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Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs IBM Power Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 22, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
160
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (3rd), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (5th)
IBM Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.5
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is 28.1%, up from 27.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 9.1%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Hassen Trabelsi - PeerSpot reviewer
We get centralization, remote management, and good customer service with these servers
By implementing Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, we wanted centralization, security, and meeting the needs of the job. The performance of these servers is similar to the servers from another brand, but Dell’s after-sales customer service is better than other brands. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers can be configured depending on our needs. They are adaptable. In terms of energy consumption, we do not have any way to supervise the energy consumption of our servers. However, I know that there is a possibility to have several power supplies as a backup on the servers. It meets our needs, but I do not know if they consume more energy than the servers from other brands. With regard to durability, we keep our servers for ten years or so. After that, we call upon a company that recycles them. We have never had any problem with the RSE for these servers. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers can help to reduce unplanned production downtime, but it all depends on the chosen configuration. A simple PowerEdge server with just RAID 5, for example, would function, but if we have a problem with the power supply or two disks, it would not work. It depends on the configuration. We put several of them which helps us to have less production downtime. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have affected the overall flexibility of our operations. As a general rule, we put Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers in racks, or we have them in tower mode for certain production systems. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are a standard in our company. They are needed. We have to have them. We will soon move. Our server room has been designed with tables that can have PCs in tower mode. In our new buildings, we have reduced the space or rather the surface area for our server room. All that has a great impact on the costs.
Omobolaji Olaloku - PeerSpot reviewer
Extremely stable, good ROI, and scalable
The most valuable feature of our machines is their ability to replace faulty parts without causing any downtime. Our servers are equipped with advanced technology, making it possible to replace defective parts without having to bring down the servers. This is crucial, as any disruption to our services would result in inconvenience to our customers. Therefore, being able to service the machines and replace parts without causing any downtime is highly beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The core strength of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers lies in their expansive connectivity and seamless integration with other offerings within the Dell product ecosystem."
"I like the reliability and ease of swapping out failed equipment. It is very easy to replace power supplies and drives."
"PowerEdge Servers helped to reduce unplanned production downtime because of the configuration of our product, it is active-active. It has 99% high reliability."
"The use of OpenManage Console reduces the time it takes to manage PowerEdge Rack Servers in terms of updates and maintenance."
"When it comes to energy consumption they're also very good. They don't use power because they're power-hungry, but because we use them very hard."
"The pricing of the solution is fair."
"We used to have HPE. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are much easier to use and manage."
"What truly impresses me about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is their unwavering commitment to customer service, providing great assistance throughout the entire product lifecycle."
"The SMT that they've improved has really helped open up boundaries for other applications that can use it."
"PowerVM."
"We value the stability and technology capability of this solution the most. It is very stable, and the processor technology of IBM is very good. When you have a CIO and you are dealing with C-level every day, you can, without any doubt, support the core banking or critical applications with this solution."
"Active Memory Expansion allows you to compress your memory on the run time to allow you to have less physical memory available, but provision more memory to your partitions, as everything will be compressed on the fly."
"The initial setup is simple and straightforward."
"The main feature that I have found most valuable is PowerVM - its virtualization feature which is the most powerful."
"It scales a lot, you can just keep on adding frames, you can add on CPUs, you get capacity on demand, you can tune the machine very easily to handle different workloads."
"On the security side, we get regular security patch updates and system hardening. There are free tools available to harden the system."
 

Cons

"I would like to see more information about server health and the server's state, on the front. HP has a little screen that shows server utilization, how many disks there are inside, and the power consumption. HP also shows an alert if there is a malfunction of any device inside."
"I would like to see the pricing improved."
"The price is very high."
"I would like more resilience because, for all companies, cybersecurity is important."
"There is room for improvement in technical support."
"Overall, the solution is excellent, though Dell could improve the monitoring."
"They need to improve the support, as they are not very responsive, and they don't get back to you right away."
"The solution could improve by making the warranty policy better, which is a little bit complex because our local service partner Smart Technologies has long delays. Whenever we open any case for any customer, it takes more than five days. If we could handle it by ourselves, we could have the issue solved in one day. They should work on a way to fix these delays."
"Software testing and the compatibility of software products that are available in the market should be addressed."
"The solution could improve the memory database for better integration with SAP HANA."
"The solution is highly-priced."
"No available price list is on the web. Due to this, the customer cannot compare pricing."
"IBM systems are old technologies. I couldn't renew and get to use IBM Power Systems, and it offers users very expensive support."
"If you asked me what I'd like added, I'd say that it'd be nice if they ran GPUs, however, I know that's not the direction they're going. That said, I would appreciate it if they offered GPU support."
"IBM Power Systems could improve by having a cloud feature."
"I think the cost should be cheaper."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is good compared to other products."
"The pricing for this solution is reasonable. We pay a basic premium with a military premium on top of that."
"The pricing is very good because there are a lot of types of PowerEdge Rack Servers. You have the R540, R640, and R740. The prices are very scalable through the specific server, e.g., small businesses can take the R640 while large businesses can take the R740 or R840. Thus, Dell technologies touch on every organization."
"The pricing is fair enough."
"I have no issues with the pricing and licensing costs. They are fine."
"I am satisfied with the pricing of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers and would rate the cost as seven out of ten, with ten being the best."
"The cost structure associated with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers presents itself as a potential point of contention for budget-conscious consumers, as it could be more strategically positioned to compete within the broader marketplace."
"The licensing comes with a warranty."
"The solution's pricing is very, very high compared to other platforms."
"Its price is too high."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"Its price depends on the sizing."
"The machine is good and has a comparatively good price."
"It is designed for a large workload, as opposed to a small workload. For our circumstances, and even as an independent, I can't buy a Power system to experiment on. It can't happen. You cannot buy them."
"Power Systems is a bit more costly than other products in the market, but in terms of ROI and the longevity, performance, and reliability that Power Systems provides, it's worth it in the long run."
"It's more about the value you get for the price. Considering its stability and performance, the pricing is good."
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Answers from the Community

LS
Jan 16, 2022
Jan 16, 2022
IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Server IBM Power Systems is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) system that contains 8 threads or over per core. This processor performs super-fast due to the RISC algorithm technology than any other Intel-based hardware (e.g., Dell, HPE, Cisco). In Intel, there are only 2 or 4 threads per core and it performs according to CISC (Complex Instructi...
2 out of 3 answers
SR
Aug 16, 2021
IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Server IBM Power Systems is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) system that contains 8 threads or over per core. This processor performs super-fast due to the RISC algorithm technology than any other Intel-based hardware (e.g., Dell, HPE, Cisco).  In Intel, there are only 2 or 4 threads per core and it performs according to CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer). IBM Power system is a sustainable, reliable and obviously costly solution compared to any other Intel-based solution.  Generally, IBM Power system is used in mission-critical systems. 
Nicolae - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 3, 2022
IBM Power comes with virtualization integrated (PowerVM), highly optimized (practically with no performance impact) - no need for VMWare, HyperV etc.  For database it is the recomended platform - even is Hana, Oracle (best combination with AIX) or DB2 (DB2 for me is the most autonomous database that you can have).  The downside of IBM Power could be the lack of support for Windows and the initial cost. 
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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....
What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
PowerEdge could have more configuration options, such as the ability to combine different CPUs, memory volumes, data storage, and memory. The new Intel-based ones are a bit power-hungry. You want t...
What do you like most about IBM Power Systems?
IBM Power Systems provides very good performance and stability compared to other brands or processors.
What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
IBM should provide a platform where users can learn about the storage and security of IBM Power Systems.
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
In my company, we use the system for the data center and our IBM Cloud Pak System.
 

Also Known As

PowerEdge R
IBM OpenPOWER LC
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Cipher
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs. IBM Power Systems and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.