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

 

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
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (3rd)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
160
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 5.4%, up from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is 17.8%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers17.8%
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers5.4%
Other76.8%
Rack Servers
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user729372 - PeerSpot reviewer
Student at TAFE NSW _ South Western Sydney Institute at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Sep 26, 2017
 

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.
ArifSheikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
High availability servers have boosted hosted payment services but still need better local support
We are not using PowerVM because of certain limitations; it is on a back-end engine. However, we are using other components such as vSphere for some small interfaces, and those are the main components we are utilizing. Since these servers are fully dedicated to various high-end solutions, they have some embedded features that their kernel and applications are using, which are bound to that functionality. We may not provide an exact assessment on its usage, but we are considering those products for some AI solutions; however, we are currently in the review stage and have not concluded our evaluation on how those are utilized yet. We are aware of the pricing of HPE ProLiant DL servers, but not off the cuff. We have obviously acquired those solutions ex-Pakistan, so they are on the rise, and while we do not remember those prices offhand, they are generally better than the IBM series, although they are becoming slightly pricey in Pakistan due to processor shortages and demand. Improvements could be made in database engine hosting services because, as it stands, the pricing of Oracle is too high from both the service and software solution perspectives. If pricing can be reduced, especially for DB servers, that could have a direct positive impact on the overall solution. Regarding reliability, it has been satisfactory so far, but since the distributors are not physically present in Pakistan, that creates a risk for long-term large customers. They provide import-based services, necessitating us to over-invest in backup stock and offline servers. If there was a market presence from those players in Pakistan, it could benefit both clients and distributors by reducing the need for investment in backup inventory.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup is straightforward and easy to do."
"The C-series is the most valuable."
"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are agileness, ease of operation, and manageability."
"The integration with IT infrastructure is seamless based on our experience."
"I can't think of any features which need to be added to the solution, all of them are good."
"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 integration and customization."
"The solution is stable."
"The GPU units, processor speed, and capabilities are most valuable. Desktop video conferencing is also valuable. It supports desktop video conferencing much better for graphics."
"We have had no issues with the stability of the product."
"Reliability was the reason why we've had them for so many years - they've been reliable."
"There is a lot of extra storage. I am only using half of what I need."
"Hyper-V software gave us more capacity to consistently meet our judges' needs."
"We have had our system working for between two and three years with no downtime."
"The technical support is very, very good and the experience in our organization has made us interested in buying more HP ProLiant."
"Stability is where HPE dominates competitors like Dell and Cisco. The servers are highly reliable, and we are impressed with the technology HPE offers."
 

Cons

"Its accessibility and manageability can be improved."
"The product's stability and delivery time could be better."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve integration with third-party solutions."
"The initial setup could be easier."
"There is room for better integration with other brands."
"The hard drive of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is not very good. I have already replaced three of them."
"This product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."
"I would like to see a little more integration with VMware."
"The new function, which is coming at the moment, with the online firmware updates - that's one of the problems we're struggling with, with our customers, to have downtime - these live online updates are really, really a benefit we're waiting for."
"HPE ProLiant DL Servers are customizable, but when you first deploy them, you basically have to rebuild configurations on them. This is true for large orders. But for small orders, you will be tied up with previous configurations of some other brand like Dell."
"I cannot give high marks for scalability since servers are designed to be standalone."
"It is too expensive. Its price should be improved."
"The product must provide time travel features."
"There are issues with the startup that make it a little cumbersome. It takes us more time."
"The pricing of HPE ProLiant DL Servers depends purely on the configuration, and it is not affordable."
"I would like more advice about drivers and servers, depending on the application we are using."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"The solution could be more cost-effective."
"The solution is expensive and I give the price a four out of ten."
"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is approximately 20 percent more than other solutions."
"My company has an agreement with Cisco to get discounted rates. It is one of the reasons why we chose the product."
"It is just too expensive."
"We have ILO licenses. We use this feature."
"This was a one-time purchase for us because it's hardware that we purchased from HPE. There aren't any licensing costs."
"Proliant DL Servers have a reasonable cost. They are not as expensive as the Cisco servers. Everything is included when you purchase a server. You just have to install and configure it."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"I like the price of this product and the add-on components. It is cheaper than Dell and is a one-time hardware purchase with minimal ongoing costs."
"HPE ProLiant DL Servers are one of the best-selling solutions in this industry. There is not a license required for this solution."
"We did not need to pay for a license for the use of HP DL servers, just for normal hardcore support."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rack Servers solutions are best for your needs.
902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Answers from the Community

it_user729372 - PeerSpot reviewer
Student at TAFE NSW _ South Western Sydney Institute at a tech company with 51-200 employees
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
Technical Sales Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
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
Senior Cloud Consultant in CSIRO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
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
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise98
 

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.
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
The pricing of HPE ProLiant DL Servers depends purely on the configuration, and it is not affordable. However, if you look at the technical caliber of the server, if a customer invests that additio...
What needs improvement with HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
If I had to choose between HP and Dell, I would choose Dell's iDRAC over iLO. iLO is adequate, but Dell is much better, especially when configuring the internal storage of the server. Mostly when w...
 

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 2026.
902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.