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Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs Lenovo Flex System comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 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 Blade Servers
5th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
211
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (3rd), Data Center Networking (4th), Rack Servers (1st)
Lenovo Flex System
Ranking in Blade Servers
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is 2.2%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo Flex System is 3.1%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade 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.
Syed  Ibrahim - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides a high initial ceiling before upscaling is required, user-friendly and rich in resources, but has occasional stability issues
The solution should come with cloud native applications to prepare for cloud based solutions. Forced restarts due to free upgrades is an issue that needs to be resolved. We can manage this as we have high availability and redundancy, but without that it could be a real problem. The level of customer support needs to be improved. There is currently an issue with Lenovo switching out SAN switches from the chassis, which will cause problems for people who already have a set up with the SAN switch connected to the central storage. This could require an entirely different network, adding an additional cost for the user.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's allowing us to scale out a lot faster than before."
"We are able to do remote monitoring and installation of hardware and software, and that tends to be very popular with customers."
"Managing it is straightforward, and the scalability aligns well with the needs of our organization."
"I find great value in Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, particularly in their excellent serviceability."
"The solution is very strong and reliable."
"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."
"The robustness of the hardware itself is valuable. We have had PowerEdge servers running even after they were out of their warranty timeline. For example, about four or five years ago, we updated the virtualization platform. One of the servers that we had on that platform was ten years old. These servers have a lot of durability. You can see that they are well-made."
"The reliability combined with management is what we like. The price is good too."
"It comes at a good price. We didn't face any problems with this product."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The Lenovo Flex System is very stable."
"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo Flex System is the storage system."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is its ease of use."
"Flex System's best features are its performance and stability."
"The functionality is reliable and requires minimal support."
"The stability and speed are always good. The processor is good and it's still working with our loads."
 

Cons

"Speaking on the XE series specifically, the internal service to the system, if you need to get to a DIMM or anything similar, requires that you remove all three risers and the storage controller. It's not very internally service friendly."
"Dell's support is an area that needs improvement as their product reliability is good, but the support is not as strong as HP's."
"While we are generally satisfied with their service, we'd like more connections between meetings and proactive support. We had a session about two weeks ago, where we talked about areas they need to improve."
"Improvement is always necessary for Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers so that people don't take it for granted. It keeps everyone on their toes to continue improving."
"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers could improve the bezels in front of it."
"One area where Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers could improve is integration."
"The way we can manage the environment through the solution's GUI could be improved."
"If I rated the support two years ago, it would have been a high eight or maybe a nine; in the last six months, it has likely dropped to a six or seven out of ten due to a lot of churn in Dell, particularly with their sales force and engineering teams."
"It does not have the same module flexibility that was present in IBM Blade. On the Blade System, I was able to choose between the Cisco module, or BMC module. Since the switch to Lenovo, I have not had the same choice of modules, only the BMC modules."
"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo Flex System is the storage system."
"Flex System's integration with the XClarity Management System could be improved."
"Continuing the production of this product is necessary. It is currently out of support, and we are seeking support from other sources besides Lenovo."
"The solution could improve by providing more integration with other platforms."
"I had some difficulties with the initial setup."
"Forced restarts due to free upgrades is an issue that needs to be resolved. We can manage this as we have high availability and redundancy, but without that it could be a real problem."
"The product could improve its integration capabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 fair enough."
"The pricing and licensing are fair."
"The pricing for Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is on par with everything else at the moment."
"Regarding the pricing, it seems fair."
"They are affordable. Even during our recent procurement, the cost of Dell servers was lower than that of HPE."
"Dell's solution was cheaper than HP's solution."
"The is an annual license cost to use the Lenovo Flex System. If the price was less expensive and flexible overall and for additional features, our customers would be happier."
"There is a one-off payment to buy the equipment and the support is purchased annually."
"The price is interesting. I am able to quote a client based on their needs and offer them either Lenovo or Dell."
"We are just paying the operational cost, which is not much."
"The 14 blade server allows significant room for upscaling before having to invest in another chassis. You would have to purchase another chassis much sooner in the case of an eight or nine blade server."
"We have the whole maintenance for the 3 years, starting the deployment. We also have the VMware license for 3 years and I think we have another license to buy. There are no additional costs besides licensing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
6%
Government
18%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
 

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?
Mainly, I would like to improve the speed of storage response. We would like to improve our performance by using disks without rotation. The price is better now, and I think it will be better in th...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo Flex System?
Compared to its quality, the pricing is very reasonable and represents good value.
What needs improvement with Lenovo Flex System?
Continuing the production of this product is necessary. It is currently out of support, and we are seeking support from other sources besides Lenovo.
What is your primary use case for Lenovo Flex System?
We are using Lenovo Flex System on the server for our VMware environment, which includes our VMs and all our servers, Linux and Windows. It manages the daily operation efficiently.
 

Also Known As

PowerEdge R
Flex System Blade Servers, Flex System SN Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
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Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs. Lenovo Flex System and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
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