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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 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 E-Series Servers
Ranking in Blade Servers
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
3rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
279
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (1st), Data Center Networking (4th), Rack Servers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is 3.8%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 5.0%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series5.0%
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers3.8%
Other91.2%
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.
Tom van Mil - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at Lico Innovations B.v.
Supports flexible hosting needs through seamless upgradability and strong monitoring capabilities
The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series for me are the feature richness and the upgradability. I really love the way that it is so dynamically applicable for every situation, and they manage to have an all-in-one solution for every single situation. Dell PowerEdge has supported the growth and operational success of my company through its great compute power and price-to-performance ratio. Every time Dell is at the top of its game for us, and there is just no other brand for us that is able to reach that kind of price-to-performance ratio. Dell PowerEdge R-Series has features that specifically cater to the needs of my small company, such as iDRAC. The iDRAC system is a complete feature set for managing servers and hardware technically and monitoring-wise. It really fits in our system and our ecosystem, and monitoring-wise, it is excellent. They have all these sensors available via different protocols and end points, which I love, and the ability to manage and control everything via the iDRAC interface is just a welcome bonus. In our use case, Dell PowerEdge R-Series is very flexible. It is another computer which helps a lot because of the durability over time. They keep running, making scalability for getting more of those resources in our environment so easy.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, the Cisco chassis is pretty good, pretty stable and easier to configure as compared to HP and others."
"Cisco UCS E-Series Servers have been reliable, and it took almost five years for any hardware failure, which was only about a $100 repair, so nothing too major."
"What I can advise other prospective customers is that they should not worry about Cisco's support, stability, and performance."
"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 product is overall stable."
"Cisco has better visibility and manageability for disaster recovery."
"The product's most valuable features are stability, speed, and scalability."
"I like the Dell EMC management and we have a great management interface. They are very reliable and we can trust the server. It's very reliable and easy to manage."
"I've found the reliability, support, the capability to grow, and the ability to add other Dell solutions to be very valuable features."
"Reliability is important for us. They are reliable, and the service is very good."
"PowerEdge is flexible and adaptable. You can you can build whatever you want from it."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series is a scalable solution that is always up to date with the latest processor, memories, and all that, especially when a customer requires the latest technology for maximum performance."
"When it comes to handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads, the PowerEdge Rack Servers are fit for purpose. They do what they need to do."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series has positively impacted my organization by increasing the overall performance and minimizing the overall downtime."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series industry standard servers have robust options and offer intense security and management features including NVMe support, streamlined remote management, RAID support, and flexible customization from processor to network options."
 

Cons

"I think that's probably one of the biggest failure points with Cisco, from their documentation all the way to their products."
"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."
"I am always asked to justify why we should purchase such expensive hardware when there are other brand names available with same capacity for a lesser price."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement. There could be more collaborative tools included."
"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."
"It is not a solution that is cloud ready."
"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."
"After purchasing the product, customers have not been getting the support that they need in the early stages of getting set up. They can provide customers a little bit more education as to what they get with certain warranty levels. The data is there if the customers dig, but a lot of times, the customers don't dig. Some of the other server models come out a little bit quicker than Dell. It would be good if Dell is quicker to market on new, larger drives when they become available. Sometimes, we do get hit on that against a couple of competitors. Dell vets them a little bit longer than like the super micros to keep their stability and quality level up, but they lose a little bit of ground to a super micro. It would be good if they can release features and models as soon and as fast as they can. It would help them to stay more competitive."
"The VxRail updates need to be faster."
"System security can be improved. They can add more power and security for ESXi version 7."
"From a Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers perspective, I would prefer to see them just keep up with the latest processors, with more power."
"I would like them to add more NVMe slots. That would be good. That way, it would have better performance, e.g., enough storage for better performance than a spinning disk."
"Dell can optimize the size of its rack servers, offering a minimized physical footprint without compromising performance or security."
"I would increase the life cycle management and those life cycle management tools."
"I'd like to see improvement with the analytics reports, they could be more useful than they currently are."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a need to pay towards the licensing costs of the solution. The most expensive server from Cisco is Cisco UCS B-Series."
"The product is expensive."
"It's expensive, they are quite pricey."
"The pricing of the solution is reasonable. From a commercial point of view, the prices are okay."
"The solution is expensive."
"It is expensive. The price needs to be more competitive. Additional licenses are required to enable some of the features for scalability."
"They are affordable. Even during our recent procurement, the cost of Dell servers was lower than that of HPE."
"I wouldn't say the solution's pricing is the best, but it's very competitive."
"It's a bit of a shock when you have to find the money, but the pricing is very competitive, so I'm happy with that."
"It's abundantly clear that the specific licensing requirements will be dictated by the intricacies of the machinery we deploy."
"We have not compared them with others. The price is okay, but they can always be a little bit cheaper."
"The tool's pricing is very good."
"The main reason I choose Dell there is cost. Dell is cheaper than HPE. Why would I want to pay a premium for an HPE product when I'm getting the same amount of support, the same amount of data protection, and the same amount of performance from Dell?"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business101
Midsize Enterprise59
Large Enterprise117
 

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...
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 Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
The prediction of hardware error using some AI tools could still be improved.
 

Also Known As

UCS E-Series Servers
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Navaho,  MiroNet AG, Columbia Sportswear
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge R-Series and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.