Cisco UCS B-Series vs HPE NonStop comparison

Cisco and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Blade Servers category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.4, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #11. Cisco holds a 7.3% mindshare in Blade Servers, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 4.6% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.

Cisco UCS B-Series

Read 74 Cisco UCS B-Series reviews

1,089 Views
1,056 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

HPE NonStop

Read 12 HPE NonStop reviews

821 Views
821 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS B-Series

HPE NonStop

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Cisco UCS B-Series and HPE NonStop compete in the enterprise server market. Cisco UCS B-Series appears to have the upper hand in scalability and integration, while HPE NonStop leads in reliability needed for mission-critical environments.

Features: Cisco UCS B-Series provides high-density blade architecture, unified infrastructure and advanced management options, such as centralized management using UCS Manager. It also facilitates seamless virtualization integration and service profile management. HPE NonStop offers unparalleled fault tolerance, continuous availability, and exceptional reliability vital for industries like banking and telecommunications. Its linear expandability allows for increased processing capacity by linking additional systems.

Room for Improvement: Cisco UCS B-Series could benefit from simplifying its complex UCS Manager and enhancing the user experience. It also needs to optimize its setup configuration process. HPE NonStop could improve by lowering its high upfront costs and minimizing complexities in deployment architecture. Additionally, enhancements in usability and user interface will aid in better client experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco UCS B-Series offers a streamlined setup with strong vendor support, making it easy to deploy and integrate. HPE NonStop is more complex to deploy due to its specialized architecture but is backed by in-depth customer service, providing excellent support for managing critical applications.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco UCS B-Series provides competitive pricing, focusing on cost reduction through automation and achieving a strong ROI. HPE NonStop, while more costly upfront, delivers long-term value through its substantial reliability, justifying its expense in mission-critical sectors with its 99.9% uptime and fault tolerance.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE NonStop Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE NonStop

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 869,785 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

Cisco UCS B-Series

Ranking in Blade Servers

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

HPE NonStop

Ranking in Blade Servers

11th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS B-Series is 7.3%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE NonStop is 4.6%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Blade Servers Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco UCS B-Series	7.3%
HPE NonStop	4.6%
Other	88.1%

Blade Servers

Featured Reviews

DavidMbugua

Group General Manager-ICT at SkyLink

Reliable product with efficient automation capabilities

Cisco UCS B-Series manages various processes, including handling payments for over 650,000 growers, running group financials, managing human resources, and operating our main ERP system, SAP. The servers' resilience was particularly impactful. Even during power outages, the servers resumed operations from the last saved point without human intervention. The enhanced processing speed also allowed us to complete tasks that took two days in just one hour. The automation capabilities enhanced efficiency and facilitated integration with our networking components, particularly since we also used Cisco switches. The servers' security was reliable, and formal training on Cisco products made management easier. I rate the product an eight.

Read full review

Roni Wijaya

Vice President of It Operations at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

With a perfect record for uptime, the solution ensures a return on investment

Since it is a legacy tool, there is a need to change it for flexibility. I think now it has improved because the security is very good. It is very secure for the performance of the machine critical application service, and it is very good. I don't know how to speak more on improvement needed because it's a good enough tool. However, depending on the application, it's limited. Not a lot of applications run on HPE NonStop. It is not flexible because I know that because of the compatibility of Java with HPE NonStop. When we are using Java, the performance is not good.

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 scalability is good because it comes with Fabric Interconnects, and you can directly add more blades as you go. Therefore, scalability is not a problem."

"The servers' resilience was particularly impactful."

"The solution has the ability to reuse or divide the networking, making it a flexible networking environment."

"The Boot from SAN function is good because using OTV, we can boot the device from any remote location."

"The most valuable features of the Cisco UCS B-Series are reports for virtualization and the large memory it has."

"The most valuable feature is the service profiles."

"If we could get more reference architecture available on the portal, it would be helpful in making decisions"

"The solution is very reliable in comparison to the other brands."

More Cisco UCS B-Series pros

"We don't have any issues with the stability of HPE NonStop."

"Feature-wise, the most valuable one is the fact that it has 100 hundred percent uptime every year. Secondly, it is stable."

"The stability of HPE NonStop is good."

Cons

"The initial setup process is complex."

"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."

"The product pricing needs improvement."

"The UCS manager interface needs to be cleaned up a bit and can be streamlined, but no major complaints."

"The price of this product is too high. They should work to make it more affordable."

"The graphic code that UCS can support is limited and less accessible than other systems."

"There are patches that cannot be implemented without any downtime or reboot required."

"It needs a better UI. Cisco makes a great product, but doesn't know how to make a UI."

More Cisco UCS B-Series cons

"It would be helpful if they brought the price down."

"HPE NonStop could improve by having infrastructure management."

"It is not flexible...Not a lot of applications run on HPE NonStop."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco UCS B-Series is an expensive solution."

"The type of service level purchase will determine the level of support response that you receive from Cisco."

"The cost of the blade servers is okay, but the cost of Fabric Interconnects ends up increasing the overall costs. For example, suppose it costs 3,500 USD per blade server. When you include the Fabric Interconnects, you could pay up to 30,000 USD. Therefore, compared to the cost of servers from Lenovo, Huawei, Dell, or HP, the cost of Cisco servers can be high. However, Cisco gives good discounts (about 90% to 94%) to partners and to customers who are already using Cisco servers. New Cisco customers do not get the level of discount that an existing customer does. Because you can get discounts with Cisco, I would give pricing a rating of four out of five."

"Cisco products are at the high end in terms of cost, but everything is included with the licensing fees."

"Cisco UCS B-Series is an expensive solution."

"The price of this solution compared to others is fair."

"The product is expensive."

"The pricing for Cisco products is always high."

More Cisco UCS B-Series pricing and cost advice

"HPE NonStop is definitely on the higher end."

"The price of the solution is too high. If they lowered the price substantially it would open up more opportunities. It's considered a replacement for the old 9000 boxes of HP. If it had a lower price, we would be able to compete in the financial, and other sectors and other solutions such as Terraform. Having a high price makes other solutions more attractive."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive, I rate the pricing an eight."

See which vendors are best for you

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

See recommendations

869,785 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Performing Arts

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

22%

Financial Services Firm

21%

Retailer

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	41

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS B-Series?

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is easily scalable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS B-Series?

Comparing Cisco UCS B-Series with traditional servers, while its initial cost may be slightly higher, it is not as expensive as Oracle Exadata, making it a worthwhile investment. It pays off in the...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS B-Series?

There is a need for Cisco UCS B-Series to evolve and scale vertically, particularly with the increasing data demands and the integration of AI, ensuring the solution remains certified and capable u...

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

HPE Synergy vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 34% of the time

Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 19% of the time

Dell PowerEdge MX- Series vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 18% of the time

HPE BladeSystem vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 15% of the time

Supermicro SuperBlade vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 14% of the time

More Cisco UCS B-Series Competitors

Dell PowerEdge MX- Series vs HPE NonStop

Compared 42% of the time

HPE Superdome X vs HPE NonStop

Compared 38% of the time

Fujitsu CX1000 vs HPE NonStop

Compared 20% of the time

More HPE NonStop Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series

October 2025

Download Cisco UCS B-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE NonStop

October 2025

Download HPE NonStop product report

Also Known As

UCS B-Series, Unified Computing System B-Series

HP NonStop, HPE Integrity NonStop

Overview

Based on Intel Xeon processor E7 and E5 product families, Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers work with virtualized and non-virtualized applications to increase: Performance, Energy efficiency, Flexibility and Administrator productivity.

Cisco

When availability matters, the new HPE Integrity NonStop X enables you to stay ahead of your competition by mitigating the risk of downtime and effortlessly meeting your business processing, OLTP, and database requirements all with an industry-standard x86 architecture. HPE brings you an unparalleled portfolio of HPE Integrity NonStop systems the NonStop i family and the NonStop X family. These systems deliver the highest level of availability for the most-demanding, high-value workloads and customer-facing applications.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Anonymous Banking Group, Artoni Transporti, Bellevue, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Hertz, Houston Methodist, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Lufthansa Systems GmbH & Co.KG, Outscale, Sony Corporation, Talbots

Bankart, Capital Securities Corporation

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE NonStop

September 2025

Free Report: Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE NonStop

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE NonStop and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

869,785 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE NonStop report.

See our list of best Blade Servers vendors.

We monitor all Blade 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.