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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Oracle SPARC Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

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
4.2
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (3rd)
Oracle SPARC Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 4.8%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle SPARC Servers is 3.7%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Kalpesh Savaliya - PeerSpot reviewer
Good support, and this product well-suited to our size of environment
We use these rack servers for terminal operating systems The initial setup could be easier. I have been working with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers for five years. This is a stable product. For our use case, this product is scalable up to 16 blades, including two sites. I don't know how well…
Abdul-Salam - PeerSpot reviewer
A rock-solid OS and rich virtualization features for hosting many VMs on one box
Oracle doesn't have a good roadmap for the solution because they are moving to the x86 platform. Oracle is focusing on the cloud platform with a PCA and standard x86 architecture. Linux is their other OS and is mostly in the cloud. We don't see much development happening on Solaris even though it came as an acquisition from Sun Microsystems. Eventually, the solution and its platform will die because there has been no new development on the Solaris end and we haven't seen new servers in the last five years. At this point, we are pretty sure there is no real roadmap or future for the solution. There is a shortage of expert engineers because Oracle is not pushing the technology. It is hard for us to find engineers because the number of people supporting us has considerably reduced.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's stability is good. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine to ten out of ten."
"The solution is stable."
"The hardware customization capabilities are great."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack is the use of databases, such as MySQL."
"We have many people in my organization using Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers in the administration."
"In most cases, computes compute, and there isn't much differentiation, but one point of differentiation is Intersight cloud management."
"The technical support from Cisco is fine."
"The server can be configured easily."
"Our customers are happy with many features in Oracle SPARC Servers, like the automatic ASR feature."
"I have found the LDAP facilities most valuable. In addition, I like the CPU."
"The Oracle server is very powerful. They are more powerful and durable compared to Intel hardware. Which has been a benefit to our organization."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that Oracle Database functions very well with Oracle SPARC Servers."
"The operating system is rock solid and the best I have ever used."
"The processor is very helpful and the licensing is very flexible."
"The performance is the best feature."
 

Cons

"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."
"I think the pricing is high. Cisco has to look for bundling this solutions with other applications."
"Technical support could be more responsive."
"The improvement should be done as per customer requirements."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers can improve by providing customization features to allow us to deploy them on the cloud. For example, we need VMware to allow us to accomplish a cloud deployment."
"The pricing is too high and no discounts are available for our country."
"The only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."
"The solution needs more capacity and more scalability."
"They need some sort of modeling because IBM has different types of models."
"The solution could improve by giving a clear roadmap about the future. I'm not seeing a lot of improvements on the OS side of the software. They need to work more on the operating system."
"They have declared the end of life of the hardware."
"Oracle SPARC Servers should be fine-tuned well enough to work with the other servers and software products in the market, as it is an area where Oracle SPARC Servers lack."
"Oracle doesn't have a good roadmap for the solution because they are moving to the x86 platform."
"Like IBM, Oracle SPARC Servers should be able to run other open operating systems like Linux."
"I would like to see a reduced price point."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"​Best to buy all the blades configured for the same purposes of load balancing and failover or load shifting.​"
"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 for Cisco is a bit higher than its competitors. We paid 40k for one server."
"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 price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is approximately 20 percent more than other solutions."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis, which is only $2,000 or $3,000."
"Cisco is expensive, but we didn't look at the cost of the product. We were looking at reliability and support."
"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is high."
"The application running on it is very important to us and this makes the price worth it."
"My company makes yearly payments toward the licensing costs attached to the solution."
"The hardware is expensive but it has very rich virtualization features that make it economical."
"Oracle SPARC Servers are expensive to manage, this is because after five years Oracle will increase the support charges for the hardware. The licensing policy for Oracle is different for Intel and Sparc. It will cost you less if you use your Oracle hardware with Oracle SPARC Servers."
"The licensing is flexible."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Oracle SPARC Servers?
The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that Oracle Database functions very well with Oracle SPARC Servers.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle SPARC Servers?
My company makes yearly payments toward the licensing costs attached to the solution. My company's clients, who have paid for the licensing costs attached to the solution, have also engaged with so...
What needs improvement with Oracle SPARC Servers?
Oracle products are usually fine-tuned with the software of other Oracle products, like Oracle WebLogic Server Services, Oracle Database, and Oracle Core Banking Software and Solutions, as all the ...
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
No data available
 

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
University Hospitals Leuven, B&H Photo, Tuscon Electric Power, IS Nordic, Siemens
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. Oracle SPARC Servers and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
863,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.