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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers 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
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.2
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (3rd)
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...
Ranking in Rack Servers
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
27
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 Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is 15.9%, down from 17.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
 

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…
Adalberto Giaretta - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable with an easy setup and good support
These are rack servers. We use them for applications. It stores everything including VM servers, application servers, Windows, et cetera The reliability is great. The solution is like any other commodity like Dell or HPE. These are all very similar.  Setting up the solution is easy. It is stable.…

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 reliable and easy to use."
"The hardware customization capabilities are great."
"It has centralized our server management and allows us to treat servers like a pool of resources instead of discrete devices."
"It is very nice and stable with an easy administration GUI."
"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are integration and customization."
"On the Cisco side, there is a benefit in terms of server management. Cisco provides UCS Manager, which is a multi-tenant site manager. We can manage multiple sites while maintaining disaster recovery, a feature not available on other platforms."
"The C-series is the most valuable."
"What I really like about the Cisco USC Server is its service profile."
"The IMM tool is great because we can upgrade different views and device versions very quickly. We can upgrade everything from a single point through a single dashboard, which is great for us because we also have Lenovo storage. Lenovo ThinkSystem also has Xclarity built into the system."
"The product is designed to make adding RAM and disk space easier for users."
"We appreciate the stability and easy mountings of all the machines. We have some direct connections with IBM, Lenovo, and other companies, and we get close support from them."
"Ensures high availability, better hardware management, and support for active features."
"It's very power-efficient and allows you to access the rack server directly without accessing the operating system on that server."
"They have taken a lot of technology from IBM, and IBM always delivered very powerful hardware to the IT industry compared to Dell EMC or anyone else."
"The most valuable aspect of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is the brand name and the service relationship we have with Lenovo."
"The initial setup of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is straightforward. The process of implementation took me approximately two to three days. We only had to install the hardware for the installation."
 

Cons

"The product must add customer-friendly monitoring features."
"The warranty and support periods should be extended."
"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."
"The only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."
"The pricing is too high and no discounts are available for our country."
"The solution can be improved by adjusting the cost."
"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 product's stability and delivery time could be better."
"From our side, our budgets are really not there. The availability of cash is a little bit limited. We buy as much as we can, If it was less expensive, we could buy more."
"To be frank, the technical support from Lenovo's team needs improvement. There seems to be a lack of support, and it is important for Lenovo to address this issue."
"It should have tools for integration with the cloud. We should be able to transmit data from our on-premises server to the servers in the cloud."
"The solution's initial setup was complicated."
"Performance and scalability-wise, there are certain areas where the product lacks and needs improvement as it does not provide a lot of fancy features presently."
"I do not have any notes for improvements."
"There are other solutions that are less expensive."
"The RAID Management and the RAID Configuration tools need to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution requires an annual licensing fee."
"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."
"The price for Cisco is a bit higher than its competitors. We paid 40k for one server."
"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."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis, which is only $2,000 or $3,000."
"This product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."
"This solution is a little expensive."
"As the costs got high, we had to use the virtualization feature to consolidate the server farm.​"
"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is competitive."
"Other than the standard licensing fees there are no other additional costs. The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers could be better, and the availability of the solution could improve. We have been waiting two months for one server."
"The cost of the solution depends entirely on the client. There are not any additional costs other than the standard licensing fee."
"Its pricing is very competitive."
"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
"The licensing cost is the same as HP. It doesn't have any additional cost. However, the price, for example, for the memory option, does not match other vendors such as HP or Dell. They should work on the pricing of Lenovo. It is a great competitor, and it should compete with the price."
"It costs around $8,000. There is an additional cost for the support for a year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
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...
When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....
What do you like most about Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers?
The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is the easiest product to set up and maintain.
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
SR Series, Lenovo SR Series, ThinkSystem Rack Servers, IBM Rack Servers, ThinkSystem SR Series, Lenovo Rack Servers,
 

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
immixGroup, Komsomolskaya Pravda, SRG Global, Seekr, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, jKool, Tennis Australia, VEKA, Netpoints, Gamma Powersports
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
863,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.