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Cisco UCS X-Series vs HPE BladeSystem 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)
HPE BladeSystem
Ranking in Blade Servers
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
140
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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.
TA
CTO at Miraj
Centralized modular platform has improved data center management and supports mission-critical workloads
The main area for improvement I see is the training process. When you use anything, how easily it is to manage is very important in hyper-converged solutions. If you compare it with VMware, it is very familiar. HPE Converged, however, is very large to understand for a new person. I am talking about training and management perspective, and user management. A system integrator and any system engineer who will operate and manage the system should find it easy to understand any configuration part and understanding part, which is currently a little bit tough. In Virtual Connect, we need some improvement. If we are going to move to hybrid, we need to easily move VM transactions from on-premises to cloud. We require a good, more easy process for day-to-day activities. Performance-wise, HPE BladeSystem is good regarding its ability to support mission-critical applications. However, reliability is all dependent on the core and memories, which will centrally control the entire blade and hyper-converged. We require more reliable things because if something goes down in the controller and center control, it is very tough to manage. We require a centralized image that will be replicated to any other device immediately, and all configurations and everything will come as soon as possible.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"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 tool is pretty good in terms of managing data, compiling the system, and expanding the infrastructure."
"They are very fast and very reliable. They are working under very tough conditions."
"We chose this product because of the stability and their market share is quite large, which means that older products come from the same principles that makes it easier to integrate, and this particular item is good to implement."
"In three years, we have not had any issues with enclosures nor with server instability."
"Remote management features are valuable."
"Currently, we're using HPE BladeSystem BL460, but we're planning to migrate to the Synergy System as part of our strategy since the OEM support for the BL460 will eventually end. The most valuable features are its high computing capability and availability. Additionally, the ability to manage all resources from a single dashboard using the OneView solution that comes with the HP Converge system is incredibly beneficial. The efficientand unique environment makes it an excellent fit for our needs."
"No critical outages have occurred at a blade enclosure level in over nine years of use with c7000 generations, other than a single defective OA module."
"The integration with our existing environment, and its ease of use are valuable."
 

Cons

"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."
"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 management is great but there are other competitors that are implementing a better approach."
"With our initial purchase, we bought three chassis and maybe 15 or 20 blades. Out of that, we had probably a 20% failure rate within the first few weeks."
"We are looking for a new product more inline with our goal."
"Management Monitoring."
"Hardware management could be improved. Cisco UCS has a more universal approach."
"I'd like to see HP move more towards software-defined solutions because we're looking towards software-defined networks."
"Really look at it closely, but really look at the Synergy product as well. That seems to me like that's the next evolution of the BladeSystem."
"It needs to have backward compatibile firmware. Also, the enclosure for Generation 9 canot be paired with Generation 1 or 6 so it takes more effort to perform the migration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"​The price could be cheaper."
"I don't have access to your financial information or the specific details of this solution's pricing. There are no additional fees. It is the hardware and the support."
"The prices for the HPE Virtual Connect Modules are expensive compared to other I/O Modules available."
"The price for HPE BladeSystem can vary between $100,000 to $1 million or above. The price can be high."
"Regarding the cost, HPE BladeSystem is not cheap. The solution and its support are costly, and there are challenges with renewal and pricing, especially in Nigeria, due to the dollar rate and FX issues. However, it is reliable. I don't have specific figures for licensing costs, as the procurement and finance departments handle them."
"it would make everyone happy if the solution were less expensive."
"I need to pay for the license, and it is expensive. We make yearly payments."
"The licensing is on an annual basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
15%
Construction Company
14%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise40
Large Enterprise104
 

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.
How would you choose between HPE's Bladesystem and Synergy?
For me, choosing between HPE’s Bladesystem and Synergy came down to which solution was more powerful, reliable, and stable. It turns out Bladesystem was the winner. Bladesystem is excellent because...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE BladeSystem?
With around 19 years of exposure in working with various servers, including HPE, I encounter challenges in identifying reasonable prices during the setup cost and licensing process, especially for ...
What needs improvement with HPE BladeSystem?
The main area for improvement I see is the training process. When you use anything, how easily it is to manage is very important in hyper-converged solutions. If you compare it with VMware, it is v...
 

Also Known As

No data available
HP ProLiant BL Series Servers, HP ProLiant BladeSystem
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
EMIS Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS X-Series vs. HPE BladeSystem and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.