Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Dell PowerEdge XR-Series comparison

Dell PowerEdge R-Series and Dell PowerEdge XR-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 XR-Series is ranked #13. Dell PowerEdge R-Series holds a 27.6% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to Dell PowerEdge XR-Series’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Dell PowerEdge R-Series users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Read 212 Dell PowerEdge R-Series reviews

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13,236 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series

Read 2 Dell PowerEdge XR-Series reviews

360 Views
360 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2025

Dell PowerEdge R-Series and XR-Series compete in the server market. Dell PowerEdge R-Series stands out for data handling and stability, while PowerEdge XR-Series excels in harsh environments, offering an optimal choice for edge computing.

Features: Dell PowerEdge R-Series has high-performance processing, scalability, and remote management tools, ideal for large data centers. Dell PowerEdge XR-Series focuses on rugged durability, efficient power consumption, and edge-specific optimizations for enhanced reliability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers straightforward deployment in standard data centers, supported by established service protocols. Dell PowerEdge XR-Series integrates seamlessly in remote locations, with customer support catering to diverse deployment scenarios in edge environments.

Pricing and ROI: Dell PowerEdge R-Series is competitively priced for conventional environments, balancing cost and performance for a strong ROI. Dell PowerEdge XR-Series, with specialized hardware, offers value through durability and performance in edge settings, delivering effective ROI even at a higher initial cost.

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

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XR-Series

September 2025

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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

7.5

Number of Reviews

212

Ranking in other categories

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

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series

Ranking in Rack Servers

13th

Average Rating

9.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Rugged Servers (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 27.6%, down from 28.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is 0.5%, down from 0.8% 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	27.6%
Dell XR2 Rugged Server	0.5%
Other	71.9%

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

Syed Masuood

Country manager at Asta Innosys

Handles workloads and diverse applications efficiently

We have a lot of VMs on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. On a single server, we have probably hosted 14 or 15 VMs. Out of these, 8 to 10 are continuously running, and four of them are backup VMs, so it can handle a good workload. For cybersecurity, it is only accessible on the intranet; it is not accessible through the web. We use it for local development purposes, and it is behind our firewall. Its security is strong. We handle a lot of test data for government and confidential customers. It is safe and strong locally. We have not experienced any security issues. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime if we need to replace a hard disk, instead of completely shutting a server, there is a hot swap feature. It is quite good in that aspect. Usually, for any activity, there is a downtime of about 30 minutes. It has saved a lot of time. We have tried AI workloads for a development environment for a government customer in Singapore. The servers are hosted in Singapore. It is an ML-based engine with AI. It is a government project where data is processed, and we run it on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. The benefit of running AI workloads on PowerEdge Servers is that it is easy to allocate memory. The application we are running is memory intensive. It is pretty easy to scale memory and storage.

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Jesse_B

Manager of networks and infrastructure at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees

Simple to scale, high availability, and top level service and support

Dell XR2 Rugged Server's technology is always on the competitive edge, with the most current technology. They have proven reliability. If you're looking for a mission-critical system and support is important to you, then this is something a solution you should consider. I rate Dell XR2 Rugged Server a nine out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Looking at the new models, they have greatly improved the cooling system, which is a significant advantage."

"I rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a ten out of ten."

"My company has seen a return on investment from using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, as the builds that the build team runs are going approximately 30% faster on the newer PowerEdge than what we were using previously."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are very reliable, very cost-effective, and the services that Dell provides are very useful and helpful in deploying infrastructures."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers scale with the growing needs of my company."

"The feature I appreciate the most about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is the reliability. I have tried other manufacturers and servers both personally and in my job, and it's clear that the Dell PowerEdge offers the best price, performance, and reliability; there's really no contest."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned downtimes, as our downtime is nearly zero, with approximately 99.5% availability in a five-year period."

"The solution is reliable."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pros

"The scalability of the Dell XR2 Rugged Server is good and easy to do."

"The storage and the disc performance in terms of IOPS is great."

Cons

"PowerEdge is not that flexible. For example, it's difficult if I need something that is not in Dell's portfolio. We offer the flexibility to the customer. We can implement different things Dell doesn't have. If you have preconfigured systems, it's hard to transition them to what you need."

"The cost can be improved. For other use cases, we use Hitachi servers, which are a little cheaper but have similar functionality."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have higher hardware costs compared to HPE ProLiant servers, which are cheaper."

"The product must provide more options to add GPUs to the machines."

"It's not the perfect solution but it is reasonable."

"The solution could still use some more analytics."

"We'd want the solution to be faster."

"I would like more resilience because, for all companies, cybersecurity is important."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series cons

"Dell XR2 Rugged Server could improve if there was more customization allowed."

"It lacks a modular option to expand to a 16-bay system."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is fair enough."

"The price of Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers is reasonable compared to other solutions."

"We weren't paying very much, but it was at the end of the lifecycle. We are now using the VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure, and the pricing was very similar for the same amount of power but with easier automation."

"The pricing and licensing are fair."

"I don't know about the product's licensing part. Price-wise, it is an okay product. I believe that the cheaper the better, but I think that the product's price is okay."

"The price is good for the quality of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers."

"Dell is pretty good. good. I had a conversation with Dell a while ago due to a vendor. We got much better pricing from a competitor. When I looked at another company, Dell called me and asked why am I looking at someone else when they have a distributor. I told them that their pricing was not good, so Dell went back to the distributor, and we got much better pricing"

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

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pricing and cost advice

"The price of one Dell XR2 Rugged Server is approximately $10,000."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

16%

Energy/Utilities Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	79
Midsize Enterprise	51
Large Enterprise	89

No data available

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....

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What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?

It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.

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What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?

I don't have any issues or complaints with the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, but they could make the service tags larger as I get older. It's not that they aren't customizable; you can actually use ...

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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

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 0% of the time

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series Competitors

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series vs Dell PowerEdge XR-Series

Compared 38% of the time

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Dell PowerEdge XR-Series

Compared 29% of the time

More Dell PowerEdge XR-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

September 2025

Download Dell PowerEdge R-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Rack Servers

August 2025

Download Dell PowerEdge XR-Series product report

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

XR2 Rugged Server

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

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series transforms edge computing by offering high-performance servers equipped for environments outside traditional data centers, designed to deliver when it counts.

PowerEdge XR-Series is crafted to endure harsh and unpredictable conditions with a robust focus on security, remote manageability, and intelligent system monitoring. It excels in IoT, manufacturing, retail, and telecommunications, providing a cost-effective, energy-efficient solution for edge infrastructure. These compact, rugged servers are built to handle edge-based workloads, facilitating real-time data processing and analysis at the source.

What are the key features of PowerEdge XR-Series?

Durability: Built for harsh conditions, offering reliable performance in extreme environments.
Security: Comprehensive security features to protect data at the edge.
Remote Manageability: Ease of management from any location, enhancing operational efficiency.
Intelligent Monitoring: Advanced system monitoring for predictive maintenance and reduced downtime.
Energy Efficiency: Optimized design reduces energy consumption while maintaining high performance.

What benefits does PowerEdge XR-Series offer?

Cost-Efficiency: Reduces costs by enabling businesses to manage infrastructure efficiently.
Real-Time Processing: Facilitates immediate analysis and decision-making at the data source.
Scalability: Easily scales with business growth and evolving data demands.
Improved Resilience: Enhances system resilience in demanding edge settings.

Industries such as IoT, manufacturing, retail, and telecommunications implement Dell PowerEdge XR-Series to handle edge-based workloads effectively. Its reliability and adaptability make it a vital component for processing data in real time, providing significant advantages in environments where data-driven decision-making is key.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

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

DIGISTOR - Secure Data Storage

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XR-Series

September 2025

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

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