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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs PowerEdge C comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Density Optimized Servers
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Rack Servers (5th)
PowerEdge C
Ranking in Density Optimized Servers
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Blade Servers (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Density Optimized Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 9.5%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PowerEdge C is 25.0%, up from 18.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Density Optimized Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Ehsan Emad - PeerSpot reviewer
The VIC card is the most important feature.
I rate Cisco USC C-Series Rack Servers 10 out 10. If you plan to buy a C-Series, you should be clear about why you want to use it because the uses vary. different. Whether you're using Cisco, HPE, Dell or any other brand, it's essential to define your use case. For example, are you using it for a simulation graphics, calculations, etc.? Depending on the use case, you might want to go with a small server with more CPU. Sometimes you need a light CPU with a powerful GPU. For example, if we have a C-Series with four CPUs at the same time, or we have a server that's handled two CPUs at the same time—the purpose is crucial. C-Series is good enough compared to other competitors like HPE and the other ones. The HPE C20 is one unit and has a lot of RAM support, but the C-series is number one, in my opinion.
Niraj  Shah - PeerSpot reviewer
Good return on investment, round the clock technical support, and easy to install
PowerEdge C is used in both corporate and industrial settings One of the main features that attract customers to buy their products is the great management tool and almost zero failure rate, making it easy to use. As far as I'm concerned, the current product works perfectly fine and I don't see…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The VIC card is the most important feature."
"The solution is stable."
"The hardware customization capabilities are great."
"The technical support from Cisco is fine."
"What I really like about the Cisco USC Server is its service profile."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is server management."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is performance."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the expansion and replacement of parts."
"The solutions are easy to handle, priced correctly, reliable, and dependable."
"Every new version is better than the previous one."
"PowerEdge C is the best server I have worked with. I like that it's user-friendly. PowerEdge C performs very well."
"The security of the product is very good."
"The scalability of the product is good since it offers high performance and capacity."
"The management platform is great."
"It's a good product. Virtualization on it is good."
"The product has high performance and no downtime."
 

Cons

"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 scalability of the product is an area of concern where Cisco needs to focus on making some improvements."
"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."
"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 only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."
"The price of the solution is problematic, not the solution itself. It could be less expensive."
"The solution’s pricing could be cheaper."
"There is some trouble with the stability part of the product, making it an area where improvements are required."
"An area where the product lacks and needs to consider improvement is by allowing it to integrate with some AI tool for monitoring."
"They could automate or simplify it more."
"It should be improved in terms of future expansion. We should be able to have additional free slots for future extensions in terms of memory."
"The pricing of PowerEdge solutions is very high nowadays."
"Its customer service could be better."
"Customer service and support have been generally helpful but can be slow due to the need to navigate different specialists."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 have to pay for the VMware and Cisco licenses."
"This product is slightly more expensive when compared to others."
"The pricing is expensive."
"This product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."
"The solution requires an annual licensing fee."
"​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."
"There is a need to pay towards the annual subscription-based licensing model offered by the solution. The product is moderately priced. Price is a critical issue, and it is always good to have moderately priced solutions."
"We buy licenses for the solution's advanced features."
"The cost depends on the configuration."
"When we talk about pricing it is the cheapest on the market that I have found."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"PowerEdge C is a product that is priced at a medium range, so it is not too expensive."
"Despite the slightly higher price, we prefer Dell due to the high quality of their products."
"I don't handle the financial aspects, so I don't know the exact costs, but in terms of the value it brings, it's worth it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
16%
Venture Capital & Private Equity Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about PowerEdge C?
The solution provides good support and service.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PowerEdge C?
PowerEdge is quite a costly solution, and I would rate the pricing around seven or eight on a scale from one to ten with ten being the most expensive.
What needs improvement with PowerEdge C?
With reference architectures like VX rack, the update process is quite painful. They could automate or simplify it more. There are prerequisites to go through, and that's usually the only time-cons...
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
No data available
 

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
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. PowerEdge C and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.