Dell PowerEdge R-Series Reviews

We use Dell PowerEdge for databases, file servers, and virtualization.

PowerEdge reduces energy consumption by achieving the same results with fewer servers and more virtualization. We're starting our AI journey with some AI workloads running on R750 servers. I don't have much insight into the applications, but I recommend Dell servers to colleagues who want to run AI workloads. In the end, the benefit outweighs the cost. 

We constantly upgrade to newer hardware, and everything stays the same but with updated architecture. This consistency is good for our technicians on the data center side. We also appreciate the integration with VMware. It keeps things simple for us. 

We use PowerEdge servers in conjunction with VMware, a VCF Rack, and VxRail. That has worked out well. We are using it for firmware upgrades and other similar tasks. It's a one-stop shop, but it could be better when the servers aren't on a VCF stack. Profile handling and upgrading standalone servers could improve, but they have gotten better over the years.

I have used Dell servers for 20 years. I've used Dell PowerEdge servers at my current company for six years, but I used them at other jobs. 

We don't have issues with PowerEdge except for occasional hardware problems. 

We can easily scale PowerEdge. We have a good platform on the software side, so we just scale out with more servers. We have had some issues scaling up more ports, but that's hardware. Nothing scales to infinity. We've had no problem handling high-performance workloads. We upgrade every few years to the latest and fastest hardware when necessary. 

I rate Dell support nine out of 10. They've helped us get the platform running and perform remote upgrades. They've been a good intermediary contact point for discussions with VMware and Broadcom. I talk with the support engineer, who talks with the networking team or someone else.

We have used HP and IBM Servers. Initially, we decided to adopt Dell because they offered a better price point. We are satisfied with the solution and will continue to use it. 

I rate PowerEdge eight out of 10 for ease of deployment. 

We deployed the servers using consultants this time, but we've used Dell professional services before. Our experience with consultants was good. 

I rate PowerEdge Rack Servers eight out of 10. 

On-premises

I use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as the main server for my network. I install Windows Server and utilize all the features it offers for my network management.

I use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as the main server for my network. I install Windows Server and utilize all the features it offers for my network management. One of the valuable features is Active Directory, which helps in managing the network. Additionally, it is used as the active server for my network.

I would like Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers to be faster and more secure. Improving these aspects would be beneficial. If possible, I would also appreciate a reduction in price.

I have been working with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for about sixteen years.

The deployment of Windows Server on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers was very easy. Implementing Windows Server is straightforward.

The product is very stable.

I haven't faced any problems with the servers, so I haven't had any reason to contact customer service.

Positive

I previously used HP servers before switching to Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers.

The initial setup was very easy with Windows Server.

I used Windows Server for deployment and did not utilize any specific Dell deployment services or consultants.

I have not seen a return on investment.

The price of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is not cheap, especially considering the currency circumstances in Egypt. I purchased it for approximately 500,000 Egyptian pounds.

I use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as the main server for my network. I install Windows Server and utilize all the features it offers for my network management. One of the valuable features is Active Directory, which helps in managing the network. Additionally, it is used as the active server for my network. I would rate the overall solution as eight to nine out of ten.

On-premises

Our internal infrastructure for multiple networks on our large site uses Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers in VxRail clusters to support over 2,000 users, numerous labs, and development environments. These Dell servers function as the primary compute nodes within the VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure solution.

We implemented Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers because we were looking for a complete solution, and Dell was a strong contender. Their VxRail solution for SimpliVity offered implementation, upgrades, and support as a bundle, making it the ideal choice for us, and it has worked perfectly.

I put aside the monetary value. I'm seeking a more stable solution and fewer headaches for our IT professionals. Now that this solution is implemented, upgrades, additional solutions, and system stability are much easier to achieve. It's difficult to put a price on that, but it's an IT professional's dream come true.

To date, we have not encountered any issues with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers' ability to handle the evolving needs of high-performance workloads. Our data center has been primarily based on HP solutions for a considerable time, and we have only started incorporating Dell solutions into our infrastructure in the last three years. We are pleased with their performance, consider them a good product, and recommend them.

SimpliVity's most valuable features are its unified management and operational capabilities. It is amazing to have a single pane of glass to view, manage, and operate the entire environment without switching between Windows, software, or web environments.

The pricing always has room for improvement.

The support experience has room for improvement. As a secure site, we require personnel with specific clearances, and sometimes, the language barrier poses a challenge. English-to-Hebrew translation can impact various processes, particularly when troubleshooting errors necessitates collaboration with US or European teams across different time zones. Moreover, vendors occasionally request logs, which we cannot provide due to security protocols. The language barrier can make it difficult to clearly communicate our needs and issues to support personnel overseas. Therefore, we require more Dell technical support staff based in Israel.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for three and a half years.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers offer excellent stability. I implemented the Stretch Cluster as an active-active solution to handle scenarios such as a complete data center loss. To test the solution's robustness, I pulled the power cables from the server, simulating a potential real-world failure. Other vendors' solutions couldn't handle this, but Dell's appropriately performed, prompting immediate implementation. Now, I can confidently attest to its effectiveness. We've undergone data center and rack maintenance without any issues. Even during a complete networking loss over a weekend, the solution continued to operate seamlessly.

Dell's Professional Services are fantastic. I saw some people at the convention who helped us implement our environment because we faced some initial challenges as it was a new product. They were all amazing. The professional services team I speak to on the phone when I have a crisis, an upgrade, or even just a random error message is incredibly professional and helpful. I have nothing but positive things to say about them—they're amazing.

Positive

We use HP blade centers and rack servers as the foundation of our main data center. However, we are now transitioning to Dell Solutions, which offers comparable products from a different vendor, and we are happy with this change.

The deployment was moderately complex. Despite the installation manual provided by Dell to their professional services team, there were always additional tips and tricks not mentioned in the manual. However, the Dell Deployment Services team was highly skilled and experienced, allowing them to anticipate and address any issues that arose, resulting in a successful deployment.

Choosing an active solution that I implemented cost considerably more money. However, the return on investment was evident when something occurred on the weekend while we were off-site. No one experienced any disruption beyond a simple virtual machine reboot, which was remarkable. The work continued seamlessly. Even if someone worked over the weekend, they could still come to the office on Monday. I wasn't bothered with any calls about malfunctions or outages.

I rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers ten out of ten.

My focus is liquid cooling. We are taking the air-cooled PowerEdge systems and converting them to liquid cooling. That usually involves replacing and doing material compatibility, adjusting the thermal interface materials inside the systems, and adjusting the heat sinks. We turn off the fans and adjust the BIOS systems in some of the subsystems, such as PSUs.

This allows the server that has been designed for air cooling to be submerged in dielectric fluid so that it can now be cooled with dielectric fluid running through the systems. Because of the fact that it is submerged, all the subsystems are being cooled, but instead of air, it is done by fluid. It is far more effective at pulling heat out of the systems, taking that heat out of the unit, and then being able to use that heat for other purposes.

For the larger PowerEdge systems that have GPU integrations in them, we have seen a lot of trends in building those for AI systems. We have seen a generated interest in the PowerEdge system across the board for a majority of industries.

I am quite new to the company, but I see that customers keep asking for these servers. From our side, because of our relationship with Dell, we can take a server and convert it to liquid far quicker than with other partners. That has been a big advantage. The PowerEdge system is good in many aspects. Many times customers just want to deploy these systems, especially given the acceleration that we have seen in the AI industry. People just want to be able to get their systems up and running as quickly as possible, so sometimes, there is an advantage to the lead time of getting these things converted. We have been able to do that quicker through Dell than with other IT vendors. We have relationships with HPE as well as with Lenovo. We are dynamic. We are not tied to any particular vendor, and we can work with all customers to deploy different systems inside their environment for liquid cooling.

From our side, there is always a little bit of a challenge with the footprint. I am in an area where we are submerging these devices in tanks. We are in a situation where some of the server designs are a little bit deep. For example, PowerEdge R760xa has a slightly extended depth. It is not as long as PowerEdge XE9680, but PowerEdge R760xa is a beast in itself. It is influencing the infrastructure designers to change their footprint so that they can incorporate something like this in their AI systems. That is very impressive. This is the thing that so many people are talking about at the moment. We see a lot of potential in a device like this because of the fact that you can load H100 or H200 GPUs with NVLink. It is a complete system for AI training models.

We have our own challenges with firmware, but that is only because we sometimes have to adjust the firmware of things like PSUs. With the firmware that they have by default, there is a fan running inside that. When we run fluid through, we want to adjust the firmware so that the fan is turned off. We usually have to adjust the firmware to a very high version because we do not want someone updating the firmware to the new standard. That is because the moment they do that, the fans will start running again, and all the alarms are going to go off because a bunch of fluids are running through the systems. So, we have our own firmware challenges to work with, but Dell is strong in being able to help us with that information and get the firmware so that we can adjust it. It is not just one vendor who provides the PSUs, and firmware adjustments are far more successful than having to emulate the PSUs, which is something some people have done in the past, but they led to some failures inside the PSUs when they try to convert to liquid cooling.

In terms of energy consumption, because I am on the liquid cooling side of things, we turn the fans off. If we can get a PowerEdge system and convert it to liquid cooling, we can reduce the power consumption of that server by up to 40%. In data center environments, energy consumption is becoming an important ratio to measure when people are building up these large data centers around the world. Currently, in an air-cool system, power usage effectiveness (PUE) is 2.0 or 1.5. When you start to liquidate all these, that dramatically drops to 1.2 or 1 PUE. You can even get less than 1 PUE if you effectively reuse the heat. So, you get more environment-friendly servers. If you are reducing carbon emissions and your power consumption by 20% or 30%, that is incredibly attractive when you are trying to build out new systems. Not only that, with air-cool, to maintain strong air conditioning to keep these things cool, especially something like PowerEdge XE9680, air conditioning has to use up a lot of water, whereas, with immersion, you do not have to use up that water. You are using incredibly small amounts of water to cool. It is even zero in many cases. So, liquid cooling has a huge amount of environmentally friendly advantages, and the fact that we are able to do quite a lot of liquid cooling PowerEdge systems in turn makes PowerEdge a more environmentally friendly option.

Because we are able to change the standard with cooling, it gets purchased in positions where we can run the GPUs at their maximum performance. In fluid systems that we have tested using things like PowerEdge XE9680, we are able to achieve maximum frequency and maximum performance.

The Dell name holds a lot of weight on our position as a partner of Dell's when it comes to liquid cooling the systems. We have a great relationship with Dell, so we are able to exchange information very easily to be able to build these systems for our customers. When it comes to converting one of these to liquid cooling, we need to know a lot of information about the sub-components, the vendors, and the firmware inside PSUs. Without a strong relationship with our IT partner Dell, we would not be able to do that effectively and quickly to meet the lead times of our customers.

Dell PowerEdge systems are very strong or well-rounded systems. A lot of people like the 4th and 5th generation Xeon that has been implemented into PowerEdge. Xeon has a good advantage when it comes to the inputting element of AI systems, and, of course, Intel also has a good name. However, from our position, as a partner and as a systems integrator, the real strength is the relationship that we have with Dell and being able to exchange that information.

I have been a part of my current organization for a few months. I started at the end of last year. I have been acclimatizing to the PowerEdge systems. 

In the metrics that I have worked with, they have been very stable and reliable so far. We have not had cases where we have to go in and do maintenance work on our side of things. Usually, any issues that they have had from a liquid cooling side of things have mostly been down to people not doing the proper practice when it comes to installation. 

A lot of the time, we deal with customers who already have a pre-existing architecture. They perhaps have Cisco systems or HPE systems in their infrastructure. The challenge is to convert them to a new unit. The data center's presentation is such a big element of design. It is good if they stick with the same vendor and have the same relationship, but it is sometimes challenging to have someone change their traditional air-cooled infrastructure systems with the ones from Dell.

I have not heard anything negative about its deployment.

To those who are thinking about liquid cooling, I would strongly recommend it, especially in the EU. It is an environmentally friendly option. It is important to make sure that you have an integrator who understands liquid cooling to a strong degree. It is not something that you can just convert by yourself in the data center. It is something that needs to be done in a lab environment, and it needs to be supported going forward by someone who understands liquid cooling. You need a liquid cooling specialist who is able to assist with that, as well as being able to assist on the services and support side from Dell. We work fluently with Dell in those situations. We found that once the liquid cooling starts running in these systems, if there is going to be a problem, it would have happened in the first few weeks. It is usually down to installation practices, not the systems themselves.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a nine out of ten. It is a very strong solution. 

Our company offers various solutions, but for Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, our clients had specific requirements such as a very new, unsupported CPU, extensive RAM support, and numerous PCIe lanes. Only Dell met all these needs.

The learning curve for Dell products is not steep due to the excellent support and easily accessible information. Compared to other projects I'm involved in, I found it much easier to learn and use Dell products. 

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have redundant power supplies that would help reduce downtime.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers offer flexibility due to their remote management capabilities, redundant components, and ease of diagnosis and repair.

The most valuable aspect of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is that they don't require support for card installation and offer extensive diagnostic software. I was able to work on the servers installed in our lab remotely from my office via the management tools. This eliminated the need for a physical display connection, requiring only an ethernet cable and power for remote access and management. 

Their servers are modular, but there are specific applications for which I wish they would publish the specifications, such as the specs of internal connectors. If Dell doesn't provide a connector, I'd like to be able to provide it myself.

The limited connectivity of the Rack Servers, due to having only three USB ports, is an area of improvement for Dell. Dell continues to use micro USB for the management port, and that cable type is increasingly more difficult to find. A shift to USB-C for the management port would be a welcome improvement from Dell.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for one year.

We sometimes build in-house using components from vendors we represent, but this project required something completely different, so we went with Dell. I hadn't worked with Dell before and had no prior experience. I had designed PCs based on Dell-style motherboards from one company and cards from another, handling integration, software support, and everything else. This was different because they didn't conform to usual standards and used their own products. There was a learning curve, but it was much easier overall.

I rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers nine out of ten.

We collaborated with Dell Professional Services to obtain cable design specifications. The power supplies used DC voltage, and we needed to determine the recommended cable thickness and any other pertinent design considerations. We planned to install our cards, which necessitated an internal power supply, so we needed the specifications to ascertain the maximum power draw from each connector.

Dell Professional Services were great compared to others I have used. I would rate them ten out of ten.

We use PowerEdge servers for backup and VxRail. 

PowerEdge is flexible and adaptable. You can you can build whatever you want from it. It's used for Data Domain and many other purposes. Since Dell purchased EMC, you can use it for most solutions. It's better than other solutions in terms of heat and power consumption. PowerEdge servers reduce unplanned downtime for our clients. 

It's easy to install. The GUI is user-friendly. Everything is well organized, and you can see everything. You can do the command line remotely. I've done 20 servers in bulk.

The GUI could be improved. I primarily work with the command line, which enables you to do many things faster.

I have used PowerEdge servers for four years.

PowerEdge servers are highly stable. I haven't experienced any failures, and updates resolve all bugs. 

We primarily use PowerEdge for other solutions, and the software combines everything. PowerEdge is a node in a bigger solution.

I rate Dell support nine out of 10. We did not use professional services for deployment, but we contact support when we have issues we can't resolve ourselves. They are cooperative, and if the frontline support can't answer our question, they escalate it, and we get an answer later. 

Positive

PowerEdge servers are easy to install. 

I rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers eight out of 10. It has all the features our customers need. 

We are an MSP that sells, deploys, installs, and maintains Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for our customers who use them for storage and as their main server.

Our customers implement Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for better performance and lower prices. They have a lower price and the best performance. 

Dell is an established and trusted name for our customers. They have proven themselves as a leader in storage. 

PowerEdge cyber-resilient architecture approach to security is good. The updates come regularly and quickly when there is a zero-day occurrence. We trust that security is tight. 

PowerEdge does a good job handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads.

PowerEdge has minimal downtime. Out of 100 servers, we may have an issue with two servers per year.

The OpenManage console has improved productivity through ease of maintenance. It's easy to use and it's good for the team. We use it every day. 

Because the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are stable and work well, our customers can work around the clock, giving them the flexibility to do what they need.

From a technical perspective, the iDRAC system's most valuable feature is its performance, while from the customer's perspective, it is the other features. It's easy to manage. 

I want Dell to offer more virtualization platforms because the cost of VMware is getting too high.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for almost ten years.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are stable.

We are able to plan for scalability based on the customer's requirements and have not had any issues with it.

We use Dell technical support two to three times a year. They are professional and always meet our SLA time. However, there are sometimes service delays on weekends.

Positive

We also sell HPE and Lenovo servers. When we buy a Dell PowerEdge server, most of the features are included in the price, but for the others, such as HPE iLO for connecting or IBM X servers, we must purchase add-ons.

The deployment of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is similar to that of other vendors in terms of complexity. It's easy.

We implement the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for our customers.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are reliable, ensuring customers see a return on investment as they don't need to extend warranties on their servers.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers ten out of ten. I also deal with Lenovo and HPE, and we must pay extra for support and add-on features. This is not the case with Dell PowerEdge. With Dell, it includes all the servers. 

It is very easy to sell Dell.

We are currently using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers to run about ten virtual machines. Within these virtual machines, we have our ERP systems, remote access systems, and more. It is primarily used as a Hyper-V server for virtualization purposes.

The performance and scalability are the most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. The servers perform excellently, and they are adaptable to the evolving needs of high-performance workloads. They provide the reliability needed to manage the consumption of RAM efficiently without needing to expand the rack.

I do not have anything specific in mind for improvements. The support provided is very good when we need it, and the identification of the server is excellent. Overall, there are no areas of significant improvement that I can suggest.

We have had experience with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for about two years.

The servers are reliable. We do not experience significant downtime, and they continue running effectively.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are highly scalable. We were able to resolve performance issues by managing RAM consumption without needing to physically expand the rack.

Customer service provides very good support, with an SLA of about one business day to respond to our tickets.

Neutral

We have always used Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. We had evaluated Lenovo solutions previously but chose to stick with Dell because of its reliability and support.

The initial setup is easy with the support of iDRAC services.

Our implementation team typically includes a system administrator or a support engineer.

The pricing can vary. Some customers find it cheaper due to contractual agreements, while others find it expensive, especially when scaling up. In Brazil, the parts for servers are particularly expensive.

Before choosing Dell, we evaluated Lenovo solutions. However, we preferred Dell due to its superior reliability and support.

I would recommend Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for their reliability and support. Overall, I rate the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers ten out of ten. They are excellent.

On-premises