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Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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 XR-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Rugged Servers (1st)
HPE Apollo Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is 2.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 5.5%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series2.7%
HPE Apollo Systems5.5%
Other91.8%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

AJIT KUNDAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Solution Consulting at Accops Systems Pvt Ltd
Rugged servers have delivered reliable high-performance analytics and reduced downtime
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series servers include rugged devices that are very tough, and we are using these servers in very sensitive areas. Their tolerance is good; they are resistant to dust and other elements. They feature redundant power, and they have a TPM 2.0, which is very important from a security perspective. This also has a Silicon Root of Trust. iDRAC, which is part of all Dell servers, is also included here. These are the important aspects from the servers' point of view. In terms of capabilities, Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is high performance and capable of addressing high performance workloads. They have front access networking, which makes it easy to work with. We also get all the GPU ready workload configuration required from the workload perspective, resulting in very low latency. Even users accessing from remote locations are able to achieve optimum performance. Dell PowerEdge XR-Series has flexibility; it is very flexible and can handle all kinds of workloads. We are running a variety of applications on this system. It is also easy to scale up and down on demand, which is the best part. Additionally, it has good rack compatibility, as most places do not have optimal power or space, and these servers address that concern.
Gökhan  DURMAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Account Manager at TD SYNNEX
High-quality integration and strong support have optimized our rack server operations
HPE Apollo Systems is a good product because it has better support and best quality with integrity. When I speak about integrity, I speak about GPU integration or other integrations such as GPU integration, backup software integration, and hypervisor integration. Regarding the integration of high-speed interconnectors in HPE Apollo Systems, they impact computational tasks because the high-speed interconnect affects performance. I don't remember the specifics. Regarding the cooling technologies, they help to reduce operational costs. The positive impact I see from HPE Apollo Systems is that support is good and quality is good. In general, HPE Apollo Systems appears to be for rack servers with some optimization capabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The scalability of the Dell XR2 Rugged Server is good and easy to do."
"Even though it is expensive, Dell PowerEdge XR-Series provides value for money and return on investment, especially for critical workloads and mission-critical applications."
"The best features in Dell PowerEdge XR-Series are all-flash storage, which is easy to implement and install, and it was also easy to upgrade."
"Dell XR2 Rugged Server's technology is always on the competitive edge, with the most current technology."
"Stability, good performance, and good tools to manage the system are the best features for me."
"Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is a super server, so compared to HP, I see big differences from the technical side."
"Dell PowerEdge servers have helped reduce unplanned production downtime by approximately 30% because we are able to handle issues immediately."
"Using Dell PowerEdge XR-Series has helped reduce my total cost of ownership compared to other solutions such as HP or Lenovo, which are servers I have used."
"The technical support from HPE has always been good in my experience."
"Not having to manage traditional NAS has made a big difference."
"We're going to buy another Apollo 6500. We may configure it with half the number of GPUs because that may be all we need. In a sense, we can see the Apollo 6500 being so powerful that we only need half the GPU capability that we have now."
"It enables us to implement software defined solutions very easily, because Apollo servers are certified for use with Linux systems"
"I find HPE Apollo Systems to be scalable and efficient for AI initiatives, and the environmental efficiency has a significant impact on operational costs."
"It's very hard for a professor to amass the supercomputing resources, so I've been very fortunate to have that level of supercomputing at our disposal and that has really enabled us to do the world's leading superhuman AI research."
"Tech support has been outstanding."
"HPE Apollo Systems is a good product because it has better support and best quality with integrity."
 

Cons

"I think Dell PowerEdge R-Series can be improved in appearance. I would say that the improvement opportunity is probably on the monitoring side, the overall monitoring side."
"While Dell PowerEdge XR-Series has many positives, there are areas for improvement."
"This can be better and could be improved."
"My assessment of the new Dell PowerEdge servers for energy consumption is that energy consumption is on par with what I've used in the past. I can't say it's been any better or any worse."
"Customization could be improved; more customization options are needed."
"Certainly, the first negative aspect is the cost because the biggest challenge today is the way component costs are going higher."
"Service is a specific aspect that could be improved, but it is nothing bad."
"Dell XR2 Rugged Server could improve if there was more customization allowed."
"The licensing could be greatly improved, I think."
"Our first batch of Apollo servers that we got were so new that it was just hard to know kind of what to expect from HPE and what they wanted to deliver to us."
"The solution's deployment, security, and scalability need improvement."
"Big stability issues with the CPU on the first generation which made them virtually unusable."
"HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved."
"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."
"The predictive analysis feature could be improved."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of one Dell XR2 Rugged Server is approximately $10,000."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
"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."
"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."
"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
15%
University
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC XR2 Rugged Server?
Using Dell PowerEdge XR-Series has helped reduce my total cost of ownership compared to other solutions such as HP or Lenovo, which are servers I have used. Dell is less expensive compared to Lenov...
What needs improvement with Dell EMC XR2 Rugged Server?
There are many areas to improve in Dell PowerEdge XR-Series. Eliminating the single point of failure on the network, such as a traditional setup with cloud or central data center outages that impac...
What is your primary use case for Dell EMC XR2 Rugged Server?
I am a reseller for Dell PowerEdge XR-Series. As a partner, I have to provide the users and services for Dell PowerEdge XR-Series deployments or any kind of virtualization purpose.
What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
It is too early to say what improvements HPE Apollo Systems could implement because the report still needs to come out and the customer needs to properly evaluate the solution.
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
My main use case for HPE Apollo Systems is replacing many of the servers and storage boxes at one of the customer's sites to achieve workload optimization and optimized solutions. Additionally, whe...
What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?
My advice for someone considering HPE Apollo Systems is that if they are looking for consolidation and their workload involves high availability requirements, or if they want to utilize GPUs, then ...
 

Also Known As

XR2 Rugged Server
HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

DIGISTOR - Secure Data Storage
Weta Digital
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
906,829 professionals have used our research since 2012.