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Dell EqualLogic PS Series

Score4.5 out of 10

15 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Dell EqualLogic PS Series?

Dell's EqualLogic PS Series is a line of storage appliances, from Dell.

Categories & Use Cases

Reviews

What users are saying about Dell EqualLogic PS Series.
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Ideal for non-production environments and applications with low IO demands

Incentivized
Verified User
Manager in Information Technology (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We employ multiple Storage Area Networks (SANs) throughout our infrastructure, spanning various environments. Specifically, in our testing environment, the Dell EqualLogic PS Series server functions as our SAN solution. However, in our production environment, where we require over 100 TB of storage space, we faced limitations that prevented us from deploying this particular SAN due to space constraints.

Pros

  • Easy to configure
  • Simple ISCSI connectivity
  • Easy to provision LUNs and present it to ESXi

Cons

  • The Dell EqualLogic PS Series series I utilize is not capable of being upgraded to Fiber Channel
  • Given that all disks are SAS, the likelihood of disk failure during power issues is significant
  • Not many security features

Return on Investment

  • Few years back we experienced a severe power failure that resulted in multiple reboots of the storage system within a single day. When attempting to reconnect to the storage, we were confronted with the devastating discovery that the RAID configuration had been lost. To compound the issue, a staggering eight out of the twelve disks had been flagged as faulty. The situation quickly escalated into a nightmare as we embarked on the arduous task of recovering the critical data. It was a challenging and stressful ordeal, highlighting the importance of robust contingency plans and data backup strategies in mitigating such catastrophic events.

Alternatives Considered

Azure NetApp Files

Dell EqualLogic PS Series - was great until Dell decided to kill it

Incentivized
Verified User
Director in Information Technology (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Dell EqualLogic PS Series as a secondary (mostly backups) device. The product seems to be completely abandoned by Dell (there is no Dell Virtual Storage manager for VMware vCenter 7.0+ and no recent firmware upgrades).

Pros

  • Snapshots
  • Replication

Cons

  • Performance is significantly lower than one would expect.
  • Support for VMware vVols is rudimentary.

Return on Investment

  • On the positive side, we managed to consolidate our storage and got sufficient capacity for our needs.
  • On a negative side, in my experience, there were many promises that Dell did not deliver (every time we wanted to use a specific feature that originally was mentioned as "coming soon" (e.g. compression or deduplication) we discovered that we would be forced to migrate to other models and invest a significant amount of money.

Alternatives Considered

HPE Nimble Storage

Dell EqualLogic: Enterprise level SAN with a wide range of flexibility and scalability

Incentivized
Rob BatesView profile
Public & Private Cloud 4th Line Senior Engineer in Information Technology at Creditsafe (1001-5000 employees employees)

Pros

  • Provides a hybrid mixture of SAS and SSD disks
  • Different raid levels allowed across shelves
  • Daisy chain SAN controllers

Cons

  • One SAN controller failure can lead to big issues we unfortunately learned
  • Disks tend to fail quite frequently
  • The firmware upgrading process could do with an overhaul

Return on Investment

  • Easy deployment with assistance from Dell meant a quick turn around time
  • Dell after support very good. Disk failures are dealt with quickly
  • Management of the units and ease

Alternatives Considered

Compellent and Dell PowerVault

Other Software Used

Compellent, Dell PowerVault

Dell EqualLogic PS Series Rock!

Incentivized
Troy SmithView profile
Vice President of Information Technology/Network Administrator in Information Technology at VFCU (51-200 employees employees)

Pros

  • Rock solid. A few hard drive failures over the years, but that is to be expected on a device that runs 24 hours a day.
  • Easy to configure and maintain
  • Solid redundancy. No single point of failure.

Cons

  • Be nice to use a hybrid of drives. Solid state and hard disk drives.
  • Configuration was easy, but the maintaining of it can be a little difficult. We are a small shop. The system runs great, but when it comes to increasing storage space, etc., it can be difficult because we aren't in it daily. Some options are buried pretty well, which makes it tough to find.

Return on Investment

  • Great ROI. We have been using it for 5 years, with no downtime due to equipment failures.

Alternatives Considered

Hewlett Packard

Other Software Used

VMware ESXi, PRTG Network Monitor, Ipswitch MOVEit

Dell EqualLogic - Scalability, ease-of-use and high ROI

Incentivized
Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology (51-200 employees employees)

Pros

  • iSCSI-based system that is quick to configure and set-up on the network.
  • Provisioning new LUNs and unified storage makes it straightforward to use with various systems.
  • Graphical interface is easy to use, allows for quick implementation of data pools and volumes.

Cons

  • Firmware issues sometimes hamper network connectivity across the network.
  • Pricing is more expensive than building your own network-attached storage.
  • Additional support costs for maintaining the latest software that the Dell EqualLogic runs on.

Return on Investment

  • The initial rollout of the Dell EqualLogic was quick and saved us time and money as a result.
  • Virtually zero downtime with the unit and redundant hardware is in place if an issue does arise.
  • Ability to scale the unit by purchasing larger drives, without having to purchase new hardware.

Alternatives Considered

HP StorageWorks Scalable NAS

Other Software Used

Windows Server, Google Drive, BlackBerry Enterprise Mobility Suite