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Brian Mijnals - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at Elde College
Real User
Top 10
An affordable and easy-to-deploy product that is simple to use and provides a lot of features
Pros and Cons
  • "There are fewer complications than what we had before with other brands."
  • "The terabytes are never enough."

What is our primary use case?

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for servers and backup.

How has it helped my organization?

The product has improved our business. There are fewer complications than what we had before with other brands.

What is most valuable?

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is simpler to use when compared with HPE. The product provides more features than what we expected six years ago.

What needs improvement?

The solution must increase the space provided. It is still an issue. The terabytes are never enough.

Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for six years.

How are customer service and support?

The support is getting better. Before, we had to call and explain what was going on. Now, the support has a website. I rate the support a seven or eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using HPE before. Many schools were already doing business with Dell. So, we tried it. We also have Dell's laptops and desktops.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment is not difficult at all.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The tool's pricing is very good.

What other advice do I have?

The server does consume energy. The energy consumption is less than what it was three years ago. We still have the same capacity. We don't have many high-performance workloads. We have AutoCAD and SolidWorks. These are two programs that need a lot of CPU. The rest is file surfing and document printing. We are planning to use the OpenManage console.

Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Kiran Rasukachula - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager IT - APAC at Genesys
Real User
Easy to upgrade with great security and lots of features
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support is very good."
  • "The solution should give us an option to add on the new hardware features."

What is our primary use case?

We mostly use Power Servers for our R&D lab where we deploy the labs for developers and other testers to do their high-end testing and more.

How has it helped my organization?

The burden on the IT team has been reduced thanks to this solution, the monitoring, and other features. The deployment and giving access to the end-users have been easy. Overall, the amount of work that the IT team has to invest in came down drastically.

What is most valuable?

There are a lot of features. To be specific, the amount of virtual memory that we can use and the scalability are something that I like much. If you ask me what is the best feature, I would say the scalability. I don't have to invest in the new servers when I can scale this one. That is something which helped us a lot.

PowerEdge is great for handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads. I'd rate it an eight out of ten.

I would rate PowerEdge’s approach to security with its signed Firmware, drift detection, and BIOS at a ten out of ten. Everything is easy to upgrade. It's easy to maintain and easy to work with.

In terms of energy consumption, it's consuming less than the previous servers.

We use PowerEdge for artificial intelligence applications. Our developers and QA use it and our developers develop the AI feature products.

Using artificial intelligence does solve problems for us in terms of using the servers for our developers.

The PowerEdge Eye Track telemetry for monitoring system data and providing analytics helps us get the job done and makes it easier in terms of monitoring.

PowerEdge has accelerated us in order to help support our demanding workloads.

What needs improvement?

The solution should give us an option to add on new hardware features. For example, the new hardware, specifically the SoCs that come in, and the NB RAMs that are coming, should have that feature as well. The existing ones are okay, however, the older version that we currently use, which is two years old, doesn't have that feature. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been in the company for the last six years, and we were using the product even before that.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable and serves its purpose.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is very good. We had issues with the hardware replacement that was to be done on PowerEdge. They made sure that they stood by their four spare replacements.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

I was involved in the initial setup of this solution. It was easy.

I was using the Power Servers for the last 14 years and it was transferred from the day I started working on the servers. It was always easy to set up for me and easy to train my employees. However, I don't do that anymore, my staff does it for me. However, it remains easy to set up.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I can't comment much on the licensing as it is not directly from Dell. It's our partner's pricing that we have to depend on. Pricing is competitive compared to others in the market.

What other advice do I have?

I'm not sure which model we use, it's been three years.

We do not use the cloud and new predictive analytics.

I'd advise other potential users to go for it and evaluate it with the other vendors. However, in my experience, PowerEdge stands out.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1852578 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Has helpful monitoring and has a lot of flexibility for scaling
Pros and Cons
  • "The monitoring system is really helpful. I'm a one-man team, and I run systems and IT for a pretty big company. The ease of use of being able to flip through a browser tab was the most valuable feature for me."
  • "The servers get slower at the end of their life cycle. The technology needs to evolve."

How has it helped my organization?

We used PowerEdge as our main servers for all things virtual and as our file servers as well. We had a lot of VPN users as most of the company is remote. There wasn't as much lag time when dealing with file transfer, specifically in the office. Using the PowerEdge Servers and the Dell switch stack interchangeably skyrocketed the firm in the office.

What is most valuable?

The monitoring system is really helpful. I'm a one-man team, and I run systems and IT for a pretty big company. The ease of use of being able to flip through a browser tab was the most valuable feature for me.

As for handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads, PowerEdge has a lot more flexibility for scaling. It has everything that you would want for a business that's growing.

In terms of PowerEdge's approach to security with its firmware and drift detection, there have been no issues with any updates or security breaches.

The company had to move to a new building, and one of the main concerns was energy consumption. As far as I know, there were a lot of eco settings present to make sure that the PowerEdge Rack Servers used the proper amount of energy.

I've had zero downtime in the three and a half years I've been in the company. Prior to my time, I do know that the uptimes of the systems were very long. From all the records and logs of the previous IT administrator, I can see that there were no issues with the servers.

What needs improvement?

The servers get slower at the end of their life cycle. The technology needs to evolve.

Also, when you have separate servers and have to add connections between them, they slow down.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used this solution for about a year and a half since I joined the company. The company was using it at least since 2015.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There hasn't been a whole lot of downtime and zero issues with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There's expandability, and you can scale with PowerEdge Rack Servers.

About 80% to 85% of our workforce is remote, and they all use laptops. About half of that comes back to the server through a VPN. There are only about 60 people in the office using the solution on-premises.

How are customer service and support?

I've had no issues with technical support, and they've been very quick and responsive. I've had to call them, maybe three times in the last three years. I would give them a ten out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

PowerEdge Rack Servers are pretty standard servers. You put them on the rack, you plug them in, and you set up the settings.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We weren't paying very much, but it was at the end of the lifecycle. We're now using the VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure, and the pricing was very similar for the same amount of power but with easier automation.

What other advice do I have?

Make sure that it fits your company now and your company in the future because if you don't build for scalability, you will get caught by a foot and have to buy more stuff.

I would recommend PowerEdge Rack servers to smaller organizations and not to larger ones like ours.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate PowerEdge Rack servers at nine.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user1388232 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at Express Systems Limited (ESL)
Real User
Easy to set up and the remote management capability is good
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are remote management and iDRAC."
  • "The design, in terms of power efficiency, can be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We are a solution provider and this is one of the storage products that we implement for our clients.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are remote management and iDRAC. Manageability is definitely one of the good points for Dell servers.

This is a quality product that can be customized for our clients.

What needs improvement?

The design, in terms of power efficiency, can be improved.

Improvements should be made in terms of field expandability. Scalability, in general, has room for improvement.

Support for virtualization support can be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Dell Rack Servers for about 15 years, since 2004.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are definitely stable. Once we start one, we don't shut them down. The run for three, four, or five years at a time, and the performance does not decrease.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is easy to scale, although when the server is built, you need to include options for future expandability. In cases where we create room in advance, it is easy. Otherwise, there can be some difficulty.

How are customer service and technical support?

The local support in Dhaka is very good and we are happy with it.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have worked with a variety of Dell PowerEdge models including 1850, 2850, 2900, 2950, 5710, 720, and 740.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy, as is the management. The time required for deployment depends on the environment and requirements. For example, it will differ based on whether it is a cluster deployment versus a VM implementation.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also work with similar servers from HPE and Cisco. Many of the features and capabilities are the same. The suitability of one product over another depends on the specific requirements.

What other advice do I have?

In summary, this is a good product and I have had a good experience with it. 

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
VMware Specialist at Haaglanden Medisch Centrum
Real User
Top 20
The new hardware, including Dell PowerEdge, has contributed to reducing unplanned production downtime
Pros and Cons
  • "They are incredibly valuable because they are both user-friendly and powerful for managing hardware."
  • "There is room for improvement in technical support."

What is our primary use case?

We use Dell PowerEdge for virtualization purposes, particularly with VMware.

How has it helped my organization?

The new hardware, including Dell PowerEdge, has contributed to reducing unplanned production downtime.

What is most valuable?

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are incredibly valuable because they are both user-friendly and powerful for managing hardware.

What needs improvement?

I am generally very satisfied with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. However, there is room for improvement in technical support.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have not had any issues with the stability of the servers.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The servers are scalable, especially in terms of adding extra disks. It is a straightforward process; if you need more storage space, you can easily scale up by adding additional disks to meet your requirements.

How are customer service and support?

Tech support is generally good, but there can be challenges, especially when dealing with support from India. Language differences can sometimes make communication difficult, but having a proficient English speaker or a good interpreter usually helps resolve issues effectively.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

My company used a mix of Dell and HP hardware before, but now we exclusively use Dell. I find Dell's servers more powerful and user-friendly for remote management.

How was the initial setup?

Deployment was relatively straightforward for us. The most labor-intensive part was the physical setup in the data center, handled by the data center team. After that, the installation of AHI was a breeze, making the overall process quite manageable.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2289357 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology & Digital Product Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 20
Fairly priced, stable, and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "The ease of setting them up is valuable. It is easy to set them up."
  • "Their support can be better. Getting to the right person for support is a challenge."

What is our primary use case?

We use them to host a car parking system. 

How has it helped my organization?

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers with pre-installed Microsoft Windows Server. It is just easier when they come already loaded. There is less for us to do.

We host our application on them. They are great for running our applications. We recently had to upgrade the specs of some of the servers due to the demands on the system. For example, where it used to be Dell R350 with hard drives, we are now expected to go with SSDs, but it deals with our applications very well.

We do not necessarily use a lot of its security and other features. We take it out of the box, put our application on it, and then just run it or install it on a device if needed.

With Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, we now have more resilience. Previously, we used a PowerPC as a server. By using a dedicated PowerEdge Rack Server, there is resilience when using, for example, a RAID array.

Our in-house application runs directly on it. That is a big critical element, but the impact of these servers on our IT infrastructure is no different from another server.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime by about 20%.

What is most valuable?

The ease of setting them up is valuable. It is easy to set them up. 

What needs improvement?

Training needs to be improved. I feel we are not getting the best benefit out of the PowerEdge servers at the moment because we do not have in-depth knowledge on how to fully configure them. The PowerEdge servers are fine. It is our training that needs to be improved.

Their support can be better. Getting to the right person for support is a challenge.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for eight or nine years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have never seen any major issues with stability. They are stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Once we have deployed a server, we do not increase any specs on it, so we do not have too much experience with scalability. If we do need an improved or enhanced server, we will get that straight from Dell. We would not enhance RAM, SSD, or anything else on our own.

There are about eight people who may configure them. Once these servers go to the site, there are more people using them, but I do not know how many.

How are customer service and support?

Their support is usually very good, but getting to the right person is a challenge. They are good once we get to the right person or once somebody is dedicated to helping us, but getting to that point in the first place is a bit annoying. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

My predecessor was already using them, so I carried on ordering them. We do not have any experience with anything similar. We just stick with what we know. The only alternative that we use is a tower PC as a server. It is just a standard PC.

We did not consider public cloud servers before choosing PowerEdge servers. Our platform at the moment is not native to the cloud. It has a heavy data demand and bandwidth requirement, so the cloud was not necessarily within the scope of our product at the time. However, we are developing a cloud-native solution. That might be something we can consider moving forward.

We went for PowerEdge servers because of the price and specs. It is something that has been used by our team before I even joined it, so we continue to use it. The support from Dell is usually very good as well. So, it is a combination of price, specs, and support that makes us keep using Dell.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to set them up. We could realize their benefits within a few months of deployment.

I am involved in their deployment as an assistant and not as the main person. Most times, it is straightforward, but it also depends on the spec that we get with different solid-state drives or hard drives. Sometimes, the RAID sets can be a bit more complex.

With regards to getting the server into a state where we can deploy our application, it takes a few hours. In a few hours, we can deploy the Windows operating system, do the RAID setup, and then it is ready for our in-house solution.

What about the implementation team?

It is usually a one-man job. I might provide some assistance, but typically, it is a one-man job.

What was our ROI?

We have potentially seen an ROI, but I would not be able to give a figure. We deploy our solutions onto those servers, and effectively, that is no longer our equipment, so we do not necessarily see what is going on with them. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

They are fairly priced.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. I would advise having a good relationship with Dell, and they will support you above and beyond.

Overall, I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1907208 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Scales easily by adding more servers, and setup is straightforward and fast
Pros and Cons
  • "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."
  • "I don't know much about the new Intel CPUs, but they need to put more than two CPUs in the servers. It may be an Intel limitation, but I'm not sure."

What is our primary use case?

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel for research calculations. 

How has it helped my organization?

With Intel Xeon processors, the solution has helped improve our target workloads' performance by 50 percent at times, depending on the exact calculation we are doing.

What is most valuable?

It's great at handling high-performance workloads.

They have also done their job when it comes to security features. We haven't ever had a breach, although it is a closed network.

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.

What needs improvement?

I don't know much about the new Intel CPUs, but they need to put more than two CPUs in the servers. It may be an Intel limitation, but I'm not sure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Dell solutions for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven't had any downtime with them due to anything on Dell's side. So far, they haven't failed.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have hundreds of them, and adding as many as we can is as easy as the first one.

How are customer service and support?

The support has been great. We haven't needed it much because the servers just work. But when we had issues, I called Dell. If it was a malfunction of the hardware, we had a solution within a day, and that was usually because of my schedule, not Dell's schedule. I would tell them, "Okay, come tomorrow or the day after. That will be better for me."

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used to have HP servers but they were horrible. We maintained them for about three years, but by the end of the three years, we didn't get all the features of the BIOS. The Dells, from day one, worked like a charm, with no additional fees or hidden costs, like we had with the HPs.

How was the initial setup?

It's easy to handle. You just put it in, connect it, and it works. The average time it takes me to set up a server and get it to work is about 15 minutes.

What was our ROI?

We have seen ROI compared to cloud solutions. Similarly, compared to the HPs that we didn't select, we don't need to handle and pet them all the time. We didn't need another system engineer to handle the computers. I was enough.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is great; very competitive. That's the reason we bought hundreds of them.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We mainly evaluated HPs and Lenovos. Dell was the most cost-effective, power-efficient, and the easiest to handle.

What other advice do I have?

The solution is a great service. They do their job. It requires minimal effort from my side as a system engineer, with very few errors or malfunctions.

My advice is to buy them. They are really good servers. They're straightforward. You don't need to research hidden definitions in the BIOS. They're simple to handle.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Dragan Lazic - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Manager at a construction company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Memory processing and storage solution that has increased staff productivity by 25%
Pros and Cons
  • "This solution has helped decrease production down time by 25%. The system management capabilities of PowerEdge has helped increase staff productivity by 25% and helped to reduce data processing time in our organization by 10%."
  • "The data analytics for this solution could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We specifically used the VMware and ESX host.

How has it helped my organization?

The system integration details are our favourite feature and the fact that we can maintain and control the systems remotely.

The iDRAC Telemetry for monitoring the PowerEdge system is useful. Some of our servers are not in our data centers so we are able to manage them remotely, in case of an outage or any other problem.

What is most valuable?

This solution is really reliable. The storage functionality is our favourite feature. I would rate this solution a ten out of ten when it comes to running the latest high-demand applications. It is easy to work with, maintain and deploy. 

Lastly, this solution has helped decrease production down time by 25%. The system management capabilities of PowerEdge have helped increase staff productivity by 25% and helped to reduce data processing time in our organization by 10%. 

What needs improvement?

The data analytics for this solution could be improved. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for 15 years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution. It offers reliability and we have not had any outages. It improves with every generation. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. We have 200 employees making use of a full stack of applications supported by this solution. 

How are customer service and support?

I would rate the support for this solution a seven out of ten. This is due to the fact that there is sometimes a shortage of parts. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. Deployment took two days. We implemented new power servers in a cluster one by one. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This solution is reasonably priced and licenses are easy to acquire. 

What other advice do I have?

The PowerEdge system management frameworks have enabled our business to progress towards full automation. This has freed up time to focus on different parts of the business, rather than constantly monitoring issues.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: February 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.