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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 22, 2024
 

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
29
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (3rd)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
156
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 4.7%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is 20.7%, 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 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 26, 2017
 

Featured Reviews

Ehsan Emad - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Ricardo Elorza - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In most cases, computes compute, and there isn't much differentiation, but one point of differentiation is Intersight cloud management."
"The hardware customization capabilities are great."
"The VIC card is the most important feature."
"It has centralized our server management and allows us to treat servers like a pool of resources instead of discrete devices."
"On the Cisco side, there is a benefit in terms of server management. Cisco provides UCS Manager, which is a multi-tenant site manager. We can manage multiple sites while maintaining disaster recovery, a feature not available on other platforms."
"The solution is easily scalable."
"The C-series is the most valuable."
"What I really like about the Cisco USC Server is its service profile."
"The most valuable features of HPE ProLiant DL Servers are very high quality."
"The initial setup for HPE ProLiant DL Servers is easy."
"The initial setup was easy."
"It's flexible."
"​We use HPE Datacenter support, and it is good support. It is automatic support. When I have a problem, the question is written automatically.​"
"iLO, in particular, helps us manage the servers better, especially as a lot of them are remote from where the IT staff are. We have some locations where we just have not got IT presence at those locations, so iLO really helps with that."
"Compatibility is the best feature of the solution."
"We get good performance with HPE ProLiant DL Servers. They are really stable. We run all our applications smoothly. We have no problem at all."
 

Cons

"The only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."
"The pricing is too high and no discounts are available for our country."
"The solution can be improved by adjusting the cost."
"The product must add customer-friendly monitoring features."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve by adding a wider portfolio because they only have two main categories, the C-220 and 240. There is no wide range of options as other solutions have, such as Dell. Additionally, if it was more flexible with the configuration it would be good."
"The warranty and support periods should be extended."
"There is very little scalability for the cluster. If you need a higher availability, there is a user limitation. So that is the low side."
"The improvement should be done as per customer requirements."
"The licensing fees are expensive and have room for improvement."
"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."
"The servers should include OneView for intelligence provisioning."
"The technical support has room for improvement."
"The documentation for HPE ProLiant DL Servers has room for improvement. For example, it says on the documentation that this specific product or part number is supported. Still, when you ask the HPE team, the reply is that it's not supported, so HPE should update the information on the documentation."
"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."
"It would be great if HP could use a ProLiant Server to run HP-UX, the Unix build from HPE. Right now, HP-UX cannot run on the ProLiant architecture."
"HPE ProLiant DL Servers are not scalable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis, which is only $2,000 or $3,000."
"The solution requires an annual licensing fee."
"​Best to buy all the blades configured for the same purposes of load balancing and failover or load shifting.​"
"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is high."
"The price of the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve. It's a little more expensive in comparison with Dell or HPE solutions."
"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."
"My company has an agreement with Cisco to get discounted rates. It is one of the reasons why we chose the product."
"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is approximately 20 percent more than other solutions."
"The price is a little too high; it could be reduced."
"​An investment in DL380 is worth it."
"The price of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"We did not need to pay for a license for the use of HP DL servers, just for normal hardcore support."
"I give the pricing a six out of ten."
"The hardware should be cheaper."
"Proliant DL Servers have a reasonable cost. They are not as expensive as the Cisco servers. Everything is included when you purchase a server. You just have to install and configure it."
"The solution comes with a one time perpetual license which is included with the server."
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Answers from the Community

it_user729372 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 26, 2017
Sep 26, 2017
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
BW
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.
it_user204816 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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.
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...
 

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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Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. HPE ProLiant DL Servers and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.