Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
139
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE Apollo Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2024, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is 27.5%, up from 26.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 4.6%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
Unique Categories:
No other categories found
Density Optimized Servers
25.0%
 

Featured Reviews

ED
Feb 18, 2024
Provides the flexibility and manageability necessary to streamline IT operations
As a customer, we find that these servers offer excellent durability and require minimal maintenance over time. They deliver strong performance, backed by reliable support services. The ability to control the servers remotely through the rack interface is particularly valuable, as it eliminates the need for onsite visits or physical access. All that's required is the password, providing full access to manage the servers efficiently without any additional hassle. The server energy consumption has shown significant improvement. Looking back about a decade, energy efficiency wasn't a major concern, leading to higher consumption levels. However, there's been a noticeable decrease in power consumption in recent years, resulting in a smaller environmental footprint. This reduction in power usage is largely attributed to the servers becoming more compact, requiring less power overall. Addressing the evolving demands of high-performance workloads requires a versatile range of server options. By conducting a thorough assessment of our requirements and performance expectations, we identify the most suitable model from the diverse array of choices available. This process ensures that we select a server that aligns closely with our specific needs. With such a broad spectrum of products to choose from, there is consistently a model that fits our requirements effectively. It significantly reduces unplanned production downtime. In our entirely virtualized environment, we can seamlessly place one server into maintenance mode, conduct complete hardware and software upgrades, and then transition to the next server. While the software solutions provided with virtualization products play a key role in this process, Dell servers also contribute to this uptime reliability. Remarkably, we have experienced no downtime whatsoever in the past five years.
it_user364197 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 22, 2016
The storage area density is the best thing about them. Outside connectivity needs to keep pace with network improvements.
We are running Apollo with SL-series servers and the best thing about them is the density of the storage area available. Regarding TCO, total cost of ownership, per terabyte, they are now the best on the market Connectivity to the outside of the server needs to be improved at the same time the…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The pricing of the solution is fair."
"The maintenance and remote monitoring are valuable."
"Primarily, what we value most is the stability of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers."
"It's a very user-friendly solution."
"The initial setup is so easy."
"The defining characteristic of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers lies in their ability to function as the pivotal nexus of the server infrastructure."
"iDRAC is the most valuable feature because of the ease of use and management and everything that it provides is super useful. The security features that PowerEdge provides, including firmware threat detection is good."
"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are user-friendly."
"It's very reliable. I haven't had a single failure at all in the year and a half; not the slightest problem with it."
"It's pretty flexible. You can choose how much storage you put on the server. You can have one to three nodes, depending on whether you want more CPU or storage."
"HPE Apollo's support is the most valuable feature."
"HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products."
"It's going to meet our needs moving forward, it is scalable."
"We usually use three blades for two-rack units, and with enough storage, it's really a small system with a powerful CPU, powerful hard drives, powerful disks."
"HPE Apollo's most valuable feature is the ability to expand our storage capacity."
"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."
 

Cons

"They can consider making them smaller in physical size but retain the same quality and the same security."
"It would be nice if they could make the solution cheaper and faster."
"I would like to see more information about server health and the server's state, on the front. HP has a little screen that shows server utilization, how many disks there are inside, and the power consumption. HP also shows an alert if there is a malfunction of any device inside."
"The terabytes are never enough."
"We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers in the data center. We put the racks in bays. They can improve the compactness so that we can put more of them."
"There is potential for enhancement in terms of its overall upgradeability."
"I would like to change the physical rails to be more like how HPE rails are formatted and organized."
"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 solution's deployment, security, and scalability need improvement."
"There is a shared battery for all cache controllers in the node. When you have to replace that element, you have to take down all three nodes and not just one."
"We have tried to used standardization using Ubuntu Linux and it's been hard. They had some difficulties getting the RAID configuration up and running because there are no drivers for it. It's not supported by HPE."
"We would like to see improved cooling because that is quite an issue. If you put that much compute power into a single rack, cooling really becomes an issue. And there is room for improvement there."
"We could, perhaps, use more GPUs in the future, go from eight to 16 GPUs per instance. That could run head-to-head against the DGX-1, the DGX-2 that NVIDIA has developed in their own chassis. That would be interesting to see."
"We are quite happy with it, but its price and storage density can be better."
"One drawback which I had: When I needed to expand storage on the Apollo, I had significant problems getting disks for it. It was a very long wait-time. So, if I were to give any advice in regards to improving this product, I would say make more of the 8TB disks available quicker."
"What's coming out in Gen 10 is very strong in terms of additional security."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers are very expensive."
"The overall pricing and licensing are fair according to the market."
"The solution is expensive."
"The price of this solution is reasonable. It's very comparable to similar solutions."
"The main reason I choose Dell there is cost. Dell is cheaper than HPE. Why would I want to pay a premium for an HPE product when I'm getting the same amount of support, the same amount of data protection, and the same amount of performance from Dell?"
"The pricing is very good because there are a lot of types of PowerEdge Rack Servers. You have the R540, R640, and R740. The prices are very scalable through the specific server, e.g., small businesses can take the R640 while large businesses can take the R740 or R840. Thus, Dell technologies touch on every organization."
"The pricing is good compared to other products."
"I wouldn't say the solution's pricing is the best, but it's very competitive."
"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
"The price of the solution is more expensive than Dell which is their main competitor. However, there are times we have managed to receive a comparable price."
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"It is an expensive solution but it is worth the money. The standard licensing cost is for the GPU and the features that someone is using. There are additional charges but they depend on the solution."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rack Servers solutions are best for your needs.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
The world market for CPUs is excited. We have new ideas popping up left and right like new accelerator cards because there are GPUs. Dell is already working with Kalray, for example, that builds ac...
What do you like most about HPE Apollo?
HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products.
What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved. The solution should provide fast delivery when it comes to replacing a particular product that is under warranty.
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
We use HPE Apollo for specific requirements of Linux servers.
 

Also Known As

PowerEdge R
HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Weta Digital
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs. HPE Apollo Systems and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.