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Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

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 Rack Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
171
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (3rd), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (5th)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
156
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is 27.8%, down from 28.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is 21.5%, down from 21.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Syed Masuood - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
SHIVAKUMAR A P - PeerSpot reviewer
With an easy setup phase in place, it is suitable for small and large-sized businesses
When you speak of any enhancements in the product, you need to shift to the tool's commercial mode. You get more features in the solution if you pour in more money. If a customer needs some features in the solution, they will have to buy it since certain features are not loaded by default in the server. With entry-level licenses, servers are shipped to customers free of cost. Customers need to pay if they want more and more features in the solution. Every OEM solution in the market, including HPE ProLiant DL, operates similarly. The overall cost of the product needs to be lower, as it is one of the areas of concern in the product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"They are easy to configure. It is simple to work with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers."
"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are pretty good at handling diverse applications."
"What truly impresses me about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is their unwavering commitment to customer service, providing great assistance throughout the entire product lifecycle."
"The reliability of its hardware and the support they provide are valuable."
"PowerEdge is flexible and adaptable. You can you can build whatever you want from it."
"PowerEdge Rack Servers are very good for handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads."
"The iDRAC helps us monitor and manage our systems."
"The scalability of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is excellent."
"The hardware is reliable."
"What I like most about HPE ProLiant DL Servers is that it gives the support and hardware availability that my company requires."
"Very practical and easy to maintain."
"The solution has always been very stable and reliable."
"ProLiant DL servers are the best on the market. The models support an extensive list of Intel processors."
"The scalability is very high in 380, so instead of using the high-end servers, you can use multiple servers and segregate the applications between the servers. ​"
"It's easy to upgrade, and it is very easy to take care of the firmware upgrades."
"The initial setup for HPE ProLiant DL Servers is easy."
 

Cons

"Occasionally, there might be extended wait times between placing an order and receiving the delivery."
"The price is the only thing that can be improved."
"The Industrial and healthcare areas both need improvement."
"The rate controller interface is difficult to get to without installing additional software. It would be helpful if they had preinstalled software to make that easily accessible."
"They should reduce its size. Because the CPU power is more now, they can reduce the size of the servers. Currently, we have a 2U server. If possible, they can make a 1U server."
"All of the servers are in cluster mode and when PowerEdge Server is down, others are affected."
"As the disks and memory should be expandable, I would highlight scalability as an issue."
"I do not have any input as such. There can be a bit more expansive AI portfolio, but I have not worked on any AI projects with Dell, so I might not be up to date in knowledge."
"The pricing of the solution is high compared to other products."
"We'd like to see better processors, better Intel processors. That's the most important for us at this moment."
"I would like the solution to improve its storage and performance. Also, I would like to replicate data between on-premises and cloud in future versions."
"The licensing fees are expensive and have room for improvement."
"The support lifecycle for the product for the Telco application should be better."
"They should work with Microsoft to make licensing costs better. That's because the physical servers have processors with all these cores, and Microsoft now licenses Windows virtual server desktops based on the number of cores and the serving servers. So, if you got to build 10 or 20 servers on that desktop, you got to license them all with Microsoft. They should have a partnership with Microsoft to decrease the virtual licensing of servers in partnerships so that when you purchase the servers, you also get licensing for Microsoft on top of them. That's because it gets very expensive to license virtual operating systems to run on physical servers."
"Most of the servers we use are okay. However, sometimes, you need to change the parts. We'd like the solution to be more robust."
"They should improve the solution's built-in quality."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is good compared to other products."
"The pricing is fair enough."
"There is room for improvement in making it more cost-effective."
"We have a strong agreement in place with our parent company, that typically ensures favorable pricing terms for us, although occasionally we may need to negotiate with Dell representatives for further discounts to provide competitive pricing to our customers."
"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."
"The price is good for the quality of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers."
"The price of this solution is reasonable. It's very comparable to similar solutions."
"The product's pricing is not good."
"We have to pay for an annual license which is expensive."
"We did not need to pay for a license for the use of HP DL servers, just for normal hardcore support."
"This product is within our budget."
"HPE ProLiant DL Servers are one of the best-selling solutions in this industry. There is not a license required for this solution."
"This is an expensive product and there is licensing required for iLO, which is the HPE monitoring system."
"The price of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is reasonable, but because of covid and other factors, the price could be reduced. The license is paid annually."
"Proliant DL Servers have a reasonable cost. They are not as expensive as the Cisco servers. Everything is included when you purchase a server. You just have to install and configure it."
"The solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

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?
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have pretty much progressed a lot if we look at what features are on them now. I don't know what more could be asked for, perhaps just faster performance. Every ( /produ...
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...
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 ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
The product is expensive. I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price. On the needs of the customers, the product offers a lot of suppor...
 

Also Known As

PowerEdge R
HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL
 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs. HPE ProLiant DL Servers and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,600 professionals have used our research since 2012.