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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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 C-Series Rack Ser...
Ranking in Rack Servers
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (3rd)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
307
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (1st), Data Center Networking (3rd), Blade Servers (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 5.4%, up from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 22.1%, down from 27.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series22.1%
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers5.4%
Other72.5%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1441011 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr, Manager- Network Solution Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Comprehensive support and integration ensure smooth cloud infrastructure operations
I may not be the right person to comment on advanced improvements because we are just using basic functionalities. We are getting all the functionalities which we used to get in other OEM rack servers. Potential areas for improvement may include a more flexible pricing model, better technical support, or tutorials from the vendor for users.
Tom van Mil - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at Lico Innovations B.v.
Supports flexible hosting needs through seamless upgradability and strong monitoring capabilities
The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series for me are the feature richness and the upgradability. I really love the way that it is so dynamically applicable for every situation, and they manage to have an all-in-one solution for every single situation. Dell PowerEdge has supported the growth and operational success of my company through its great compute power and price-to-performance ratio. Every time Dell is at the top of its game for us, and there is just no other brand for us that is able to reach that kind of price-to-performance ratio. Dell PowerEdge R-Series has features that specifically cater to the needs of my small company, such as iDRAC. The iDRAC system is a complete feature set for managing servers and hardware technically and monitoring-wise. It really fits in our system and our ecosystem, and monitoring-wise, it is excellent. They have all these sensors available via different protocols and end points, which I love, and the ability to manage and control everything via the iDRAC interface is just a welcome bonus. In our use case, Dell PowerEdge R-Series is very flexible. It is another computer which helps a lot because of the durability over time. They keep running, making scalability for getting more of those resources in our environment so easy.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The hardware customization capabilities are great."
"I would recommend this solution to others because it saves a lot of space and it's very scalable."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers have plenty of features and computing and memory power."
"In summary, this is a good product and it's sustainable."
"We've been quite happy with its capabilities so far."
"Its hardware is really reliable. We also like Cisco for its support."
"I can't think of any features which need to be added to the solution, all of them are good."
"When you hear the brand Cisco, you don't really need to recommend it."
"The most valuable feature is OpenManage. We get a lot out of OpenManage because we have a sprawling infrastructure with around 100 data centers, and managing all of those separately is challenging."
"One of the great things about Dell PowerEdge R-Series is the racking system, specifically the actual rapid rails for easy installation."
"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is pretty much the same thing that I mentioned with PowerStore: the simplicity, the resiliency, and the fact that it just works."
"The feature I appreciate the most about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is the reliability. I have tried other manufacturers and servers both personally and in my job, and it's clear that the Dell PowerEdge offers the best price, performance, and reliability; there's really no contest."
"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers helped reduce unplanned production downtime significantly."
"The most valuable feature, when I compare Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers with other brands available, is the price versus performance, as I get more for what I pay, and mostly, we use this for our CAD workloads."
"I like a feature they call iDRAC. It's a feature that allows you remotely power on and off the server."
"The complete package we get from Dell makes work easier; it is not just the handling of the devices, but also the support and if there are ever problems."
 

Cons

"The solution needs more capacity and more scalability."
"The product must add customer-friendly monitoring features."
"There is very little scalability for the cluster. If you need a higher availability, there is a user limitation. So that is the low side."
"This product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."
"The scalability of the product is an area of concern where Cisco needs to focus on making some improvements."
"Technical support could be more responsive."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers can improve by providing customization features to allow us to deploy them on the cloud. For example, we need VMware to allow us to accomplish a cloud deployment."
"On the contact center and video conferencing, I would definitely like to see more AI features. The AI features are key for us. You will find a lot of them in the cloud-based solution, but in the on-premises solution, they're hardly there. I would like to see the same AI features that are there in the cloud-based Cisco UC."
"I was most surprised by the increase in power consumption across all of them because we're dealing with AI workloads and they're a lot more powerful."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series does not help us grow the company or grow the work."
"One of the things that I've noticed is that over time, the system degrades, meaning that little things don't work."
"In the past it has been very stable, but not recently."
"The solution could improve by making the warranty policy better, which is a little bit complex because our local service partner Smart Technologies has long delays. Whenever we open any case for any customer, it takes more than five days. If we could handle it by ourselves, we could have the issue solved in one day. They should work on a way to fix these delays."
"It would be nice if they could make the solution cheaper and faster."
"If I rated the support two years ago, it would have been a high eight or maybe a nine; in the last six months, it has likely dropped to a six or seven out of ten due to a lot of churn in Dell, particularly with their sales force and engineering teams."
"There are issues, of course, but not major issues. On a scale of one to 10, the stability is a nine."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution could be better when compared to other solutions. However, when we purchased the solution we received Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers in a bundle with other hardware, such as IP phones and networking switches."
"The solution requires an annual licensing fee."
"The solution is expensive and I give the price a four out of ten."
"The solution is moderately priced."
"This product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."
"The pricing is expensive."
"If they plan to expand their infrastructure in periods, then simply Cisco is not a good choice."
"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is high."
"The tool's pricing is very good."
"We have not compared them with others. The price is okay, but they can always be a little bit cheaper."
"I have no issues with the pricing and licensing costs. They are fine."
"This is an expensive solution."
"The overall pricing and licensing are fair according to the market."
"We weren't paying very much, but it was at the end of the lifecycle. We are now using the VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure, and the pricing was very similar for the same amount of power but with easier automation."
"I wouldn't say the solution's pricing is the best, but it's very competitive."
"The pricing is fair enough."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business110
Midsize Enterprise66
Large Enterprise128
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is not troublesome, but it is confusing. It takes a lot of time to navigate licensing and to work through ...
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?
I think Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could be improved, but I'm not really a forward thinker; everything works pretty well with how we're using it. It's not really an improvement, but the soluti...
What is your primary use case for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?
My main use case for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is hypervisors, using them as a hypervisor.
When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
I think Dell PowerEdge R-Series can support more storage capacity, which would be great. Most other OEMs are trying to ensure you have a one-stop shop for just one server where you could get a whol...
What is your primary use case for Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
My main use case for Dell PowerEdge R-Series is to use it as standalone servers but also as part of some clusters. I have some OpenStack private cloud deployed on them and some Ceph software-define...
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Artoni Transporti, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, City of Mississauga, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Kind en Gezin, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Nationwide, Quest, Talbots, University of St. Gallen
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge R-Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.