Dell PowerScale vs. Dell PowerVault Disk Backup and Discovery (DL, TL & ML Series)

EMC Isilon Scale-Out NAS is well suited for larger files (greater the 128 Kb) and where you need to have everything in one common name space. Where it is less appropriate is for many small files (millions of files less than 128 Kb in size) - this causes the protection level to becoming mirroring, which will cost more space.

Incentivized

For small to medium sided environments, it's great, or for low demand but being able to hit higher IOPS on demand. It's still entry-level compared to EqualLogic hardware but a great contender in the field.

Incentivized

• NAS Storage
• Capacity and Performance details of the array
• Alert and Operations details

Incentivized

• Tape Solution
• Small Business Solution
• Good for direct attached storage purposes like video security.

Incentivized

• Some upgrades require the entire cluster to be rebooted simultaneously. In this day and age, that should not be necessary. This is my biggest disappointment with Isilon to date.
• When using multiple storage pools you have to be very careful with your capacity management. Filling up one pool can cause an overflow of data to a pool that is less performance driven. Do not underestimate your capacities or you will find yourself in a tight spot.
• Block size is almost always an issue with Isilon. It does not handle all types of data well. In many cases PACS and VNA data is best to be stored on a different storage platform that will utilize the capacity more efficiently that Isilon is capable of.
• Deduplication seems to be less efficient on Isilon than on other platforms for similar types of data.

Incentivized

• Maintenance is tough. Dell recommends bringing the unit down for any kind of maintenance of upgrades.
• Internal IOPS monitoring could be greatly improved.
• Arrays are locked down to Dell licensed disks.

Incentivized

Raw disk space vs. logical disk space ratio was significantly better on the Isilon. Fast cache using SSD drives for faster searching is available on the Isilon but not available on the Overland solution. Isilon solution included faster backend switching between nodes.

Incentivized

couple vendors but nothing to write home about....

Incentivized

• Isilon provides very high value for money
• Matches the performance and storage requirements of the arrays
• EMC provides very skillful and high response team in case of any issues in isilon

Incentivized

• If you need a lot of disks attached to a system, PowerVault is the way to go.
• The cost of the unit is reasonable, and you can extend the life of the unit pretty far.

Incentivized