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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Dell Unity XT Unified Storage

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/ADell Unity XT hybrid flash arrays are storage systems for running general purpose workloads that do not require the low latencies and speed of all flash/NVMe architectures. Unity XT hybrid flash arrays balance performance, efficiency, features or outcomes.N/A

    Windows Server

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AN/AN/A
    Pricing
    Dell Unity XT Unified StorageWindows Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Dell Unity XT Unified StorageWindows Server
    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
    Community Pulse
    Dell Unity XT Unified StorageWindows Server
    Considered Both Products
    Dell Technologies
    Chose Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
    We acquired Unity as a replacement for our VNXe3200, due to hardware limitations, low performance, lack of features such as auto-tiering, and also its EOL.
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    82%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    98%
    Would buy again
    44 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    42 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    17 Answers
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    12 Answers
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    38 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    14 Answers
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    42 Answers
    Features
    Dell Unity XT Unified StorageWindows Server
    Enterprise Flash Array Storage
    Comparison of Enterprise Flash Array Storage features of Dell Unity XT Unified Storage and Windows Server
    Feature
    Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
    9.3
    16 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Windows Server
    -
    Ratings
    Flash Array Performance10.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Flash Array Integration10.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Compression9.013 Ratings00 Ratings
    Non-Intrusive Upgrades9.016 Ratings00 Ratings
    Simplicity9.016 Ratings00 Ratings
    Power Savings9.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Operating System
    Comparison of Operating System features of Dell Unity XT Unified Storage and Windows Server
    Feature
    Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
    -
    Ratings
    Windows Server
    7.8
    5 Ratings
    11% below category average
    File Management00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Software Application Management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    System Update Frequency00 Ratings6.65 Ratings
    Operating System Security00 Ratings7.65 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Dell Unity XT Unified StorageWindows Server
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Dell Compellent (discontinued)
    Score8 out of 10
    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Everpure FlashArray
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Dell Unity XT Unified StorageWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (21 ratings)
    9.2
    (68 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    9.2
    (12 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    6.4
    (19 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Dell Unity XT Unified StorageWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Dell Technologies
    Dell EMC Unity is an easy system and very flexible component and very easy to navigate while providing effective services and management of multiple project information management and the data pulling from the supported third-party platform is easy and quick. Excellent reporting features and easy to use and the analytics tools are amazing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Windows Server and Active Directory is very robust and stable, it has been a staple in every IT environment I have worked in during my career. Junior to Intermediate admins can learn Windows Server easily, the user interfaces make administration tasks very easy as well as the documentation available through a vast amount of resources. There are other Operating Systems available with no GUI which has a smaller attack surface, faster update installation and reboot time. Windows Server does have the ability to remove the desktop experience, however it is not something I have had experience with and I believe most administrators choose not to remove it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Dell Technologies
    • Enables you to create multiple copies of any database.
    • Data savings feature with compression.
    • Integrity with VMWare, RHEL, Oracle.
    • The best option is a midrange unified storage array in a customer environment.
    • Some models support NMMe.
    • Copy Data Management (iCDM), Data-At-Rest-Encryption (D@RE).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Backup of workstations & itself - reliably, consistently, with Bare-Metal Restore and deduplication
    • File management and Security on a per file/folder/user basis is simple and fully done through an easy GUI
    • DNS, DHCP server functions are easy to configure using the built-in GUI
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Dell Technologies
    • Alerting: receiving an alert when an issue occurs. That is good to know. However, if the alert is cleared, or somehow no longer in alarm, no email is received. At times I will receive the email alert on weekends, not knowing if the issue is resolved or not until Monday when I can access the unit. I have learned in most instances, the alert is a false alarm, which could be a problem.
    • The alerting itself is sometimes not clear. For example, it tells me the link is down, we reset the connection, the link is still down, a tech was dispatched, he troubleshot, and finally the alarm cleared. This incident took almost a week. It went back into alarm after he left, then suddenly it cleared on its own.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft needs to minimize the update frequency by making the product more secure. It can become very exhausting trying to keep updated if you don't have a dedicated support team. It can become challenging where the business is unable to allow downtime for reboots as part of the update process.
    • Prone to security and audit vulnerabilities.
    • The operating system needs more CPU and memory resources compared to other options such as Linux.
    • Understanding the licensing model can be abit confusing.
    • Comes with a standard firewall, but not the most secured one available. Would suggest using a more secured firewall as part of your antivirus software.
    • Due to the number of vulnerabilities and the operating system being a target for hackers, anti-virus software is a must.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    I've carefully reviewed the servers and services currently running on Windows Server 2012, and given the opportunity would renew them as is going forward. There are two systems I currently have in place, one is a very large Linux implementation for a large ecommerce site, and one is a very large backup solution front ended by FTP servers running Linux. Neither are well suited for Windows, but the overall network infrastructure is and will be Windows Server for the foreseeable future.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Dell Technologies
    The Unity was easy to connect, set up and maintain
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Anyone new to IT could easily use the familiar Desktop Experience (GUI) version because we all know how to use Windows, whether a client or server version. Once an IT user is more comfortable with the operating system, they can move on to the Core version, which is the way to go in almost all situations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    some times server hungs and user sessions were busy to connect
    Read full review
    Performance
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    need to improve the performance more
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Dell Technologies
    Dell EMC Unity, in my honest opinion, is basically an all-flash VNX with a better interface. There is ZERO innovation coming out of EMC. If you want a company that's going to give you good support and be proud of their product instead of their profit margin, I strongly urge you to look elsewhere as there are better and more innovative products in the marketplace.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft's support is hugely wide-ranging from articles online to having to contact them directly for the more serious issues. In recent years when I have contacted them directly, I have found the support o be excellent as I have found myself connected to very knowledgeable people in the field in which I needed the support. The online support available is vast and I tend to find most of the time that there is always someone out there who has had the same issue as me in the past and knows something about how to resolve it! This is the advantage of using industry standard and long-established systems such as Windows Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    it was my senior who trained Windows Server features and i was satisfied
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    it was recorded session and useful
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Make sure that you have detailed processes in place for every server instance you plan to install/upgrade, if possible get the base OS loaded and Windows Updates applied ahead of time, and if using a VM take a snapshot prior to installing each role, as well as along the way.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Dell Technologies
    I was instructed to buy these arrays, but I was not given the opportunity to evaluate other arrays. We evaluated other products in the market that competed with Unity and found that the younger array built from scratch had far better features, software, and ease of use. The Unity system has a unique way of storing the data when compared with other systems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    They are different experiences, and while the other solutions offer enterprise-grade stability and, in some cases, address Windows server shortcomings (such as patching), they all do the trick, but the other solutions require a deeper technical background/configuration of items at the command line, which some people are not fully comfortable with.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    need to reduce a lot
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    yes i completely agree multi deployment
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    i like the professional service but need to improve
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Dell Technologies
    • Less business downtime and reliability is a major business concern. DELL EMC UNITY addresses this concern well and provides robust storage.
    • Investing in UNITY system is less expensive than all-flash storage systems.
    • Managing and provisioning VMware disks became simpler from a single interface in the Vcenter
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Ability to keep all files in one place and give access to users makes file management easy to control.
    • VPN Access to off-site users is a plus.
    • Secure access to on-site SQL data from our accounting and estimating data is a plus.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots