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 #5 with an average rating of 8.4, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #6 with an average rating of 9.0. Cisco holds a 6.9% mindshare in Blade Servers, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 8.0% 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

1,289 Views
1,263 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

HPE Superdome X

Read 11 HPE Superdome X reviews

1,106 Views
1,095 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: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series vs. HPE Superdome X

December 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

5th

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 January 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS B-Series is 6.9%, down from 8.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Superdome X is 8.0%, down from 10.6% 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	6.9%
HPE Superdome X	8.0%
Other	85.1%

Blade Servers

Featured Reviews

Muhammad AlihyderBhuiyan

Head of IT Operations at NCC BANK LIMITED

Efficient server management reduces costs and supports seamless operations

Cisco UCS B-Series has reliably sustained smooth operations without the need for significant maintenance. Its administration capabilities provide easy access to performance reports, logs, and utilization data, which are essential for effective server management. Additionally, the integration capabilities are seamless, and the power consumption and heat generation are low, resulting in reduced cooling costs and increased financial benefits.

Read full review

reviewer2056329

Professor at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees

Robust product, helped with workload management and offers remote configuration

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. One other problem is energy consumption. We are forced to use both chassis even when we only need, for example, all four processors. It's not always used at full capacity every day. When underutilized, we still need to have both chassis powered, which creates an energy consumption issue. While the machine can be configured to reduce consumption, the idea of having different possible configurations with varying chassis usage, similar to the Flex version, could be interesting for this model, too. This model leverages specific features of the Intel MAP board, so switching like in the Flex might be difficult due to the motherboard switching involved.

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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

"It's modular."

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

"The most beneficial feature is UCS Manager. It's the best way to manage hardware, creating group policies, like scrub policies and maintenance policies."

"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 the hardware is separated from the software definition of the components."

"The initial setup is pretty simple and straightforward."

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

"The feature that I found the most value is the abstract and stateless capacities."

More Cisco UCS B-Series pros

"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."

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

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

"This product is very reliable."

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

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

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

Cons

"The configuration is a bit complex, as it requires very high technical expertise to apply it."

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

"Compared to the deployment of servers such as Dell XCDs, the deployment of UCS servers is more complex. They take longer to deploy."

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

"The high price of the solution is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"Despite the benefits gained from the product implementation, the cost could be more appealing if the overall cost of ownership were reduced."

"It should be more user-friendly."

"It is more expensive than the competitors."

More Cisco UCS B-Series cons

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

"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."

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

"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."

"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.""

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is a premium device and our clients are not as concerned about the reasonableness of the price compared to satisfaction with their productivity."

"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."

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

"The product is expensive."

"Every three years, I need to renew my license and support the product...Every time I have to opt for the renewal of the license, I am shocked to learn about the increase in the price of the product."

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

"The product cost is high."

"The price of this solution is a little bit higher, but given that this system is Cisco, it feels more secure and dependable."

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

Performing Arts

11%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

14%

Government

11%

Financial Services Firm

University

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?

See all answers

Comparisons

HPE Synergy vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 29% of the time

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

Compared 13% of the time

Dell PowerEdge MX- Series vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 13% of the time

Supermicro SuperBlade vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 11% of the time

HPE BladeSystem vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 10% of the time

More Cisco UCS B-Series Competitors

Dell PowerEdge MX- Series vs HPE Superdome X

Compared 29% of the time

HPE Synergy vs HPE Superdome X

Compared 17% of the time

Lenovo Flex System vs HPE Superdome X

Compared 15% of the time

HPE Integrity vs HPE Superdome X

Compared 12% of the time

HPE NonStop vs HPE Superdome X

Compared 10% of the time

More HPE Superdome X Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series

January 2026

Download Cisco UCS B-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Blade Servers

December 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

December 2025

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

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