around 8 years 

I would rate this solution as eight out of ten.

We are a solution provider and Dell PowerConnect Switches are one of the products that we implement for our customers. Many of the models are used to manage East-West traffic in the network. The are other models that handle traffic at the application layer.

In data centers, we generally deploy the S Series.

The most valuable feature of this solution is simplicity. They try to make everything as simple as possible. Even if you are coming into networking for the first time, it is very easy.

The GUI, web interface is very nice if you are unfamiliar with the CLI.

When it comes to the configuration, there should be documentation and interactive help available to assist people who have experience with products from other vendors. For example, if I type in a Cisco keyword then it should highlight the differences and display what steps or similar commands are required.

I have been working with Dell PowerConnect Switches for more than seven years.

These switches are reliable and we have not had problems with them. Since 2013, none of the sites that I have implemented have gone down due to issues with instability.

Dell PowerConnect Switches are very easy to scale and it can be done on the fly. It is essentially plug-and-plug, once you have the configuration replicated.

We have customers that vary in size from SME to enterprises. There are different models available depending on the size of the organization.

We handle the first level of support for our customers. However, if it is something that is beyond our capacity then we contact Dell. The support from Dell is fantastic. It is available 24 hours a day and in all regions.

I have dealt with switches from other manufacturers such as Cisco, and the Dell PowerConnect switches are easier to work with and scale. Physically, there are not so different, but the proprietary commands differentiate them. The cost of Dell is also cheaper than that of Cisco.

The initial setup is very straightforward and easy to do. If I understand the requirements and what has to go into the configuration then it will take me a maximum of 15 minutes to deploy. This is for a single switch. In a large environment, there can be many switches. If we are deploying 50 switches, for example, then we might have three engineers to do the job.

Depending on the customer's environment, it is sometimes deployed on-premises but as part of a private cloud.

We deploy these switches and other services for our customers. Our team will design the system, deploy it, and then offer support. Normally, the deployment is seamless because we plan everything in advance and know what is expected.

This solution is much cheaper than comparable products by Cisco.

Dell seems to accommodate everyone when it comes to managing these switches. The ease of use is an important selling point that has allowed them to push into the market.

My advice for anybody who is considering these switches is that they are a good product and I recommend them. There is some training available to help understand the architecture, which you should take. If you are coming from a Cisco background then you will find it very easy to integrate.

One of the things that I have learned about using this product is that there is steady development going on at all times. There are other products and technologies that are fading away, whereas this product is improving.

Another thing that I have learned about working with Dell is that they will never sell you something that is not redundant. Rather, their solutions are highly available. They don't want to have anything with a single point of failure. Essentially, the level of resiliency and redundancy is very high.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

On-premises