HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Synergy comparison

The compared HPE ProLiant DL Servers and HPE Synergy solutions aren't in the same category. HPE ProLiant DL Servers is ranked #2 in Rack Servers , with an average rating of 8.6, and holds a 21.2% mindshare in the category. HPE Synergy is ranked #1 in Blade Servers , with an average rating of 8.8, and holds a 21.9% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of HPE ProLiant DL Servers users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of HPE Synergy users who would recommend it.

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Read 156 HPE ProLiant DL Servers reviews

10,946 Views
8,990 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

HPE Synergy

Read 89 HPE Synergy reviews

2,996 Views
2,123 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

HPE Synergy

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 22, 2024

HPE ProLiant DL Servers and HPE Synergy compete in the enterprise server market segment. Based on features and user satisfaction, HPE Synergy holds an edge for large-scale deployments due to its composable infrastructure, while HPE ProLiant DL Servers are favored for reliability and manageability in smaller-scale environments.

Features: HPE ProLiant DL Servers are acclaimed for their reliability, scalability, and performance. Users value the Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) feature for efficient remote management. Redundancy features ensure robust fail-safes for critical applications. HPE Synergy stands out with its flexible, composable infrastructure, advantageous for dynamic allocation of resources in enterprise environments. Integration with OneView enhances management and performance scalability.

Room for Improvement: HPE ProLiant DL Server users point out high licensing costs, desire a faster management interface, and faster boot times. There's a call for more integrated management tools. HPE Synergy users find the system complex and challenging, requiring better integration with other platforms and more streamlined management solutions. Cost efficiency and support enhancements are also suggested.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HPE ProLiant DL Servers are often deployed on-premises with reliable customer service, though some face service delays. HPE Synergy sees deployment in both on-premises and hybrid environments, with a strong customer service infrastructure addressing issues promptly. Technical support is a strong aspect for both products, with HPE ProLiant DL Servers being highlighted for ease of integration into existing systems.

Pricing and ROI: HPE ProLiant DL Servers are considered reasonably priced, though some regard them as expensive against competitors, offering good ROI due to performance and low downtime. HPE Synergy is initially more costly but cuts down total ownership cost through efficiency and resource optimization, justified by benefits despite higher upfront expenses. Users of both products emphasize the importance of budgeting for hardware and licensing costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Rack Servers Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Rack Servers

February 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 839,319 peers since 2012

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

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

156

Ranking in other categories

Rack Servers (2nd)

HPE Synergy

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Blade Servers (1st), Composable Infrastructure (1st)

Mindshare comparison

While both are IT Hardware and Infrastructure solutions, they serve different purposes. HPE ProLiant DL Servers is designed for Rack Servers and holds a mindshare of 21.2%, down 21.9% compared to last year.
HPE Synergy, on the other hand, focuses on Blade Servers, holds 21.9% mindshare, up 21.8% since last year.

Rack Servers

Blade Servers

Featured Reviews

SHIVAKUMAR A P

Country Manager - Emerging Business at Orbit Techsol

With an easy setup phase in place, it is suitable for small and large-sized businesses

When you speak of any enhancements in the product, you need to shift to the tool's commercial mode. You get more features in the solution if you pour in more money. If a customer needs some features in the solution, they will have to buy it since certain features are not loaded by default in the server. With entry-level licenses, servers are shipped to customers free of cost. Customers need to pay if they want more and more features in the solution. Every OEM solution in the market, including HPE ProLiant DL, operates similarly. The overall cost of the product needs to be lower, as it is one of the areas of concern in the product.

Read full review

CarlosArdila

Project Manager, Information Technology at Telelago

Helps grow horizontally or vertically within one box or chassis

The initial setup is very easy. We deployed this in two days, including installation, system setup, firmware upgrades, configuration, and network connection. By the next day, we were already deploying virtual machines. We initially began with the Blade system. As the migration to SAP HANA approached, it seemed prudent to upgrade our hardware. Consequently, we facilitated their transition from the Blade system to Synergy. Subsequently, we collaborated closely with the SAP consultancy company to oversee the migration process, ensuring seamless integration of all workloads and sub-environments. We have four people working on the deployment, including a project manager, two specialists, and one tech support.

Read full review

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 feature is stability."

"This is all I've ever used. These servers are strong, and they have very few failures on them. They are also easy to manage and monitor."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is scalability."

"The most valuable features of HPE ProLiant DL Servers are very high quality."

"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."

"ProLiant is highly stable. We've had very few problems with the servers. We only once had an issue with the hard disk in an HPE server."

"HPE ProLiant DL Servers are easy to use and the GUI is rather simple and intuitive. The Americans know how to make things beautiful. Their Japanese counterpart has outdated GUIs. There is a lot of other services and software that HPE provides for the server. The software can connect all the infrastructure to form a unified management or monitoring system."

"The ProLiant DL Servers are stable and reliable."

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers pros

"Ability to easily re-utilize parts of the hardware for different purposes."

"The scalability is great."

"It is helping us sort of bridge a gap that we are having moving off of old legacy systems, like HP-UX systems and trying to move over to x86. So, it is helping fill a hardware gap that a lot of our platforms have needed in the past."

"We build out a whole stack at one time, so we don't have to worry about it until that stack is full, then that gives us time to get the next one ready."

"HPE Synergy is a stable solution."

"For me, this is the best frame server technology available in the market. We can compare it to Cisco UCS. It is robust and stable, and it is also easy to deploy and scale. Their support is the best."

"It has improved our procurement and day zero provisioning. We are bringing in racks of Synergy which are not populated with the blades, then we are buying the blades and populating them, as our business needs. This has been pretty helpful to be able to sort of pre-package the data center with the Synergy platform, then deploy servers into it as we grow."

"They're easy to swap and move around the datacenter, for sure. They don't occupy too much space for what they offer."

More HPE Synergy pros

Cons

"They are pretty solid servers, but, just like all servers, they become obsolete after some time. They can maybe provide a console to monitor the health of the servers. There should be some kind of console to which you can log in to remotely check on the health of a server, even when the server is off. The servers that we have are only scalable to some extent. They have got a limited amount of hard drive that you can insert. Their scalability should be improved."

"The product must provide time travel features."

"There are concerns about the HPE team in the Southeast Asia region, suggesting a need for improvements in terms of responsiveness. There have been instances where the response time was slow, causing challenges during urgent situations. Its stability also needs to improve."

"I would like the solution to improve its storage and performance. Also, I would like to replicate data between on-premises and cloud in future versions."

"A better option would be same day support, not next business day."

"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."

"My customers are tilted toward GPU users, and the mixed version of the enabled hard drives require — flash drives, SSD, NNL, and PLAS — all mixed and matched in a single box. These are requirements I've already shared with the HPE account manager."

"It's scalable but we are switching to workstation for some software because the CPU speed isn't fast enough anymore."

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers cons

"It would be nice if the updates were not accompanied by downtime."

"They have not improved their product since it was purchased."

"Gen 11 is being released. That's going to have a lot of advantages over Gen 10 and previous generations in terms of the cooling modules in the servers to keep them cooler and run with more efficiency and better performance. There are more management features with iLO 6 and the latest OneView management."

"Technical support was time consuming and unsatisfactory. The initial product setup was complex, lasing around three weeks to a month."

"The setup was a bit complex."

"HPE Synergy could improve its remote support."

"The solution should support Cisco or other vendor interconnect models."

"After delivering the contract, they became a little less active. So, it needs some pushing from my side sometimes."

More HPE Synergy cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are less expensive solutions than HPE ProLiant DL Servers. However, there is a lot of value in this solution."

"This product is within our budget."

"It is expensive. Its price should be better."

"An investment in DL380 is worth it."

"This was a one-time purchase for us because it's hardware that we purchased from HPE. There aren't any licensing costs."

"The iLO (integrated lights out) license is very expensive, but the functionality you receive is worth it."

"It's expensive."

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

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers pricing and cost advice

"The price point is a little high. We were able to get a good deal on a promotion, to go with it. It would be nice to see the prices come down a little bit."

"We don't have to pay for Synergy because it's part of our plan."

"In our whole environment, the cost is in the millions. On this particular chassis, the annual cost is 12 blades times approximately $40,000."

"For temporal use, when you throw on the fact that you're essentially doubling your capacity, right there you could claim a 50 percent TCO reduction."

"We pay about £500 for the solution."

"The hardware licensing cost is reasonable."

"We are satisfied with its price."

"There was at least about a 20 percent savings in cost over our purchase based on the purchase price of the compute modules themselves versus what we've had to pay before. It was significantly less."

More HPE Synergy pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rack Servers solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

839,319 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

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...

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

How would you choose between HPE's Bladesystem and Synergy?

For me, choosing between HPE’s Bladesystem and Synergy came down to which solution was more powerful, reliable, and stable. It turns out Bladesystem was the winner. Bladesystem is excellent because...

See all answers

What do you like most about HPE Synergy?

It is a good product for hypervisors.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Synergy?

The pricing is relatively high compared to Cisco servers. However, due to the volume of my purchases, I get good discounts.

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 47% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 23% of the time

HPE Apollo Systems vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 6% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 5% of the time

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

Compared 5% of the time

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers Competitors

HPE BladeSystem vs HPE Synergy

Compared 23% of the time

Dell PowerEdge M vs HPE Synergy

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco UCS B-Series vs HPE Synergy

Compared 9% of the time

HPE Superdome X vs HPE Synergy

Compared 5% of the time

HPE Apollo Systems vs HPE Synergy

Compared 4% of the time

More HPE Synergy Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

February 2025

Download HPE ProLiant DL Servers product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE Synergy

February 2025

Download HPE Synergy product report

Also Known As

HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL

No data available

Overview

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.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

HPE Synergy, the first platform built from the ground up for Composable Infrastructure, offers an experience that empowers IT to create and deliver new value instantly and continuously. It is a single infrastructure that reduces operational complexity for traditional workloads and increases operational velocity for the new breed of applications and services. Through a single interface, HPE Synergy composes physical and virtual compute, storage, and fabric pools into any configuration for any application. As an extensible platform, it easily enables a broad range of applications and operational models such as virtualization, hybrid cloud, and DevOps. With HPE Synergy, IT can become not just the internal service provider but the business partner to rapidly launch new applications that become the business.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Sample Customers

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

HudsonAlpha, Virgin Media, EMIS, United

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lenovo and others in Rack Servers. Updated: February 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

839,319 professionals have used our research since 2012.

We monitor all Rack Servers reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.