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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
172
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

"Ease of use."
"The IDRAC is a selling point. It gives you an easy way to manage the system, services, and installation."
"You can use Dell PowerEdge hardware for anything. It supports everything such as file servers, web servers, and DB servers. It can support all critical servers and applications. There are bank applications running on PowerEdge servers."
"The server itself has the most stable updates. The patches and the updates will take you a long way before they release another one, so you aren't constantly doing more updates and upgrades."
"When it comes to energy consumption they're also very good. They don't use power because they're power-hungry, but because we use them very hard."
"One of the key reasons we integrate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, particularly the ID Rack model, is for its remote monitoring and administration capabilities."
"PowerEdge Rack Servers offer good performance in handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads and offer good value for money."
"I find Dell PowerEdge Servers to handle diverse applications and evolving needs effectively, but we have to upgrade the hardware periodically."
"HPE service in Taiwan is quick and professional, and ProLiant is cost-effective compared to Dell. Dell is good for one or two servers, but HPE is cheaper than Dell for a large deployment. Cost is the most important thing in the market."
"The solution has always been very stable and reliable."
"Technical support are mostly helpful."
"In regards to the components that you can put into the servers, I feel that HP provides a wider variety of parts in comparison to Dell. For example, there is the ILO which is a network cable that goes into the server and reports back with an abundance of information about the server, even when it is off."
"Its management, IOs, and stability are the most valuable features. It works fine. It has all the features of a typical server. All that can be done has already been done."
"Stability is where HPE dominates competitors like Dell and Cisco. The servers are highly reliable, and we are impressed with the technology HPE offers."
"We have had our system working for between two and three years with no downtime."
"This product is feature-rich and is easy to install."
 

Cons

"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."
"It could be an option to remove discs and just have a virtual option. If you remove the room you need for discs, you could make it smaller. It would take up less room that way."
"There are certain aspects, features, and functionality on the motherboard that need improvement."
"Perhaps they could make it more power efficient. They're pretty good, but there's always room for improvement. Also, they could try to reduce heat generation."
"The price is very high."
"They can consider making them smaller in physical size but retain the same quality and the same security."
"It is not good in terms of its energy consumption for a large-scale deployment. I probably would go for something more dense, like blades or any type of small scale hardware service solutions, to lower the heat and power consumption. However, for small environments, this solution is okay and easy to maintain."
"There are issues, of course, but not major issues. On a scale of one to 10, the stability is a nine."
"HPE ProLiant DL Servers could improve its portfolio, it could be more diverse because there is a limited number of them available. Dell, IBM, or Lenovo, have a better product portfolio that is diverse."
"The technical support is pretty good, however, they could be a bit faster and more responsive."
"The support lifecycle for the product for the Telco application should be better."
"The solution is a little bit expensive."
"I want to improve hyper-converged sites."
"The cost of the solution is high and has room for improvement."
"In Qatar, HPE doesn't have as much support as Dell. I would recommend Dell if given the option because it has a solid local presence."
"Its management console could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool's pricing is very good."
"It's not a very expensive solution."
"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."
"When you compare public cloud solutions to PowerEdge in terms of cost, initially the cost of Dell servers or Dell technology was really high. However, right now it's on par or, maybe, even cheaper when we use Dell hardware. If we don't swap it out in three years and if we stretch it to four or five years, then we can get even more of an ROI versus cloud cost."
"The solution is expensive."
"The pricing for this solution is reasonable. We pay a basic premium with a military premium on top of that."
"PowerEdge pricing is equivalent to that of all the others in the market."
"It's a bit of a shock when you have to find the money, but the pricing is very competitive, so I'm happy with that."
"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."
"​If you have to include the warranty, enhance the warranty support.​"
"It's expensive."
"The solution is expensive."
"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 pricing of these servers is fair. It is in the mid-range."
"The price is a little too high; it could be reduced."
"It is just too 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.
848,253 professionals have used our research since 2012.