HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Synergy comparison

The compared HPE ProLiant DL Servers and HPE Synergy solutions aren't in the same category. HPE ProLiant DL Servers is ranked #2 in Rack Servers , with an average rating of 9.3, and holds a 21.6% mindshare in the category. HPE Synergy is ranked #1 in Blade Servers , with an average rating of 8.7, and holds a 21.8% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of HPE ProLiant DL Servers users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of HPE Synergy users who would recommend it.

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Read 156 HPE ProLiant DL Servers reviews

10,569 Views
8,632 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

HPE Synergy

Read 90 HPE Synergy reviews

2,798 Views
1,995 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

HPE Synergy

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 23, 2025

HPE ProLiant DL Servers and HPE Synergy compete in the server and infrastructure management space. HPE Synergy has the upper hand due to its advanced composability and flexibility, allowing it to adapt dynamically to changing workloads.

Features:HPE ProLiant DL Servers are renowned for reliability, scalability, and performance, featuring Hyper-V, SmartArray, and iLO for management and redundancy. They are recognized for cost efficiency and competitive pricing. HPE Synergy's noteworthy feature is its composability, allowing resource reallocation as needed. It offers centralized management via HPE OneView, simplifying infrastructure management for evolving environments.

Room for Improvement:HPE ProLiant DL Servers could improve in faster boot times, streamlined configurations, and better iLO integration. Users seek enhancements in global support, power efficiency, and licensing processes. HPE Synergy needs better third-party integration, simplified networking configurations, and efficient storage options. Enhancements in manageability and firmware updates are also desired.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:HPE ProLiant DL Servers are praised for straightforward deployment and reliable support, although response times can vary. HPE Synergy emphasizes modularity with management tools like OneView for seamless integration, offering proactive support similar to ProLiant but with room for localized service improvement.

Pricing and ROI:HPE ProLiant DL Servers offer competitive pricing, despite not being the cheapest, with worthwhile value in terms of reliability and low total cost of ownership. HPE Synergy presents higher upfront costs due to its comprehensive features but often justifies this investment through reduced complexity and operational costs in larger environments, delivering good ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Rack Servers Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Rack Servers

March 2025

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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 ProLiant DL Servers

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

156

Ranking in other categories

Rack Servers (2nd)

HPE Synergy

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Blade Servers (1st), Composable Infrastructure (1st)

Mindshare comparison

While both are IT Hardware and Infrastructure solutions, they serve different purposes. HPE ProLiant DL Servers is designed for Rack Servers and holds a mindshare of 21.6%, up 21.8% compared to last year.
HPE Synergy, on the other hand, focuses on Blade Servers, holds 21.8% mindshare, up 21.8% since last year.

Rack Servers

Blade Servers

Featured Reviews

SHIVAKUMAR A P

Country Manager - Emerging Business at Orbit Techsol

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.

Read full review

CarlosArdila

Project Manager, Information Technology at Telelago

Helps grow horizontally or vertically within one box or chassis

The initial setup is very easy. We deployed this in two days, including installation, system setup, firmware upgrades, configuration, and network connection. By the next day, we were already deploying virtual machines. We initially began with the Blade system. As the migration to SAP HANA approached, it seemed prudent to upgrade our hardware. Consequently, we facilitated their transition from the Blade system to Synergy. Subsequently, we collaborated closely with the SAP consultancy company to oversee the migration process, ensuring seamless integration of all workloads and sub-environments. We have four people working on the deployment, including a project manager, two specialists, and one tech support.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is scalable and stable."

"The pricing of the product is fair and not too expensive."

"It's very easy to set up."

"We decided to switch because this solution provides more memory density."

"The most valuable features of HPE ProLiant DL Servers are very high quality."

"It's easy to upgrade, and it is very easy to take care of the firmware upgrades."

"When we need to, we can get through to technical support and get the right person."

"What I like most about HPE ProLiant DL Servers is that it gives the support and hardware availability that my company requires."

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers pros

"The processing time has been about 50 times faster and allows us to do AI models."

"The stability of the solution is very reliable."

"Changing the form factor in Synergy allows us to have more RAM, which is significantly helpful for us."

"It has had a positive effect on the efficiency of our IT infrastructure team. The manageability of it is so easy, we're able to install it quickly, and replacement parts are easy to get in and out quickly."

"The solution has decreased the deployment time for a new blade, saving us three hours."

"In terms of the productivity of our deployment team, the amount of time has been decreased a lot. In the past, to deploy one c7000 chassis with 15 or 16 blades, we literally used to spend two to three weeks. But with a Synergy, it's very quick. Within three days we can do the deployment."

"OneView is head and shoulders above the competition in this space."

"It is first in class for composable infrastructure. It has the scalability that meets our future needs and the automation that builds into something that we are really looking forward to using."

More HPE Synergy pros

Cons

"The solution could improve by providing more best practices from an architectural point of view. What are some recommended configurations for use, such as in a VM environment? HP provides some best practices but they are based on VMware, not on Red Hat. It would benefit for others to see the different use cases. How the HPE ProLiant DL Servers were used in the context of Red hat virtualization, and some configurations as an example to allow us to identify some points that we can improve in our platform. We could make our system more reliable and scalable."

"They should continue to maintain the stability that is there."

"My customers are tilted toward GPU users, and the mixed version of the enabled hard drives require — flash drives, SSD, NNL, and PLAS — all mixed and matched in a single box. These are requirements I've already shared with the HPE account manager."

"In DL 500 systems, the flow of air is not good enough, and some components get overheated. IBM systems have better airflow and scalability. We have a data center that has limited physical space. Therefore, we need to maximize the processing or compute systems that we use. In HP servers, such as DL 500, there are only four processors, whereas IBM servers, such as SR 916, have eight processors. We don't get any support from HP because of our geographical location. We solve all problems ourselves by doing research on the internet. It would be good to get HP support."

"If they could put a SAN storage or resend it in the same product, it would be very helpful and more powerful."

"The licensing fees are expensive and have room for improvement."

"It is too expensive. Its price should be improved. The system admin interface should have better visibility while troubleshooting a problem, even when the problem is coming from the application."

"The product must provide time travel features."

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers cons

"The installation and initial setup process is complex and needs to be improved."

"The possibility of using storage directly in the frame in order to have bigger storage directly there, and not having an attached storage like SAN or NAS. That would be helpful."

"One of the things that I would like to see, and could be in their road map, is getting virtual connect to 100 Gig throughput."

"I would like to see more nodes in a single chassis so we wouldn't have to purchase additional chassis."

"HPE Synergy could improve its remote support."

"It has affected the productivity of our development team in a bad way. When we first stood the hardware up 18 months ago, the image streaming capacity and capability were not very good at all. We had hoped that it would allow us to be more composable and be able to switch over from one version of an operating system to another version of an operating system. However, it wasn't ready for prime time yet. Therefore, we had to go back to a deployment of bare metal install. We are still waiting and trying to figure out how we can do the composable infrastructure."

"The solution must concentrate on improving the product quality."

"Instead of having Synergy vertical, make it horizontal. It is easier to stick in when it is vertical."

More HPE Synergy cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you have to include the warranty, enhance the warranty support."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"We did not need to pay for a license for the use of HP DL servers, just for normal hardcore support."

"The price is a little too high; it could be reduced."

"We have to pay for an annual license which is expensive."

"This was a one-time purchase for us because it's hardware that we purchased from HPE. There aren't any licensing costs."

"An investment in DL380 is worth it."

"It's expensive."

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers pricing and cost advice

"We bought everything outright to start with. We don't do much consumption-based stuff."

"The price point is a little high. We were able to get a good deal on a promotion, to go with it. It would be nice to see the prices come down a little bit."

"For me, the scalability is how much money that I need to spend on switches for how many frames, which ultimately means servers. To get the best bandwidth before the most recent product announcement, I have buy new switches every three frames. The competition is shipping a product right now where I only need switches every ten frames."

"We pay for licensing on the fibre channel uplinks, on the Virtual Connect, which is an add-on."

"The Nutanix platform came in a little more expensive than the Synergy."

"Synergy has lowered our total cost of ownership significantly. I would say ballpark around 25 percent, maybe more."

"The licensing is more around the software for RGS, because we are deploying bare metal installs. It is mainly the operating system and any lights-out management. So, licensing is minimum. We are licensing it annually."

"We don't have to pay for Synergy because it's part of our plan."

More HPE Synergy pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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...

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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.

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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...

See all answers

How would you choose between HPE's Bladesystem and Synergy?

For me, choosing between HPE’s Bladesystem and Synergy came down to which solution was more powerful, reliable, and stable. It turns out Bladesystem was the winner. Bladesystem is excellent because...

See all answers

What do you like most about HPE Synergy?

It is a good product for hypervisors.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Synergy?

Pricing in the blade server market is very competitive, with HPE offering a competitive price. Competitor products include Dell's MX series and Cisco's UCS X series.

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 47% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 22% of the time

HPE Apollo Systems vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 6% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers

Compared 5% of the time

More HPE ProLiant DL Servers Competitors

HPE BladeSystem vs HPE Synergy

Compared 22% of the time

Dell PowerEdge M vs HPE Synergy

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco UCS B-Series vs HPE Synergy

Compared 7% of the time

HPE Superdome X vs HPE Synergy

Compared 5% of the time

HPE Apollo Systems vs HPE Synergy

Compared 3% of the time

More HPE Synergy Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE ProLiant DL Servers

April 2025

Download HPE ProLiant DL Servers product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE Synergy

April 2025

Download HPE Synergy product report

Also Known As

HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL

No data available

Overview

HPE ProLiant DL Servers are utilized by organizations for tasks like virtualization, database hosting, and application hosting, deployed both on-premises and in private clouds for diverse needs.

Organizations depend on HPE ProLiant DL Servers for stability, performance, and reliability. They are essential for running active directories, enterprise applications, and handling high-performance computing. These servers are known for their easy setup, scalability, and extensive management capabilities like iLO. Offering compatibility with many components and energy efficiency, they provide reliable hardware and good performance under demanding conditions. However, there is a need for improved price, stability, scalability, airflow, and power consumption. Enhancements in controller cache, port sizes, SAN connectivity, support availability, and management interface are also required. Faster technical support, better documentation, simplified configurations, and enhanced monitoring features and security integration would benefit users.

What are the key features?

Easy Setup: Quick and straightforward deployment.
Scalability: Adaptable to growing business needs.
Extensive Management: Features like iLO for advanced control.
Energy Efficiency: Optimized for lower power consumption.
Compatibility: Works well with various components.
Reliable Hardware: Robust and dependable technology.
Redundancy: Ensures high availability and minimal downtime.

What are the benefits and ROI?

High Performance: Excellent for demanding computing tasks.
User-Friendly: Easy to maintain and operate.
Flexibility: Versatile for different applications.
Good Technical Support: Access to professional assistance.

HPE ProLiant DL Servers are implemented across industries like finance for active directories and payment solutions, education for virtual desktops, healthcare for database synchronization, and IT firms for high-performance computing and application hosting.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

HPE Synergy, the first platform built from the ground up for Composable Infrastructure, offers an experience that empowers IT to create and deliver new value instantly and continuously. It is a single infrastructure that reduces operational complexity for traditional workloads and increases operational velocity for the new breed of applications and services. Through a single interface, HPE Synergy composes physical and virtual compute, storage, and fabric pools into any configuration for any application. As an extensible platform, it easily enables a broad range of applications and operational models such as virtualization, hybrid cloud, and DevOps. With HPE Synergy, IT can become not just the internal service provider but the business partner to rapidly launch new applications that become the business.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Sample Customers

AmeriPride Services, iSource, Bolagsverket, BlueShore Financial, British Columbia Assessment Authority, National Stock Exchange, Cardlytics

HudsonAlpha, Virgin Media, EMIS, United

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