Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs Dell PowerStore: Which All‑Flash Storage Should You Choose?

All‑flash arrays have become the standard for enterprise storage, delivering microsecond latency and high performance for the most demanding applications. Two leaders in this market — Huawei OceanStor Dorado and Dell PowerStore — offer cutting‑edge technology, but they differ in architecture, features, and ideal use cases. In this article, we provide a detailed comparison across key parameters: performance, scalability, data reduction, licensing, and total cost of ownership. You will learn which platform best fits your needs — whether you run high‑throughput databases, virtualisation, or mixed enterprise workloads.

1. Platform Overview: Huawei OceanStor Dorado and Dell PowerStore

Huawei OceanStor Dorado is a family of all‑flash storage systems built on the SmartMatrix architecture with full component redundancy. Flagship models like Dorado 3000 and Dorado 5000 use AI‑Inside technology for automatic performance optimisation and deliver just 0.05 ms latency — one of the lowest on the market.

Dell PowerStore is a modern storage platform built on a containerised architecture that supports both block and file protocols. PowerStore 1200T offers inline deduplication and compression, scale‑up and scale‑out capabilities, and deep integration with virtual and containerised environments.

Both platforms ship with NVMe drives and support modern protocols, including NVMe‑oF. However, their approaches to architecture, management, and scaling differ significantly.

2. Performance and Latency Comparison

Performance is the primary criterion for choosing an all‑flash system. Both vendors claim impressive numbers, but there are nuances:

• Latency: Huawei OceanStor Dorado claims 0.05 ms (average) thanks to SmartMatrix and an optimised software stack. Dell PowerStore delivers 0.1–0.2 ms depending on configuration, which is still excellent for most enterprise workloads.
• IOPS: Both systems deliver hundreds of thousands of IOPS. Dorado 5000 can reach up to 2 million IOPS in peak configurations; PowerStore 1200T up to 1.5 million IOPS.
• Throughput: Both platforms support NVMe‑oF and provide throughput of 20+ GB/s.

For high‑throughput OLTP systems where every microsecond counts, Huawei OceanStor Dorado has a slight edge. For mixed workloads and virtualisation, the latency difference is less noticeable.

3. Architecture and Scalability

Architectural differences determine use cases:

• Huawei OceanStor Dorado — uses an active‑active SmartMatrix architecture with full redundancy of all components (controllers, power supplies, fans). Scaling is vertical (scale‑up): you add disk shelves to the existing system. Maximum configuration — up to 32 controllers in a cluster (for higher‑end models).
• Dell PowerStore — built on a containerised architecture where each node contains both compute resources and storage. Supports both vertical (adding shelves) and horizontal scaling (clustering multiple nodes). This provides greater flexibility for growth.

If your business anticipates rapid and unpredictable growth, PowerStore with scale‑out support may be preferable. If workloads are stable and predictable, Dorado delivers maximum performance.

4. Data Reduction Features

Both platforms offer built‑in space‑saving mechanisms:

• Huawei OceanStor Dorado — uses inline deduplication and compression with hardware acceleration. Data reduction ratios depend on workload type but average 3:1–5:1.
• Dell PowerStore — also uses inline deduplication and compression, plus pattern removal to eliminate repeating patterns. This gives slightly higher reduction ratios, especially for virtualised environments and databases.

Both systems support thin provisioning and snapshots without additional licensing costs.

5. Licensing and Total Cost of Ownership

Cost is a critical factor. Let’s compare key aspects:

• Huawei OceanStor Dorado — offers competitive pricing thanks to direct sourcing from China. Most features (deduplication, compression, replication) are included in the base license. Additional options — such as synchronous replication over long distances — require separate licensing.
• Dell PowerStore — traditionally more expensive but offers a modular licensing model, allowing you to purchase only the functions you need. The base version includes core features, while advanced capabilities (e.g., automated cloud tiering) require extra fees.

Thanks to direct sourcing from China, we offer Huawei all‑flash systems at prices 20‑30% below market average, making Dorado especially attractive for budget‑conscious organisations.

6. Integration and Ecosystem

The choice also depends on your existing infrastructure:

• Huawei OceanStor Dorado — integrates well with Huawei’s own FusionServer servers, switches, and cloud solutions. Supports integration with VMware, OpenStack, and Kubernetes.
• Dell PowerStore — deeply integrated with VMware vSphere (including VVols and automatic discovery), supports Ansible, Terraform, Kubernetes via CSI drivers. Has a broader partner ecosystem.

If your infrastructure is built on Dell products (PowerEdge servers, networking), PowerStore ensures seamless integration. If you use Huawei equipment or work with server solutions from other vendors, Dorado also fits well due to open‑standard support.

7. Which All‑Flash Array Should You Choose? Recommendations

Here are practical recommendations:

• Choose Huawei OceanStor Dorado if: you need ultra‑low latency (under 0.1 ms) for OLTP, banking systems, or high‑frequency trading; your budget is limited and you want maximum performance for your money; you have stable, predictable workloads without dramatic growth spikes.
• Choose Dell PowerStore if: you need flexible scaling (scale‑out) for a growing business; you actively use containers (Kubernetes) and cloud environments; deep integration with VMware and your existing Dell ecosystem is important.

Both platforms are excellent choices for enterprise environments. The decision depends on your specific requirements, budget, and growth plans.

8. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

In the next article, we will explain how to properly calculate storage performance — IOPS, throughput, and latency. Stay tuned!

What Is NVMe‑over‑Fabrics (NVMe‑oF) and Why Modern Data Centers Need It

Speed is the currency of the modern data centre. When applications demand microsecond latency and traditional protocols (iSCSI, Fibre Channel) become bottlenecks, NVMe‑over‑Fabrics (NVMe‑oF) steps in. This technology extends the ultra‑fast NVMe protocol from local connections to the network, delivering storage access with latency comparable to direct‑attached drives. In this article, we explain what NVMe‑oF is, how it works, how it compares to iSCSI and FC, and why it is becoming a must‑have for all‑flash infrastructure.

1. What Is NVMe and Why Was It a Revolution?

NVMe (Non‑Volatile Memory Express) is a protocol designed specifically for flash storage. Unlike legacy SATA and SAS, NVMe uses parallel command queues (up to 65,535 queues with 65,535 commands each), delivering:

• Ultra‑low latency – below 20 microseconds.
• High throughput – up to 7 GB/s and beyond per drive.
• Massive parallelism – handling thousands of concurrent I/O operations.

NVMe has become the standard for local drives, but until recently its benefits were confined to a single server. NVMe‑oF solves this by making NVMe accessible over the network.

2. What Is NVMe‑over‑Fabrics (NVMe‑oF)?

NVMe‑oF encapsulates NVMe commands in network packets and transmits them over low‑latency fabrics: Ethernet (with RDMA – RoCE, iWARP), InfiniBand, or Fibre Channel (FC‑NVMe). This allows servers to access remote NVMe storage as if it were locally attached.

The key differentiator from traditional protocols is the absence of command‑translation overhead. iSCSI wraps SCSI commands in TCP/IP, adding latency. NVMe‑oF transfers native NVMe commands directly, with network‑level latency below 10 microseconds.

3. NVMe‑oF vs iSCSI vs Fibre Channel (FC)

To appreciate NVMe‑oF, let’s compare it with the two main SAN protocols:

• iSCSI – uses TCP/IP, adding latency (typically 100–500 µs). Suitable for moderate workloads but not high‑performance systems.
• Fibre Channel (FC) – dedicated network with low latency (50–100 µs). Reliable but expensive and complex, requiring specific switches and HBAs.
• NVMe‑oF – sub‑10 µs network latency, bandwidth up to 400 Gbps (with InfiniBand or 400G Ethernet). Supports multi‑path routing and scale‑out.

Moreover, NVMe‑oF can run on Ethernet (with RoCE or iWARP), letting you leverage existing network infrastructure with minimal upgrades, unlike FC which requires a separate network.

4. Where Is NVMe‑oF Used?

• High‑throughput databases – OLTP, banking, trading platforms where every microsecond counts.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning – training models on massive datasets requires fast storage access. NVMe‑oF accelerates dataset loading and checkpointing.
• Virtualisation and containerisation – Kubernetes, VMware vSphere with high VM/container density, where fast migration and failover are essential.
• High‑Performance Computing (HPC) – scientific simulations, financial modelling, image processing.
• All‑flash arrays – NVMe‑oF is a natural complement to all‑flash storage systems like Huawei OceanStor Dorado and Dell PowerStore, unlocking their full potential.

5. How to Build an NVMe‑oF Infrastructure

Deploying NVMe‑oF requires:

• NVMe‑oF targets – all‑flash arrays or servers with NVMe drives that support the protocol.
• Initiators – servers with RDMA‑capable network adapters (RoCE or iWARP).
• Low‑latency network – Ethernet (25/100/400 Gbps) with RoCE, InfiniBand, or FC (32/64 Gbps) for FC‑NVMe.
• Switches – for Ethernet, choose data centre switches like Cisco Nexus 9300‑GX2 with 400G and RoCE support.

NVMe‑oF configuration is simpler than FC, especially with Ethernet and RoCE. Many vendors offer ready‑to‑use solutions with built‑in NVMe‑oF support.

6. NVMe‑oF in Huawei, Dell, and Lenovo Products

All leading storage vendors are actively adopting NVMe‑oF:

• Huawei – OceanStor Dorado 3000 and Dorado 5000 support NVMe‑oF over Ethernet and FC, delivering 0.05 ms latency.
• Dell – PowerStore 1200T features built‑in NVMe‑oF support, including optimisation for container environments.
• Lenovo – ThinkSystem DM7100F offers converged file and block storage with NVMe‑oF for versatile workloads.

We supply all these solutions directly from China with full warranty and engineering support.

7. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

In the next article, we will explore scale‑out storage systems and their role in Big Data and AI. Stay tuned!