Our Dell PowerStore 3000T with about 32TB of capacity goes out of support in December. We asked our partner for a renewal quote and were shocked to see roughly $260,000 per year for the full support package, including four-hour same-day service. The 24-hour option was not much cheaper. Over three years, support would cost more than the array itself.
Dell is also pushing us toward a newer PowerStore 1500 through Flex on Demand, but that would mean leasing the array, accepting usage limits, and potentially paying overages. We would rather keep the equipment if possible. Has anyone dealt with similar renewal pricing? Is third-party support, another storage vendor, or a move to more conventional server-based storage the better escape route?
4 Answers
This is a common storage-vendor tactic: make support after the initial contract so expensive that buying a new array looks attractive. Pure has generally been well regarded for honest quoting, strong support, and controller upgrades as part of its long-term model, although you should still compare the full five-year cost because all-flash storage pricing is high right now. NetApp, HPE, and other vendors may also compete aggressively if you show them Dell's renewal number.
If the workload does not require PowerStore-specific features, consider replacing the SAN with a pair of capable servers and local or shared storage using something like TrueNAS, ZFS, or another Linux-based design. For only 32TB, that can be substantially cheaper, but make sure you account for redundancy, multipath connectivity, backups, monitoring, performance, and operational support. It is a reasonable option for many workloads, but probably not something I would deploy blindly for a critical database or clinical system.
Have another partner rerun the Dell quote before assuming that number is final. Storage vendors frequently send out an absurd renewal price to push a new purchase, and different partners can produce dramatically different discounts. We once had a one-year renewal quoted around $35K on a much smaller system and eventually negotiated it down to about $6K. Definitely get the quote in writing with the exact service level and hardware covered.
Get quotes from third-party maintenance providers such as Park Place, Service Express, or similar vendors. They can often cover older Dell storage for a small fraction of the manufacturer renewal price. The tradeoff is that you generally lose firmware and software updates, so I would treat it as a one- or two-year bridge while planning a replacement. Make sure you verify response-time guarantees and whether they actually stock compatible parts.
That is part of what we are evaluating. The array is reliable, so it is frustrating to be pushed into replacing it solely because the support renewal is unreasonable.