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Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs IBM Power Systems comparison

 

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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Dell PowerEdge R-Series enhances productivity and cost efficiency with reliability, support, and reduced operational burdens, ensuring ROI.
Sentiment score
4.5
HPE ProLiant DL Servers offer swift ROI through reliability and virtualization benefits but face challenges in software cost calculations.
Sentiment score
5.0
IBM Power Systems delivered high ROI through improved performance, cost efficiency, scalability, and enhanced processing capabilities with POWER8 upgrades.
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.
In my immediate case for antenna analysis, Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers offer a reduction from days of computing to half a day or hours.
The value of uptime to us is critical.
In terms of percentage, I am saving from 5 to 10%.
The return on investment is very high.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Dell PowerEdge R-Series receives praise for responsive support and knowledgeable staff, despite occasional part availability and communication issues.
Sentiment score
6.5
HPE ProLiant DL Servers offer reliable support, quick part replacement, and responsive service, though documentation and navigation can be improved.
Sentiment score
1.0
IBM Power Systems support is valued for expertise and efficiency, with preference for higher-level assistance and effective local teams.
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.
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.
When we had a power supply failure out of the box, we called support, and they delivered the replacement within four hours as promised.
I try to get my support calls pre-routed to the US; I'd rather wait a couple of hours for support becoming available there than going to support somewhere in the Philippines or Indonesia.
Technical support from IBM is excellent.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers scalable, adaptable server solutions, supporting business growth and diverse workloads with seamless expansion and performance.
Sentiment score
5.5
HPE ProLiant DL Servers excel in scalability, supporting growth with easy expandability, enhancing computing power and capabilities efficiently.
Sentiment score
6.0
IBM Power Systems offers scalable solutions praised for flexibility, supporting all business sizes with seamless transitions and dynamic resource allocation.
The scalability of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is excellent.
Any outages or blackouts are limited to particular servers, not affecting the whole chassis or enclosures.
We bought our product with scaling involved, and we've been scaling it up anytime we've needed more storage.
IBM Power Systems is a completely scalable solution.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Dell PowerEdge R-Series is praised for stability, reliability, minimal downtime, efficient error handling, and outstanding support, ensuring dependable performance.
Sentiment score
4.9
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are highly reliable, with minimal stability issues, improved performance, and strong user trust and support.
Sentiment score
3.5
IBM Power Systems are highly reliable and stable, with minimal downtime, excellent performance, security, and strong support.
Over four years, we've had less than 1 percent downtime.
There is a feature to update the server while it is running, so there is no need to restart.
We have truly not had any downtime on the infrastructure at all.
IBM just released IBM Power11 last month with significant improvements, eliminating the need for downtime in your environment.
 

Room For Improvement

The Dell PowerEdge R-Series could benefit from enhancements in performance, management, documentation, support, efficiency, pricing, and integration.
HPE ProLiant DL Servers need better integration, faster boot-up, improved management, scalability, remote capabilities, and cost-efficient local support.
Suggestions for IBM Power Systems include clearer licensing, faster processing, better cloud integration, improved interfaces, scalability, and enhanced marketing efforts.
We need to know about any upcoming updates so that we can plan accordingly.
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.
This forces you to go up to a larger server to get the desired processor, which increases the cost.
IBM gives customers peace of mind.
 

Setup Cost

Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers competitive pricing and support, though enterprise licensing can be complex, with potential for discounts.
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are costly yet offer robust value; iLO licensing adds cost but enhances management benefits.
IBM Power Systems are costly but offer high performance and reliability, appealing to larger organizations despite complex configurations.
They have been stable and running for years without performance downtime or significant disc failures.
Some customers find it cheaper due to contractual agreements, while others find it expensive, especially when scaling up.
The software associated with servers, like VMware subscription licenses, drives costs.
Initially when sizing it, people perceive IBM Power Systems as quite expensive.
 

Valuable Features

Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers reliability, scalability, remote management, user-friendly interface, excellent support, durability, security, energy efficiency, and virtualization.
HPE ProLiant DL Servers provide reliable, scalable performance with easy remote management and cost efficiency, favored in global data centers.
IBM Power Systems offer robust performance, scalability, and security, supporting extensive workloads and reducing ownership costs efficiently.
They keep running for at least five to seven years without any issues.
With PowerEdge Servers, I don't need a one-to-one ratio redundancy, which leads to about eighty percent downtime reduction.
One of the valuable features is Active Directory, which helps in managing the network.
For over 13 years, IBM systems have been the most secure in the industry.
 

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 ProLiant DL Servers is 22.0%, up from 20.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 8.7%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series27.4%
HPE ProLiant DL Servers22.0%
IBM Power Systems8.7%
Other41.900000000000006%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Muzamil Yakub - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
SHIVAKUMAR A P - PeerSpot reviewer
Addresses end-to-end customer needs and improves data center efficiency
The AI engines that HPE ProLiant DL Servers suggest for their customers include NVIDIA graphics and EnvyLink graphics for AI customers. The AI engines are more than sufficient for the current situation. HPE ProLiant DL Servers address end-to-end customer needs. It is a perfect combination with the generation 12 now, and there are absolutely no gaps. Customers usually deploy HPE ProLiant DL Servers on-premises, as on cloud, they do not have the option to specify the server model, and the cloud vendors will not specify which server it is. My usual deployment process involves checking the power AC requirements, power and cooling requirements, then the rack requirements, and then I proceed to deploy the servers based on the customer requirement. I rate HPE ProLiant DL Servers 10 out of 10.
Foluso  Jibowo - PeerSpot reviewer
Has empowered enterprises with secure and cost-effective solutions
When discussing disadvantages, I do not see many areas for improvement because we have received good testimonies from every client. IBM gives customers peace of mind. One challenge, which I would not really call a challenge, is that initially people have the notion that IBM Power Systems is quite expensive. However, IBM does not lose deals based on price. This is a message we need to keep communicating to people who feel that IBM is on the high side in terms of cost. We encourage them to have a discussion with us about their total cost of ownership over three or five years. There is a notion in the market that IBM is expensive, which is false. However, once we engage and show them their return on investments and their total cost of ownership savings, they tend to embrace IBM.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
6%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business79
Midsize Enterprise52
Large Enterprise95
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business54
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise98
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise42
 

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 ...
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?
For the most part, there’s no need for improvement in areas like manageability and security; they’ve covered those qu...
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 th...
What do you like most about HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
The most valuable feature of the solution is HPE Integrated Lights-Out (iLO)...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
The pricing of HPE ProLiant DL Servers depends purely on the configuration, and it is not affordable. However, if you...
What do you like most about IBM Power Systems?
IBM Power Systems provides very good performance and stability compared to other brands or processors.
What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
When discussing disadvantages, I do not see many areas for improvement because we have received good testimonies from...
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
IBM Power Systems are used mainly in large organizations, generally in the financial industry, government, telecommun...
 

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL
IBM OpenPOWER LC
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
AmeriPride Services, iSource, Bolagsverket, BlueShore Financial, British Columbia Assessment Authority, National Stock Exchange, Cardlytics
Cipher
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lenovo and others in Rack Servers. Updated: October 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.