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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2025

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
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
13th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Rugged Servers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 5.2%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is 0.6%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers5.2%
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series0.6%
Other94.2%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Berthold Manz - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless server transitions enhance IT infrastructure for AI projects and improve management capabilities
If you are integrated into the Cisco management solution, it is very easy to handle. The performance aspects of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are very strong. The ability to move from one server to another without changing anything is excellent. We can transfer all the identity of the servers between the servers.
Jesse_B - PeerSpot reviewer
Simple to scale, high availability, and top level service and support
Dell XR2 Rugged Server's technology is always on the competitive edge, with the most current technology. They have proven reliability. If you're looking for a mission-critical system and support is important to you, then this is something a solution you should consider. I rate Dell XR2 Rugged Server a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco rack servers are very easy to integrate with other products from different vendors."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack is the use of databases, such as MySQL."
"The processors are so strong that they can deliver AI solutions without any additional GPU card, but we are also using some GPUs, which surely gives even better results."
"The solution is stable."
"The solution is scalable."
"It has centralized our server management and allows us to treat servers like a pool of resources instead of discrete devices."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the expansion and replacement of parts."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is server management."
"The scalability of the Dell XR2 Rugged Server is good and easy to do."
"The storage and the disc performance in terms of IOPS is great."
 

Cons

"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."
"The product must add customer-friendly monitoring features."
"The pricing is too high and no discounts are available for our country."
"The only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."
"The C-Series is not designed to be as scalable. They are designed to have enough RAM and enough CPU on their own side. If you want scalability, it's better to choose the B-Series— the Blade Servers — because those are much more scalable with Fabric Interconnect."
"There is room for better integration with other brands."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve by adding a wider portfolio because they only have two main categories, the C-220 and 240. There is no wide range of options as other solutions have, such as Dell. Additionally, if it was more flexible with the configuration it would be good."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve integration with third-party solutions."
"Dell XR2 Rugged Server could improve if there was more customization allowed."
"It lacks a modular option to expand to a 16-bay system."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis, which is only $2,000 or $3,000."
"This solution is a little expensive."
"If they plan to expand their infrastructure in periods, then simply Cisco is not a good choice."
"The pricing is expensive."
"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is high."
"The server itself isn't costly at all, but the CPU and the RAM can be pretty expensive. You can buy a UCS for $2,000, but the RAM and CPU can cost up to $80,000. The most expensive asset is the intel processor, but it depends on how many cores you want and the technology you want to use on your CPU, like Hyper-V, etc."
"The price for Cisco is a bit higher than its competitors. We paid 40k for one server."
"The price of the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve. It's a little more expensive in comparison with Dell or HPE solutions."
"The price of one Dell XR2 Rugged Server is approximately $10,000."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
6%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Energy/Utilities Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise13
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?
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 serv...
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Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
XR2 Rugged Server
 

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
DIGISTOR - Secure Data Storage
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge XR-Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,008 professionals have used our research since 2012.