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HPE Apollo Systems vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

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

HPE Apollo Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
159
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 3.8%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is 21.1%, up from 20.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers21.1%
HPE Apollo Systems3.8%
Other75.1%
Rack Servers
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user1356702 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager at IHiS
Nov 22, 2021
 

Featured Reviews

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.
ArifSheikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
High availability servers have boosted hosted payment services but still need better local support
We are not using PowerVM because of certain limitations; it is on a back-end engine. However, we are using other components such as vSphere for some small interfaces, and those are the main components we are utilizing. Since these servers are fully dedicated to various high-end solutions, they have some embedded features that their kernel and applications are using, which are bound to that functionality. We may not provide an exact assessment on its usage, but we are considering those products for some AI solutions; however, we are currently in the review stage and have not concluded our evaluation on how those are utilized yet. We are aware of the pricing of HPE ProLiant DL servers, but not off the cuff. We have obviously acquired those solutions ex-Pakistan, so they are on the rise, and while we do not remember those prices offhand, they are generally better than the IBM series, although they are becoming slightly pricey in Pakistan due to processor shortages and demand. Improvements could be made in database engine hosting services because, as it stands, the pricing of Oracle is too high from both the service and software solution perspectives. If pricing can be reduced, especially for DB servers, that could have a direct positive impact on the overall solution. Regarding reliability, it has been satisfactory so far, but since the distributors are not physically present in Pakistan, that creates a risk for long-term large customers. They provide import-based services, necessitating us to over-invest in backup stock and offline servers. If there was a market presence from those players in Pakistan, it could benefit both clients and distributors by reducing the need for investment in backup inventory.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is well documented in a data sheet."
"The cost benefit of this solution is most valuable. It is quite effective for the work for which we are using it. We are mainly running video servers on these, and we are quite happy with the resilience, density storage, and streaming capacity of the system."
"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."
"Apollo Systems provide stuff that standard services do not. More HTDs, more compute power, at very reasonable pricing."
"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 going to meet our needs moving forward, it is scalable."
"HPE Apollo's support is the most valuable feature."
"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."
"The initial setup for HPE ProLiant DL Servers is easy."
"This solution is perfect. From the time of purchase, it was state-of-the-art, and still, after five, 10 years, they still meet our demands extremely well."
"The primary features of the 380 and 580 we find valuable are high availability and performance, as well as better response from the storage combination that we are using; they are fully fault-resilient—not exactly like our IBM Power series, but some combinations work well."
"ProLiant is highly stable. We've had very few problems with the servers. We only once had an issue with the hard disk in an HPE server."
"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."
"The solution is stable."
"Very practical and easy to maintain."
"The most valuable features of HPE ProLiant DL Servers are very high quality."
 

Cons

"Lustre seems to be just a little bit unstable overall."
"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."
"The technical support for HPE Apollo Systems could be improved."
"The predictive analysis feature could be improved."
"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."
"The solution's deployment, security, and scalability need improvement."
"The support from HPE Apollo could be better, they are making knowledgeable."
"We would like to see SimpliVity on top of the Apollo."
"I would like to replace a hard drive that might be saved on the fly, on the server that I'm using currently, but I can't do that. I'm forced to power off my virtual machine, turn off the server, disconnect it from the power, replace the drive, rebuild the storage, and power it on again."
"I want to improve hyper-converged sites."
"Not all of the hardware is completely up-to-date."
"They can increase the controller cache. Currently, it has a controller cache of up to 4 GB. The RAID controller card comes with a maximum of 4 GB cache in HPE servers, whereas it comes with a maximum of 8 GB cache in Dell servers. They can also improve the port size. HP provides a 25 GB port on the server, whereas both Dell and Cisco provide a 100 GB port."
"We'd like to see better processors, better Intel processors. That's the most important for us at this moment."
"Configurations could be simplified."
"The support lifecycle for the product for the Telco application should be better."
"We found that the extensions could be improved and the price could be a little lower."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"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."
"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."
"It is just too expensive."
"The pricing of these servers is fair. It is in the mid-range."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"HPE ProLiant DL Servers are one of the best-selling solutions in this industry. There is not a license required for this solution."
"I give the pricing a six out of ten."
"It is not expensive. Its price is similar to other solutions."
"I give the price a five out of ten."
"It is expensive. Its price should be better."
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Answers from the Community

it_user1356702 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager at IHiS
Nov 22, 2021
Nov 22, 2021
It depends on your purpose. Apollo 4200 is usually used for Backup data, Software defined storage or Big data. And for others that doesn't require disk density, we should use DL360 for cost saving.
2 out of 4 answers
TW
Solutions Architect/Team Lead - Business Data and Data Protection at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
May 26, 2020
It depends on what you actually need to do. Apollo servers are designed for significantly more disk density. If these are hypervisor hosts, the DL360s will generally be more useful. If these are standalone servers running single applications that require a lot of storage (for example, a Veeam backup server), the Apollo servers would be better.
it_user1112820 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
May 27, 2020
What services do you want to serve on your servers? It's very dependent on your answer, is it maximum ten disks Ok for you (DL360) or you want more? Do you need many PCIe slots?
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business55
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise98
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
Some features could be added to HPE Apollo Systems in the future, and I feel that some capability is needed. HPE Apollo Systems is a bit expensive, and there are some issues with scalability. Two f...
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
I have been distributing this product for three years. I don't have specific use cases, and everything about the major use case for HPE Apollo Systems is good. I don't know the purpose clients are ...
What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?
I am not using these products today, and I do not work with some specific firewalls. My company is TD Synnex, a distributor company, and I work for this company. My email is , and my first name is ...
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 pricing of HPE ProLiant DL Servers depends purely on the configuration, and it is not affordable. However, if you look at the technical caliber of the server, if a customer invests that additio...
 

Also Known As

HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Weta Digital
AmeriPride Services, iSource, Bolagsverket, BlueShore Financial, British Columbia Assessment Authority, National Stock Exchange, Cardlytics
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Apollo Systems vs. HPE ProLiant DL Servers and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.