Dell EqualLogic PS series Reviews

This is like a primary storage area for all our machines. We have a virtual environment where we have a number of virtual machines and a number of ESX hosts. We are in basically a VM-ware environment. Therefore, we have ESX hosts there, and those hosts are connected. All the virtual machines and user data and everything is stored on this.

The solution offers very good read capacities.

The size of the box we have is pretty decent.

The speed on offer is very good. 

We've found the initial setup to be fairly straightforward.

Dell's technical support is very good.

The number one is probably the scalability potential of the product. If I need to increase the capacity, I cannot. That's the main problem for us. If I need to have more space or more capacity, I need to replace the product. It would be ideal if we could scale without replacing the box itself.

We've been using the solution for the past six years at this point. I would say that it's been a good amount of time. 

The product is quite stable. We've used it for many years at this point without issue. It doesn't crash or freeze. There aren't bugs or glitches. It's reliable.

The solution does not scale well at all. It's a box, so we only have so much space to work with. If you need more space, you need to replace it with a bigger box.

Depending on which project we are working on, we have about 150-200 people who use the solution. While it may just be something that's in the background, everyone is using it.

Right now technical support is not under Dell's support as Dell just supports the solution for up to five years. After that, we have to get support from a third party.

While we did have Dell support, it was great. We were extremely satisfied with their level of service. Third party support has its limitations, to be honest. However, we're basically just using them to get hardware replacements and not software support.

We're currently on the hunt for a solution that would offer lower pricing.

The initials setup is not complex at all. It's pretty straightforward. We found it to be easy. We didn't run into difficulties.

Most are very easy setups compared to the technology that was available six years ago. They've really improved a lot of the setup since then.

Deployment is pretty fast. You can have everything up and running within a week or two.

We pay for licensing on a monthly basis.

Over the six years we've had the solution, the pricing has been rather reasonable. That said, we're always looking for solutions that allow us to lower costs.

We're just customers. We don't have a business relationship with Dell. 

We're working with model PS 4100.

While this is an older model, and technically no longer available, Dell does have other great models that are very useful. I'd definitely recommend this solution is the environment was the right fit.

In general, I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

On-premises

• We ran a large data housing solution that contained billions of data files. 
• We also used the product for VM storage and file server storage.
  

When initially purchased, it brought enterprise-class features to our systems. Very solid manageability and the product worked well with few technical or hardware issues. The performance was never very good, and its latency was higher than expected.

• Enterprise features for snapshot management and replication benefited us greatly.
• The ability to quickly view and select from snapshots allowed us to restore data very quickly.
• Replication allowed us to move data from one data center to another with ease.
  

• Performance and vision for the product were lacking. 
• DELL was taking on too many storage solutions, and it felt like the EqualLogic series was not aggressively supported.

More than five years.

The Dell EqualLogic PS series is a network-attached storage device.

Dell EqualLogic PS series could improve the performance because in our hybrid configuration the read speed is faster than the write speed.

I have used the Dell EqualLogic PS series within the last 12 months.

Dell EqualLogic PS series is a highly stable solution.

The scalability of the Dell EqualLogic PS series is very good, we had no issues.

The technical support from the Dell EqualLogic PS series is excellent.

The initial setup of the Dell EqualLogic PS series is very simple.

The number of people needed to maintain the solution depends on how many of them you have. If you have 100 Dell EqualLogic PS series devices, then you need more people to administer them. However, it has less to do with maintenance; it is more for administration.

Dell EqualLogic PS series was at its end of life and was replaced by Compellent, and Compellent will be at its end-of-life soon.

I would recommend others to choose Compellent because it is much better than the Dell EqualLogic PS series and is the next step in evolution.

I rate the Dell EqualLogic PS series a ten out of ten.

It is shared storage for VMware.

It was necessary to enable a lot of the advanced functions of VMware.

When we bought it, we were attracted by the flexibility of being able to put in a new shelf whenever we needed to, to expand.

They may already have a product, but I would be interested in either hybrid-flash or possibly an all-flash option.

More than five years.

Three of the four devices have been rock solid, and one of them had a string of issues that we eventually resolved. Overall, pretty good.

Scalability is pretty good.

Technical support has been good to us.

We used NetApp for a while, but we hated the interface. That is why we switched.

When selecting a vendor, at this point I am looking for someone who can talk technical stuff with me, not just throw a storage number at me and then expect me to figure everything out.

It was pretty straightforward. The first time around, we didn't completely understand how much space we were going to need for things like Snapshots and replication. So we didn't buy enough storage the first time.

Licensing is pretty straightforward.

I would give this solution an eight out of 10. It's pretty straightforward most of the time, and tech support is there when it's not straightforward. I'm giving them a knock for having had that string of hardware problems.

The biggest hangup for us was knowing how much disk translates into how much actual space you have, when you're done doing the setup.

- Great performance for the price - Fantastic scalability via stackable scale-out units - Management interface is simple to use and understand - All tools and add-ons are included in the produce support, including future tooling releases - Support is always terrific - In seven+ years of using Equallogic, I have experienced ZERO unplanned outages on at least fifty arrays

- The price of any good iSCSI array is prohibitive for small businesses - Higher price than other competitors in the same space, but the product is superior

I have been using Equallogic arrays for myself and my customers for over seven years now, and they continue to be my gold standard for SMB storage. In my years of using these arrays, I continue to be impressed with their products, performance, configurations, and support.

a. A true virtualized storage system or enterprise storage system for capacity/data level virtualization. b. Performance increased with capacity if additional array included with existing deployment (Scale up architecture). c. Firmware compatibility across models and generations. Virtualization can be done with any generation and any feature model. d. All included application model. Need not to worry about application selection or pricing. Even if any new application/functionality included into PS Series platform in future that will also be entitled for current system.

a. Only iSCSI interface. No choice for Fiber Channel connectivity. Have to select either 1G or 10G connecting iSCSI interfaces. b. Have to buy at pre-configured capacity models. Cannot buy 1 or 2 disks to increase existing capacity. c. Limitations to mix different types of disk (SSD, SATA, SAS) into same enclosure. d. Higher price at entry level systems compared to competition. For larger deployment price becomes more than competitive.

a. Equallogic PS series arrays are the best suited storage platform for mid to high level enterprises. b. Cost of acquisition may seem to be higher but TCO is lower when compared for the high capacity deployments for virtualized environment. c. A very easy to use interfaces and easy to use wizard based configuration. d. PS Series comes with embedded 24x7 supports from Dell to ensure zero system downtime.

We use it for virtual machines and data. It performed well but it's end-of-life now. We have to refresh everything. It's still working but it's end of support for the product.

It did what it was supposed to do and it worked well. 

High availability. It has a lot of redundancy and good management software as well as good alerting.

Some of the new features include what they call auto-tiering, where data that needs to be on a faster storage, it would automatically detect that and move it to the faster storage or the most frequently accessed area. Data that doesn't move that much or is not accessed that often would go on a slower storage. It's more efficient, helps a company to maximize what they spend. This kind of storage costs a lot of money; they build that into the newer functionality and into newer SANs.

If you are going to go with all-flash then it's very expensive but it has a lot of performance benefits and a lot of improvement in reliability. Some companies can afford leading edge. My company cannot afford leading edge, so we probably have to go one generation below.

It's very stable. We have had no issues.

You have to determine your size as a company, if you're a small business, medium, or enterprise. The model that we bought was scaling to about a small- to medium-size business, but they give you enterprise functionality. That was the EqualLogic. But if we were bigger or we planned to grow or acquire, we probably would have selected Compellent or some other product line.

You have to make sure you buy the right fit for you to scale because if you're a small company and you don't plan to expand, then this is a solution for you. If you plan to grow, then you need to buy a different model or different solution.

The one that we're buying now is a unified storage solution. It's kind of expensive when you buy the EqualLogic solution because, as you grow, you have to keep buying another controller. It can be more expensive with time.

At the end of the day, you have to remember that every three to five years you have to toss this equipment away and buy a new one. You don't want to overspend.

The support was excellent. When there are alerts, they would get them and they would be on it right away, and they would send a technician to replace. If there was a hard drive that failed or controller that failed, they would send a technician. It was always up, never down. Very good support.

We have alerts. Then the lifecycle refresh time came up, end-of-life. Now, you can continue getting support from a third-party who would support for 10 years after the end-of-life. What triggered us to make a change is the fact that we're running our production data on equipment that is no longer supported by the manufacturer.

When selecting a vendor support is key, support and part-availability. The features, they are important too, but the most important thing to me and to us is the fact that, if there is a problem, the company will support you. Dell does an excellent job of support.

We had HPE before. In my country, the local support vendor of HPE wasn't as diligent as Dell, but that may be different in another jurisdiction. I'm in the Bahamas, so if I was in America maybe I would have a different opinion.

I was involved in the initial setup. It was straightforward.

The last five to seven years we went with Dell and they are a good vendor so we continued with them. The only difference is that EMC products have been acquired by Dell. 

It's now end-of-life, end of support, so we're shopping around for a replacement. With all this technology, they only have a lifespan of three to five years and then new features and new functionality come along. New speed. The new ones perform at much faster speed, so you have to change everything often.

I'd give the EqualLogic solution a seven out of 10. It is an entry-level SAN for the enterprise. We're a small business. The price point was good for us and it's scalable; we could buy as many modules as we need, as we grow. They work together. The management of it is good but it can't go higher than a seven because, like I say, it's entry-level. It doesn't have all the functionality and features of some of the more expensive ones. But again, based on the budgets we have to work with, it was the best we could afford.

It has contributed to the implementation of virtualization and all its benefits.

• Reliability
• Ease of implementation
• Performance

1. Why is it not possible for both controllers to be simultaneously active (load balancing)?
2. The searchable online documentation is missing.

More than five years.

None.

Not yet.

I can't say as we have had no significant issues.

No previous company. We migrated from a PS4110.

Initial setup was straightforward. We had an EqualLogic course.

It is a fair price.

We evaluated NetApp and EMC.

Be sure the product is suitable, the warranty is guaranteed, and technically, use a disk (RAID) calculator for sizing.