Dell SC Series Initial Setup
It's gotten better over the years. Initially, back in '08, it was very complex. Nowadays, it's a lot more simple and easier to deploy depending on which model you purchase, too. Some models are easier to deploy than others. I would say, for the most part, it's pretty simple.
There is no complexity in the setup. It's very straightforward. A company shouldn't have any issues with the setup process.
View full review »DW
Don Woodward
Solutions Consultant at BlueAlly Technology Solutions
I'm a certified SC Storage Engineer and when our company sells the SC Series, I will go out and install it. I've been doing it for a long time so I can do a lot of the stuff with my eyes closed now.
It's not something that an end-user is going to pull out of the box and set up. You have to some knowledge of the SAS chaining, how it works with the Compellent, and how you load the software and how to set it up. It does have a pretty easy GUI on the setup. It's not command-line-based like some other stuff. The SAS chaining is the hardest part to understand.
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Dell SC Series vs. Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform
March 2024
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell SC Series vs. Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
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JK
JAEJUNG KIM
Managing Director at Insunginfo
The setup is easy comparatively and I would rate it seven out of ten.I engaged in researching vendor reports and comparing outputs with other options. I also attend vendor seminars to gather knowledge. So, while I'm responsible for the necessary preparation leading up to deployment, I'm not directly engaged in the deployment process itself.
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Micheal Laggis
Senior Solutions Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
The 3000 Series are user-installable but, as a certified installer, I have found that customers, if they're not used to the interface, like to come in and have a tutorial to see the interface and how it's done. Anything in 5000 Series and above requires a certified installer. You want to make sure that you get your networking and zoning set up properly; and to get a walk-through on setting up the environment and for getting used to it.
It does not have a steep learning curve. Especially in the SMB, the front-end is not hard. You set up the Storage Manager, it gives you the dashboard and tells you when you're over-provisioned, and shows performance and the like.
View full review »RA
SnSysAdd472
Sr. Systems Administrator Manager at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The initial setup was very easy to do. Straightforward.
View full review »Deploy SC series storage is pretty straightforward. If you've worked with other storage technologies, it's easy to adapt to SC's requirements. I rate it eight out of 10 for ease of setup. You can deploy it in a day. We are currently using two people to deploy it: a lead and a support engineer.
View full review »KS
reviewer1762782
Infrastructure Business Lead
From an acquisition perspective, it was very straightforward. From an implementation perspective, we had a little difficulty because it was a newer technology. From our admin perspective, it was not something that they were equipped with, so initially we had hiccups. However, I believe that this is fair for every new technology.
The automation part wasn't there, so we had hoped that we could automate it back in when we were acquiring it. We felt that this would've made our life easier, but we only came to realize this when we migrated our workloads from SC to the newer generation of PowerStore—it provided all the automation and everything that was missing on day one from an SC Series.
If I were to rate the initial setup on a scale from one to five, I'd put it at a four, from a technology perspective. From an internal perspective, I would rate us a three, but the shortcomings were on our end, in terms of internal skill building. The DSM, Dell Storage Manager, really came in handy, but we didn't know how to best leverage it.
View full review »BJ
Ben Jardine
Managing Director at Consult BenJ Ltd
The initial setup is fairly straightforward. It's not complex by any means.
The time it takes to deploy the solution depends on how big it is. It's difficult to say exactly how long it will take as each company is different. At the most, it might take three days, however, it depends on where it is and what has to be set up. Right from out of the box users can start putting data on the storage.
View full review »The initial setup was complex, specifically when integrating this solution with other technology. The deployment was easier and offered flexibility. Before deployment, I would suggest checking other technology to ensure there is compatibility.
DW
David Winegar
Network Admin at Jefferson County Washington
I was involved in the initial setup and it was straightforward.
View full review »JM
reviewer1297803
IT Director - Enterprise Storage and Data Protection at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The initial setup is very straightforward. It's simple and lower models are customer installable.
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Darren Norfleet
Storage Team Leader at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
In terms of the initial setup, we did two. We did the software-only and we also did the hardware. Software-only was pretty straightforward. With hardware, the challenge we had was that we're pretty siloed in our environment so we had to get networking involved. It was the complexity of the network which was difficult, to make sure we had the performance in the environment.
View full review »GR
SeniorSyf235
Senior Systems Engineer at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
I engineered the solution, architected it with their support. We have also upgraded several times.
View full review »DM
reviewer1398123
Senior Systems Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
My understanding from our engineers is that the initial setup is on the complex side. There are things that are not intuitive that make it a little more complex.
View full review »BQ
BenoitQuenet
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Compellent's setup is straightforward.
View full review »YM
Yap Ming Cur
IT Manager at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The initial setup was straightforward. Everything was done by the engineers on site. Very little was required of IT during the setup. So it was pretty easy for us.
View full review »No issues. The installation and configuration is very simple.
View full review »TN
reviewer1245675
Information Technology Operations Manager at Weber Metals
I inherited this solution when I joined the company. In terms of setting it up, we add this SAN into a VMware cluster. The initial setup is unnecessarily complex, and much more so than a solution like HPE Nimble.
View full review »GP
GaurangPatel
Technical Director at Allot Group
The initial setup is straightforward. It is complex but straightforward. It takes approximately 45 minutes to configure.
View full review »TG
Todd Grimes
IT Architect at Synoptek
The initial setup was very straightforward.
View full review »KP
KristianPalsmar
Director of Technology with 501-1,000 employees
I think that overall the setup was pretty complex. It is not something you just set up in a heartbeat. You need to do some configuration so it takes a little bit longer than just push a button to install.
View full review »AO
reviewer1515345
System Architect at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
I haven't been involved in the usage or installation of the device.
View full review »RW
Infrastr69c7
Senior IT Infrastructure Manager at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
I wouldn't say the setup was straightforward. It was complex, but it was manageable at the same time.
View full review »AP
DataCent3afe
Data Center Supervisor with 501-1,000 employees
I worked with a VAR on the initial setup of the product. It was very straightforward, very easy to bring it online.
View full review »Initially, it can be difficult since you need to understand the tiering philosophy. It is very different to normal SAN deployments, but once you understand them, they are very straightforward.
View full review »MR
Coo5678
COO at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
The initial setup was rather straightforward. Deployment took about a month for the 5000, and the SC 3000 took about a week.
View full review »JS
Infrastrb44c
Infrastructure Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The only thing that made the setup difficult were the layers of project management. I know they're going through some changes as Dell and EMC merge, but they really need to take a strong look at how project managers are deployed and what their level of knowledge is. More often than not, I'm having to run those calls.
View full review »RD
Virtualiad5e
Virtualization Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The setup was straightforward. We used Dell EMC Professional Services, and they came in. A company like ours is pretty big, so we use the vendors to come in and install things because we don't want to mess them up. They gave us the development documents, etc., so we're really happy.
View full review »MH
VirtualT40e2
Virtualization Team Leader at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The setup was pretty good. We got the support people, Professional Services people, to come in and install it. It was fine.
View full review »DH
David Hammink
System Administrator at Reuter GmbH
The initial setup was pretty straightforward, though I was not involved. A co-worker did it.
View full review »MN
reviewer1515540
Director at a tech company with 11-50 employees
Any IT company can do it. It's straightforward.
View full review »The setup and installation are much simpler now because Dell has standardized the configure process.
View full review »JM
John Mccallister
Automation at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The initial setup was straightforward.
View full review »SY
reviewer1314750
Technical Manager at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
The installation could be easier. The comparable IBM solution is much easier to install.
The process for the installation takes approximately one day.
View full review »VP
reviewer1273260
EMC Storage & Backup Implementation Specialist at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
The setup was straightforward. I implement it for my customers. It can be deployed within an hour.
You only need one person for the deployment. One person is more than enough. There's no dedicated team required.
View full review »The initial setup was straightforward, it took one day to deploy it.
The deployment model is for all cloud types.
JN
SystemEng457
System Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
The initial setup is okay.
View full review »Buyer's Guide
Dell SC Series vs. Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform
March 2024
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell SC Series vs. Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.