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Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems comparison

Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Rack Servers category. Dell Technologies is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.1, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.5. Dell Technologies holds a 22.9% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 5.2% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.
Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Read 279 Dell PowerEdge R-Series reviews
  • 20,909 Views
  • 18,400 Comparison Views
98% willing to recommend
HPE Apollo Systems
Read 25 HPE Apollo Systems reviews
  • 2,643 Views
  • 2,273 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

Dell PowerEdge R-Series and HPE Apollo Systems compete in the enterprise server category. Dell seems to have an edge in pricing and ROI due to its competitive and transparent pricing structure.

Features: Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers scalability, reliability, and intuitive management through iDRAC, with lifecycle management via OpenManage and robust security. HPE Apollo Systems excel in high-density storage and compute capacity for data-heavy applications and AI workloads, providing an adaptable environment with enhanced support for parallel processing.

Room for Improvement: Dell PowerEdge R-Series could benefit from better pricing strategies, cleaner interfaces, and improved compatibility with external products. HPE Apollo Systems encounter high pricing challenges and limited scalability, which could improve with more flexible infrastructure integration and enhanced performance analytics.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell PowerEdge R-Series is versatile in deployment options, spanning private and hybrid clouds, with consistently high-rated technical support. HPE Apollo Systems benefit from strong on-premises deployments but have slightly lower customer support ratings and sometimes require improved communication in technical setups.

Pricing and ROI: Dell PowerEdge R-Series is recognized for its competitive pricing structure and clear licensing, resulting in cost savings and extended ROI. In contrast, HPE Apollo Systems are perceived as more expensive while still delivering solid investment returns in specific configurations like high-density storage.

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To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems Report (Updated: April 2026).
Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems
April 2026
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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

Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
279
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (1st), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (3rd)
HPE Apollo Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 22.9%, down from 27.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 5.2%, up from 4.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series22.9%
HPE Apollo Systems5.2%
Other71.9%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Tom van Mil - PeerSpot reviewer
Tom van Mil
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.
Read full review
Gökhan DURMAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Gökhan DURMAZ
Account Manager at TD SYNNEX
High-quality integration and strong support have optimized our rack server operations
HPE Apollo Systems is a good product because it has better support and best quality with integrity. When I speak about integrity, I speak about GPU integration or other integrations such as GPU integration, backup software integration, and hypervisor integration. Regarding the integration of high-speed interconnectors in HPE Apollo Systems, they impact computational tasks because the high-speed interconnect affects performance. I don't remember the specifics. Regarding the cooling technologies, they help to reduce operational costs. The positive impact I see from HPE Apollo Systems is that support is good and quality is good. In general, HPE Apollo Systems appears to be for rack servers with some optimization capabilities.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"They are incredibly valuable because they are both user-friendly and powerful for managing hardware."
"The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are their worldwide support, which is very accessible along with receiving assistance from professionals and specialists, and the continuous innovations that make it an amazing product in this era."
"It helps in growing our needs in the organization by doing what it is supposed to be doing."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series has improved our company overall by providing the ability to maintain uptime, and we store data for decades because of the industry we're in, so being able to expand and know that the product will last and retrieve things that we need from 25 to 30 years ago is still available."
"Their support is very good and very effective."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series usually does not have much downtime."
"The Xeon CPU makes the system work very well and fast. I like this type of CPU. It has helped to improve the performance of targeted workloads by 70%."
"The product is well-rounded and has been effective in meeting our needs."
More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pros
"we can use the same platform for several use cases: Hadoop, Ceph, and we are considering the server for another use case right now. It's a single solution, we only have to integrate it once and we can use it for several technologies."
"We had a PoC, as I said, and we were happy with it and decided to implement it, as it satisfies all our needs and is the perfect solution."
"I find HPE Apollo Systems to be scalable and efficient for AI initiatives, and the environmental efficiency has a significant impact on operational costs."
"It's pretty flexible. You can choose how much storage you put on the server. You can have one to three nodes, depending on whether you want more CPU or storage."
"HPE Apollo Systems is a good product because it has better support and best quality with integrity."
"We previously used the DL380s; compared to those, Apollo has roughly four times the amount of space per server, which means we can really do a lot."
"It's allowed us to compete with cloud storage providers like AWS to put together a scalable on-premises solution of more than 20PB at a similar pricepoint."
"HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products."
More HPE Apollo Systems pros
 

Cons

"If there are areas where Dell PowerEdge R-Series could still be improved, I find it a bit cumbersome because we have a contact in sales through whom we can order Dell PowerEdge R-Series servers, but storage is only available via certain partners."
"The choice of CPUs, RAM configuration, and modifications is very large, partly even a bit too large, because I sometimes get lost in the configuration options, but nothing negative really stands out to me at this point."
"The price could be cheaper. Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers are very expensive."
"We do encounter power supply failures from time to time."
"I would improve the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers by enhancing the GUI and providing a better hands-on experience for quick fixes on the servers, as most of the work is done by a vendor coming in to fix the systems."
"The easiest thing to improve the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is to have a better road map for us."
"The only aspect that might raise it to a ten is the response time for quote turnaround; it used to be one day, however, it now seems to take longer since the merger of Dell and EMC."
"Currently, we are facing issues with updates, particularly on the driver side. We did not receive proper communication about upcoming driver upgrades and other aspects. We are lagging in that area. We need to know about any upcoming updates so that we can plan accordingly. It could be that our emails are not registered properly."
More Dell PowerEdge R-Series cons
"Our first batch of Apollo servers that we got were so new that it was just hard to know kind of what to expect from HPE and what they wanted to deliver to us."
"The support from HPE Apollo could be better, they are making knowledgeable."
"Big stability issues with the CPU on the first generation which made them virtually unusable."
"We have tried to used standardization using Ubuntu Linux and it's been hard. They had some difficulties getting the RAID configuration up and running because there are no drivers for it."
"What's coming out in Gen 10 is very strong in terms of additional security."
"HPE Apollo Systems is a bit expensive, and there are some issues with scalability."
"The solution could improve the hardware, such as the motherboard or servers. We have had hardware faults in the past."
"We are quite happy with it, but its price and storage density can be better."
More HPE Apollo Systems cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution is reasonable. It's very comparable to similar solutions."
"It has generally been very competitive. It is not the best, but it is very competitive."
"The high cost of Dell PowerEdge Rack Server licenses is attributed to the pre-installed Windows Server operating system from Microsoft."
"PowerEdge pricing is equivalent to that of all the others in the market."
"When you compare public cloud solutions to PowerEdge in terms of cost, initially the cost of Dell servers or Dell technology was really high. However, right now it's on par or, maybe, even cheaper when we use Dell hardware. If we don't swap it out in three years and if we stretch it to four or five years, then we can get even more of an ROI versus cloud cost."
"We have not compared them with others. The price is okay, but they can always be a little bit cheaper."
"The product's pricing is not good."
"The product is cheaper than HP servers, but the price could always be better."
More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pricing and cost advice
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
"It is an expensive solution but it is worth the money. The standard licensing cost is for the GPU and the features that someone is using. There are additional charges but they depend on the solution."
"The price of the solution is more expensive than Dell which is their main competitor. However, there are times we have managed to receive a comparable price."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business101
Midsize Enterprise59
Large Enterprise117
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

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....
See all answers
What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
The prediction of hardware error using some AI tools could still be improved.
See all answers
What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
It is too early to say what improvements HPE Apollo Systems could implement because the report still needs to come out and the customer needs to properly evaluate the solution.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
My main use case for HPE Apollo Systems is replacing many of the servers and storage boxes at one of the customer's sites to achieve workload optimization and optimized solutions. Additionally, whe...
See all answers
What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?
My advice for someone considering HPE Apollo Systems is that if they are looking for consolidation and their workload involves high availability requirements, or if they want to utilize GPUs, then ...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series Logo
HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Compared 33% of the time
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series Logo
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Compared 12% of the time
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series Logo
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Compared 8% of the time
IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series Logo
IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Compared 5% of the time
Lenovo Edge Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series Logo
Lenovo Edge Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Compared 2% of the time
More Dell PowerEdge R-Series Competitors
HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 15% of the time
HPE Moonshot vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
HPE Moonshot vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 7% of the time
Dell PowerEdge XE-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
Dell PowerEdge XE-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 7% of the time
IBM Power Systems vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
IBM Power Systems vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 6% of the time
Lenovo High-Density Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
Lenovo High-Density Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 6% of the time
More HPE Apollo Systems Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerEdge R-Series
May 2026
Dell PowerEdge R-Series reportDownload Dell PowerEdge R-Series product report
Buyer's Guide
HPE Apollo Systems
May 2026
HPE Apollo Systems reportDownload HPE Apollo Systems product report
 

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
 

Overview

PowerEdge R-Series delivers high performance, flexibility, and scalability for data centers. It supports demanding tasks with robust management tools and advanced cooling, providing reliability and efficiency across various workloads.

Engineered for large deployments, PowerEdge R-Series supports extensive configurations optimizing performance in data centers. With features like advanced cooling and energy-efficient architecture, it empowers organizations to manage heavy workloads while facilitating seamless scalability. It offers remote management, robust security, and integration with VMware ensuring operational excellence and high availability for business-critical applications.

What are the key features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series?
  • Scalability: Supports flexible configurations for diverse workloads.
  • Remote Management: iDRAC and OpenManage facilitate easy oversight.
  • Energy Efficiency: Architecture helps reduce energy consumption.
  • Security: Robust features ensure protected performance.
  • VMware Integration: Enhances manageability and productivity.
What benefits and ROI should you look for?
  • Performance: Handles high-performance and demanding tasks.
  • Flexibility: Offers easily upgradable configurations.
  • Reliability: Provides consistent performance with long-term support.
  • Efficiency: Reduces energy use and operational costs.
  • Ease of Use: Simplifies management and maintenance.

PowerEdge R-Series is deployed across industries for virtualization, database hosting, and application servers. It supports environments like VMware and Hyper-V for AI, cloud infrastructure, and computing tasks. Widely used by finance, healthcare, and academia, it enhances reliability and efficiency of IT infrastructure.

Dell Technologies

HPE Apollo Systems deliver high compute and storage density, scalability, and environmental efficiency with exceptional performance for AI initiatives and data capturing across diverse applications.

HPE Apollo Systems are characterized by their dense compute and storage capabilities, offering flexibility in configurations to meet the demands of AI, deep learning, and high-performance computing. Their management software simplifies deployment, ensuring effective performance across tasks that require significant storage. While Apollo Systems are designed for efficiency and scalability, improvements can be made in security, tech support, and integration with hypervisors and backup solutions. Enhancing cooling and licensing processes, connectivity, and faster drive writing capabilities are also areas for growth.

What are the key features of HPE Apollo Systems?
  • High Compute Density: Supports intense processing needs efficiently.
  • Scalability: Easily adaptable to growing data demands.
  • Environmental Efficiency: Minimizes energy consumption, enhancing sustainability.
  • Flexible Configurations: Caters to a range of applications from AI to data storage.
  • Reliable Performance: Consistently delivers under various workloads.
What benefits or ROI should users look for?
  • Cost Effectiveness: Reduces expenditure with its efficient design.
  • Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly fits into diverse IT environments.
  • Performance Enhancement: Boosts operational efficiency and output.
  • Easy Deployment: Streamlines the setup process for quick operation.

HPE Apollo Systems find extensive use in sectors such as telecom, supporting high-performance computing and AI workloads. They optimize Linux servers, replace legacy systems, and serve as storage solutions across industries. Their applications span from big data management in Splunk clusters to backup solutions in medical faculties, enhancing compute power and storage within compact racks.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise
 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Weta Digital
Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems
April 2026
Free Report: Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
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