Dell EMC SC Series SC5020 / SC7020 support dates
| Milestone | Date | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTS Date: SC7020 | 16 August 2016 | Vendor-published | Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) |
| RTS Date: SC5020 | 13 June 2017 | Vendor-published | Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) |
| RTS Date: SC5020F / SC7020F (all-flash) | 4 December 2017 | Vendor-published | Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) |
| EOL Date (end of sales): SC5020 / SC5020F / SC7020 / SC7020F | 15 August 2021 | Vendor-publishedDell defines EOL as 'the date upon which Dell Technologies ceases selling product'. | Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) |
| End of Expansion (EOexp) and End of Mechanical Replacements: SC5020 / SC5020F / SC7020 / SC7020F | 15 November 2024 | Vendor-publishedEnd of Expansion is 'the last date upon which a customer can add items (e.g. drives, shelves, controllers) to their existing system'. | Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) |
| EOSS Date (End of Standard Support): SC5020 / SC5020F / SC7020 / SC7020F | 31 August 2026 | Vendor-publishedDell's definition: the date after which 'Standard support (Basic, ProSupport, ProSupport MC, ProSupport Plus) is no longer available'. | Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) |
| EOSL (End of Service Life) | — | Not published by the vendorThe sheet defines EOSL (time-and-materials support only, subject to resource availability) but has no EOSL date column, so it gives no EOSL date for these models. | Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) |
| End of Security Support (EoSecS): policy row 'Storage Center Dell Compellent (SC)' | 31 August 2028 | Vendor-publishedThe row gives EOL 2021-08-15, High and Critical fixes until 2027-08-31, Critical only in the final year, and none after 2028-08-31. It names no models. Its EOL date matches the end of sale of the SC5020/SC5020F/SC7020/SC7020F and of the SCv3000/SCv3020 in Dell's hardware list. Its EoSecS date equals the SCv3000/SCv3020 EOSS (2028-08-31) in that list. Applying the row to the SC5020/SC7020 is therefore our reading of the matching dates, not Dell's wording. The policy also notes: 'Not all product versions are identified in this article.' | Dell KB 000208328: End of Life Security Support Policy for Converged Infrastructure, Midrange and Enterprise Storage, and Storage Networking Products (modified 9 Sep 2026) |
Where the Dell EMC SC Series SC5020 / SC7020 stands today
All four variants share one set of end-of-sale, expansion and support dates on the KB 000185734 spreadsheet (dated 2 October 2026), even though they shipped at different times: the SC7020 on 16 August 2016, the SC5020 on 13 June 2017 and the F models on 4 December 2017. Sales ended on 15 August 2021. End of Expansion and End of Mechanical Replacements followed on 15 November 2024, the last day to add drives, shelves or controllers through Dell. No EOSL date follows: the sheet defines End of Service Life but has no column for it.
Security support is the part that may run longer. KB 000208328 has a 'Storage Center Dell Compellent (SC)' row with High and Critical fixes to 31 August 2027, Critical fixes only to 31 August 2028 and none afterwards. The row does not list models. We apply it to the SC5020/SC7020 because its end-of-sale date, 15 August 2021, matches theirs; that is our reading, not Dell's wording, and Dell itself notes that 'Not all product versions are identified in this article.' Contract status for an individual array is held against its service tag: KB 000185734 says Dell Support lists the services and their expiry once the tag is entered, and it also points to a 'Check Support Status' link.
Dell's model-wide dates are in the Hardware spreadsheet attached to KB 000185734 (https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000185734). Contract coverage for your own array is set per service tag. Enter the array's service tag on Dell Support (https://www.dell.com/support/home/). The KB says the support services and their expiry date appear in the banner next to a figure of the tagged device, and it also gives a 'Check Support Status' link.
What still works after Dell support ends
Dell is still releasing Storage Center OS. The 'Dell Compellent Storage Center (SC)' row in Dell's code-version KB, modified 6 October 2026, shows 07.5.22 released on 17 March 2026 as latest, 07.5.21 (27 June 2024) as recommended and 07.4.21.004 (12 February 2024) as the minimum supported code. That row covers the family rather than naming the SC5020 or SC7020, and the KB is silent on whether a system without an active Dell contract can download those builds. Record the SCOS build each array runs now.
Beyond the published schedule, Dell 'may choose to release security updates for vulnerabilities outside of the aforementioned schedule on a case by case basis', but it also states that 'Sometimes, mitigation of a security issue might require a move to a newer product.' This page cites no Dell post-EOSS offer for these arrays.
- Dell is still releasing Storage Center OS. Its code-version KB (modified 6 Oct 2026) lists 'Dell Compellent Storage Center (SC)' latest 07.5.22 (17 Mar 2026), recommended 07.5.21 (27 Jun 2024) and minimum 07.4.21.004 (12 Feb 2024). The row is family-level, and the KB does not say whether downloads need an active contract. (dell.com)
- Security fixes follow Dell's EoSecS schedule for the 'Storage Center Dell Compellent (SC)' row: High and Critical until 2027-08-31, Critical only until 2028-08-31, none after. The row names no models. Dell 'may choose to release security updates for vulnerabilities outside of the aforementioned schedule on a case by case basis', and 'Sometimes, mitigation of a security issue might require a move to a newer product.' (dell.com)
What a maintenance contract needs to cover on the Dell EMC SC Series SC5020 / SC7020
Both chassis are 13.34 cm (5.25 in) high and take up to 30 x 2.5-inch 12 Gb SAS drives (HDDs or SSDs on the SC5020 and SC7020, SSDs only on the F models), but their controllers differ. Each SC5020 controller has one I/O card slot and an optional mezzanine card; each SC7020 controller has three I/O card slots and a mezzanine card. Both carry an internal battery backup unit and save mirrored write cache to an SSD inside the controller on power loss, so batteries and controller SSDs belong on the parts list. Front-end cards are Fibre Channel (the manual documents 16 Gb and 32 Gb ports) or iSCSI; mezzanine iSCSI ports are either 10 GbE SFP+ or 1/10 GbE RJ45, and the SC5020 can also take a front-end SAS card for direct server attachment.
Two hot-swappable power supply/cooling fan modules are fitted: the Type 1 PSU delivers up to 1485 W at 200–240 VAC, and the SC5020 manual also lists a Type 3 unit (1378 W, 100–240 VAC), so check which is installed. The 12 Gb SAS back end (SFF-8644) reaches 222 drives on an SC5020 and 500 on an SC7020, with up to 192 per chain across SC400, SC420 or SC460 enclosures; the SC7020 chain also takes SC280s, and the F models use SC420F shelves. Each controller's 1 or 10 Gbps MGMT port and micro-USB serial port form the management path, with RAID run from Dell Storage Manager. What third-party maintenance covers explains how a parts list like this becomes a contract.
| Specification | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor and drives: SC5020 / SC5020F | The chassis is 13.34 cm (5.25 in) high; the manual gives the height, not a rack-unit count. It takes up to 30 x 2.5-inch hot-swappable 12 Gb SAS drives. The SC5020 controller supports both HDDs and SSDs; the SC5020F supports SSDs only. Minimum: 4 SSDs or 7 drives (SC5020), 4 SSDs (SC5020F). | dl.dell.com |
| Controllers: SC5020 | Two hot-swappable storage controllers, each with one I/O card slot and one optional mezzanine card. Each controller has an internal battery backup unit. Write cache is mirrored between controllers and saved to an SSD inside the controller on power loss. | dl.dell.com |
| Controllers and drives: SC7020 / SC7020F | The chassis is 13.34 cm (5.25 in) high and takes up to 30 x 2.5-inch 12 Gb SAS drives: HDDs or SSDs on the SC7020, SSDs only on the SC7020F. It has two hot-swappable storage controllers, each with one mezzanine card and three I/O card slots. Each controller has an internal battery backup unit, and write cache is mirrored and saved to an internal SSD on power loss. | dl.dell.com |
| Max drives and expansion: SC5020 | 222 drives in total and up to 192 on a single SAS chain. The chain takes up to 16 SC400, 8 SC420 or 3 SC460 enclosures. The SC5020F takes 222 SSDs, with up to 8 SC420F enclosures per chain. | dl.dell.com |
| Max drives and expansion: SC7020 | 500 drives in total, 192 per SAS chain. In the manual's words, each chain 'supports up to sixteen SC400 expansion enclosures, eight SC420 expansion enclosures, three SC460 expansion enclosures, and two SC280 expansion enclosures'. The SC7020F takes 500 SSDs, with up to 8 SC420F enclosures per chain. | dl.dell.com |
| Front-end connectivity | Fibre Channel I/O cards (the manual documents 16 Gb and 32 Gb FC ports) or iSCSI I/O cards. The SC5020 can also take a front-end SAS card for direct server attachment. The manual describes the mezzanine card's iSCSI ports as either 10 GbE SFP+ or 1/10 GbE RJ45. Back-end expansion is 12 Gb SAS (SFF-8644). | dl.dell.com |
| Power | Two hot-swappable power supply/cooling fan modules. PSU Type 1 gives 1485 W maximum output at 200–240 VAC. The SC5020 manual also lists a Type 3 PSU (1378 W, 100–240 VAC). | dl.dell.com |
| Management | Each controller has an embedded 1 or 10 Gbps MGMT Ethernet port for Storage Center management, and a micro-USB serial port. RAID is managed through Dell Storage Manager. | dl.dell.com |
Extend or refresh the Dell EMC SC Series SC5020 / SC7020?
Because EOSS passed only in August, a healthy SC5020 or SC7020 is a fair candidate for a period on third-party cover: Dell's code KB lists SCOS 7.5 builds, the latest dated 17 March 2026, though it does not say whether an array without a contract can download them, and if the SC security row applies, High and Critical fixes continue to 31 August 2027. Capacity cannot be added through Dell, since End of Expansion passed in November 2024. A third-party contract typically takes on fault diagnosis, spare parts and on-site engineers once the vendor has stepped back, and it serves as an alternative to Dell ProSupport, which is no longer available for these arrays. A quote can be requested through the maintenance coverage builder.
The refresh argument sharpens over the next two years. If the SC row applies, from September 2027 it narrows to Critical fixes only, and after 31 August 2028 it provides none. Dell's hardware list names no successor within the SC Series. PowerStore, Dell's current midrange line in the same EOL list, is a line to evaluate rather than a successor named in that list; time the move by the security schedule, not by hardware age.
- Standard Dell contracts for the SC5020/SC7020 family ended on 31 Aug 2026 (EOSS). End of Expansion, the last date to add drives, shelves or controllers through Dell, was 15 Nov 2024. (supportkb.dell.com)
- Security support may outlast hardware support. Dell's policy row 'Storage Center Dell Compellent (SC)' runs High and Critical fixes to 31 Aug 2027 and Critical fixes to 31 Aug 2028. The row names no models, and applying it to the SC5020/SC7020 is our reading of its matching end-of-sale date (see the EoSecS milestone). Getting those releases onto the array is a separate question (see dropped). (dell.com)
- Dell is still shipping Storage Center OS 7.5 maintenance releases: 07.5.22 came out on 17 Mar 2026. Its stated minimum supported code is 07.4.21.004. (dell.com)
Keep your Dell EMC SC Series SC5020 / SC7020 covered
Tell us how many you run and when your current cover ends, and we will come back with a like-for-like maintenance quote for that estate. Your model and its support status are attached to the enquiry automatically, so there is nothing to re-type.
Related models
Within the SC Series, the SC5020/SC7020 share their 15 August 2021 end of sale with the SCv3000 and SCv3020, yet Dell's hardware sheet gives the SCv3000/SCv3020 a later EOSS of 31 August 2028, the same date on which the SC security row ends. The sibling SC4020 has its own dates on the Compellent SC4020 end-of-life page, and estates that also run Dell Unity arrays can check the Unity XT lifecycle page.
- PowerVault ME4 Series (ME4012 / ME4024 / ME4084) end of lifeNo model-wide date published — check your unit
- PowerVault MD3 Series end of lifeNo model-wide date published — check your unit
- Dell EMC Unity 300 / 400 / 500 / 600 (hybrid and all-flash F) end of lifePast the vendor’s last date of support
- Dell Compellent SC4020 end of lifePast the vendor’s last date of support
- Dell EMC Unity XT (380 / 480 / 680 / 880, hybrid and all-flash) end of lifeEnd-of-life announced — vendor support still available
- Dell EqualLogic PS Series (PS6100 / PS6110 / PS6210 / PS4210 and siblings) end of lifePast the vendor’s last date of support
Look up another model in the storage end-of-life checker, or read what third-party maintenance covers.
Questions people ask about the Dell EMC SC Series SC5020 / SC7020
Is the Dell SC5020 / SC7020 end of life?
Yes. Dell ended sales of the SC5020, SC5020F, SC7020 and SC7020F on 15 August 2021, and their End of Standard Support date in Dell's own list was 31 August 2026. No End of Service Life date appears for them in that list.
Is Dell still releasing SCOS updates for the SC5020 and SC7020?
Dell's code-version KB lists Storage Center OS 07.5.22, released 17 March 2026, as the latest, with 07.4.21.004 as the minimum supported code. The row covers the SC family as a whole, and the KB does not say whether an array without a contract can download it.
Do the SC5020 and SC7020 still get security fixes?
Dell's security policy has a 'Storage Center Dell Compellent (SC)' row with High and Critical fixes to 31 August 2027 and Critical fixes only to 31 August 2028. The row names no models; we apply it to these arrays because its end-of-sale date matches theirs, which is our reading rather than Dell's wording.
What came after the Dell SC5020 and SC7020?
Dell's hardware list names no follow-on model within the SC Series. PowerStore is Dell's current midrange line in the same EOL list, but that list does not name it as the successor to these arrays.
Can I get third-party maintenance for an SC7020?
With Dell standard support gone since 31 August 2026, a third-party contract can keep engineer cover in place, generally including diagnosis and replacement parts. Include the controller I/O cards, PSU type and every expansion enclosure when you ask for a quote.
Sources
Every date, rule and specification above was checked against these on 8 October 2026 by an independent verification pass. Vendors revise lifecycle notices; this page is re-checked by 8 January 2027.
- Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) — supportkb.dell.com
- Dell KB 000208328: End of Life Security Support Policy for Converged Infrastructure, Midrange and Enterprise Storage, and Storage Networking Products (modified 9 Sep 2026) — dell.com
- dell.com — dell.com
- dl.dell.com — dl.dell.com
- dl.dell.com — dl.dell.com
Last reviewed 7 October 2026. Lifecycle dates for the Dell EMC SC Series SC5020 / SC7020 are re-verified against Dell's own notices at each review; a date a vendor has not published is never filled in.