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Cisco UCS X-Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers comparison

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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 Rack Servers
6th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Blade Servers (13th)
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...
Ranking in Rack Servers
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Tanesh Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at SiliconSt.
Policy-driven infrastructure has simplified management and improved end-to-end troubleshooting
Regarding aspects of Cisco UCS X-Series that I would like to see improved, I was an operator and not in research, but everything seems up to the mark. Whenever I faced any type of issue, solutions were nearby, leaving me with few suggestions for enhancements. In terms of features and functionalities for improvement in Cisco UCS X-Series, I can say that if I compare Cisco UCS with other brands, I can proudly note features that must be included in Cisco UCS X. However, my experience is limited, as I primarily worked with Cisco UCS and sometimes Dell physical PowerEdge servers.
Mike Bellemans - PeerSpot reviewer
Project manager at Sopraco NV
One of the products in the market that is the easiest to set up and maintain
Performance and scalability-wise, there are certain areas where the product lacks and needs improvement as it does not provide a lot of fancy features presently. In general, it is a normal product that is good enough for our company. For the time being, my company does not need any extra features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find that Cisco UCS X-Series is the best option on the market at the moment."
"I find ease of management to be the most valuable feature, and it was easy to deploy, with the operational efficiency of Cisco in my IT environment being fine and very good."
"Since I installed Cisco, I have not faced any hardware issues, so we depend on Cisco for hardware for our servers and for other hardware such as switches."
"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."
"Cisco UCS X-Series is a totally policy-defined structure, so you have to define everything in the policy, and it is easy to use and manage."
"It is a scalable product."
"One of the main advantages of this tool is its ease of use, as it is a GUI-based tool needing a simple and easy configuration...It is a stable solution."
"It is a stable solution."
"Technical support has been very good and we've been satisfied with the level of service we get."
"It's very easy to set up and energy-efficient; it's very compact and has enough connections on the front and back of the rack."
"The installation and configuration are a bit difficult but the product's performance is unbeatable."
"We appreciate the stability and easy mountings of all the machines. We have some direct connections with IBM, Lenovo, and other companies, and we get close support from them."
"The IMM tool is great because we can upgrade different views and device versions very quickly. We can upgrade everything from a single point through a single dashboard, which is great for us because we also have Lenovo storage. Lenovo ThinkSystem also has Xclarity built into the system."
 

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."
"If we talk about the current market scenario regarding Cisco UCS X-Series, the products of various things such as RAM and hard drives have already increased a lot, which makes it quite a competitive market because you cannot control the prices for those things."
"I find their pricing maybe expensive compared to others, but stable, with no issues and so on."
"I have heard that the chassis concept may be discontinued or not reintroduced by Cisco, and I hope that does not happen."
"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."
"On pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Cisco UCS X-Series, I find the pricing to be very high. This is the one painful aspect."
"The power consumption needs to be optimized in Lenovo."
"Its price could be better. Its price is sometimes an issue for our clients. XClarity Controller is a very good feature, and Lenovo should include the XClarity Controller license without any additional cost. It should be integrated within the product."
"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers does a very good job. However, what could be improved can be their Configurator because it's very bulky and it sometimes gives logical errors."
"I would like to see an automatic call home feature for IMM2."
"To be frank, the technical support from Lenovo's team needs improvement. There seems to be a lack of support, and it is important for Lenovo to address this issue."
"The solution is not stable."
"It is quite an expensive product. Its price can be improved."
"From a user's perspective, it not so straightforward if you want to add some features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The licensing cost is the same as HP. It doesn't have any additional cost. However, the price, for example, for the memory option, does not match other vendors such as HP or Dell. They should work on the pricing of Lenovo. It is a great competitor, and it should compete with the price."
"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is highly competitive. Many customers prefer this solution because of the price. However, the price could be reduced."
"I don't know the exact amount of money, but when I compared it to Dell or HPE, Lenovo was the best when it comes to price and equipment."
"In India, the solution is cheap compared to its competitors."
"The cost of the solution depends entirely on the client. There are not any additional costs other than the standard licensing fee."
"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is competitive."
"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers are cheaper than HPE...It is a good product that offers value for money."
"It is the cheapest solution we have seen on the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS X-Series?
I find their pricing maybe expensive compared to others, but stable, with no issues and so on.
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS X-Series?
Cisco UCS X-Series is okay, and I do not see any room for improvement. I do not know what additional features I would like to see in the future to make it better. I expect AI integrations in the fu...
What is your primary use case for Cisco UCS X-Series?
I have been working with Cisco UCS X-Series. I am the end user.
How do Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers compare with HPE ProLiant DL servers?
Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers offer flexibility and efficiency in order to meet mission-critical demands. I like that Lenovo blends outstanding performance, reliability, and manageability. The bi...
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....
 

Also Known As

No data available
SR Series, Lenovo SR Series, ThinkSystem Rack Servers, IBM Rack Servers, ThinkSystem SR Series, Lenovo Rack Servers,
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
immixGroup, Komsomolskaya Pravda, SRG Global, Seekr, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, jKool, Tennis Australia, VEKA, Netpoints, Gamma Powersports
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS X-Series vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.