Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers comparison

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

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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

7.0

Number of Reviews

307

Ranking in other categories

Converged Infrastructure (1st), Data Center Networking (3rd), Blade Servers (2nd)

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...

Ranking in Rack Servers

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 22.1%, down from 27.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is 8.9%, down from 15.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series	22.1%
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers	8.9%
Other	69.0%

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

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

Mike Bellemans

Project manager at Sopraco NV

One of the products in the market that is the easiest to set up and maintain

Performance and scalability-wise, there are certain areas where the product lacks and needs improvement as it does not provide a lot of fancy features presently. In general, it is a normal product that is good enough for our company. For the time being, my company does not need any extra features.

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

"PowerEdge helped to reduce our customer’s data processing time."

"Using the service has improved our storage capabilities, as storage expansions are easier to implement, making it user-friendly and simpler to onboard new team members."

"The most valuable feature is OpenManage. We get a lot out of OpenManage because we have a sprawling infrastructure with around 100 data centers, and managing all of those separately is challenging."

"The enduring stability and longevity offered by Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers stand out as their most invaluable features."

"It is a pricey server in comparison to its competitors, but it doesn’t lack in any of its capability, is great value for money, and the product has great after sales support."

"The maintenance and remote monitoring are valuable."

"Dell PowerEdge R-Series industry standard servers have robust options and offer intense security and management features including NVMe support, streamlined remote management, RAID support, and flexible customization from processor to network options."

"Dell PowerEdge R-Series improves my organization mainly as a time saver and in terms of reliability, so we know we have equipment that is reliable."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pros

"Technical support was very good. IBM support is very helpful."

"We appreciate the stability and easy mountings of all the machines."

"It's very easy to set up and energy-efficient; it's very compact and has enough connections on the front and back of the rack."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers are scalable."

"It is a stable solution."

"It is a scalable product."

"The most valuable aspect of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is the brand name and the service relationship we have with Lenovo."

"Technical support has been very good and we've been satisfied with the level of service we get."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers pros

Cons

"They can consider making them smaller in physical size but retain the same quality and the same security."

"The solution should give us an option to add on the new hardware features."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers could be improved in areas such as cooling. I've seen some demos of Dell working with Vertiv to manage things such as that, so a combination of air cool and liquid cool."

"I do not have any qualms or problems with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. However, when it comes to the software, some of their competitors are already feeding a lot of performance and availability data to an online platform. We have not seen that with PowerEdge."

"The price could possibly use improvement. Dell servers are not the most affordable, and pricing is always a consideration. Otherwise, I don't see any specific areas for improvement."

"Capacity and performance could always be improved."

"If there is something I would like to see fixed, even if it's small, it seems that the orchestration of many Dell PowerEdge R-Series servers is very complicated; using Dell Server Administration software could be easier for managing many Dell PowerEdge R-Series servers."

"For products that are not part of the premium support package, it is a bit more tedious."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series cons

"The performance of the solution could be better."

"From our side, our budgets are really not there. The availability of cash is a little bit limited. We buy as much as we can, If it was less expensive, we could buy more."

"It should have tools for integration with the cloud. We should be able to transmit data from our on-premises server to the servers in the cloud."

"Upgrading firmware is easier in Dell than in Lenovo."

"Improvements could be made in the network cards, particularly by offering options for higher-speed cards beyond the current 10 GB."

"It is quite an expensive product. Its price can be improved."

"The solution can be a bit expensive in that there are other cheaper options. While I do not know the exact pricing, I can say that the functionality is expensive."

"I definitely suggest potential users skip Lenovo and go for Dell EMC, which has good hardware, and great internal security components."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The more complex the server requirements, the more expensive it gets."

"It's not a very expensive solution."

"The pricing is fair enough."

"The solution’s pricing is competitive with other products."

"The price is reasonable. You have to pay if you want quality. When we purchase something, we have to do some market analysis, and I haven't seen a significant difference compared to other solutions."

"PowerEdge is not a cheap product. It's a quality product, but there is always competition. If you want to buy a server, you need an operating system, and most of it is Microsoft. A bundled solution costs less than a separate operating system and hardware."

"We have not compared them with others. The price is okay, but they can always be a little bit cheaper."

"You can't have computed performance without using more power. That said, when I consider the power consumption and performance of the MX740c, depending on how much memory you install on each blade, you get the best bang for your buck."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pricing and cost advice

"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers can be categorized as a product falling under an affordable price range but more expensive than its competitors."

"It costs around $8,000. There is an additional cost for the support for a year."

"It is too expensive. Because we are a university and we have to look for our money, many times we buy some refurbished machines or equipment at reasonable prices from IBM or Lenovo. We are a little bit limited in terms of money, and we buy as much as we can. If they were cheaper, we would buy more."

"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is highly competitive. Many customers prefer this solution because of the price. However, the price could be reduced."

"In India, the solution is cheap compared to its competitors."

"It is expensive compared to other vendors."

"Other than the standard licensing fees there are no other additional costs. The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers could be better, and the availability of the solution could improve. We have been waiting two months for one server."

"The cost of the solution depends entirely on the client. There are not any additional costs other than the standard licensing fee."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

University

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	110
Midsize Enterprise	66
Large Enterprise	128

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	9

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 needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?

I think Dell PowerEdge R-Series can support more storage capacity, which would be great. Most other OEMs are trying to ensure you have a one-stop shop for just one server where you could get a whol...

What is your primary use case for Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?

My main use case for Dell PowerEdge R-Series is to use it as standalone servers but also as part of some clusters. I have some OpenStack private cloud deployed on them and some Ceph software-define...

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 that Lenovo blends outstanding performance, reliability, and manageability. The bi...

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Comparisons

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

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 4% of the time

Huawei FusionServer RH Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 4% of the time

HPE Apollo Systems vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 3% of the time

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HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 27% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 5% of the time

Hypertec ORION RS vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 4% of the time

Oracle SPARC Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 4% of the time

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers Competitors

Product Reports

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Download Dell PowerEdge R-Series product report

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Download Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers product report

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

SR Series, Lenovo SR Series, ThinkSystem Rack Servers, IBM Rack Servers, ThinkSystem SR Series, Lenovo Rack Servers,

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

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers offer robust performance with efficient management, easy VMware integration, and high stability. Known for powerful hardware and simple maintenance, they ensure effective technical support and space-saving design, meeting high industry standards.

Designed for virtualization, data centers, and storage solutions, Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers are equipped with scalable processors and RAM updates. XClarity tools simplify server management, providing a single dashboard for upgrades and monitoring. Effective technical support and Predictive Failure Analysis further enhance their reliability. Despite some management port and expandability issues, they remain a compelling choice for comprehensive IT infrastructure.

What features define Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers?

Efficient Management: XClarity tools simplify upgrades and monitoring.
Robust Hardware: Offers powerful processors and easy maintenance.
Predictive Failure Analysis: Minimizes downtime with early problem detection.
Space-Saving Design: Optimizes physical server footprint.
VMware Integration: Facilitates seamless virtualization processes.
Network Connectivity: Ensures reliable, high-performance connections.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Performance Stability: Delivers consistent and reliable operations.
Cost Efficiency: Combines good pricing with power efficiency.
Technical Support: Comprehensive assistance enhances user satisfaction.
Scalability: Supports growth with easy upgrades and cloud compatibility.
Energy Efficiency: Reduces operating costs through power-efficient design.

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers play a critical role across industries such as BFSI, media, and education, supporting complex applications like ERP systems and specialized educational software. Their scalable, hybrid deployment options facilitate seamless integration in both on-premise and cloud environments, ensuring high customer satisfaction.

Lenovo

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco

immixGroup, Komsomolskaya Pravda, SRG Global, Seekr, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, jKool, Tennis Australia, VEKA, Netpoints, Gamma Powersports

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers