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Dell storage: PowerVault, PowerStore, and which one you actually need.

Dell's storage naming looks like one range and behaves like three. PowerVault is the entry tier — direct-attached shelves and small SAN arrays sold on capacity per pound. PowerStore is the unified, all-NVMe platform sold on data services. Between them sits the older MD series, which is what a lot of the installed base is still running.

16models listed
2refurbished
4generations compared

Getting this wrong is expensive in one specific direction. An expansion shelf is not an array: a PowerVault MD1420 has no controllers of its own and has to hang off something that does. A quote that puts a shelf next to an array on price alone is comparing two different objects.

The table below is the three tiers side by side — what each one is, what it speaks, and what it is for.

Three tiers, not three generations

4 steps

Figures come from the specification sheets of the Dell storage we list. These are tiers of a range rather than steps in one sequence — a newer row does not make an older one obsolete.

Expansion

PowerVault MD1420

Processor
None — an expansion chassis, not an array
Memory
Not applicable
Storage & I/O
Up to 24 x 2.5-inch SAS 12 Gb/s, up to 86.4 TB; two 12 Gb SAS modules with multipath; SFF-8644 host connection

What changed. The shelf tier: capacity attached to a controller that lives somewhere else.

What it means. The cheapest way to add disk to a server or an array that already has the controller. It cannot serve storage on its own — check what it is hanging off before you price it against an array.

Figures above are from the specification sheet of:
MD series

PowerVault MD3820i

Processor
Two hot-swappable RAID controller modules
Memory
4 GB or 8 GB of cache per controller
Storage & I/O
Up to 24 x 2.5-inch SAS 12 Gb/s, up to 86.4 TB; dual controllers, RAID 0/1/5/6/10; 2 x 10 Gbps iSCSI host ports per controller

What changed. A real dual-controller array, on 10 Gbps iSCSI.

What it means. Still a serviceable small block target, and very cheap. Plan it around the cache rather than the ports: 4 GB or 8 GB per controller is what sets the working set this array keeps warm.

Figures above are from the specification sheet of:
ME5

PowerVault ME5

Processor
Dual active/active controllers
Memory
Per the model configuration
Storage & I/O
2U 24-bay SFF, 2U 12-bay LFF or 5U 84-bay; NL-SAS up to 24 TB, SAS 10K, SSD up to 7.68 TB, SED/FIPS drives

What changed. The current entry tier: active/active controllers and a choice of FC, iSCSI or SAS to the host.

What it means. Where to start for block storage that has to be supportable for years. Pick the chassis by drive count and size — ME5012 and ME5024 for performance, ME5084 when the workload is capacity.

Figures above are from the specification sheets of:
PowerStore

PowerStore 500T – 9200T

Processor
Dual active/active nodes — 2 Xeon processors and 24 cores on the 500T, 4 processors and 96 cores on the 5200T
Memory
192 GB on the 500T, rising with the appliance; NVRAM modules alongside it
Storage & I/O
All-NVMe TLC SSD, 1.92–15.36 TB, every drive self-encrypting; 25 NVMe slots in the 2U base enclosure, expansion shelves and up to 4 appliances per cluster

What changed. A different class of machine: unified block, file, vVols and container storage, with data reduction and non-disruptive software upgrades.

What it means. Bought for the data services and the scale-out, not for raw capacity per pound. If the requirement is "a place to put backups", this is the wrong tier and ME5 is the right one.

Figures above are from the specification sheets of:

Which one for which job

More capacity behind a controller you already own

An expansion shelf — MD1420 or the ME5 expansion chassis matching your array. Confirm the controller supports the shelf and has the SAS ports free before ordering; that compatibility, not the shelf, is what usually blocks the job.

A first shared block target for a few hosts

PowerVault ME5, sized by drive count. Decide the host protocol first — FC, iSCSI or SAS — because that decision is in the controller and cannot be changed later without changing the array.

Mixed block and file with data reduction

PowerStore. It is the only tier here that serves file and block from the same appliance and the only one where the software licensing is included rather than layered on.

Keeping an MD-series array alive

We still source MD controllers, shelves and caddies. Send the model and the part numbers off the failed unit; matching firmware and drive type matters more here than it does on newer platforms.

Dell PowerVault and PowerStore models we list

16 models

NAS & Storage16

Questions we get about Dell PowerVault and PowerStore

No — they sit at different tiers and both are current. PowerVault ME5 is entry block storage bought on capacity and simplicity. PowerStore is a unified all-NVMe platform bought for data services, clustering and non-disruptive upgrades. Choosing between them is a question about the workload, not about which is newer.

They are different appliance configurations within the same platform, and the choice affects how the appliance is deployed rather than what it can hold. Tell us the environment it will land in and we will quote the configuration that matches it, with the specification sheet attached.

Refurbished arrays ship wiped and tested. We match drive type, interface and firmware to your array and confirm capacity and cache before the build. Ask and we include a data-erasure certificate with the shipment.

Enterprise hardware reprices daily, and no two builds of the same model cost the same — memory, drives and the controller move the number more than the chassis does. A sticker would be wrong by the time you read it. Send the model and the configuration and you get today's rate, usually inside a business day, held in the contract.

A Dell PowerVault and PowerStore model that is not listed here?The catalogue shows what we hold, not the limit of what we source. Send the model, the generation or a full parts list and you get a price and a lead time inside 48 hours.

Send the model

Other lines

Every model · new & refurbished

Same 1-yr warranty, same QC