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Cisco UCS B-Series vs PowerEdge C comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

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 UCS B-Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
PowerEdge C
Ranking in Blade Servers
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS B-Series is 8.7%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PowerEdge C is 0.6%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Prasanth Kailasam - PeerSpot reviewer
Supports multiple hypervisors but needs to improve in the area of configuration
Speaking about how the tool can improve computing efficiency in data centers, I feel that, ultimately, there are other kinds of hardware or servers that Cisco provides. From a management perspective, certain aspects can be incorporated to help users understand their current standing. It would be good if certain larger configurations could also be made suitable for the tool to suit the needs of multiple customer bases. For virtualization needs, the product works well. I have dealt with certain virtualization environments using - Cisco UCS B-Series. As of now, the tool is fine. Cisco UCS B-Series recently got registered with Nutanix, one of the market's HCI platforms. Nutanix can run on Cisco. Cisco UCS B-Series' direction is right. I don't think any further improvement is required in the tool right now. The integration capabilities of the product are okay. I haven't seen any challenges when installing the tool in an environment. I think that the tool supports multiple hypervisors. Speaking about the feature that has improved our company's data center operation, I would say that the Cisco brand name provides our organization with the benefits we need from the product. I believe that manageability is one crucial aspect of the tool, considering that it is pretty easy to manage. Performance-wise, some improvements have been introduced in Cisco UCS B-Series. Whenever somebody evaluates and goes ahead with some traditional setup in their environment, along with HP and Dell, they can also consider Cisco as a part of it because it has become more cost-effective and competitive presently. Networking-wise, the tool is pretty strong, and it operates as a brand that actually helps with the support offered to customers. The support offered by Cisco adds a lot of confidence for the clients. I feel that Cisco is doing a lot of innovation in order to offer scalability and flexibility to adopt future technologies. I believe Cisco users might see a lot more solutions that get introduced in the market that might become more and more compatible with many products in the future. In the future, I think that users will see AI and other related aspects run pretty well in a Cisco environment. I would say that the benefits and value of the use of the product stem from the brand name attached to Cisco products. Cisco's support when you use Cisco UCS B-Series is good. In the networking space, Cisco has been a leader for a very long time, and the same kind of credibility is what you can expect when you consider Cisco UCS B-Series. Considering the availability of the products from competitors, I rate the tool a seven out of ten.
Niraj  Shah - PeerSpot reviewer
Good return on investment, round the clock technical support, and easy to install
PowerEdge C is used in both corporate and industrial settings One of the main features that attract customers to buy their products is the great management tool and almost zero failure rate, making it easy to use. As far as I'm concerned, the current product works perfectly fine and I don't see…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability of Cisco UCS B-Series is impeccable, as it has been running smoothly without any need for maintenance."
"Since its UCS release in 2009, Cisco has extended the core functionality with Central, a tool for managing multiple domains"
"The ratio in terms of the number of units and the number of servers that we can get each chassis is quite good."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to replace a server with another one, simply by applying the profile"
"The most valuable feature is the service profiles."
"The most valuable feature is definitely the service profile."
"The most valuable feature that the B-Series has is related to the structure and architecture of the solution because in these solutions, you are using fabric interconnect as an interconnect device. The beauty of fabric interconnect is that it can work as in-house mode."
"The solution has the ability to reuse or divide the networking, making it a flexible networking environment."
"The solutions are easy to handle, priced correctly, reliable, and dependable."
"The management platform is great."
"Technical support has been helpful."
"The product stability has been excellent."
"I like the feature that allows for a backup and that is suitable for me."
"The most significant benefits, in my experience, are the configuration, reliability of the equipment, and the support of Dell."
"The solution provides good support and service."
"The hybrid solution is much more stable than other products."
 

Cons

"Cisco could improve the user-friendliness for less experienced users."
"The cost is expensive and has room for improvement."
"Dell should address the issue of direct support and spare parts availability in our region."
"The graphic code that UCS can support is limited and less accessible than other systems."
"The integration is an area where Cisco UCS B-Series needs to provide users with more details."
"It is more expensive than the competitors."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved and made cheaper."
"The solution is difficult to set up."
"It should be improved in terms of future expansion. We should be able to have additional free slots for future extensions in terms of memory."
"We had a few minor issues with compatibility on the latest version during the installation process."
"The product’s pricing could be a little cheaper."
"The current memory could be improved."
"The solution’s pricing could be cheaper."
"There could be some more ports added in the future."
"HP is a little bit lower in terms of price."
"The product’s cost needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Considering our market, I rate the pricing of Cisco UCS B-Series as a six."
"Make sure you work with a vendor partner than can get you a substantial discount off of list pricing."
"The type of service level purchase will determine the level of support response that you receive from Cisco."
"The price of this solution compared to others is fair."
"Cisco UCS B-Series is an expensive solution."
"The price of this solution is a little bit higher, but given that this system is Cisco, it feels more secure and dependable."
"Cisco products are at the high end in terms of cost, but everything is included with the licensing fees."
"Every three years, I need to renew my license and support the product...Every time I have to opt for the renewal of the license, I am shocked to learn about the increase in the price of the product."
"I would rate the pricing 4 out of 10, in terms of its cost expense."
"We buy licenses for the solution's advanced features."
"I don't handle the financial aspects, so I don't know the exact costs, but in terms of the value it brings, it's worth it."
"PowerEdge C is very expensive, but personally, I think it's worth the price."
"There is a need to pay towards the annual subscription-based licensing model offered by the solution. The product is moderately priced. Price is a critical issue, and it is always good to have moderately priced solutions."
"The cost depends on the configuration."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"PowerEdge C is a product that is priced at a medium range, so it is not too expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Venture Capital & Private Equity Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS B-Series?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is easily scalable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS B-Series?
The licensing cost for three years, followed by an AMC for two years, is reasonable. However, the management software, Cisco One, is priced a bit high but still considered reasonable. No additional...
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS B-Series?
Last year, we faced challenges with firmware upgrades, but they were quickly resolved with assistance from Cisco TAC.
What do you like most about PowerEdge C?
The solution provides good support and service.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PowerEdge C?
PowerEdge is quite a costly solution, and I would rate the pricing around seven or eight on a scale from one to ten with ten being the most expensive.
What needs improvement with PowerEdge C?
With reference architectures like VX rack, the update process is quite painful. They could automate or simplify it more. There are prerequisites to go through, and that's usually the only time-cons...
 

Also Known As

UCS B-Series, Unified Computing System B-Series
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Anonymous Banking Group, Artoni Transporti, Bellevue, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Hertz, Houston Methodist, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Lufthansa Systems GmbH & Co.KG, Outscale, Sony Corporation, Talbots
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS B-Series vs. PowerEdge C and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.