Cisco UCS B-Series vs HPE Superdome X 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 #6 with an average rating of 9.0. Cisco holds a 7.3% mindshare in Blade Servers, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 9.6% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% 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 Superdome X

Read 11 HPE Superdome X reviews

1,150 Views
1,139 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS B-Series

HPE Superdome X

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Cisco UCS B-Series and HPE Superdome X are competitors in the enterprise server space focusing on high-performance workloads. Cisco seems to have an edge in scalability and integration with its innovative management system, while HPE stands out in compute performance and reliability features.

Features: Cisco UCS B-Series boasts scalable network integration, a unified management interface enhancing operations, and seamless virtualization integration. HPE Superdome X is known for its mission-critical RAS features ensuring system uptime, robust compute power, and the ability to partition blades for flexible deployment options.

Room for Improvement: Cisco USC B-Series could enhance user-friendliness within its UCS Manager interface, streamline cabling complexity, and refine initial configuration settings for quicker setup. HPE Superdome X may benefit from better installation guidance reducing complexity, broader virtualization support beyond current capabilities, and cost-efficient scalability options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco UCS B-Series excels in speedy deployment with efficient tools and supportive customer service, making it easier to integrate into existing systems. Meanwhile, HPE Superdome X faces deployment challenges requiring expert involvement but compensates with comprehensive support services.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco UCS B-Series offers competitive pricing appealing to budget-conscious entities seeking faster ROI through integration capabilities. HPE Superdome X, demanding a higher initial investment, promises long-term value through exceptional performance, justifying the cost for reliability-reliant environments.

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

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE Superdome X

September 2025

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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 Superdome X

Ranking in Blade Servers

6th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

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 Superdome X is 9.6%, down from 9.9% 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 Superdome X	9.6%
Other	83.1%

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.

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OmobolajiOlaloku

Senior Enterprise System Engineer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

High resilience, performs well, and high availability

HPE Superdome X is used in my data center for our core banking application The most valuable features of HPE Superdome X are speed, performance, and resilience. HPE Superdome X can improve by adding a lot of cloud capabilities to allow this solution to be cloud-ready in case the customer wants…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The scalability and easy management of the lifecycle, upgrades, and hardware failures are valuable."

"The Dual Fabric design allows for online/in-service upgrades during production with no impact."

"The stability provided by the product is its most valuable feature for our organization."

"The initial setup is pretty simple and straightforward."

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

"The servers' resilience was particularly impactful."

"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."

"I like that it's very manageable very easy to use and configure. I am not an expert, but the graphic user interface is quite simple very easy to use. It's a complete solution."

More Cisco UCS B-Series pros

"I like the robustness of the machine. Similar performance could likely be achieved with other configurations, but this machine is very stable."

"Superdome X is a system that can compete in terms of performance and uptime, but it's now standard. That is the great value. There are competitors like IBM, for example, but IBM has a propietary operating system. With Superdome X, you have a system that can run Windows, Red Hat, or VMware, but in a mission critical server."

"One of the really cool things about Superdome is, depending on the model you choose, you can put 8-16 blades in it."

"SDX gave us a very large RAM and we need that for the large-scale graph-handling applications."

"We've got a few of them, because we needed some really large machines. So far, they've been working pretty good."

"The most valuable features of HPE Superdome X are speed, performance, and resilience."

"This product is very reliable."

Cons

"The initial setup process is complex."

"The GUI is not the greatest."

"There is also a need for better local parts replacement, as HP is superior in this area."

"This model does not support virtualization of the switch."

"This product uses a converged network adapter because it is the only way to provide flexibility with both fiber and ethernet connections."

"The solution’s technical support could be better."

"Cisco is expensive and difficult to manage. The product is not intuitive. It also needs to improve storage management and upgrades."

"HTML5 interface is a much needed improvement over the old Java interface, but still needs a little work."

More Cisco UCS B-Series cons

"What would make it better from my point of view is if HPE spent more time on testing with the actual built-in Red Hat Linux drivers, as opposed to always trying to say, "Use our driver.""

"It would be helpful if you could do the maintenance completely online."

"I know we support Windows and I think it's Red Hat, and I'd like to see more OSs supported."

"I'd like to see the onboarding of some storage class memory to really expand the already very large RAM, into something that could be even much bigger."

"In this specific model, it could be beneficial to have a server configuration similar to Cisco, like the kind offered in HPE Superdome Flex X280. The ability to separate the chassis is important because we are forced to use two chassis even with lower loads. So introducing more flexibility in the Superdome environment would be helpful."

"HPE Superdome X can improve by adding a lot of cloud capabilities to allow this solution to be cloud-ready in case the customer wants to move it to the cloud."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Considering our market, I rate the pricing of Cisco UCS B-Series as a six."

"Pricing with Cisco is very high."

"It makes much more sense for individual licenses for distributed environments"

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

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

"Cisco UCS does not require a license. However, this license is not specific to users."

"The product cost is high."

"It is expensive."

More Cisco UCS B-Series pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is not very cheap. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with one being very inexpensive, and ten being very expensive."

"There is a very expensive one-time cost with no licensing fees."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Performing Arts

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

13%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software 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	3
Midsize Enterprise	2
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

What do you like most about HPE Superdome X?

I like the robustness of the machine. Similar performance could likely be achieved with other configurations, but this machine is very stable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Superdome X?

The pricing is not very cheap. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with one being very inexpensive, and ten being very expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with HPE Superdome X?

In this specific model, it could be beneficial to have a server configuration similar to Cisco, like the kind offered in HPE Superdome Flex X280. The ability to separate the chassis is important be...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series

October 2025

Download Cisco UCS B-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Blade Servers

October 2025

Download HPE Superdome X product report

Also Known As

UCS B-Series, Unified Computing System B-Series

HP Integrity Superdome, HP Superdome X

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

HPE Superdome X is an HPE server that represents a new category of x86 modular, mission-critical systems to consolidate all tiers of critical applications on a common platform. Engineered with trusted Superdome 2 reliability, the HPE Superdome X includes a modular, bladed design, and shares HPE BladeSystem efficiencies including a common server management framework, supported from x86 to Superdome 2. With breakthrough innovations such as the fault-tolerant Crossbar Fabric and Error Analysis Engine coupled with hard partitioning capabilities, Superdome X sets the standard for mission-critical x86 computing.

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

Pella

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE Superdome X

September 2025

Free Report: Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE Superdome X

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

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