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HPE Superdome X vs HPE Synergy vs Lenovo Flex System 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of HPE Superdome X is 7.1%, down from 10.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Synergy is 11.9%, down from 21.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo Flex System is 4.6%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HPE Synergy11.9%
HPE Superdome X7.1%
Lenovo Flex System4.6%
Other76.4%
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2056329 - PeerSpot reviewer
Professor at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Robust product, helped with workload management and offers remote configuration
In this specific model, it could be beneficial to have a server configuration similar to Cisco, like the kind offered in HPE Superdome Flex X280. The ability to separate the chassis is important because we are forced to use two chassis even with lower loads. So introducing more flexibility in the Superdome environment would be helpful. One other problem is energy consumption. We are forced to use both chassis even when we only need, for example, all four processors. It's not always used at full capacity every day. When underutilized, we still need to have both chassis powered, which creates an energy consumption issue. While the machine can be configured to reduce consumption, the idea of having different possible configurations with varying chassis usage, similar to the Flex version, could be interesting for this model, too. This model leverages specific features of the Intel MAP board, so switching like in the Flex might be difficult due to the motherboard switching involved.
MR
Presales engineer and consultant at Hybrid Tech
Redundant components and single console management improve efficiency while high costs warrant attention
Regarding HPE Synergy, the most valuable feature is that the whole solution and the whole system operate in passive mode, and there are very few chances of downtime as all the components in HPE Synergy are redundant, including VC Flex modules and interconnect modules, as well as power supply and fan modules. Other networking and storage connectivity modules are also redundant, and we can mount the entire Synergy frame in a single rack. If we fully populate a Synergy frame with 12 servers, 12 physical machines could be mounted in one Synergy frame, mostly with redundant power supplies and networking ports along with SAN connectivity on a single console.
FA
Senior System Administrator at Khushhali Microfinance Bank
Used to run the compute load on servers, but firmware and driver upgrades are a bit difficult
We use the solution for multiple purposes, such as in the virtualization cluster and the standalone applications We use the solution as a compute model to run the compute load on servers. The solution's firmware and driver upgrades are a bit difficult. I have been using Lenovo Flex System for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We like the flexibility with the platform and our ability to stretch it across a lot of different areas of the company and product lines."
"This product is very reliable."
"We've got a few of them, because we needed some really large machines; so far, they've been working pretty good."
"I would tell you that if you are looking for a product that can be used by multiple groups especially multiple groups with one point of administration, Superdome is very good."
"In summary, this is a good product and I recommend it."
"One of the really cool things about Superdome is, depending on the model you choose, you can put 8-16 blades in it."
"The most valuable features of HPE Superdome X are speed, performance, and resilience."
"CPU and memory, it's just pretty good and helps us to support the students and the teachers of the school."
"The initial setup is straightforward. The infrastructures as code enables you to fill out the configuration before you even deploy it, then it is just a one-touch deployment."
"HPE Synergy has been dependable for the past 15 years."
"Shorter delivery times. Where we now have a delivery time of about six weeks, we hope to go back to days."
"The manageability is its most valuable feature. It is a fully managed platform, which is very simple to manage."
"Support is very helpful."
"The hyper-converged infrastructure where everything is stateless is valuable. Basically, you have your compute storage and networking management."
"There is no comparison between installing a server by hand versus having everything automated in place, which makes a big difference by averting human errors, making life easier, and making operations much easier."
"We have more control over the firmware and how we are managing our physical servers."
"Flex System's best features are its performance and stability."
"I have found the solution to be quite stable."
"It comes at a good price. We didn't face any problems with this product."
"We use the solution as a compute model to run the compute load on servers."
"We are using Lenovo Flex System for our internal platform where we store our operating systems, Windows, Linux, and VMware, and then virtualize our machines."
"The Lenovo Flex System is very stable."
"The product is very user-friendly and has many resources at the enterprise level."
"It's stable, it works well, and we have had no problem with it for a long time."
 

Cons

"I know we support Windows and I think it's Red Hat, and I'd like to see more OSs supported."
"There's a big upfront investment, but the total cost of ownership should be cheaper over the long term."
"I know we support Windows and I think it's Red Hat, and I'd like to see more OSs supported."
"HPE Superdome X can improve by adding a lot of cloud capabilities to allow this solution to be cloud-ready in case the customer wants to move it to the cloud."
"The price of this product should be cheaper."
"In this specific model, it could be beneficial to have a server configuration similar to Cisco, like the kind offered in HPE Superdome Flex X280. The ability to separate the chassis is important because we are forced to use two chassis even with lower loads. So introducing more flexibility in the Superdome environment would be helpful."
"I'd like to see the onboarding of some storage class memory to really expand the already very large RAM, into something that could be even much bigger."
"HPE Superdome X can improve by adding a lot of cloud capabilities to allow this solution to be cloud-ready in case the customer wants to move it to the cloud."
"Sometimes there are firmware or software difficulties when connecting between networks or with storage."
"The stability is not good right now. We have had a couple of outages where we have receive very good support from HPE. However, we have not been able to come up with cut and dried reasons for why the outages have occurred. They have not been able to be reproduced, so it has been difficult getting our trust back."
"I would like the ability to take the storage tray that is in a chassis and share it out to multiple chassis, not just the servers within the same chassis. This would be more efficient with resources."
"The power consumption is very high, and there should be a more efficient way of reducing the power requirements while maintaining high performance."
"One of the features I want to see, which I will see with OneView 5.0, is to have all the OneView consoles in a single pane of glass."
"It's a lot more about some of the speeds and feeds, such as the 25, 50, 100 GB virtual connections."
"One of the features I want to see, which I will see with OneView 5.0, is to have all the OneView consoles in a single pane of glass. That will make it easy to see everything in one place and not have to log in to multiple consoles."
"Technical support for this solution has a very good initial response; however, escalation takes time, and most of the time the first level of support cannot solve your case."
"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."
"I had some difficulties with the initial setup."
"The installation was not easy."
"The user-interface needs improvement, because they have an application from which we have to manage the whole system and all the infrastructure. This application is not working at our premises, because of some problem with the hardware itself. So although we brought it with our systems, and we used it to manage all the systems: the storage, the switches, and everything, nevertheless we have to support every part alone and enter the interface in one-by-one."
"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."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is not very cheap. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with one being very inexpensive, and ten being very expensive."
"There is a very expensive one-time cost with no licensing fees."
"We bought everything outright to start with. We don't do much consumption-based stuff."
"We outright purchased Synergy."
"The Nutanix platform came in a little more expensive than the Synergy."
"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."
"The platform that we run Synergy on is all virtualized. Our primary cost is likely VMware."
"The biggest cost is the VMware licensing."
"The hardware licensing cost is reasonable."
"The solution can be expensive because it requires both hardware and software purchases."
"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."
"We are just paying the operational cost, which is not much."
"The price is interesting. I am able to quote a client based on their needs and offer them either Lenovo or Dell."
"There is a one-off payment to buy the equipment and the support is purchased annually."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Government
9%
University
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
Construction Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise56
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HPE Superdome X?
I like the robustness of the machine. Similar performance could likely be achieved with other configurations, but thi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Superdome X?
The pricing is not very cheap. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with one being very inexpensive, and ten ...
What needs improvement with HPE Superdome X?
In this specific model, it could be beneficial to have a server configuration similar to Cisco, like the kind offered...
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 s...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Synergy?
As far as the prices are concerned, rack mount solutions are less expensive than HPE Synergy prices; however, HPE Syn...
What needs improvement with HPE Synergy?
In my opinion, for future improvements in HPE Synergy, there should be better management of power consumption complex...
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 fr...
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,...
 

Also Known As

HP Integrity Superdome, HP Superdome X
No data available
Flex System Blade Servers, Flex System SN Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Pella
HudsonAlpha, Virgin Media, EMIS, United
Information Not Available
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