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Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs Dell PowerEdge MX- Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 7, 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 E-Series Servers
Ranking in Blade Servers
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerEdge MX- Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is 3.3%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge MX- Series is 13.0%, down from 19.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerEdge MX- Series13.0%
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers3.3%
Other83.7%
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

AK
Solution Architect at COPYCAT LIMITED
Automation and integration capabilities streamline IT infrastructure management
The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is the Cisco interface. The server management and automation capabilities have been outstanding in automation, greatly benefiting our IT team. Pricing is acceptable, and these servers have had a significant impact on cost savings and operational efficiency. The integration with Cisco routers simplifies the IT infrastructure.
AK
Business Development Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Has supported future scalability with seamless deployment
In terms of potential room for improvement regarding Dell PowerEdge M, I would want to see something such as dense nodes and additional storage, as well as multiple network connectivity on the blades. The functions that I would want to see from Dell are not limited to just what I mentioned, but currently, I feel no additional features are needed. I suggest adding an additional network card within the blades, specifically for connectivity.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is overall stable."
"The product's most valuable features are stability, speed, and scalability."
"Cisco has better visibility and manageability for disaster recovery."
"The server management and automation capabilities have been outstanding in automation, greatly benefiting our IT team."
"The most valuable features are that they are efficient and easy to setup."
"Stability-wise, it is a good product that remains stable."
"They are really easy to maintain. I've added RAM to them. I've done a lot of other things with the virtualization."
"The Cisco chassis is very easy to configure and any network engineer or expert can configure the solution and easily integrate it with the chassis."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its interface."
"The iDRAC feature is most useful for server management in Dell, comparable to HP iLO."
"The networking features for administration and working with the server are valuable."
"The solution integrated well."
"The solution's most valuable features are centralized monitoring and management and the ease of upgrading firmware."
"PowerEdge M allows me to manage all servers and blades from one admin console."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The solution is made with high-quality hardware."
 

Cons

"The biggest pain point for us is the matrix for the firmware upgrades. It is a pain. You look at that thing, you might as well be reading Greek. It would be a whole lot better if they could clean up their documentation on it."
"One thing that could be improved is the cost - it is very high for this Blade chassis as compared to other vendors. Especially in Asia. Asian customers mostly prefer a cost effective, cheaper solution."
"The product should also be available in a standard edition or a standard license since currently there is a need to pay for an extra license, which is very expensive, especially when considering the budgeting part of our company."
"The processing capacity could be improved."
"I would like to see improvements in VMware integration with Cisco, especially in terms of documentation and integration tools. Support of NVIDIA integration would also make it better."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement. There could be more collaborative tools included."
"The tool must be made compatible with multi-vendor ecosystems."
"It is not a solution that is cloud ready."
"I would like to have additional HPC and AI capabilities on general Dell PowerEdge servers."
"In terms of improvement, it should also offer a hyper-converged option."
"I suggest adding an additional network card within the blades, specifically for connectivity."
"Can be improved by being proactive in making changes that could improve the solution."
"I believe that the tool’s support team is an area with certain concerns where improvements can be made."
"One area for improvement is VLAN configuration."
"Dell PowerEdge MX-Series is not a good solution for AI due to the lack of support for the expansion of GPUs; there is a solution, but it is not a useful one."
"More interconnections with third party equipment and limited I/O selection."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of the solution is reasonable. From a commercial point of view, the prices are okay."
"The solution is expensive."
"The product is expensive."
"There is a need to pay towards the licensing costs of the solution. The most expensive server from Cisco is Cisco UCS B-Series."
"It's expensive, they are quite pricey."
"Dell PowerEdge M price is comparable to other solutions but cheaper than IBM. However, the IBM solution is a higher grade solution whereas Dell PowerEdge M is a medium-level solution."
"The pricing of PowerEdge Next is higher than it was before."
"The cost varies significantly depending on the server's configuration and can range from $10,000 to $60,000 for the same server line family."
"The product is budget-friendly. The initial cost for each server was around 10,000 euros. It's a standard price, not too high or too low."
"The solution's pricing is slightly higher."
"I know we get three years basic, and the on-site licensing model for business seems fine. I wouldn't pay for a support plus or anything."
"If we would not have gone with the vendor we might have been charged unnecessarily for packages we did not need."
"It was budget friendly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
The pricing of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is okay, costing around 30,000 per year. Support is included in this cost.
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
I would like to see improvements in VMware integration with Cisco, especially in terms of documentation and integration tools. Support of NVIDIA integration would also make it better.
What is your primary use case for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
I use Cisco UCS E-Series Servers ( /products/cisco-ucs-e-series-servers-reviews ) for managing our IT infrastructure and supporting AI-driven projects. The integration with Cisco routers simplifies...
What do you like most about Dell PowerEdge M?
The best feature is the idrac tools, which allows me to manage/config the platform from the Linux level.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerEdge M?
I am not aware of the pricing aspect of Dell PowerEdge MX- Series, as that is handled by another department, and I focus on the technical side.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge M?
I would like to see improvements in Dell PowerEdge MX- Series, such as increasing the clustering capability beyond the current ten chassis, similar to PowerScale, allowing for more sleds and comput...
 

Also Known As

UCS E-Series Servers
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Navaho,  MiroNet AG, Columbia Sportswear
Newport City Homes, Neuroblastoma and Medulloblastoma Translational Research Consortium (NMTRC), Georgian College, AgreeYa Solutions, IIHT Cloud Solutions, Arizona State University, AudienceScience, University of the Incarnate Word (UIW), The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Holy Cross School
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge MX- Series and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.