Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers Reviews

We continuously expand our data center infrastructure with Dell PowerEdge Servers, deploying virtualization platforms across multiple data centers. As our computing needs grow, we consistently require additional compute resources, leading to ongoing expansion efforts. Each month sees the addition of new PowerEdge Servers to accommodate our evolving requirements.

The most significant benefit we've experienced is the simplicity of working with a single vendor. This streamlined approach has greatly improved our service level experience. Whenever there's an issue, we can quickly reach out to them and receive prompt replacements or support. With ProSupport, the reliability and responsiveness of Dell's support services are truly impressive. We have peace of mind knowing that our technical needs will be addressed swiftly, often with next-day solutions.

Efficiency and power consumption have seen improvements in the last generation of servers. However, it's important to note that these aspects are largely comparable across vendors when utilizing the same hardware components.

The cyber-resilient architecture is a crucial feature, particularly for security purposes. Its inclusion provides reassurance for us as hosts, allowing us to confidently communicate to our customers that we employ this advanced technology in our data centers. This enhances our credibility and serves as a point of trust when engaging with our clients.

PowerEdge Servers have significantly reduced unplanned production data shutdowns, particularly compared to our previous experience with Dell, when we encountered frequent shutdowns due to hardware malfunctions, but with PowerEdge, downtime has been consistently minimal for the past five years. This improvement has greatly benefited both us and our customers, as it allows us to provide services with much better SLAs.

The adoption of the OpenManage Console has impacted our productivity positively as we are currently in the process of rolling it out for our servers.

The standout feature is the remote control accessibility, which allows our team to access and manage the servers locally or remotely. We primarily utilize these servers for virtualization, running VMware to consolidate them into a large data center. This setup perfectly aligns with our specific requirements, and our technical team thoroughly enjoys working with it. We've experienced fewer issues compared to previous hardware solutions from other providers. With PowerEdge servers, our stability has significantly improved.

There might be room for improvement in terms of efficiency, particularly with PowerEdge servers. However, it's worth noting that this issue isn't unique to Dell but rather a general concern across the industry.

We have been using it for almost twenty years.

Stability is paramount, and it's the feedback we consistently receive from our technicians. When we seek their advice on hardware selection for various solutions, they consistently recommend Dell without hesitation.

Scalability is a strong suit, particularly for our high-demand usage scenarios. We leverage storage virtualization with VMware installation, initially setting up nodes with lower capacity. As our needs grow, we can easily expand storage by adding more nodes or increasing capacity. This scalability extends to our infrastructure, allowing for flexible expansion and adaptation as required.

In general, it's common to encounter issues, especially during late hours when support might not be readily available. However, we haven't faced significant problems with our PowerEdge servers. Any challenges we've encountered are more often related to client devices, such as laptops from Dell. When it comes to server support, our experience has been excellent, almost rating it a perfect ten out of ten.

Positive

When comparing Dell PowerEdge servers and services to other options on the market, it's challenging for us to provide a comprehensive evaluation because the majority of our servers in the data center are Dell. Therefore, our main frame of reference is Dell versus alternative solutions. According to feedback from our technicians, Dell is typically preferred over other brands like Dell due to its perceived stability. This comparison is primarily focused on hardware solutions rather than support services.

Deploying Dell PowerEdge servers is straightforward and efficient. It saves us a significant amount of time since it's mostly plug-and-play, with minimal setup required. Our technicians have become accustomed to the process, with approximately fifty percent of the time previously spent on setup now being saved. As we continue to set up numerous Dell servers, we find the process consistently easy and reliable, with no major changes in the setup procedure.

Our primary deployment model for PowerEdge servers revolves around virtualization. While we do have some servers deployed on-premises, the majority are situated in the data center, serving as the backbone for our virtualization solution.

We have a strong agreement in place with our parent company, that typically ensures favorable pricing terms for us, although occasionally we may need to negotiate with Dell representatives for further discounts to provide competitive pricing to our customers.

In our business, we prioritize scalability over a plethora of features. Having identical servers across our infrastructure simplifies support and enhances technician familiarity. This uniformity streamlines processes, making it easier for our team to understand and manage the systems efficiently. Additionally, in our design and digital systems development, we lean towards utilizing Dell for its robust support and scalability, ensuring our solutions can easily scale as needed. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

We have two that we use as domain controllers and power servers. We're running an ERP system that is critical to the business, but the majority of our other stuff is cloud-based.

In comparison to what we had before, which was some older Dell equipment, the performance of the PowerEdge Rack Servers is stunning. They have improved the performance of our systems. We've been a Dell house for years and years, and replacing the older Dell equipment with these machines has given us a very positive performance increase.

We're quite a small company, so anything we can throw at any of these servers— they will just eat it for breakfast. We've had no problems with them.

We haven't had any unplanned production downtime. That is down to the quality of the Dell servers.

The fact that they came pre-installed was quite good. We didn't have to worry too much about that process. 

In terms of the usage of the machines themselves, one of the most valuable features is the Hyper-V element, although that's an application on the servers. 

Also, the maintenance part makes it very easy to raise queries and get repairs done.

In terms of handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads, while I don't have anything to compare these servers against, I have no issues with the performance of our systems. They work as well as I could expect them to. They will be perfectly fine for our workloads.

The rate controller interface is difficult to get to without installing additional software. It would be helpful if they had preinstalled software to make that easily accessible.

The company I'm with at the moment purchased Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers back in 2018 or 2019.

We've never had any outages, so the stability is perfect, or as close to perfect as you can get.

We've had the UPS kick in a couple of times and they've stayed up; they haven't died instantly. They are perfectly acceptable and I can't see any issues with them at all.

We haven't really had to upscale anything on the servers, other than a bit of memory. The particular modules we have are about as high as we can go, but that's fine because we purchased them to be "high-spec'd."

The technical support is very good. We have access to our own account manager and he will pass queries on. And on occasion, I've spoken directly to their support teams. We have been very pleased with the account management from Dell. It's been good.

Positive

We previously used Dell, but older machines. We made the switch because the old kit was getting too old. It was getting to end-of-life, and we needed some performance improvements. The PowerEdge definitely gave us that.

It did the initial setup, more or less, by itself. I did a little bit of fine-tuning here and there, but nothing drastic. It was very easy. 

I was the only person involved. I was responsible for everything from physically getting the stuff in the rack to configuring it and making it live, and everything in between.

We have seen a return on investment because of the performance improvements and the fact that we have had no downtime. That's enough for us.

It's a bit of a shock when you have to find the money, but the pricing is very competitive, so I'm happy with that.

I've been working with Dell for a number of years and never had any issues, so Dell was the go-to solution for me. We had a quick look at other machines in terms of pricing, and there wasn't any particular benefit in terms of pricing by going with someone else. With the history and trust I had in Dell, I went with Dell.

One native OS security feature we use in our environment is Windows Defender, but at the same time, we are running a third-party endpoint protection solution. The native OS security features have had no negative impact. The endpoint protection is on both the clients and servers. We run vulnerability scanning regularly, and we do penetration testing, internal and external, on a regular basis.

As for public cloud servers, we did not consider them before choosing PowerEdge because we use them for internal management. We are looking at cloud solutions, but not for the core, critical servers.

Our main uses for PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel are virtualization, file servers, and Active Directory, which our entire infrastructure sits on.

I have five Dell PowerEdge servers now. About 40,000 users are using these servers. About 70 to 80 people use the file server.

Support for virtualization is very important to us. It provides redundancy when booting from storage, where the servers are loaded from a separate storage. It provides full server support.

The use of OpenManage Console reduces the time it takes to manage PowerEdge Rack Servers in terms of updates and maintenance.

Unfortunately, PowerEdge Rack Servers do not support NVMe storage.

OpenManage Console is slightly confusing, especially after upgrade releases. There isn't a manual for what to do with lifecycle management and in what sequence. I have to rely on user forums instead of Dell in these cases.

This is my third purchase. I bought my first three PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel two years ago.

The primary reason that we chose PowerEdge - they are stable and don’t crash.

I keep my firmware, BIOS, and drivers up-to-date. Regarding security, we have not had any incidents.

The two Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers that I am using solve my needs completely in terms of redundancy and scalability.

I used Dell support a couple of times, and it was okay.

I would rate Dell’s support as eight out of 10. When resolving an issue, they transferred me to multiple support techs. This is because when you reach global support, your request is processed by the operator. Then, there are a few other steps. Usually, I am asked primitive questions before being transferred to Tier 2 or 3, who take a couple of days to get back to me.

Positive

One of the reasons that we choose to use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is because we never had a problem with the previous ones. Whereas, we have had servers and blades from Lenovo with a lot of problems. There were constant motherboard failures.

In addition to Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, we also have Dell's storage. Since there have been no problems with them, except for routine battery changes, we continue to use Dell’s reliable hardware. 

It was straightforward with the help of the Dell wizard. I just needed to connect it to VMware. Obviously, someone has to study when preparing to deploy and configure PowerEdge Rack Servers. In my case, deployment and configuration of two PowerEdge Rack Servers with VMware, cloud, and integration with our storage took about three days.

My strategy was to launch these servers as quickly as possible. First, we made sure that there was communication. Then, we installed clients in VMware. After that, we started installing the PowerEdge Rack Servers.

As an educational institution, we have certain budget restraints. So, we work around our budget and what hardware we can get from it.

We considered Lenovo and HPE, but chose Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers because of their reliability.

Choose stable servers when considering fast servers, because even though they might work fast, they might not last. We have been happy with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers.

I would absolutely rate PowerEdge Rack Servers as 10 out of 10.

We use this solution for our on-premises infrastructure to mainly provide office support and data storage.

We use it for data storage and it allows for easy access to the data on-premises. It has helped increase staff productivity.

PowerEdge is one of the top solutions when it comes to the security features that it provides including firmware, drift protection, and systems management.

It's a pretty nice system. You can log in to iDRAC, you can look at the logs, the temperature, etc. Essentially, all of the metrics of the server are there, so you can get a complete view and immediately know what's going on.

One of the things that I've noticed is that over time, the system degrades, meaning that little things don't work. For example, the hard drive would need to be replaced or iDRAC would not be functioning properly. We may have to flash the firmware. It is not like some other hardware where it just runs without issues for four or five years. With Dell, generally, there are little hiccups here and there.

I've used PowerEdge Rack Servers on and off for about 20 years.

It's very stable. I would give it a ten out of ten. The system is pretty redundant, so we never really have any downtime.

We have about 250 users. It's used 90% in the company, in terms of our infrastructure. We do not plan to increase usage because we're moving more things to the cloud. We're trying to reduce our server footprint on-premises.

Dell's technical support is pretty good. I'd give them a ten out of ten.

Positive

We've always switched between Dell and HP, depending on the current state and the cost. The reason for switching is primarily the cost involved.

The initial setup is not intuitive. The first one took a while, but after that, we were done within an hour.

When deploying the PowerEdge solution, we were able to use the automated server and OS deployment features, but I had to talk to Dell support. They had to walk me through it. However, once you do it once, it becomes very easy.

We implemented it ourselves with help from Dell's technical support.

For deployment and maintenance, we need one person.

When you compare public cloud solutions to PowerEdge in terms of cost, initially the cost of Dell servers or Dell technology was really high. However, right now it's on par and maybe even cheaper when we use Dell hardware. If we don't swap it out in three years and stretch it to four or five years, then we can get even more of an ROI versus cloud cost.

We've always chosen HP or Dell depending on the year, the product, and any promotions offered by the respective companies. We generally use Dell laptops, so by default we often go with Dell servers as part of the ecosystem.

I highly recommend Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers; they are solid. If you do your due diligence and do your homework or your janitorial work, they'll never break.

I would give this solution a ten on a scale from one to ten.

We use it in the media industry.

Our customers have numerous benefits, including an array of features such as RAM quantity, CPU power, and storage capacity.

Our energy consumption was quite high five years ago when we were a service provider. Today, over the last two generations, our power consumption has decreased significantly. This reduction is highly beneficial for our operations.

The flexibility is commendable. Whenever we need to perform any task on our records or servers, the process is smooth and swift. In the twenty years of using Dell, we haven't encountered any troubles, problems, or issues, which speaks volumes about the reliability of their products.

The enduring stability and longevity offered by Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers stand out as their most invaluable feature. These qualities enable organizations to deploy and utilize the same server model for extended periods, bolstered by Dell's steadfast guarantee.

The pricing structure could be improved.

I have been using it for over ten years.

Stability is excellent overall. We've encountered only one issue, which pertained to a SAN rather than a server. This occurred due to a peak in energy, affecting the controller within the rack. Nonetheless, stability remains consistent for our servers.

Scalability is truly excellent, as we can start with a certain number of memory units, and when a customer requests additional memory or space, we can easily upgrade. This process is fast and straightforward, making it highly beneficial.

We've relied on tech support for at least twenty years, and every time we've reached out, we've received swift and effective solutions. I would rate it nine out of ten.

Positive

The advantage of Dell over other vendors lies in the fact that over the course of twenty years, we've consistently opted for solutions that include mission-critical assistance. However, we've only needed to utilize this assistance twice in two decades. This demonstrates the exceptional quality of Dell's hardware, which has been thoroughly tested and proven reliable—an essential feature and service for us.

Deploying was simple. We were assigned directly to the data center. As consultants, we began by working directly in the rack. We initiated the installation process, starting with the hypervisor, and everything proceeded smoothly.

Twenty years ago, we used to purchase directly from Dell. However, they later decided to sell only through partners in Italy. Consequently, when we transitioned to buying from partners, we also became partners ourselves. At present, the pricing seems a bit high for us. While we manage to procure products through competitive bidding, the list pricing remains challenging for us. This difficulty primarily arises when selling to customers, especially medium-sized ones requiring only two or three servers.

Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

We use PowerEdge Rack Servers for quantitative analytics, data simulations, and machine learning.

The hardware makes it a good solution.

PowerEdge Rack Servers are very good for handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads.

Its tuning and performance are good.

The specs for the benchmarks are very good, but the firmware and software are lacking. There are some issues with the Linux kernel and the long-term support (LTS) for some of the firmware's dependencies. It is causing the kernel to dump. The support for the Linux brands isn't optimal. We would like them to optimize the kernel drivers for benchmarks.

There are some issues that need to be solved with our model in regards to UEFI and firmware. 

I have been using it for about 10 years.

There haven't been any issues with downtime.

Dell's open source support is very good. There are a lot of issues that they need to handle though, like the firmware and UEFI.

We previously used IBM and Lenovo.

It is a cluster, so you just plug and play.

Lenovo is very good with updates.

We use AMD Opteron instead of Intel Xeon.

We chose Dell because of its open source. Our community likes Dell because of its open source delivery.

We use GCP Spot and AWS Graviton as our failover solutions.

I would rate this solution as eight out of 10.

I have been using PowerEdge servers primarily for file storage.

Using PowerEdge rack servers has allowed us to use less space. Previously, we used the regular servers, but PowerEdge rack servers take up less space and are easier to handle.

The OpenManage Console improves our IT staff productivity by simplifying platform management. We can keep track of all those servers and do more jobs. The server effectively handles the evolving needs of high-performance workloads. 

The management of the security architecture could be improved. It takes some time and can be challenging. 

I have been using PowerEdge servers for over 20 years.

The overall stability is okay. We had some disk issues with an older version, but newer versions have worked fine.

PowerEdge infrastructure is scalable, but we don't have much need to scale it.

We used HP servers before. The main differences between HP and Dell are price and management. Dell is better priced. 

The initial setup was straightforward. We deployed PowerEdge in-house using OpenManage. 

The biggest return on investment for me is the stability of the product.

Dell is priced better than alternative solutions.

I rate Dell PowerEdge eight out of 10. PowerEdge servers have improved the overall flexibility of our operations and business a little by simplifying operations and rationalizing placement. 

Our primary use case is for Hyper-V server virtualization.

The reason we adopted Dell PowerEdge is because we wanted to simplify and streamline our IT infrastructure as much as possible. That is the challenge we were facing.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have made my organization much more organized. Before, we didn't have DRA cards or a centralized overview of servers, so managing them required local access. Now, I can centrally monitor and control server issues across all locations.

PowerEdge Server's Cyber Resilient Architecture approach to security, including silicon-based firmware, signed firmware updates, user access, and supply chain security and integrity is good. It's especially good with regular updates that instill confidence. 

I can't provide details on the processor architecture, as I'm not deeply familiar with it.

PowerEdge Rack Servers' handling of evolving high-performance workload requirements when equipped with the appropriate server is sufficient and very good. Although it's crucial for a customer to plan for future resource needs.

The servers have had an excellent impact on our organization's sustainability goals. The longer lifespan of Dell servers aligns well with the typical server lifespan calculation of five to seven years.

The OpenManage Console has affected the productivity of our IT personnel. It has become much more manageable. It's easier to administer servers, even for colleagues who are less technically inclined.

The DRA cards for server management is the most valuable feature. They provide a clear overview of server settings and issues. We also like that the notifications are well-organized.

The price could possibly use improvement. Dell servers are not the most affordable, and pricing is always a consideration. Otherwise, I don't see any specific areas for improvement.

In a future release, having a ten-gigabit LAN onboard from the start would be a significant advantage. It would eliminate the need for aftermarket upgrades.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for two years. 

The servers have good stability. Servers need to run smoothly, and Dell servers do that reliably.

Scalability depends on how you plan and allocate resources. With proper planning, it's scalable.

I would rate their support a nine out of ten. It would be even better if ProSupport for servers were integrated and didn't require additional fees or licenses.

Positive

We were previously using HPE ProLiant and Microtech servers. They were not as user-friendly or easy to manage.

We did the setup. We installed a Windows server and configured the hard drives.

The complexity of the setup is as complex as setting up any server. It's not as simple as a laptop but not excessively complex if you've done it a few times.

Our strategy was to set up the servers and then we migrated VMs from the old servers once the new ones were ready.

Microsoft licensing for Hyper-V servers is a challenge, but Dell's hardware may be slightly more expensive. Overall, it's manageable.

We looked at HP again but decided on Dell due to our positive experience with Dell laptops.

Also, Dell's Pro Support is something I find valuable, and I believe it's not available to the same extent as other providers.

PowerEdge Rack Servers' energy consumption depends on how the server is utilized. I can't provide specific details, but every server requires power.

The use of PowerEdge Rack Servers hasn't had a significant impact on the overall flexibility of our operation. If anything, it has ensured everything runs smoothly.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a nine out of ten. There's not much that needs improvement. Your success with it largely depends on how well you plan.

Foreign Language:(German)

Gute Sicherheitsarchitektur, einschließlich siliziumbasierter Firmware, signierter Firmware-Updates, Benutzerzugang und Sicherheit der Lieferkette

Was ist unser Hauptanwendungsfall?

Unser Hauptanwendungsfall ist die Hyper-V-Servervirtualisierung.

Wir haben uns für Dell PowerEdge entschieden, weil wir unsere IT-Infrastruktur so weit wie möglich vereinfachen und rationalisieren wollten. Das ist die Herausforderung, vor der wir standen.

Wie hat es meiner Organisation geholfen?

Mit den Dell PowerEdge Rack-Servern ist meine Organisation jetzt viel besser organisiert. Vorher hatten wir keine DRA-Karten oder eine zentrale Übersicht über die Server, so dass für die Verwaltung der Server ein lokaler Zugriff erforderlich war. Jetzt kann ich Serverprobleme an allen Standorten zentral überwachen und steuern.

Der Sicherheitsansatz der Cyber Resilient Architecture von PowerEdge Server, einschließlich der siliziumbasierten Firmware, der signierten Firmware-Updates, des Benutzerzugriffs und der Sicherheit und Integrität der Lieferkette, ist gut. Besonders gut ist er bei regelmäßigen Updates, die Vertrauen erwecken.

Ich kann keine Details zur Prozessorarchitektur nennen, da ich mich damit nicht auskenne.

Die PowerEdge Rack Server können mit dem entsprechenden Server die sich entwickelnden Anforderungen an Hochleistungs-Workloads ausreichend und sehr gut erfüllen. Allerdings ist es für einen Kunden entscheidend, den zukünftigen Ressourcenbedarf zu planen.

Die Server haben sich hervorragend auf die Nachhaltigkeitsziele unserer Organisation ausgewirkt. Die längere Betriebsdauer von Dell-Servern deckt sich gut mit der typischen Berechnung der Betriebsdauer von Servern von fünf bis sieben Jahren.

Die OpenManage-Konsole hat sich auf die Produktivität unseres IT-Personals ausgewirkt. Es ist viel einfacher zu verwalten. Es ist einfacher, Server zu verwalten, auch für Kollegen, die technisch weniger versiert sind.

Was ist am wertvollsten?

Die DRA-Karten für die Serververwaltung sind die wertvollste Eigenschaft. Sie bieten einen klaren Überblick über Servereinstellungen und Probleme. Uns gefällt auch, dass die Benachrichtigungen gut organisiert sind.

Was muss verbessert werden?

Der Preis könnte eventuell verbessert werden. Dell-Server sind nicht die günstigsten, und der Preis ist immer eine Überlegung wert. Ansonsten kann ich keine besonderen Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten nennen.

In einer zukünftigen Version wäre es ein großer Vorteil, von Anfang an ein Zehn-Gigabit-LAN an Bord zu haben. Das würde die Notwendigkeit von Nachrüstungen auf dem Markt überflüssig machen.

Wie lange nutze ich die Lösung schon?

Ich verwende Dell PowerEdge Rack Server seit zwei Jahren.

Was halte ich von der Stabilität der Lösung?

Die Server haben gute Stabilität. Server müssen reibungslos laufen, und Dell-Server tun das zuverlässig.

Was denke ich über die Skalierbarkeit der Lösung?

Die Skalierbarkeit hängt davon ab, wie man die Ressourcen plant und zuweist. Mit der richtigen Planung ist sie skalierbar.

Wie sind Kundenservice und Support?

Ich würde den Support mit neun von zehn Punkten bewerten. Es wäre noch besser, wenn ProSupport für Server integriert wäre und keine zusätzlichen Gebühren oder Lizenzen erfordern würde.

Wie bewerten Sie den Kundenservice und -support?

Positiv

Welche Lösung habe ich vorher verwendet und warum habe ich gewechselt?

Wir haben zuvor HPE ProLiant- und Microtech-Server verwendet. Sie waren nicht so benutzerfreundlich und einfach zu verwalten.

Wie war die Ersteinrichtung?

Wir haben die Einrichtung durchgeführt. Wir haben einen Windows-Server installiert und die Festplatten konfiguriert.

Die Einrichtung ist so komplex wie die Einrichtung eines jeden Servers. Es ist nicht so einfach wie bei einem Laptop, aber auch nicht übermäßig komplex, wenn man es schon ein paar Mal gemacht hat.

Unsere Strategie bestand darin, die Server einzurichten und dann die VMs von den alten Servern zu migrieren, sobald die neuen Server bereit waren.

Welche Erfahrungen habe ich mit den Preisen, den Implementierungskosten und der Lizenzierung gemacht?

Die Microsoft-Lizenzierung für Hyper-V-Server ist eine Herausforderung, aber die Hardware von Dell ist möglicherweise etwas teurer. Insgesamt ist es zu bewältigen.

Welche anderen Lösungen habe ich bewertet?

Wir haben HP noch einmal in Betracht gezogen, aber aufgrund unserer positiven Erfahrungen mit Dell-Laptops haben wir uns für Dell entschieden.

Außerdem finde ich den Pro-Support von Dell sehr wertvoll, und ich glaube, dass er bei anderen Anbietern nicht in gleichem Maße verfügbar ist.

Welche anderen Ratschläge kann ich geben?

Der Energieverbrauch von PowerEdge Rack-Servern hängt davon ab, wie der Server genutzt wird. Ich kann keine genauen Angaben machen, aber jeder Server benötigt Strom.

Der Einsatz von PowerEdge Rack Servern hat sich nicht wesentlich auf die Gesamtflexibilität unseres Betriebs ausgewirkt. Wenn überhaupt, dann hat er dafür gesorgt, dass alles reibungslos läuft.

Ich würde Dell PowerEdge Rack Server mit neun von zehn Punkten bewerten. Es gibt nicht viel, was verbessert werden muss. Ihr Erfolg hängt weitgehend davon ab, wie gut man plant.