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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 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
5.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (3rd)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
157
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 4.8%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is 21.8%, up from 21.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user729372 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 26, 2017
 

Featured Reviews

Kalpesh Savaliya - PeerSpot reviewer
Good support, and this product well-suited to our size of environment
We use these rack servers for terminal operating systems The initial setup could be easier. I have been working with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers for five years. This is a stable product. For our use case, this product is scalable up to 16 blades, including two sites. I don't know how well…
SHIVAKUMAR A P - PeerSpot reviewer
With an easy setup phase in place, it is suitable for small and large-sized businesses
When you speak of any enhancements in the product, you need to shift to the tool's commercial mode. You get more features in the solution if you pour in more money. If a customer needs some features in the solution, they will have to buy it since certain features are not loaded by default in the server. With entry-level licenses, servers are shipped to customers free of cost. Customers need to pay if they want more and more features in the solution. Every OEM solution in the market, including HPE ProLiant DL, operates similarly. The overall cost of the product needs to be lower, as it is one of the areas of concern in the product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have many people in my organization using Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers in the administration."
"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 solution is easily scalable."
"Its hardware is really reliable. We also like Cisco for its support."
"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are integration and customization."
"The solution is stable."
"In terms of the features that I have found most valuable, that is basically the hardware, which is more dynamic."
"The pricing of the product is fair and not too expensive."
"The ProLiant DL Servers are stable and reliable."
"This solution is perfect. From the time of purchase, it was state-of-the-art, and still, after five, 10 years, they still meet our demands extremely well."
"The quality and the technical support are the most valuable features."
"The initial setup was easy."
"The solution's initial setup is straightforward."
"We are quite satisfied with the technical support. We have a direct contact with our HP support. They are always very useful."
"iLO, in particular, helps us manage the servers better, especially as a lot of them are remote from where the IT staff are. We have some locations where we just have not got IT presence at those locations, so iLO really helps with that."
 

Cons

"The hard drive of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is not very good. I have already replaced three of them."
"The improvement should be done as per customer requirements."
"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."
"The solution needs more capacity and more scalability."
"The product's stability and delivery time could be better."
"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 initial setup could be easier."
"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."
"Not all of the hardware is completely up-to-date."
"The servers should include OneView for intelligence provisioning."
"There is currently no artificial intelligence in the product. It would actually be helpful to have some features with AI."
"ProLiant servers could be more scalable. For example, some models can only contain four hard drives, but many of our customers expect six. If they were to add another extendable hard drive slot, it would be easier to sell the servers to our customers."
"In terms of what could be improved, if I could have faster processors with less cores, that would be good."
"In DL 500 systems, the flow of air is not good enough, and some components get overheated. IBM systems have better airflow and scalability. We have a data center that has limited physical space. Therefore, we need to maximize the processing or compute systems that we use. In HP servers, such as DL 500, there are only four processors, whereas IBM servers, such as SR 916, have eight processors. We don't get any support from HP because of our geographical location. We solve all problems ourselves by doing research on the internet. It would be good to get HP support."
"The support lifecycle for the product for the Telco application should be better."
"The technical support response time has room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve. It's a little more expensive in comparison with Dell or HPE solutions."
"Cisco is expensive, but we didn't look at the cost of the product. We were looking at reliability and support."
"The solution is moderately priced."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis, which is only $2,000 or $3,000."
"If they plan to expand their infrastructure in periods, then simply Cisco is not a good choice."
"The solution could be more cost-effective."
"The solution requires an annual licensing fee."
"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."
"We did not need to pay for a license for the use of HP DL servers, just for normal hardcore support."
"I give the cost a ten out of ten."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"We have purchased this solution and it is under warranty."
"This product is within our budget."
"The iLO (integrated lights out) license is very expensive, but the functionality you receive is worth it."
"​If you have to include the warranty, enhance the warranty support.​"
"HPE ProLiant DL Servers have a higher price than Dell servers. However, the Japanese counterpart has the lowerest priced servers. The price of the HPE ProLiant DL Servers could improve, it could be less expensive."
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Answers from the Community

it_user729372 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 26, 2017
Sep 26, 2017
Another good question to consider is, how deeply are security and anti-tampering features built in? With the advent of Gen 10 servers HPE is implementing this right down in silicon whereas the rest of the marketplace is still using firmware features to try to accomplish this. This is arguably too late in the process to be able to guarantee what BIOS code you are actually running, what back do...
2 out of 8 answers
BW
Sep 24, 2017
I suggest checking the key benchmark sites directly – TPC-C, SAP etc. Each benchmark is designed to test a specific system capability. http://www.tpc.org/tpcc/ http://global.sap.com/solutions/benchmark/sd2tier.epx I have attached the URL’s. The SAP testing is most revealing for overall systems performance and scalability. The most recent certifications show Cisco UCS servers eclipsing their HPE counterparts by notable margins. Standard Proliant systems are lower in total lines processed than Cisco units, and you have to move up to the HPE Synergy line to beat lower end Cisco C240 servers. However, the higher end 4-way Cisco C480 handily beats Synergy.
it_user204816 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 25, 2017
As per my experience, CISCO UCS C-series is having scalability issue but for HPE ProLiant DL RACk server is good in terms of scalability. HPE tech support is much better than CISCO UCS.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How do Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers compare with HPE ProLiant DL servers?
Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers offer flexibility and efficiency in order to meet mission-critical demands. I like that Lenovo blends outstanding performance, reliability, and manageability. The bi...
What do you like most about HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
The most valuable feature of the solution is HPE Integrated Lights-Out (iLO)...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
The product is expensive. I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price. On the needs of the customers, the product offers a lot of suppor...
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL
 

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
AmeriPride Services, iSource, Bolagsverket, BlueShore Financial, British Columbia Assessment Authority, National Stock Exchange, Cardlytics
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. HPE ProLiant DL Servers and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
861,390 professionals have used our research since 2012.