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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs HPE Moonshot comparison

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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
Ranking in Density Optimized Servers
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE Moonshot
Ranking in Rack Servers
13th
Ranking in Density Optimized Servers
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Density Optimized Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 15.1%, up from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Moonshot is 17.6%, up from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Density Optimized Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers15.1%
HPE Moonshot17.6%
Other67.3%
Density Optimized Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Berthold Manz - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at ExperTeach GmbH
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.
it_user6186 - PeerSpot reviewer
Independent Analyst and Advisory Consultant at Server StorageIO - www.storageio.com
HP Moonshot 1500 software defined capable compute servers
Riding the current software defined data center (SDDC) wave being led by the likes of VMware and software defined networking (SDN) also championed by VMware via their acquisition of Nicira last year, Software Defined Marketing (SDM) is in full force, along with Software Defined Data Infrastructures…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is easily scalable."
"The first advantage of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is that you don't need to buy physical hardware like I used to have to do for each application."
"It was simple to install and has given us no problems."
"What I really like about the Cisco USC Server is its service profile."
"The support from Cisco UCS C-Series Rack has been very good."
"The intersite options for management make life easier for the operations and management teams because it's a single point of management for the whole server infrastructure."
"The Cisco UCS Servers are very dependable, and they're very reliable."
"We've been quite happy with its capabilities so far."
"Scalability is great, and that was one of the key bits, as it has the scalability option in which you can fit four on each blade and have the capacity to keep on going."
"Everything looks to have a product superstar in hand: less energy consumption, lower cost, less space, scalable and customizable."
"With each user having its own physical CPU/GPU, enough memory etc. (when dealing with HDI) the overall user experience will be top notch, as to be expected."
 

Cons

"Definitely the support area needs improving. Especially the time response in case of hardware failure."
"The initial setup could be easier."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve by selling storage. Cisco doesn't sell storage, which is a problem because some customers ask for storage. There are several brands in the market, such as HPE, and Dell EMC. However, Cisco doesn't have any storage. This is where the tension comes from buying this solution."
"The scalability of the product is an area of concern where Cisco needs to focus on making some improvements."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve integration with third-party solutions."
"The product is losing ground to the competition, such as Nutanix."
"There is room for better integration with other brands."
"The product must add customer-friendly monitoring features."
"However, with great potential gains, there is a big risk."
"Why not spend the same (or a bit more perhaps) amount on virtual?"
"I think there's room for improvement. It doesn't work properly yet."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is moderately priced."
"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is high."
"This solution is a little expensive."
"​Best to buy all the blades configured for the same purposes of load balancing and failover or load shifting.​"
"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 of the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve. It's a little more expensive in comparison with Dell or HPE solutions."
"My company has an agreement with Cisco to get discounted rates. It is one of the reasons why we chose the product."
"The solution requires an annual licensing fee."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise14
No data available
 

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.
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Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
HP Moonshot
 

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
iSource, Cerise Group, Panasonic
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco and others in Density Optimized Servers. Updated: August 2026.
914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.