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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

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
Ranking in Density Optimized Servers
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE Apollo Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
6th
Ranking in Density Optimized Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Density Optimized Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 11.7%, up from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 17.6%, down from 24.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Density Optimized Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
HPE Apollo Systems17.6%
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers11.7%
Other70.7%
Density Optimized 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.
Gökhan  DURMAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Account Manager at TD SYNNEX
High-quality integration and strong support have optimized our rack server operations
HPE Apollo Systems is a good product because it has better support and best quality with integrity. When I speak about integrity, I speak about GPU integration or other integrations such as GPU integration, backup software integration, and hypervisor integration. Regarding the integration of high-speed interconnectors in HPE Apollo Systems, they impact computational tasks because the high-speed interconnect affects performance. I don't remember the specifics. Regarding the cooling technologies, they help to reduce operational costs. The positive impact I see from HPE Apollo Systems is that support is good and quality is good. In general, HPE Apollo Systems appears to be for rack servers with some optimization capabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack is the use of databases, such as MySQL."
"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are agileness, ease of operation, and manageability."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy to do."
"In terms of the features that I have found most valuable, that is basically the hardware, which is more dynamic."
"The hardware customization capabilities are great."
"What I really like about the Cisco USC Server is its service profile."
"The solution is easily scalable."
"The solution is scalable."
"We're going to buy another Apollo 6500. We may configure it with half the number of GPUs because that may be all we need. In a sense, we can see the Apollo 6500 being so powerful that we only need half the GPU capability that we have now."
"The technical support from HPE has always been good in my experience."
"we can use the same platform for several use cases: Hadoop, Ceph, and we are considering the server for another use case right now. It's a single solution, we only have to integrate it once and we can use it for several technologies."
"HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products."
"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."
"It's pretty flexible. You can choose how much storage you put on the server. You can have one to three nodes, depending on whether you want more CPU or storage."
"It's very reliable. I haven't had a single failure at all in the year and a half; not the slightest problem with it."
"When we moved to the Apollo and all flash drives, we gained a lot of performance."
 

Cons

"Its accessibility and manageability can be improved. Currently, we have to visit the office to manage it. It should be manageable outside our network. I would like it to be on the cloud."
"The hard drive of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is not very good. I have already replaced three of them."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve integration with third-party solutions."
"I would like to see a little more integration with VMware."
"The solution can be improved by adjusting the cost."
"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."
"I think the pricing is high. Cisco has to look for bundling this solutions with other applications."
"The pricing is too high and no discounts are available for our country."
"One drawback which I had: When I needed to expand storage on the Apollo, I had significant problems getting disks for it. It was a very long wait-time. So, if I were to give any advice in regards to improving this product, I would say make more of the 8TB disks available quicker."
"I would want to see the flexibility of being able to run various network protocols including InfiniBand, Fibre Channel, as well as iSCSI, with iSCSI going up to 100 gigabytes per second -that would be outstanding."
"What's coming out in Gen 10 is very strong in terms of additional security."
"If there could be some training for our team, we would be better equipped to promote and support HPE Apollo."
"Lustre seems to be just a little bit unstable overall."
"There is a shared battery for all cache controllers in the node. When you have to replace that element, you have to take down all three nodes and not just one."
"We could, perhaps, use more GPUs in the future, go from eight to 16 GPUs per instance. That could run head-to-head against the DGX-1, the DGX-2 that NVIDIA has developed in their own chassis. That would be interesting to see."
"The support from HPE Apollo could be better, they are making knowledgeable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is high."
"This product is slightly more expensive when compared to others."
"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."
"If they plan to expand their infrastructure in periods, then simply Cisco is not a good choice."
"This solution is a little expensive."
"This product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."
"We have to pay for the VMware and Cisco licenses."
"The price for Cisco is a bit higher than its competitors. We paid 40k for one server."
"The price of the solution is more expensive than Dell which is their main competitor. However, there are times we have managed to receive a comparable price."
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"It is an expensive solution but it is worth the money. The standard licensing cost is for the GPU and the features that someone is using. There are additional charges but they depend on the solution."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Retailer
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise13
 

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...
What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
Some features could be added to HPE Apollo Systems in the future, and I feel that some capability is needed. HPE Apollo Systems is a bit expensive, and there are some issues with scalability. Two f...
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
I have been distributing this product for three years. I don't have specific use cases, and everything about the major use case for HPE Apollo Systems is good. I don't know the purpose clients are ...
What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?
I am not using these products today, and I do not work with some specific firewalls. My company is TD Synnex, a distributor company, and I work for this company. My email is , and my first name is ...
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
 

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
Weta Digital
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. HPE Apollo Systems and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.