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Dell PowerEdge C- Series vs Dell PowerEdge R-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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.2
Dell PowerEdge C-Series offers strong ROI with efficient performance and maintenance, favored over HP and Cisco for time savings.
Sentiment score
6.5
Dell PowerEdge R-Series enhances stability and cost-effectiveness with reliable performance, reduced maintenance, and extended hardware lifespan.
By not having to worry about it, I would estimate we save two to four hours a week, depending on what's happening, such as if we need to spin up a new server, which would contribute to more time if done the old way.
Manager, Systems & Desktop Support at Tilson Home Corporation
In my immediate case for antenna analysis, Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers offer a reduction from days of computing to half a day or hours.
Senior Radio Frequncy Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The value of uptime to us is critical.
VP IT Operations at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Dell PowerEdge C-Series customer service is generally strong, despite occasional delays, with appreciated round-the-clock assistance and prompt issue resolution.
Sentiment score
7.4
Dell PowerEdge R-Series support is effective and responsive, despite occasional delays, offering tailored experiences with high customer satisfaction.
I would give Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a ten because they're always able to answer all the questions we have; they reach a solution no matter how long it takes, and they don't give up.
Manager, Systems Security at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
It has always been scheduled maintenance, which says a lot for a production environment, as we haven't had to call in a trouble ticket for the actual hardware during its entire run.
Manager, Systems & Desktop Support at Tilson Home Corporation
Typically, the contacts we have on-site are very knowledgeable, they come in within a day and usually have it fixed and taken care of if there are issues.
Senior Systems Engineer at Federal Data Systems
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Dell PowerEdge C-Series is scalable and efficient, accommodating diverse needs with professional deployment, despite some storage constraints.
Sentiment score
7.3
The Dell PowerEdge R-Series provides scalable and flexible options, accommodating organizational growth with adaptable hardware despite potential cost hurdles.
The scalability of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is excellent.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Any outages or blackouts are limited to particular servers, not affecting the whole chassis or enclosures.
Senior Systems Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
We bought our product with scaling involved, and we've been scaling it up anytime we've needed more storage.
Director, Information Technology at TEXAS PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Dell PowerEdge C-Series servers are praised for their exceptional stability and reliability, garnering high satisfaction from users.
Sentiment score
7.9
Dell PowerEdge R-Series is highly reliable and durable, offering stable performance with minimal downtime and effective workload handling.
Over four years, we've had less than 1 percent downtime.
It support lead at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
There is a feature to update the server while it is running, so there is no need to restart.
Manager, Regions Information Technology Security at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
We have truly not had any downtime on the infrastructure at all.
Director, Information Technology at TEXAS PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION
 

Room For Improvement

Dell PowerEdge C-Series needs improvements in pricing, virtualization compatibility, AI monitoring, memory options, interfaces, integration, and storage configurations.
Dell PowerEdge R-Series needs performance, documentation, interface improvements, enhanced GPU, faster delivery, energy efficiency, support, compatibility, and cost reduction.
This is one area where they can improve the performance of the server or implement some application improvements in the solution to make it easier for end users to implement properly.
Head IT at TO THE NEW Digital
We need to know about any upcoming updates so that we can plan accordingly.
End User Manager at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The beneficial aspect of that feature was that we could skip the PowerStore and just have the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers alone, as they also served as storage, which helped us save money.
Director of IT at Star Kay White
This forces you to go up to a larger server to get the desired processor, which increases the cost.
Team Lead Infrastructure at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Setup Cost

Dell PowerEdge C-Series offers competitive value, but requires additional licenses for advanced features, impacting overall affordability perceptions.
Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers competitive pricing with reliable performance, justified costs, and robust support ideal for enterprises.
They have been stable and running for years without performance downtime or significant disc failures.
Product manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Some customers find it cheaper due to contractual agreements, while others find it expensive, especially when scaling up.
System Administrator at Tigs
The software associated with servers, like VMware subscription licenses, drives costs.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

Dell PowerEdge C-Series provides streamlined management, cost efficiency, virtualization, scalability, reliable support, and excellent performance with security features.
Dell PowerEdge R-Series delivers scalable, high-performance solutions with reliable management, robust security, and customizable design for demanding applications.
They keep running for at least five to seven years without any issues.
IT Manger at Dubai precast LLc
With PowerEdge Servers, I don't need a one-to-one ratio redundancy, which leads to about eighty percent downtime reduction.
Product manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
One of the valuable features is Active Directory, which helps in managing the network.
IT Manager at Misrconsult
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerEdge C- Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (1st)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
4th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
268
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (2nd), Data Center Networking (4th), Rack Servers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge C- Series is 2.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 3.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series3.6%
Dell PowerEdge C- Series2.8%
Other93.6%
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Naveen Radhwani - PeerSpot reviewer
Head IT at TO THE NEW Digital
Offers great performance and customization for application servers
There are a few bugs in PowerEdge C that require some configurational settings to be done with the help of a support team when we reconfigure the solution. This is one area where they can improve the performance of the server or implement some application improvements in the solution to make it easier for end users to implement properly.
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
13%
Venture Capital & Private Equity Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business95
Midsize Enterprise59
Large Enterprise112
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about PowerEdge C?
The solution provides good support and service.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PowerEdge C?
My experience with the pricing of this tool is that it's in mid-range. They have good competitors in the market who are offering better pricing, so there is scope for improvement in this area.
What needs improvement with PowerEdge C?
There are a few bugs in PowerEdge C that require some configurational settings to be done with the help of a support team when we reconfigure the solution. This is one area where they can improve t...
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?
I do not have anything that I believe could be improved about Dell servers. However, I would like to see a range for AI that is more accessible for companies that do not have significant budgets. T...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge C- Series vs. Dell PowerEdge R-Series and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.