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Cisco Storage Area Networking vs. Dell Compellent (discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Storage Area Networking

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AThe vendor states that the Cisco MDS 9000 multilayer SAN switches can help lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) of storage environments. They combine what the vendor describes as a robust, flexible hardware architecture with multiple layers of network and storage-management intelligence. With them, users can build highly available, scalable storage networks with advanced security and unified management.N/A

    Dell Compellent (discontinued)

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ASince it's acquisition in 2011 Compellent became a Dell product line of storage solutions (e.g. Dell Compellent Storage Center). Compellent products became part of the Dell EMC SC Series of enterprise flash and SAN storage devices and are now EOL.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Storage Area NetworkingDell Compellent (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Storage Area NetworkingDell Compellent (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Cisco Storage Area NetworkingDell Compellent (discontinued)
    Enterprise Flash Array Storage
    Comparison of Enterprise Flash Array Storage features of Cisco Storage Area Networking and Dell Compellent (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Storage Area Networking
    -
    Ratings
    Dell Compellent (discontinued)
    8.3
    3 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Flash Array Performance00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Flash Array Integration00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Data Compression00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Non-Intrusive Upgrades00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Simplicity00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
    Power Savings00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Storage Area NetworkingDell Compellent (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    NetApp FAS Storage Arrays
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Everpure FlashArray
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    HPE 3PAR StoreServ
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Everpure FlashArray
    Score8.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Storage Area NetworkingDell Compellent (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Storage Area NetworkingDell Compellent (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    The best scenario where we found the Cisco Storage Area Networking is best suited is for an architecture where we need a robust technology that provides high level SLAs regarding downtime due to maintenance activities. Our infrastructure provides the core to our Data analytics team, which provides the data needed for our commercial and management leaders to make the right decisions thanks to the data. We need our infrastructure to be robust and reliable, when it runs smoothly, we can focus on other aspects of IT Infrastructure areas, giving our inside business clients the service they need.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    All in all this series great in addressing issues applications that need flash storage as a backend storage supply. It addresses the need for fast, responsive servers that need to boot quickly. It is easy to use and for the most part there are few issues and none that can't be addressed/fixed quickly.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • Zoning
    • High MTBF
    • Buffer Credits
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Dell Compellent support (Co-Pilot) and the add-on service (Optimize) are critical services that Dell Compellent does very well. Alerts from the array are sent to Co-Pilot where tickets are automatically generated and customers are notified of events. Of greater importance at times is the proactive support Co-Pilot and Optimize provide by contacting us of inefficiencies in the array and consulting on resolutions.
    • Enterprise Manager (Dell's "single pane of glass" management framework) is a useful tool for configuration/evaluation of the array and other Compellent products.
    • Ease of management. From firmware upgrades to managing server volumes the process is much simpler than with other arrays.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Cisco
    • Licensing
    • Lack of GUI
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • The GUI could be a little more updated with a lot more information regarding usage.
    • There could be some assistance with high I/O times where snapshots go to consolidate. There seems to be issues when that attempts to occur, and there will times where the virtual machine stuns due to the I/O intensity.
    • Modification of multiple volumes or the creation of multiple volumes is a pain in the DSM management console.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Cisco
    My rating of Cisco Storage Area Networking is a solid 10 regarding low-latency network is due to the high needs our data analysis teams need on their tasks. They have a lot of batch jobs that last quite some time and that also overlaps in a series of periods during the day. Their batch jobs need to run flawlessly, so our commercial teams can make the right decisions right on time. Our data also needs to be backed, up, when we run backup jobs, it is important that they do not decrease the efficiency regarding the service. This is also a key point in our choice to use Cisco Storage Area Networking as our backbone.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    This is not solely based on the support engineers themselves but more so that the logging and gotcha's that their array has. There have been multiple times where logs are pulled, but the folder is not large enough, and it crashes the array. Other times there are certain aspects that support either does not know of or isn't knowledgable about how to look at particular issues that could be causing problems.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We looked at the Brocade G series and IBM SAN switches, but the seamless integration into our AAA suite and availability of skills in our local market were big factors. We also have these deployed in FlexPod and VxBlock environments, which the reference architectures provide additional confidence in the solutions overall compatibility, supportability and sustainability.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    We selected Compellent solely based on price. Honestly I would rate it only slightly better than a QNAP we used (which was even cheaper). If performance and reliability are factors in your decision (and they should be) I would recommend looking at something like a VNXe.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    We have not reviewed this product's overall security vs others but have not noticed any issues.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Enhanced reliability and minimized downtime.
    • Ensuring continuous data availability.
    • New business model that change CAPEX into OPEX with an evergreen equipment maintenance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • The SC9000 has been able to serve our current and futures needs well enough to not need to upgrade anytime soon.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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