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Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs HPE BladeSystem comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 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
6.5
Dell PowerEdge R-Series enhances stability and cost-effectiveness with reliable performance, reduced maintenance, and extended hardware lifespan.
Sentiment score
7.2
HPE BladeSystem offers up to 30% ROI through enhanced efficiency, reduced downtime, and substantial electricity and operational savings.
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
7.4
Dell PowerEdge R-Series support is effective and responsive, despite occasional delays, offering tailored experiences with high customer satisfaction.
Sentiment score
6.7
HPE BladeSystem's support is praised for effectiveness and satisfaction, though experiences vary with delays and first-level support issues.
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
I would rate technical support from HPE as an eight on a scale from one to ten.
Technology Management Consultant at National Institute for Smart Government - NISG
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
The Dell PowerEdge R-Series provides scalable and flexible options, accommodating organizational growth with adaptable hardware despite potential cost hurdles.
Sentiment score
7.7
HPE BladeSystem is scalable, flexible, and reliable for businesses, despite needing manual configuration and having limitations with older models.
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
I encounter challenges in identifying reasonable prices during the setup cost and licensing process, especially for scalability when we need to contact different vendors for quotes to find competitive offers.
Technology Management Consultant at National Institute for Smart Government - NISG
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Dell PowerEdge R-Series is highly reliable and durable, offering stable performance with minimal downtime and effective workload handling.
Sentiment score
7.9
HPE BladeSystem is praised for its stability and reliability, with quick support addressing rare issues effectively over time.
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
I do not have to call HP support frequently, which indicates its reliability.
Asst. Manager at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Dell PowerEdge R-Series needs performance, documentation, interface improvements, enhanced GPU, faster delivery, energy efficiency, support, compatibility, and cost reduction.
HPE BladeSystem users want enhancements in management, integration, security, connectivity, usability, training, support, and centralized management.
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
To do any customization, we need to contact HP technical support, and the process is not user-friendly.
Technology Management Consultant at National Institute for Smart Government - NISG
When you use anything, how easily it is to manage is very important in hyper-converged solutions.
CTO at Miraj
In general, there is a 10% to 15% price gap compared to competitors.
Asst. Manager at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers competitive pricing with reliable performance, justified costs, and robust support ideal for enterprises.
HPE BladeSystem's high initial costs and complex licensing require careful negotiation to remain competitive against Dell and similar products.
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
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 scalability when we need to contact different vendors for quotes to find competitive offers.
Technology Management Consultant at National Institute for Smart Government - NISG
In general, there is a 10% to 15% price gap compared to competitors.
Asst. Manager at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

Dell PowerEdge R-Series delivers scalable, high-performance solutions with reliable management, robust security, and customizable design for demanding applications.
HPE BladeSystem is valued for reliability, efficiency, scalability, space-saving design, and seamless integration with excellent support.
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
The integration of storage and networking components within the HPE BladeSystem is quite beneficial as it is easily interoperable if we are using the same system for monitoring with the same software, which eliminates interoperability issues.
Technology Management Consultant at National Institute for Smart Government - NISG
The feature I find most valuable is the ease of use.
Asst. Manager at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The scalability product is also good for efficiently scaling my organization's computing resources.
CTO at Miraj
 

Categories and Ranking

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)
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
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 3.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE BladeSystem is 10.5%, down from 13.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
HPE BladeSystem10.5%
Dell PowerEdge R-Series3.6%
Other85.9%
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Kapil Pandey - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology Management Consultant at National Institute for Smart Government - NISG
Reliability and reasonable pricing enhance data center management
I researched on peerspot.com about IT solutions, specifically about HPE BladeSystem and HPE Synergy, because we are already using HP servers in our state data center. In HP Cloud System, we are using a converged infrastructure to connect LAN and SAN connectivity across the network. Regarding Virtual Connect technology, there is a noticeable impact on network management. For day-to-day operations, we use various applications such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to connect virtually. Using HPE BladeSystem Virtual Connect technology in HP Cloud System, we achieve efficient network management with well-defined LAN and SAN connectivity. We already have a defined modular architecture in place designed by the HP team for our data center. My company name is National Institute for Smart Government, also called NISG, under the National e-Governance Division. My title is Technology Management Consultant. I would rate HPE BladeSystem as an eight out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business95
Midsize Enterprise59
Large Enterprise112
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise40
Large Enterprise104
 

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....
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...
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 do you like most about HPE BladeSystem?
The solution is scalable, offering flexibility and expansion options to meet changing business needs.
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 ...
 

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
HP ProLiant BL Series Servers, HP ProLiant BladeSystem
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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