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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 4, 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 XR-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
13th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Rugged Servers (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 5.1%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell XR-Series is 0.5%, down from 0.8% 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 Servers5.1%
Dell XR2 Rugged Server0.5%
Other94.4%
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

"Excellent server solution with incredible network throughput."
"It is very nice and stable with an easy administration GUI."
"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are agileness, ease of operation, and manageability."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is server management."
"The product doesn't take up too much space on the rack and I like that."
"It is very stable and easy to use. It integrates easily with Cisco's cloud-based UC solutions. There are tools for management that make the management a bit easier, but we don't use them. We don't use what you would term as power users."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack is the use of databases, such as MySQL."
"The server can be configured easily."
"The storage and the disc performance in terms of IOPS is great."
"The scalability of the Dell XR2 Rugged Server is good and easy to do."
 

Cons

"The pricing is too high and no discounts are available for our country."
"The improvement should be done as per customer requirements."
"I would like to see a little more integration with VMware."
"Some customers have complained about delivery time. So, the main weakness is the lead time."
"The solution needs more capacity and more scalability."
"In the version we need to use, the manager is still reliant on a full Java install on a Windows OS. This is inconvenient and problematic if you have multiple management tools on different versions of Java or if you move to a machine without the appropriate Java environment."
"The initial setup could be easier."
"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."
"It lacks a modular option to expand to a 16-bay system."
"Dell XR2 Rugged Server could improve if there was more customization allowed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"​Best to buy all the blades configured for the same purposes of load balancing and failover or load shifting.​"
"This solution is a little expensive."
"This product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."
"My company has an agreement with Cisco to get discounted rates. It is one of the reasons why we chose the product."
"The prices of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are higher compared to the competition. When we try and sell against the competition, then it becomes quite difficult to sell"
"If they plan to expand their infrastructure in periods, then simply Cisco is not a good choice."
"The solution is expensive and I give the price a four out of ten."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis, which is only $2,000 or $3,000."
"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%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

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 XR-Series and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
866,744 professionals have used our research since 2012.