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

Cisco and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Rack Servers category. Cisco is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.6, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.5. Cisco holds a 4.8% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 20.5% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Ser...

Read 29 Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers reviews

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95% willing to recommend

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Read 156 HPE ProLiant DL Servers reviews

12,422 Views
10,256 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Ser...

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 15, 2024

HPE ProLiant DL Servers and Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers compete in the enterprise rack server market. HPE ProLiant seems to have an advantage in overall ease of deployment and initial cost-effectiveness, while Cisco UCS C-Series stands out with advanced integration capabilities and long-term ROI.

Features: HPE ProLiant DL Servers are known for robust performance, scalability, and comprehensive management tools. Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers offer a unified architecture, extensive integration capabilities, and efficient resource utilization.

Room for Improvement: HPE ProLiant DL Servers need enhancements in firmware updates, hardware compatibility, and management interface. Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers require improvements in software stability, better documentation, and more intuitive management tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HPE ProLiant DL Servers have straightforward deployment with strong customer support. Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers entail a steeper learning curve during deployment but benefit from comprehensive setup guidelines and extensive support.

Pricing and ROI: HPE ProLiant DL Servers are cost-effective with quick ROI but can incur higher long-term maintenance costs. Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers have a higher upfront cost but offer solid long-term ROI due to efficient resource usage and reduced operational costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. HPE ProLiant DL Servers Report (Updated: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

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

October 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Ser...

Ranking in Rack Servers

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Density Optimized Servers (3rd)

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Ranking in Rack Servers

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

156

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 4.8%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is 20.5%, down from 22.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rack Servers

Q&A Highlights

it_user729372

Student at TAFE NSW _ South Western Sydney Institute at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Sep 26, 2017

Are there any comparisons of HPE & Cisco servers using Benchmarks?

Have never used Cisco servers. HP is my server preference since they bought out Compaq so long ago. If you have ever called tech support for either company, you would definitely choose HP over Cisco.

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Featured Reviews

Ehsan Emad

Head of IT at Synnapex

May 26, 2022

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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Ricardo Elorza

Expert IT Solution Architect at Nestle

Mar 13, 2023

Easy to deploy, stable, and scalable

I give the solution an eight out of ten. We have been having issues with HPE's road maps, which tend to be very aggressive. For example, if we have a server and then HPE announces and releases the NexGen, the previous server only has one more gear before the end of use. This can be problematic for clusters that are configured to only have the same model, as after a year we would have to do diagnostics or buy a new cluster. This is something we do not like about HPE, although other vendors may also be aggressive, HPE is really bad. It is important for new users to keep this in mind.

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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

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

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

"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 product's stability is good. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine to ten out of ten."

"The initial setup is straightforward and easy to do."

"The VIC card is the most important feature."

"The solution is scalable."

"The C-series is the most valuable."

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers pros

"HPE service in Taiwan is quick and professional, and ProLiant is cost-effective compared to Dell. Dell is good for one or two servers, but HPE is cheaper than Dell for a large deployment. Cost is the most important thing in the market."

"HPE offers the products we need. They come back with solutions. It's uncomplicated to deal with HPE."

"The solution's deployment was easy."

"This solution is perfect. From the time of purchase, it was state-of-the-art, and still, after five, 10 years, they still meet our demands extremely well."

"We use HPE Datacenter support, and it is good support. It is automatic support. When I have a problem, the question is written automatically."

"The technical support from HPE ProLiant DL Servers is very good. We can contact them through various means and they are responsive, they are quick."

"I recommend HP ProLiant. It's a robust and scalable product."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is HPE Integrated Lights-Out (iLO)...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers pros

Cons

"The price of the solution is problematic, not the solution itself. It could be less expensive."

"There is room for better integration with other brands."

"The hard drive of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is not very good. I have already replaced three of them."

"The scalability of the product is an area of concern where Cisco needs to focus on making some improvements."

"The C-Series is not designed to be as scalable. They are designed to have enough RAM and enough CPU on their own side. If you want scalability, it's better to choose the B-Series— the Blade Servers — because those are much more scalable with Fabric Interconnect."

"The solution needs more capacity and more scalability."

"The initial setup could be easier."

"Some customers have complained about delivery time. So, the main weakness is the lead time."

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers cons

"The price of HPE ProLiant DL Servers could improve."

"We found that the extensions could be improved and the price could be a little lower."

"We'd like to see better processors, better Intel processors. That's the most important for us at this moment."

"There is a challenge sometimes with having quick access to some of these components when you need them. It takes a lot of time to get spare parts from genuine sellers."

"In Qatar, HPE doesn't have as much support as Dell. I would recommend Dell if given the option because it has a solid local presence."

"They can increase the controller cache. Currently, it has a controller cache of up to 4 GB. The RAID controller card comes with a maximum of 4 GB cache in HPE servers, whereas it comes with a maximum of 8 GB cache in Dell servers. They can also improve the port size. HP provides a 25 GB port on the server, whereas both Dell and Cisco provide a 100 GB port."

"I want to improve hyper-converged sites."

"They should work with Microsoft to make licensing costs better. That's because the physical servers have processors with all these cores, and Microsoft now licenses Windows virtual server desktops based on the number of cores and the serving servers. So, if you got to build 10 or 20 servers on that desktop, you got to license them all with Microsoft. They should have a partnership with Microsoft to decrease the virtual licensing of servers in partnerships so that when you purchase the servers, you also get licensing for Microsoft on top of them. That's because it gets very expensive to license virtual operating systems to run on physical servers."

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company has an agreement with Cisco to get discounted rates. It is one of the reasons why we chose the product."

"The solution is expensive and I give the price a four out of ten."

"The solution could be more cost-effective."

"Cisco is expensive, but we didn't look at the cost of the product. We were looking at reliability and support."

"The solution requires an annual licensing fee."

"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 product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."

"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."

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

"They need to work with Microsoft to make the licensing costs better and more efficient."

"This is an expensive product and there is licensing required for iLO, which is the HPE monitoring system."

"The solution's pricing is high. It needs to be more flexible. The flexibility would be beneficial for our clients, especially in a competitive market. Adding additional features and addressing complex requirements on top of the price can be challenging for us as a reseller."

"The price is a little too high; it could be reduced."

"The solution comes with a one time perpetual license which is included with the server."

"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."

"We have purchased this solution and it is under warranty."

"I give the price a five out of ten."

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers pricing and cost advice

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Answers from the Community

it_user729372

Student at TAFE NSW _ South Western Sydney Institute at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Sep 26, 2017

Are there any comparisons of HPE & Cisco servers using Benchmarks?

Another good question to consider is, how deeply are security and anti-tampering features built in? With the advent of Gen 10 servers HPE is implementing this right down in silicon whereas the rest of the marketplace is still using firmware features to try to accomplish this. This is arguably too late in the process to be able to guarantee what BIOS code you are actually running, what back do...

2 out of 8 answers

Bob Whitcombe

Technical Sales Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Sep 24, 2017

I suggest checking the key benchmark sites directly – TPC-C, SAP etc. Each benchmark is designed to test a specific system capability. http://www.tpc.org/tpcc/ http://global.sap.com/solutions/benchmark/sd2tier.epx I have attached the URL’s. The SAP testing is most revealing for overall systems performance and scalability. The most recent certifications show Cisco UCS servers eclipsing their HPE counterparts by notable margins. Standard Proliant systems are lower in total lines processed than Cisco units, and you have to move up to the HPE Synergy line to beat lower end Cisco C240 servers. However, the higher end 4-way Cisco C480 handily beats Synergy.

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it_user204816

Senior Cloud Consultant in CSIRO at SXiQ

Sep 25, 2017

As per my experience, CISCO UCS C-series is having scalability issue but for HPE ProLiant DL RACk server is good in terms of scalability. HPE tech support is much better than CISCO UCS.

Read full answer

See all 8 answers

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

25%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

17%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

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.

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How do Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers compare with HPE ProLiant DL servers?

Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers offer flexibility and efficiency in order to meet mission-critical demands. I like that Lenovo blends outstanding performance, reliability, and manageability. The bi...

See all answers

What do you like most about HPE ProLiant DL Servers?

The most valuable feature of the solution is HPE Integrated Lights-Out (iLO)...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE ProLiant DL Servers?

The product is expensive. I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price. On the needs of the customers, the product offers a lot of suppor...

See all answers

Comparisons

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

Compared 56% of the time

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

Compared 7% of the time

Dell XR2 Rugged Server 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

HPE Synergy vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers Competitors

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 47% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 24% of the time

HPE Apollo Systems vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Synergy vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 5% of the time

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

November 2024

Download Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

October 2024

Download HPE ProLiant DL Servers product report

Also Known As

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

HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL

Learn More

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Cisco

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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.

HPE ProLiant DL Servers are utilized by organizations for tasks like virtualization, database hosting, and application hosting, deployed both on-premises and in private clouds for diverse needs.

Organizations depend on HPE ProLiant DL Servers for stability, performance, and reliability. They are essential for running active directories, enterprise applications, and handling high-performance computing. These servers are known for their easy setup, scalability, and extensive management capabilities like iLO. Offering compatibility with many components and energy efficiency, they provide reliable hardware and good performance under demanding conditions. However, there is a need for improved price, stability, scalability, airflow, and power consumption. Enhancements in controller cache, port sizes, SAN connectivity, support availability, and management interface are also required. Faster technical support, better documentation, simplified configurations, and enhanced monitoring features and security integration would benefit users.

What are the key features?

Easy Setup: Quick and straightforward deployment.
Scalability: Adaptable to growing business needs.
Extensive Management: Features like iLO for advanced control.
Energy Efficiency: Optimized for lower power consumption.
Compatibility: Works well with various components.
Reliable Hardware: Robust and dependable technology.
Redundancy: Ensures high availability and minimal downtime.

What are the benefits and ROI?

High Performance: Excellent for demanding computing tasks.
User-Friendly: Easy to maintain and operate.
Flexibility: Versatile for different applications.
Good Technical Support: Access to professional assistance.

HPE ProLiant DL Servers are implemented across industries like finance for active directories and payment solutions, education for virtual desktops, healthcare for database synchronization, and IT firms for high-performance computing and application hosting.

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

AmeriPride Services, iSource, Bolagsverket, BlueShore Financial, British Columbia Assessment Authority, National Stock Exchange, Cardlytics

Buyer's Guide

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

October 2024

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