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 9.0, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.0. Dell Technologies holds a 27.4% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 3.8% 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 228 Dell PowerEdge R-Series reviews

13,105 Views
12,843 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

HPE Apollo Systems

Read 23 HPE Apollo Systems reviews

1,950 Views
1,716 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

HPE Apollo Systems

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 26, 2025

Dell PowerEdge R-Series and HPE Apollo Systems compete in the server market, offering solutions for high-performance and storage-intensive workloads. Based on the comparison, Dell PowerEdge R-Series appears to have the upper hand with its competitive pricing and strong customer support, although HPE Apollo excels in storage capabilities.

Features: Dell PowerEdge R-Series provides comprehensive scalability, robust remote management with iDRAC, and excellent reliability and manageability. HPE Apollo Systems offer high-density storage, flexible configurations, and support for compute-heavy environments.

Room for Improvement: Dell PowerEdge R-Series could improve firmware management, user-guided support, and thermal management. HPE Apollo Systems could enhance compatibility with network protocols, increase GPU capacity, and improve setup ease for faster deployment.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell PowerEdge R-Series is praised for on-premise and cloud deployment options and strong customer responsiveness, although technical support experiences vary. HPE Apollo Systems are known for good technical support but face criticism regarding pricing and customer service compared to Dell.

Pricing and ROI: Dell PowerEdge R-Series is considered competitively priced with good ROI and flexible licensing but can be expensive for specific features. HPE Apollo Systems have higher initial costs due to specialized configurations but offer strong performance for data-intensive environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems

September 2025

Download the complete report

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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

7.3

Number of Reviews

228

Ranking in other categories

Converged Infrastructure (4th), Data Center Networking (2nd), Blade Servers (5th)

HPE Apollo Systems

Ranking in Rack Servers

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

4.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Density Optimized Servers (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 27.4%, down from 28.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 3.8%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series	27.4%
HPE Apollo Systems	3.8%
Other	68.8%

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

Muzamil Yakub

Chief Executive Officer at Infoview Limited

Offers robust security and management features while supporting diverse workloads

For the most part, there’s no need for improvement in areas like manageability and security; they’ve covered those quite well. The storage controllers are also very well designed, and the support for NVMe is excellent. Regarding customization, the chassis can be tailored to meet specific user needs. They have addressed many aspects thoroughly. For instance, remote management is well taken care of; I even have an app on my phone that allows me to check the health status of the hardware. Overall, we can monitor and manage servers remotely without any issues. I would say that while Dell keeps up with industry innovations, they’ve addressed nearly all areas effectively. Dell could improve its coverage a bit. Sometimes, there are firmware updates that need to be addressed. When we log into the iDRAC interface on the server for management, we currently have to manually upload the images for the new firmware upgrade. While the upgrade process itself is straightforward, many customers are often unaware that a firmware upgrade is even necessary. If this process could be automated so that the server can check for available firmware updates on its own, it would be really helpful. The server could send out an alert email indicating that a new firmware upgrade is available, allowing the administrator to decide when to perform the upgrade.

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Aruna Udawatte

Director -Digital Transformation at Convergence

An affordable and easy-to-implement solution, but its after-sales support and technical support should be improved

We use HPE Apollo for specific requirements of Linux servers HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products. HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved. The solution should provide fast delivery when it comes to replacing a…

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

"I find Dell PowerEdge Servers to handle diverse applications and evolving needs effectively, but we have to upgrade the hardware periodically."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers scale with customer needs effectively."

"The real advantage to Dell when I look at some of the other competitors is the support."

"The monitoring system is really helpful. I'm a one-man team, and I run systems and IT for a pretty big company. The ease of use of being able to flip through a browser tab was the most valuable feature for me."

"We are satisfied with what we got from Dell PowerEdge R-Series; there was no need to add it for more functions."

"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%."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are pretty good at handling diverse applications."

"The pricing and licensing of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are very competitive."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pros

"It enables us to implement software defined solutions very easily, because Apollo servers are certified for use with Linux systems"

"The solution is well documented in a data sheet."

"We're going to buy another Apollo 6500. We may configure it with half the number of GPUs because that may be all we need. In a sense, we can see the Apollo 6500 being so powerful that we only need half the GPU capability that we have now."

"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."

"HPE Apollo's most valuable feature is the ability to expand our storage capacity."

"It's going to meet our needs moving forward, it is scalable."

"Absolutely being able to mount into Omni-Path architecture, HFIs on those nodes, because we were the very first site in the world"

"Apollo Systems provide stuff that standard services do not. More HTDs, more compute power, at very reasonable pricing."

More HPE Apollo Systems pros

Cons

"The limited connectivity of the Rack Servers, due to having only three USB ports, is an area of improvement for Dell."

"There are a lot of data platforms around, but it would be helpful if we could perform some basic data operations on the server so we don't need an extra vendor. Azure is their Microsoft Cloud solution, and they collaborate with data companies like Databricks. We are also on the cloud and work with Databricks, but they could add some basic features so an enterprise doesn't need to go for extra Databricks to do their data things."

"The solution can be improved in terms of firmware backward supportability. With the sixteenth generation servers I am using, slightly older kernels and drivers are not supported."

"While I wouldn't call it a problem, physically mounting the servers into the rails that come with the servers can be a challenge. They could be engineered to be a little bit easier to use. It's not that significant, we can manage it, but you need at least two people to do it together because they're a bit heavy."

"The product must improve its integration with VMware."

"The specs for the benchmarks are very good, but the firmware and software are lacking. There are some issues with the Linux kernel and the long-term support (LTS) for some of the firmware's dependencies. It is causing the kernel to dump. The support for the Linux brands isn't optimal. We would like them to optimize the kernel drivers for benchmarks."

"Its pricing could be better."

"Enriching the operational efficiency of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers could be achieved through the strategic implementation of a central management console hosted in the cloud."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series cons

"One drawback which I had: When I needed to expand storage on the Apollo, I had significant problems getting disks for it. It was a very long wait-time. So, if I were to give any advice in regards to improving this product, I would say make more of the 8TB disks available quicker."

"I would want to see the flexibility of being able to run various network protocols including InfiniBand, Fibre Channel, as well as iSCSI, with iSCSI going up to 100 gigabytes per second -that would be outstanding."

"Lustre seems to be just a little bit unstable overall."

"We are quite happy with it, but its price and storage density can be better."

"The solution's deployment, security, and scalability need improvement."

"What's coming out in Gen 10 is very strong in terms of additional security."

"There is a shared battery for all cache controllers in the node. When you have to replace that element, you have to take down all three nodes and not just one."

"The support from HPE Apollo could be better, they are making knowledgeable."

More HPE Apollo Systems cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The main reason I choose Dell there is cost. Dell is cheaper than HPE. Why would I want to pay a premium for an HPE product when I'm getting the same amount of support, the same amount of data protection, and the same amount of performance from Dell?"

"It's not a very expensive solution."

"I'd like them to be cheaper, but that's not the world we live in and that's not where the pound is at."

"The price of this solution is reasonable. It's very comparable to similar solutions."

"This is an expensive solution."

"The solution's prices are good, especially considering what you get to use...The licensing aspect of the solution is also fine."

"We have a strong agreement in place with our parent company, that typically ensures favorable pricing terms for us, although occasionally we may need to negotiate with Dell representatives for further discounts to provide competitive pricing to our customers."

"If price isn't a concern, I would recommend it."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pricing and cost advice

"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."

"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."

"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive 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."

"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

University

Manufacturing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	79
Midsize Enterprise	52
Large Enterprise	95

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	12

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?

See all answers

What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?

Additional features would be beneficial in the next release of HPE Apollo Systems.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?

We were working with HPE Apollo Systems for one of our projects for the company named VVDN. We were using HPE Apollo Systems, GPU systems and CPU systems. For GPU systems, the model was 6500, in wh...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?

Our company is a platinum partner with HPE, and we continue to deal with HPE. We sell many of their hardware products. Depending on the requirement or deal, we may sell HPE Converged System, hardwa...

See all answers

Comparisons

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 40% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 28% of the time

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 10% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 6% of the time

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

Compared 39% of the time

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Synergy vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 4% of the time

More HPE Apollo Systems Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

October 2025

Download Dell PowerEdge R-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE Apollo Systems

September 2025

Download 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

The HPE Apollo high-density server family is built for the highest levels of performance and efficiency. They are rack-scale compute, storage, networking, power and cooling – massively scale-up and scale-out – solutions for your big data analytics, object storage and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. From water-cooling that’s 1,000X more efficient than air, to “right-sized scaling” with 2X the compute density for workgroup and private cloud workloads, the HPE Apollo line is a dense, high-performance, tiered approach for organisations of all sizes.

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

September 2025

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: September 2025.

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