Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers comparison

Cisco and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the Rack Servers category. Cisco is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.6, while Dell Technologies is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.9. Cisco holds a 4.5% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to Dell Technologies’s 27.8% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Ser...

Read 29 Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers reviews

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2,009 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

Read 166 Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers reviews

17,237 Views
11,922 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Ser...

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 22, 2024

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers and Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers compete in the category of enterprise rack solutions. Dell appears to have an advantage in management features, while Cisco is stronger in integration and networking capabilities.

Features: Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are known for their scalability, diverse remote management tools like iDRAC, and robust security measures. Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are recognized for their ease of use, notable integration with third-party systems, and flexible deployment options. Dell excels with its advanced management tools, while Cisco focuses on seamless integration.

Room for Improvement: Dell could enhance centralized management, automate updates, and optimize delivery times, alongside improving scalability and support response times. Cisco UCS C-Series needs better integration with third-party solutions, expanded storage options, and more competitive pricing. Both could improve manageability features and scalability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell offers flexible deployment environments, including on-premises, hybrid, and private cloud setups, but has mixed user reviews regarding technical support responsiveness. Cisco primarily provides on-premises solutions with reliable support but faces challenges with license management. Dell's support is seen as more consistent, while Cisco's strengths lie in product reliability.

Pricing and ROI: Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are priced reasonably, with flexible licensing that often beats competitors like HPE, offering a strong ROI over time. Cisco UCS C-Series servers are perceived as pricier, with high CPU and RAM costs that may affect competitiveness. While both offer strong ROI, Dell is noted for affordability, whereas Cisco is valued for integration features despite higher prices.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

January 2025

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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 C-Series Rack Ser...

Ranking in Rack Servers

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Density Optimized Servers (3rd)

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

Ranking in Rack Servers

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

166

Ranking in other categories

Converged Infrastructure (3rd), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 4.5%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is 27.8%, up from 28.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

Ehsan Emad

Head of IT at Synnapex

The VIC card is the most important feature.

I rate Cisco USC C-Series Rack Servers 10 out 10. If you plan to buy a C-Series, you should be clear about why you want to use it because the uses vary. different. Whether you're using Cisco, HPE, Dell or any other brand, it's essential to define your use case. For example, are you using it for a simulation graphics, calculations, etc.? Depending on the use case, you might want to go with a small server with more CPU. Sometimes you need a light CPU with a powerful GPU. For example, if we have a C-Series with four CPUs at the same time, or we have a server that's handled two CPUs at the same time—the purpose is crucial. C-Series is good enough compared to other competitors like HPE and the other ones. The HPE C20 is one unit and has a lot of RAM support, but the C-series is number one, in my opinion.

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Syed Masuood

Country manager at Asta Innosys

Handles workloads and diverse applications efficiently

We have a lot of VMs on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. On a single server, we have probably hosted 14 or 15 VMs. Out of these, 8 to 10 are continuously running, and four of them are backup VMs, so it can handle a good workload. For cybersecurity, it is only accessible on the intranet; it is not accessible through the web. We use it for local development purposes, and it is behind our firewall. Its security is strong. We handle a lot of test data for government and confidential customers. It is safe and strong locally. We have not experienced any security issues. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime if we need to replace a hard disk, instead of completely shutting a server, there is a hot swap feature. It is quite good in that aspect. Usually, for any activity, there is a downtime of about 30 minutes. It has saved a lot of time. We have tried AI workloads for a development environment for a government customer in Singapore. The servers are hosted in Singapore. It is an ML-based engine with AI. It is a government project where data is processed, and we run it on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. The benefit of running AI workloads on PowerEdge Servers is that it is easy to allocate memory. The application we are running is memory intensive. It is pretty easy to scale memory and storage.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are integration and customization."

"It is very nice and stable with an easy administration GUI."

"It is very stable and easy to use. It integrates easily with Cisco's cloud-based UC solutions. There are tools for management that make the management a bit easier, but we don't use them. We don't use what you would term as power users."

"The technical support from Cisco is fine."

"The hardware customization capabilities are great."

"Cisco rack servers are very easy to integrate with other products from different vendors."

"Its hardware is really reliable. We also like Cisco for its support."

"The product doesn't take up too much space on the rack and I like that."

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers pros

"This solution has absolutely fulfilled our needs well."

"It is a stable server. I have never faced any failure with these servers. They keep running for at least five to seven years without any issues."

"Nowadays, iDRAC is very important. It is one of the features that we use the most because we do not always have physical access to our machines. iDRAC is a tool that we use daily. If we did not have it, it would be very complicated to manage the machines. This is a great feature."

"What we like the most is the stability. Without shutdowns, our VMs and servers are up and running fine."

"It's allowing us to scale out a lot faster than before."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are easy to manage and install, and it gives us a lot of time to do other things."

"I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a ten out of ten."

"Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers is powerful."

More Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers pros

Cons

"The solution needs more capacity and more scalability."

"The solution can be improved by adjusting the cost."

"Definitely the support area needs improving. Especially the time response in case of hardware failure."

"Technical support could be more responsive."

"The product must add customer-friendly monitoring features."

"I think the pricing is high. Cisco has to look for bundling this solutions with other applications."

"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve by selling storage. Cisco doesn't sell storage, which is a problem because some customers ask for storage. There are several brands in the market, such as HPE, and Dell EMC. However, Cisco doesn't have any storage. This is where the tension comes from buying this solution."

"The product's stability and delivery time could be better."

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers cons

"I would appreciate the capability to carry out live updates without the need to take the system offline."

"Unfortunately, PowerEdge Rack Servers do not support NVMe storage."

"In terms of the iDRAC software, when selecting systems, especially multiple systems to upgrade, there's really no way to confirm that specific systems are selected."

"This solution helped us reduce our rack footprint. It reduced our power consumption including size and weight."

"Perhaps they could make it more power efficient. They're pretty good, but there's always room for improvement. Also, they could try to reduce heat generation."

"The only thing that could be improved is documentation. During the installation, it would be good to have some information about how is it going."

"My biggest grievance is related to getting a caddy. We have decommissioned our old servers that we used for development or testing. You cannot buy hard drives for old servers from Dell. It is very annoying."

"Currently, we are facing issues with updates, particularly on the driver side. We did not receive proper communication about upcoming driver upgrades and other aspects. We are lagging in that area. We need to know about any upcoming updates so that we can plan accordingly. It could be that our emails are not registered properly."

More Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution could be better when compared to other solutions. However, when we purchased the solution we received Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers in a bundle with other hardware, such as IP phones and networking switches."

"The price of the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve. It's a little more expensive in comparison with Dell or HPE solutions."

"This solution is a little expensive."

"The solution is moderately priced."

"The server itself isn't costly at all, but the CPU and the RAM can be pretty expensive. You can buy a UCS for $2,000, but the RAM and CPU can cost up to $80,000. The most expensive asset is the intel processor, but it depends on how many cores you want and the technology you want to use on your CPU, like Hyper-V, etc."

"The price for Cisco is a bit higher than its competitors. We paid 40k for one server."

"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is high."

"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is approximately 20 percent more than other solutions."

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers pricing and cost advice

"We do use Dell's OpenManage console. It is easy to use this console for lifecycle management or PowerEdge servers."

"The price of Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers is reasonable compared to other solutions."

"Regarding the pricing, it seems fair."

"The pricing for this solution is reasonable. We pay a basic premium with a military premium on top of that."

"The high cost of Dell PowerEdge Rack Server licenses is attributed to the pre-installed Windows Server operating system from Microsoft."

"The pricing is very competitive."

"If price isn't a concern, I would recommend it."

"The product is cheaper than HP servers, but the price could always be better."

More Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

22%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?

The C-series is the most valuable.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?

The solution is moderately priced.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?

The improvement should be done as per customer requirements.

See all answers

When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?

Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....

See all answers

What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?

It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?

The solution can be improved in terms of firmware backward supportability. With the sixteenth generation servers I am using, slightly older kernels and drivers are not supported. I have to use the ...

See all answers

Comparisons

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 24% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 6% of the time

HPE Synergy vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 3% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 3% of the time

Dell XR2 Rugged Server vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers Competitors

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

Compared 40% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

Compared 33% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

Compared 6% of the time

Huawei FusionServer RH Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

Compared 5% of the time

HPE Apollo Systems vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

Compared 4% of the time

More Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

February 2025

Download Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

February 2025

Download Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers product report

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series

PowerEdge R

Overview

UCS C-Series Rack Servers deliver unified computing in an industry-standard form factor to reduce TCO and increase agility. Each server addresses varying workload challenges through a balance of processing, memory, I/O, and internal storage resources.

Cisco

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are designed to optimize performance and efficiency in a data center environment, supporting various applications. Dell stands as the leading vendor in accelerated servers for AI, commanding a 33.8% revenue share. Based on user reviews, Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers supporting tasks from basic web hosting to more demanding applications like data analytics and virtualization. They are engineered to offer high performance, reliability, and scalability. With a focus on automation and integrated security, these servers simplify operations and protect against threats, making them a smart choice for businesses of all sizes.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are a robust, secure, and scalable solution that can meet the diverse needs of businesses, backed by comprehensive support. Benefits to look for in reviews include performance, reliability, scalability, and customer support.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers key features include:

Scalability: These servers can easily scale to meet growing business needs, supporting more workloads and processing power.
Integrated Security: From hardware to firmware to the operating system, Dell PowerEdge servers are designed with security in mind, offering layers of protection.
Energy Efficiency: Advanced thermal design and energy-smart technology help reduce operational costs and environmental impact.
Automation: With Dell EMC OpenManage, the management of servers is streamlined, allowing for automated deployment, monitoring, and updates.

In terms of implementation, Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are used across various industries, from small businesses to large enterprises. They serve as the foundation for IT infrastructure, powering critical applications in healthcare, finance, education, and more. The adaptability of these servers means they can be tailored to specific industry needs, from handling large datasets in research institutions to supporting high-transaction databases in financial services.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Artoni Transporti, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, City of Mississauga, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Kind en Gezin, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Nationwide, Quest, Talbots, University of St. Gallen

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

January 2025

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