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it_user680283 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Admin at American electric power
Real User
Stability is better than the other alternatives that we have tried.

What is most valuable?

It provides support for the organization in terms of the commodity hardware as compared to the other HPE competitors. It provides stability for the servers.

What needs improvement?

There is need to always keep trying for improving this product.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is better than the other alternatives that we have tried. There are always issues but typically, they are resolved very quickly.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is excellent.

Buyer's Guide
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about HPE ProLiant DL Servers. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
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Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Experience, knowing which vendor, which division and getting the best results are factors that affected our decision to switch solutions.

Previously, we were using Dell; we had a different vendor, i.e., a lower cost vendor at that time. The reason we switched from Dell was because we felt that the HPE solution was far superior.

The overall value, cost of keeping things running and knowing the product are important criteria while selecting a vendor.

What other advice do I have?

Probably, you should evaluate the total cost of operation before you try and take orders. Check a cheaper solution.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Technical Analyst at CAE
Vendor
It's a line that I'm comfortable with. I think it's something that HPE has put the investment into for the long-term.

Valuable Features

I think the high availability features that are built into the server as our systems require a certain amount of uptime. Having to buy less servers because of built-in redundancy, means I have to buy less pieces of iron. It's a line that I'm comfortable with. I think it's something that HPE has put the investment into for the long-term.

Improvements to My Organization

I think it's just the generations that are built on the ProLiant line of servers.

Room for Improvement

The biggest thing I don't like about ProLiant, and this will be very trivial, is the rails. Every generation, even within the same family generation, the rails are different. It's a pet peeve. It’s not a technical thing. We do rack-mounted servers. Having to deal with different rack - or rail kits - is a real pain. It's not a huge technical thing, but that's the biggest thing for me.

Use of Solution

For us it’s been a success year after year, generation after generation. I've used ProLiant for 15 -16 years.

Stability Issues

Really none. Again, that may be just familiar with the tools from its initial iterations.

Scalability Issues

Really none. Again, that may be just familiar with the tools from its initial iterations.

Customer Service and Technical Support

I've never had a problem with support, and dealing with HP is always seamless.

Initial Setup

The setup is so easy. It used to be SmartStart, but now they've changed that whole functionality. It's seamless to us. I don't really have any complaints from a "stand-it-up-and-support-it" perspective.

Other Solutions Considered

We looked at Dell versus HP. Proliant versus the R-series on the Dell side. When you look at product to product, servers are fairly closely matched. The supportability, or the management of the HP, versus bringing in Dell into my shop was a cost, from an educational perspective for my staff. Understanding the product inside and out was more important than bringing in a new partner.

Other Advice

I rate the ProLiant line very highly because you see the commitment of them building on it, and to me that's important.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about HPE ProLiant DL Servers. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user364197 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Administrator at CSC Finland
Consultant
It's like a RAID 6 set-up so that I don't have to worry about just one broken hard drive. I'd like to see faster memory chips.

What is most valuable?

The DL380 generation 8 has slots for hard drives in the front. This really separates it from competitors such as Dell. I need that kind of local storage space for each server, which I can make from eight drives. This is like a RAID 6 set-up so that I don't have to worry about just one broken hard drive. We'll automatically get an SNMP problem error from the broken drive.

How has it helped my organization?

Very simply, we needed a stable server, and this is a stable server.

What needs improvement?

I'm worried that with the new model, HP will get rid of the processor ILO port that enables us to have a separated management network. I don't think it'll be feasible to have some models with the ILO port and some without.

I'd also like to see faster memory chips.

I also think that there's an issue with the Smart Array firmware, which is the RAID controller. It corrupts RAID 6 so that if you have an entire setup that's based on RAID 6, the whole RAID will also be corrupted.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We haven't had any deployment issues.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's quite stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I don’t need to scale. Their cage is stand-alone boxes.

How are customer service and technical support?

I haven't used them for these servers, but I've found them slow for other things.

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

We were using Dell, which were almost the same as the DL380.

How was the initial setup?

It's straightforward. Putting that kind of server into the rack now is something like 50 minutes.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user252615 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Infrastructure with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Our biggest problem is spontaneous growth. We sign new customers and our processing requirement levels spike, and we needed to meet that demand.

What is most valuable?

I like the centralized systems, and I like the fact that they’re rugged. When they get delivered to you, there are no failures and they’ve already been tested and ready to go. For us it was important because we had to install about 20 of them in one week.

How has it helped my organization?

It’s more an Intel advantage. The fact that the Gen9 relies on the latest CPUs from Intel, it’s a very high density of processing power that serves our needs greatly.

What needs improvement?

By default on the Gen9 server, they remove the screenports and USB ports in front of the servers, and you have to purchase them. I didn’t know that beforehand. Now, when I troubleshoot things I have to connect things in the back. The new design should fix that.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Out of the 40 servers we’ve added, there’s only been one incident of a hardware issue in almost three years. It was resolved very quickly.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Very good. Our business model relies on high scaling of code and adding servers to support that. For us, we need that sufficient processing power, which has been very good.

How are customer service and technical support?

If anything, they’re over-caring – they’ll chase you down if they see any problem. We had an issue opened and they really made sure it was resolved.

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

Growth – our biggest problem is spontaneous growth. We sign new customers and our processing requirement levels spike, and we needed to meet that demand.

How was the initial setup?

Very straightforward – we got them out of the box, racked them and they were good to go.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Oracle Sun Servers and IBM. Based on past experiences (we’ve used both, and were previously a mixed environment), they weren’t quite as stable as HP.

What other advice do I have?

It’s good, but the display ports are ill-designed.

We look for stability when choosing a new vendor. It’s extremely important to us. But, find a local partner to make sure that you make the right choice. I’m from Montreal, so I use ACCII, so build your order to fit your needs. Understand all the options available to you to fit your workload, not the other way around.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Owner at INTUIS COMPUTERS
Reseller
Top 10
Good support, stable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "Support is the most valuable feature of the solution."
  • "The cost of the solution is high and has room for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

My client is using HPE ProLiant DL Servers for virtualizing hyper-vision functions and sometimes needs to extend the servers for business applications. We are not dealing with financial applications, and in most cases, it is used for virtualization. I have extensive experience in this and have been searching for a solution for a long time without any issues.

What is most valuable?

Support is the most valuable feature of the solution.

What needs improvement?

The memory has room for improvement. I want the ability to upgrade the memory to avoid crashes.

The cost of the solution is high and has room for improvement.

I would like faster internet ports included.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for over 15  years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I give the stability a nine out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is easy to scale. We can always increase the number of CPUs to meet our customer's requirements.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good. We receive all the parts we need quickly.

How was the initial setup?

We are experienced in using the HPE servers so we don't have any difficulty installing new servers.

What about the implementation team?

The implementations for our customers are completed in-house with our help.

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

The solution is expensive. I give the price a five out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution a nine 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: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Dara-Azartash - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Administrator at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Intuitive GUI, useful included software, and unified management
Pros and Cons
  • "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."
  • "In the HPE ProLiant DL Servers generation nine, there was a problem when the expansion cards were installed on the server. There was only a small amount of room for the top expansion cards that hand could insert or remove the cables inside."

What is our primary use case?

We are using HPE ProLiant DL Servers for all the databases and services in the bank I work at. We use HPE ProLiant DL Servers for service and for core banking and other computing systems, we use the HPE BladeSystems.

What is most valuable?

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.

What needs improvement?

In the HPE ProLiant DL Servers generation nine, there was a problem when the expansion cards were installed on the server. There was only a small amount of room for the top expansion cards that hand could insert or remove the cables inside.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using HPE ProLiant DL Servers for approximately 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the HPE ProLiant DL Servers is very good.

I worked with HPE ProLiant DL Servers in different places and in different situations, I remember that there was a time we were having a disaster with high humidity in the room but we did not have any problems with the operations of the solution.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used the technical support from HPE.

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

I have previously used the HPE BladeSystem.

When comparing the HPE ProLiant DL Servers to the HPE BladeSystem, the HPE BladeSystems are compact and need less space for installation. They can provide the same computing as the HPE ProLiant DL Servers in the same unit and are a lot easier to manage.

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

HPE ProLiant DL Servers have a higher price than Dell servers. However, the Japanese counterpart has the lowerest priced servers. The price of the HPE ProLiant DL Servers could improve, it could be less expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I rate HPE ProLiant DL Servers an eight 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
it_user567594 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Management Engineer at a legal firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
The quality and backup support are reliable.

What is most valuable?

We've just found them so reliable and used them for so many years. We have found the quality and backup support reliable. They just tend to do what we want to do with them. So, they are very flexible, upgradable and versatile. Sometimes, you do have some issues but they tend to get repaired/replaced/fixed within a good time.

How has it helped my organization?

For us, it is more of reliability even though we have hardware maintenance.

Generally, we'll do 10 calls a month globally. With our offices all over the globe, 10 calls in a month are very minimal since we have 600 pieces of DL hardware. It's quite small.

What needs improvement?

A lot of where they can improve the product would be related to hot flexibility. If you want to change a DIMM, you have downtime to upgrade. It would be good if you could have hot DIMMs and hot CPUs, also for hard disk power supplies and bits. Hopefully, then there shall be no downtime. The biggest problem with our user base is downtime.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is very good. Once the product is in, it seems to work. We do general maintenance. It's good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability can be a little bit difficult sometimes due to changing of CPUs which we try to over-spec. We don't need to scale up; we tend to replace after three years.

It gives us more because with passing time as technology increases, things get faster and better for us. There is more improvement.

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

We have looked at Dell and just recently looked at Dell FX2.

We will probably stick with HPE because of the long-time factor that we've had with them and other factors such as reliability and knowing the product. We know we're looking at HPE ConvergedSystem for our offices and that will be the next stage.

How was the initial setup?

I've been in my company for 14 years. Initially we were using Compaq and now moved over to HPE. Thus, the setup took place a long time ago.

What other advice do I have?

Have no doubts you'll be getting a product that will work. It will do what you want, as long as you follow the guidelines and best practices. You should speak to other people. The product will just tick along for its lifecycle. You will get the odd issue but it's fixable.

We've been more than happy with the DL product that we've used. We never buy them when they first come out; we always wait 6-12 months to buy them. Let somebody else do the testing during the first six months, even though they should be tested.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user469275 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Digital Officer, Director at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
We rarely have a failure and it just keeps working.

What is most valuable?

It's reliability, really. It just works. It's one of those we've been using for 10 plus years and I've been in the company for 10 years. We rarely have a failure; and it just keeps working. It kind of base builds, ready to go, whereas before you needed to add bits and pieces. We don't need to do that anymore. Just out of the box, plug it in and it goes.

How has it helped my organization?

It's been in for so long, it just works.

What needs improvement?

I think the big thing for us, which is unique, is a dedicated HPE Cloud offering in New Zealand. It would be quite cool. I don't know if that's actually feasible or viable for HPE. Cloud is something we're interested in, but the solutions in New Zealand aren't really up to it. So you have to go to Australia. You get latency issues.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Through 10 years of various iterations and a lot of cycles of a product every three years. We used to swap out but we're virtualization now, we're taking that in to account, so no issues. We have the odd drive failure, and that's about it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

On the ProLiant, we've opted not to go down the blade enclosure. We went the dedicated service of the DL380s and pretty much the scalability of that is around the network. We've got to look at some virtualization technologies there.

How are customer service and technical support?

We've logged a few calls. They're amazing, really good. Over the years we've had a few hard-drive failures, yet it's all pretty seamless. We just put in a HPE Networking as well.

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

When I first started the company was looking at Dell, and I was a Compaq engineer in my day.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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Updated: February 2025
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