Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series comparison

Dell PowerEdge R-Series and Dell PowerEdge XE-Series are both solutions in the Rack Servers category. Dell PowerEdge R-Series is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.0, while Dell PowerEdge XE-Series is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.7. Dell PowerEdge R-Series holds a 27.4% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to Dell PowerEdge XE-Series’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Dell PowerEdge R-Series users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Dell PowerEdge XE-Series users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Read 230 Dell PowerEdge R-Series reviews

13,105 Views
12,843 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Read 11 Dell PowerEdge XE-Series reviews

658 Views
658 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 26, 2025

Dell PowerEdge R-Series and XE-Series compete in the server market, with the R-Series having an edge in flexibility and remote management capabilities, while the XE-Series excels in big data and analytics applications.

Features: The Dell PowerEdge R-Series is notable for its scalability, ease of upgrades, and robust remote management tools like iDRAC and DRAC Enterprise. It performs exceptionally well in decentralized environments. In contrast, the Dell PowerEdge XE-Series is recognized for its compatibility with data center ecosystems and big data analytics, making it ideal for high-demand, data-centric tasks.

Room for Improvement: Dell PowerEdge R-Series could improve on memory speed, IOPS, and streamlined management interfaces. Parts availability and technical documentation also need enhancement. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series would benefit from better extensibility, improved stability, and enhanced market presence. Improved API support and additional scalability features are also noted as potential improvements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Dell PowerEdge R-Series and XE-Series are praised for dependable on-premises deployment capabilities. The R-Series supports hybrid and private cloud environments with comprehensive support. Both series are commended for excellent customer service, with the R-Series having quick issue resolution, despite some delays post-COVID, and the XE-Series noted for its prompt technical support and responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: The Dell PowerEdge R-Series, though seen as more expensive than some competitors, provides strong value with transparent and reasonable licensing. It's cost-effective due to varied pricing strategies catering to different organizational needs. Conversely, the XE-Series is seen as competitively priced with a low cost of implementation. Users appreciate its ROI through operational efficiencies and reliability, but R-Series stands out for abundant pricing options catering to diverse requirements.

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

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 871,688 peers since 2012

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

230

Ranking in other categories

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

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Ranking in Rack Servers

9th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

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 Dell PowerEdge XE-Series is 1.3%, up from 1.1% 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%
Dell PowerEdge XE-Series	1.3%
Other	71.3%

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

Ravi Ramananda

Assistant VP, Information Technology at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Offers unmatched security, stability, and uptime

Based on my experience, one area where Dell could improve the PowerEdge R-Series servers is in the disk bus controllers. There is a need for advancements in this area from a hardware perspective. While PowerEdge has several AI-enabled models and is making strides in technology, I believe that the hard disk controllers need to be more effective compared to competitors like Lenovo and HPE. Currently, even when using SSDs or SaaS disk models in my Dell PowerEdge R-Series servers, the throughput is roughly 10%-15% lower compared to similar offerings from HPE and Lenovo. While this doesn't have a major impact on my business, it is worth noting since Dell has a strong position in Gartner ratings. Overall, the hardware quality is good, but I frequently encounter errors that are not hardware-related; they're mainly cyclic errors where the server struggles to process data as quickly as other manufacturers' controllers. Despite this, I am completely satisfied with the functionality of the Dell PowerEdge R-Series. Flexibility is a debatable topic, and I would rate it about a six out of ten. When it comes to flexibility, we do need to account for downtime if we want to extend or make changes. There are very few hot-pluggable devices in Dell servers compared to others, making online plug-and-play opportunities limited. So, I would rate flexibility as a six rather than a five.

Read full review

Muzammil Nasim

Software Architect at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees

We're hardly using 15 percent of their computing power, so there's a lot left over that we could utilize

It should be easier to extend PowerEdge XE servers. We haven't architected them with an eye toward scalability. They have a fixed number of slots for hard drives, which is enough for our present use case, However, we would have more options if we could extend that. We could deploy the servers in a broader range of use cases with different requirements. It's fine for our current deployment with only a few thousand users. We're exploring other solutions like such as VxRail or PowerFlex for larger public-facing use cases.

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 have never faced any failure with these servers."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are 100% stable and reliable."

"Dell PowerEdge servers are powerful. They don't break, and I love that. In my career of over 30 years now, all the Dell servers we've ever used out of the box have never broken."

"Overall, I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers ten out of ten."

"The most valuable feature is the storage, which is offered in different varieties with many options depending on the use cases, including unstructured data."

"It is quite stable. We didn't have a single downtime of failure. Nor have we ever experienced any downtime in electrical components or the hardware. In this way, the server is reliable."

"Customer support is usually really good for Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers."

"We receive Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vSAN-ready, making it quite easy to install the ESXi software and get a VMware cluster up and running."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pros

"PowerEdge XE servers are high-performing. We're hardly using 15 percent of their computing power, so there's a lot left over that we could utilize."

"The most valuable feature of these servers is the ability to store a lot—the capacity and the number of hard disk drives."

"One of the most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge XE Servers is the ease of fixing issues if there are any."

"The most valuable feature is that it can support up to 32 drives of internal storage."

"The strong point of this solution is its compatibility with VMware and its resilience."

"In general, it works well. We haven't had issues."

"The resource management features are valuable."

"The solution is flexible in my experience."

More Dell PowerEdge XE-Series pros

Cons

"Power consumption is probably on everyone's top of mind regarding Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers; they use a lot of power and create a lot of heat."

"This solution helped us reduce our rack footprint. It reduced our power consumption including size and weight."

"The shipment times could be improved. Sometimes we have to wait four or five days before we get the actual servers. It could even be longer. Sometimes it is many days."

"The terabytes are never enough."

"In terms of energy use, it takes up a lot."

"I would like them to add more NVMe slots. That would be good. That way, it would have better performance, e.g., enough storage for better performance than a spinning disk."

"The pricing of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers has been a little problematic. It was sticker shock with our most recent purchase compared to the previous one, and there's a gap in pricing at our current level because what we do isn't very compute-intensive, resulting in a mismatch where we fit into an in-between category without an exact solution available."

"After the expiration of support, it is sometimes challenging to find parts like hard drives, especially for obsolete models."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series cons

"I would like to have support for performing a detailed analysis of the server from a mobile device."

"Upgrading can be a bit difficult."

"In future releases, there should be more support options for the latest processor."

"We use OpenManager a lot, and that can be a bit clunky at times. They can make that better."

"Dell PowerEdge XE Servers can improve by adapting HCI technology."

"The quality and reliability could be improved."

"The support team must improve the speed of response."

"It should be easier to extend PowerEdge XE servers. We haven't architected them with an eye toward scalability. They have a fixed number of slots for hard drives, which is enough for our present use case, However, we would have more options if we could extend that. We could deploy the servers in a broader range of use cases with different requirements. It's fine for our current deployment with only a few thousand users. We're exploring other solutions like such as VxRail or PowerFlex for larger public-facing use cases."

More Dell PowerEdge XE-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I personally think the pricing and licensing of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is actually fairly decent, though the way the business runs leads to sticker shock anytime we give them a quote."

"The tool's pricing is very good."

"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."

"It's not a very expensive solution."

"It's a one-time licensing fee for the device and we pay a quota per year for the support."

"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."

"Dell is somewhat more expensive than HPE."

"It's pretty much on par."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pricing and cost advice

"There are different types of licensing available, that works well for customers. The product is not very much to purchase."

"This solution is priced very reasonably."

"The pricing model is quite competitive."

"Dell has competitive pricing."

"If you want an SLA for parts and equipment then you need to purchase a support agreement."

"You always want slightly cheaper, but overall, they are quite comparable and quite neutral."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rack Servers solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

871,688 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

University

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

Retailer

University

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	4
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	3

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?

Dell PowerEdge R-Series can improve on its flexibility; having more flexible options would be beneficial. Their strength and weakness simultaneously is having built solutions, and the lack of custo...

See all answers

What do you like most about Dell PowerEdge XE Servers?

The resource management features are valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerEdge XE Servers?

Dell has competitive pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge XE Servers?

For Dell PowerEdge XE Servers, particularly for standalone servers, extendability would be a great improvement. This feature is currently available only with virtualization environment. Adding exte...

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 27% 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

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 1% of the time

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series Competitors

HPE Apollo Systems vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Compared 22% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Compared 17% of the time

Oracle SPARC Servers vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Compared 14% of the time

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Compared 13% of the time

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

Compared 12% of the time

More Dell PowerEdge XE-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

October 2025

Download Dell PowerEdge R-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Rack Servers

October 2025

Download Dell PowerEdge XE-Series product report

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

PowerEdge XE 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

The PowerEdge XE-Series caters to AI-centric workloads by offering exceptional GPU support and processing power for demanding tasks like inferencing and large-scale training, making it ideal for organizations aiming to innovate with AI.

PowerEdge XE-Series stands out in modern GPU-centric computing with its purpose-built design for AI acceleration. Known for handling extreme workloads like model fine-tuning and AI-driven applications, it supports high-density GPU configurations and advanced thermal management. Its vast storage capacity and compatibility with VMware ensure reliable performance across virtualization, big data, and analytics while providing trusted security integration and robust scalability options. However, improvements in processor support, reliability, and management monitoring are sought by users.

What are the key features of PowerEdge XE-Series?

High-Density GPU Support: Configures multiple GPUs for demanding AI tasks.
Advanced Thermal Design: Optimizes cooling for enhanced performance.
Vast Storage Capacity: Supports up to 32 drives for extensive data management.
Compatibility: Works seamlessly with platforms like VMware.
Security Integration: Includes trusted platform modules for data protection.

What benefits should users expect from PowerEdge XE-Series?

Efficient AI Management: Enhances AI workloads with advanced processing.
Scalability: Adapts to growing demands in virtualization and big data.
Security: Offers robust data protection and reliability.
Improved Resource Management: Facilitates straightforward setup and usage.

In different industries, PowerEdge XE-Series is utilized for hosting SaaS, high-performance computing, and general-purpose servers. System integrators use it in client networks for applications like Hadoop, backup, and ERP. It supports virtualization and hyper-converged infrastructure solutions. Real estate sectors leverage iDRAC for efficient management, enhancing data security, power, and network redundancy.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

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

Epsilon, ROZETTA CORP, JIGUANG, RACKSPACE, NEW BELGIUM BREWING

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

September 2025

Free Report: Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

871,688 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series report.

See our list of best Rack Servers vendors.

We monitor all Rack Servers reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.