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Cisco UCS X-Series vs Dell PowerEdge C- Series 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 X-Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
15th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Rack Servers (10th)
Dell PowerEdge C- Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (1st)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2847909 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Systems Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Centralized profiles have simplified host deployments and have reduced configuration errors
I would say a form factor could improve Cisco UCS X-Series. We are in a life cycle replacement phase, and we face a situation where we have to upgrade the hardware, but to get to the next series, you have to upgrade all of it. The chassis, the backbone components, including fabric interconnect components that provide the networking, all have to be replaced at the same time. You cannot mix and match things. So you get to a situation in your life cycle replacement that you need to upgrade, but it does not make sense economically to just buy a newer blade when the whole life cycle replacement is on the horizon, and you are forced to just replace it all top-down. I would say a form factor that is more universal and is not going to require an overall hardware refresh would be beneficial.
Sanjay Singh Bisht - PeerSpot reviewer
Server Administrator at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
High-density servers have maximized compute efficiency and have powered critical workloads reliably
Regarding how Dell PowerEdge C- Series can be improved, I would highlight a couple of areas. While it's excellent for dense and scale-out workloads, it isn't perfect for every scenario, and the complex I/O and component upgrades pose challenges since each server node is compressed into a narrow removable sled, making physical space inside the node tight. Replacing components requires pulling the entire node out and dismantling the protective casing. PCI expansion is also limited compared to standard 2U single-node servers such as the PowerEdge R700 series, which can hold up to eight PCI slots. Dell PowerEdge C- Series typically supports only two to three slots, restricting the addition of multiple specialized network interface cards. Finally, the initial capital expenditure is heavy; acquiring a PowerEdge C chassis and its multiple sleds requires significant upfront commitment, making it less cost-efficient if you need one or two nodes now, as you generally need to commit to the ecosystem upfront.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco UCS X-Series scales with the growing needs of my organization very well, as much as you need it to with no issues whatsoever, and it scales whenever we need it to."
"The features I appreciate most with Cisco UCS X-Series are profile, profile deployment, and the ability to orchestrate configurations across all of the compute."
"The solutions are easy to handle, priced correctly, reliable, and dependable."
"The security of the product is very good."
"PowerEdge C is the best server I have worked with. I like that it's user-friendly. PowerEdge C performs very well."
"The initial setup is not complex. It's a user-friendly tool."
"The scalability of the solution met our needs."
"The product stability has been excellent."
"The best features of this solution are that it's easy to implement and manage, and I assess the balance of performance, flexibility, and scalability provided by this solution as good."
"PowerEdge C is very stable, and we hardly experience any downtime."
 

Cons

"We are in a life cycle replacement phase, and we face a situation where we have to upgrade the hardware, but to get to the next series, you have to upgrade all of it."
"Cisco UCS X-Series can be improved with a longer lifespan. The products go end-of-support and end-of-life quicker than I would prefer."
"It would be better if it worked with SMTP servers on the cloud. Right now, it only allows notifications via the SMTP server. In the next release, I would like to have a better processor."
"Customer service and support have been generally helpful but can be slow due to the need to navigate different specialists."
"Its customer service could be better."
"An area where the product lacks and needs to consider improvement is by allowing it to integrate with some AI tool for monitoring."
"The product’s pricing could be a little cheaper."
"The price must be improved."
"Although Dell PowerEdge C- Series excels at high-density computing, it has major compromises that prevent it from achieving a perfect score."
"Cost is an important factor needing improvement. The pricing of PowerEdge solutions is very high nowadays."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"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."
"The licensing cost of PowerEdge C is very high."
"The price could be reduced."
"Despite the slightly higher price, we prefer Dell due to the high quality of their products."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"We buy licenses for the solution's advanced features."
"The cost depends on the configuration."
"PowerEdge C is very expensive, but personally, I think it's worth the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Outsourcing Company
22%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS X-Series?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing all seems fair. It is handled by a different group in the organization, but when I compare it to other companies, Cisco is always cheaper.
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS X-Series?
Cisco UCS X-Series can be improved with a longer lifespan. The products go end-of-support and end-of-life quicker than I would prefer.
What is your primary use case for Cisco UCS X-Series?
My main use of Cisco UCS X-Series is all for collaboration: setting up CallManager, Unity Connection, CER, Contact Center Express, and all of that.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PowerEdge C?
I purchased from Dell directly. Dell has given a special discount for that purchase and the support is always a positive factor from Dell's side. We got instant support whenever it was required and...
What needs improvement with PowerEdge C?
The main area for improvement in Dell PowerEdge C- Series is the booting time, as when we power on, it takes time.
What is your primary use case for PowerEdge C?
Dell PowerEdge C- Series is a hardware server installed in my organization. I use it as a hardware server installed in our data center, and we are running our Active Directory and file server for o...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS X-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge C- Series and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.