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HPE Apollo Systems vs PowerEdge C comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Density Optimized Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Rack Servers (6th)
PowerEdge C
Ranking in Density Optimized Servers
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Blade Servers (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Density Optimized Servers category, the mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 20.9%, down from 30.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PowerEdge C is 26.3%, up from 18.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Density Optimized Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Gayan Senadheera - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers higher capacities compared to other solutions, making it suitable for handling large storage needs
In terms of improvement, we could benefit from some training. If there could be some training for our team, we would be better equipped to promote and support HPE Apollo. Currently, we haven't received any specific training related to HPE Apollo throughout my career. If HPE Apollo provides training, we can share the knowledge with our partners, which could lead to more opportunities for HPE Apollo in the market. Deal protection and other support measures would also be beneficial, as they could help us achieve better results in this market.
Al Vasek - PeerSpot reviewer
Supports business apps and VDI with reliable compute
The solution is all about compute. The solutions are easy to handle, priced correctly, reliable, and dependable. Cisco is similar but more complex to configure and usually more expensive. My team supports a lot of Dell, focusing on hybrid environments like Azure Stack, splitting workloads between high compute needs in databases, which are expensive in the cloud, and other workloads in the cloud.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support from HPE has always been good in my experience."
"HPE Apollo's support is the most valuable feature."
"Apollo Systems provide stuff that standard services do not. More HTDs, more compute power, at very reasonable pricing."
"we can use the same platform for several use cases: Hadoop, Ceph, and we are considering the server for another use case right now. It's a single solution, we only have to integrate it once and we can use it for several technologies."
"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"
"HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products."
"When we moved to the Apollo and all flash drives, we gained a lot of performance."
"The hybrid solution is much more stable than other products."
"The initial setup is not complex. It's a user-friendly tool."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"One of the main features that attract customers to buy their products is the great management tool and almost zero failure rate, making it easy to use."
"Technical support has been helpful."
"The scalability of the solution met our needs."
"The solutions are easy to handle, priced correctly, reliable, and dependable."
"It was not complex to deploy."
 

Cons

"If there could be some training for our team, we would be better equipped to promote and support HPE Apollo."
"Lustre seems to be just a little bit unstable overall."
"We are quite happy with it, but its price and storage density can be better."
"What's coming out in Gen 10 is very strong in terms of additional security."
"HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved."
"I would want to see the flexibility of being able to run various network protocols including InfiniBand, Fibre Channel, as well as iSCSI, with iSCSI going up to 100 gigabytes per second -that would be outstanding."
"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."
"Its customer service could be better."
"An area where the product lacks and needs to consider improvement is by allowing it to integrate with some AI tool for monitoring."
"A feature that needs to be added is the ability for full container storage."
"HP is a little bit lower in terms of price."
"It would be easier if data center management and disaster recovery were combined."
"The current memory could be improved."
"We had a few minor issues with compatibility on the latest version during the installation process."
"There could be some more ports added in the future."
 

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."
"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."
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"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."
"There is a need to pay towards the annual subscription-based licensing model offered by the solution. The product is moderately priced. Price is a critical issue, and it is always good to have moderately priced solutions."
"I would rate the pricing 4 out of 10, in terms of its cost expense."
"PowerEdge C is very expensive, but personally, I think it's worth the price."
"We buy licenses for the solution's advanced features."
"The licensing cost of PowerEdge C is very high."
"PowerEdge C is a reasonably priced product, and the pricing depends on how many years you need the product. The cost also includes the support."
"Despite the slightly higher price, we prefer Dell due to the high quality of their products."
"The product costs can be high, especially for disks and other components."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Venture Capital & Private Equity Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HPE Apollo?
HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products.
What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved. The solution should provide fast delivery when it comes to replacing a particular product that is under warranty.
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
We use HPE Apollo for specific requirements of Linux servers.
What do you like most about PowerEdge C?
The solution provides good support and service.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PowerEdge C?
PowerEdge is quite a costly solution, and I would rate the pricing around seven or eight on a scale from one to ten with ten being the most expensive.
What needs improvement with PowerEdge C?
With reference architectures like VX rack, the update process is quite painful. They could automate or simplify it more. There are prerequisites to go through, and that's usually the only time-cons...
 

Also Known As

HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Weta Digital
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Apollo Systems vs. PowerEdge C and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,825 professionals have used our research since 2012.