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Cisco MDS Series vs Dell PowerVault comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco MDS Series
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
4th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerVault
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
Fibre Channel (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Enterprise SAN category, the mindshare of Cisco MDS Series is 10.5%, up from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerVault is 11.8%, down from 28.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise SAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerVault11.8%
Cisco MDS Series10.5%
Other77.7%
Enterprise SAN
 

Featured Reviews

VK
Product Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Reliable storage networking has ensured seamless multi-protocol access and continuous redundancy
Currently, I do not have any major suggestions for improvement as everything is working well without issues. If additional functions could be introduced to simplify usage, I would suggest that AI functionality or better integration capabilities would be advantageous for Cisco MDS Series. Any new AI-related features or functionality added to Cisco MDS Series would represent a positive advancement.
Storage has supported long-term CCTV archiving and improves on-premises application performance
I think it would be good regarding how Dell PowerVault could improve to have, in addition to the excellent support service that exists, some training courses, forums, and a training school for using these tools. Many people specialize only in this kind of equipment, and others have no idea how to configure them or how they work and always end up depending on people who have spent a long time working with these systems and know how to handle them more because of experience than because of information that can be easily obtained about using this equipment. Everything regarding additional aspects that could be improved in Dell PowerVault has already been mentioned.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"This solution is required for any type of IT infrastructure for Storage Networking and provides high availability for storage service."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the devices, databases, and zoning."
"The features I found most valuable are the ease of deployment, it's easy to upgrade, easy to configure and easy to administer. There is no need for vendor professional services which saves project cost. The usage of WebUI for all primary features like hostname, IP address, SNMP traps, zone sets, addition and deletion of zone members or zone sets, backup of switch DB is very simple."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is security."
"MDS's reliability is at a high level, the issues with these switches are extremely rare, and the whole product line is very predictable and stable."
"The stability has been commendable with no major performance issues and the system consistently provides users the ability to access the network without any problems."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is its reliability, support, and scalability."
"The product is very stable and performs well."
"For customers who require entry-level storage, Dell PowerVault is an excellent choice."
"The most valuable features are stability and response time."
"Dell's technical support is excellent."
"For the video use case where expansion is sometimes required quickly, Dell PowerVault proves to be an excellent solution due to its significant capacity and scalability over time."
"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerVault is its ability to provide small to medium-range storage. It doesn't have any specific standout features, but it's great for applications, such as surveillance where a large number of videos need to be recorded and performance isn't a priority."
"It has established itself well, proven itself well, and continues to be very well received by smaller mid-sized companies."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"I would say my favorite features of Dell PowerVault are that it's pretty easy to use, it has been pretty stable, firmware updates have been pretty easy to install, and replacing a bad drive is fairly simple."
 

Cons

"Cisco MDS Series could improve by adding more gigahertz. However, they are doing this over time."
"The solution's management interface and GUI need improvement."
"Cisco MDS Series can improve by having SAN Manager with life cycle management features and Integration with 3rd party storage monitoring tools."
"Data Center Network Manager is good but it is not free and requires purchasing a separate license."
"I do not have a central management software to manage these products due to the licensing cost. It would be beneficial to have central management software for easier handling."
"I find it difficult to operate and troubleshoot."
"The licensing model could be less complicated."
"The product is very expensive."
"Dell PowerVault is block-oriented storage only."
"I would like to see improvements made to the user interface."
"The scalability is present but it is a bit complex to scale to the desired level. When we needed to increase the performance, we faced some issues."
"Dell PowerVault does not have an NFS feature. If you want to use it, you need to purchase Unity XT models for unified infrastructure."
"There is room for improvement with Dell PowerVault as we did have some promises about dedupe and compression that did not turn out as promised, but Dell trued up and gave us more storage for no cost."
"I already see disadvantages in Dell PowerVault where if we can work to increase the storage up to 10 tera, for example, this will be better."
"If we speak about the negative side of Dell PowerVault, I do see some areas for improvement."
"The negative aspect I mentioned is regarding the support; sometimes I spend a lot of time explaining issues and it is not time-effective."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing cannot be considered an advantageous trait of the solution since it is expensive. I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"The price of the Cisco MDS Series is high."
"It's perpetual licensing and maintenance is a recurrent cost."
"I rate the solution's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."
"Dell PowerVault's price is the tool's main attraction."
"The price is reasonable and we are satisfied with it."
"I rate the price of Dell PowerVault a nine out of ten."
"The product is inexpensive."
"The price of Dell PowerVault could be reduced. It is more expensive than some IBM solutions."
"I would rate the pricing model a nine out of ten, with one being expensive and ten being cheap."
"I rate the product price a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco MDS Series?
The pricing could be improved as the solution is very expensive. I am on a yearly payment basis.
What needs improvement with Cisco MDS Series?
Currently, I do not have any major suggestions for improvement as everything is working well without issues. If additional functions could be introduced to simplify usage, I would suggest that AI f...
What is your primary use case for Cisco MDS Series?
Cisco MDS Series is primarily used for connecting storage arrays. The multi-protocol feature supports all protocols and functionality working seamlessly. Virtual SANs operate without any issues. Pe...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerVault?
I do not have detailed information about the cost of Dell PowerVault. However, I believe that Dell PowerVault is much more expensive than other solutions, such as Veeam Backup, which offers better ...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerVault?
There is another solution called Veeam Backup that I believe is better than Dell PowerVault. It is an international solution that many large companies use, and it offers many more capabilities. For...
What is your primary use case for Dell PowerVault?
I was using Dell PowerVault as a backup solution. I use Backup Exec, which is an application to manage Dell PowerVault, rather than the HTML5 PowerVault Manager for ME5. Currently, I am using Dell ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco MDS 9100, Cisco MDS 9222i, Cisco MDS 9700
PowerVault
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Rugby League
Dayco, FAW Foundry, University of Cambridge, Finder, Stadtwerke Pforzheim GmbH & Co.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco MDS Series vs. Dell PowerVault and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
917,403 professionals have used our research since 2012.