Dell PowerEdge R-Series Reviews

We made a renovation of our infrastructure, and the problem we're solving is our performance and it is collectivity in our infrastructure too.

We have a full-scale infrastructure for six countries and are able to centralize it. With this kind of product, we are solving a lot of problems, or issues that we had before with regards to performance. The centralization of the platform for the company helped immensely.

The go-to-market implementation was pretty fast. The go-to-market speed for us was pretty important at the time we had to implement that infrastructure. 

In terms of the performance of the servers, I'm already pretty comfortable with that.

When it comes to PowerEdge rack servers handling the evolving needs of workloads, I have support from Dell partners. They constantly assess improvements for us and other versions of items on products. I keep up to date with it via my partners.

We use Dell's Optane to obtain memory in the PowerEdge environment. It helped save money in that aspect, as far as adding memory capacity. We used to negotiate these kinds of platforms and renewal with our partners on a full scale. We have a lot of cost-saving with this infrastructure.

PowerEdge helped to reduce unplanned production downtime. We have an IT continuity plan that is actually based on the infrastructure we already have implemented with Dell.

They could improve the time between new versions of the product. They could move faster, or maybe offer a little bit more support from the partners.

We've been using the solution for four years.

We have 6,500 people across six countries using the platform.

We have good support from Dell and good support from our partners. That said, sometimes it takes a pretty long time to get an answer from Dell. However, we get pretty good support from those folks.

Positive

We had used HP solutions and others as well. We changed as I had some experience with this product and we had comfort in the security that Dell gives us as a platform. The cost and the go-to-market implementation alongside the partner support are the main drivers we looked at when changing.

I was involved in the setup of the product. It was both easy and difficult to set up. However, thanks to the partner, it was more easygoing. There were a lot of people and it was useful to have somebody help as well.

We have a pretty big platform. It took two and a half months to implement the solution. That said, for our needs, it was pretty fast. We had to deal with multiple locations and we migrated everything to just one. We centralized the entire platform.

We had a great partner and planner involved.

For us, it makes more sense to have an on-premise platform rather than a cloud due to the cost. The cost-saving we have in the on-premises platform still is the driver.

We did consider public cloud servers before choosing PowerEdge Racks. We looked at servers for AWS, Azure, and others.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. We are quite satisfied.

It's a good scalable product. It's a good cost-saving product too. That aspect helps us as a company. In my experience, it's a pretty good implementation too. 

I'd advise new users to keep up with the timing of new deployments. That way, you can take advantage of new features. 

The setup is hybrid right now. It was formerly strictly on-premise and we used it for our file storage and for our virtual machines.

Originally, it was purchased for strict file storage and access on-prem. However, when COVID hit, we ended up purchasing laptops for every single employee that we had. Having to use our new file storage device, which is no longer on-premises as they're now at home, was easy. That's why we went with a hybrid environment. We put a lot of the data into the cloud and backed it up in the on-premises file storage.

It allowed us to move some file storage that we had around. It allowed us to really look into what we had and what we were using. Looking at Apex, it is setting us up for when it will need a refresh or when it is at its end of life.

The most valuable aspects include hot swapping and the elasticity as far as being able to scale. We had a bunch of stuff on an old, existing EMC. The company was unaware that they had to keep the files that they had for so long. We realized that once we were meeting the seven-year mark and we could start purging some of those files, we had to scale down a little bit.

The initial purchase that we had was a little big, however, as we started adding more users that were working from home and had their own drive, OneDrive, we had to expand it a little bit. Dell was able to ship me bigger hard drives.

When it comes to running the latest high-demand applications, PowerEdge is good. The VMware that we had was almost end-of-life, so we had to upgrade it and Dell helped out with that quite a bit, putting it on our PowerEdge and assisting us with a lot of stuff that VMware didn’t. VMware just said, "Here. Here's your product. Good luck.” Dell was a lot more helpful. They had a lot of engineers that knew about that service that we were trying to tap into a little better.

The BIOS recovery was something we used because we had a huge power outage and a power strike when one of our air conditioners had a bad power surge run through it at our facility. Dell helped us rebuild our actual BIOS system in it, as one of the mirror arrays that we were using just wasn't being seen. We were afraid it was a hardware issue, however, it was really a BIOS issue that we couldn't see right off the jump. We’re glad Dell was there to help.

The solution's analytics helped to decrease production downtime by at least 30%. I'm in Arizona and down in Tucson we don't get that much downtime. We have a lot of battery backups, we have a generator system, and more. However, when it does happen, the analytics of it, as far as the trends on what months the monsoon season hits, it kept all in the logs.

The system management capabilities of PowerEdge helped increase stack productivity. We've had a little bit of turnover in our system admin department, however, having the ability to go back and look through the logs and see how users ended up using their home drive, their shared files, and their encrypted files really helped out my new guys coming on board.

The solution's accelerated GPUs help support demanding workloads in our organization. We had a couple of changing workloads due to the fact that when people shifted from home, they were hitting the server from a different angle. They were coming in off a virtual private network instead of being on-premises and the system didn't blink.

I’m not sure if PowerEdge helped to reduce data processing time in our organization as we don't crunch a lot. We do have a lot of videos coming in and a lot of video editing going on, so in that way, it does help.

The PowerEdge system management frameworks enable us to progress towards full automation. We knew what we were looking for when we refreshed this last model and we purchased a new server just from the analytics we got off the first one.

It helps me forecast better. We don't grow exponentially. Teachers are hard to come by, however, some will leave and some will stay. The business models are the same, yet they expect more. Now they want to do a video. They want to capture and record the videos and the Zoom meetings that they're doing, therefore, it's a little different.

It's more from the pandemic, however, the logistics part of it could be better. Getting an actual bare-bones server was a little difficult when we ordered it in beginning. I'm still waiting on the printers that I ordered last year as well. That's the only thing I would really say and I'm sure it has to do with the pandemic.

The latency of it is what we're running into, as our teachers do a lot of video captures, video teaching, Zoom, and Teams video conferencing, and their latency is getting worse with the public domain.

I've used the solution since I've been with the company, probably for the last three years.

The scalability is very good. There were different options that we could have gone to. We could either have gotten smaller hard drives and/or downsized if we needed to. They knew our business model was going to change when the pandemic hit.

We have about 650 end users on this particular solution and 80% of them are teachers. The rest are administrative professionals.

Currently, we are planning to put a new server that we have in the mix online and up and running with the PowerEdge server that we have. Now, with Apex and more coming out, we're looking to possibly pivot.

Technical support is very good. We had to call Dell technical support when our BIOS got corrupted and they were on the spot. They escalated us to tier two within 20 minutes. It was really quick.

Positive

We did previously use a different solution, however, I cannot remember what our large area network's device was.

Dell came in with a very competitive offer with the first model of storage that we got, so that's what my predecessor went to, and we kept it around.

The initial setup was very straightforward. We knew exactly where we wanted to put it in our array and how we wanted to set it up, what the power requirements would be, where it would fit on my battery backup system, and the plan for system recovery in case it had to be gracefully shut down. It was super easy.

When deploying PowerEdge, we didn't get a chance to use the automated server and OS deployment features.

The deployment was scheduled for six hours and it took three. 

We actually had to migrate users off of an older version that we had onto the new box that we had. The implementation strategy was all about really getting our users off the box and making sure nobody was trying to access it. After that, it was just migrating users over, setting up the new box, putting it online, and running tests.

For maintenance, normally we use a server admin, myself, and maybe one other developer that helps us with the syslogs on it. There are probably three of us altogether.

We used an integrated reseller for the deployment. They were amazing.

We had an issue with a brownout or a power strike and our BIOS got a bit corrupted, however, it was nothing that couldn't be recovered on the fly.

We've seen an ROI. I don't have any details offhand. I know when we first purchased it, we got a pretty good deal on it and we didn't know if it would actually meet end-of-life due to the usage that we had on it. However, it outperformed our metrics.

I'd advise others to use the pro services that come along with it, that are available for purchase with it. It helped us immensely. If you were to extend the service contract and get the pro level, it costs a bit more.

We did evaluate other options. When it's over a certain dollar amount, we have to go out and get at least four bids.

I can't remember the exact version we have. We just purchased a new Dell SAN.

We do not use PowerEdge for artificial intelligence applications yet. We're looking into it. Right now, a lot of the video data capture that we do is with children, school-aged children, and children in a preschool environment. We were thinking the AI might be able to help us where the teacher might not be looking. If they had a camera in the room to capture the relevant stuff that was going on as far as what the lesson plan was about that day, it might be helpful.

I have not had a chance to use the solution's iDRAC telemetry for monitoring PowerEdge system data and providing analytics, however, we're really looking into that right now. We got the new SAN going in and we'd like to monitor a little better.

We do not use the solution's CloudIQ for predictive analytic capabilities yet.

It is a very stable product. It's something that we use reliably for backups. It's something we use reliably for our main server for a long time and we'd definitely buy another.

My biggest takeaway is it's not as easy going straight to the cloud when you were an on-premises provider. If you are an on-premises provider and you have all your services on-premises, going to the cloud takes a couple of steps. It's not just one big jump.

I'd rate the product nine out of ten. If I could get the same amount of storage that I got three years ago now, I'd rate it ten out of ten. I'd order it as quickly as I did when we ordered it the first time.

We use this solution for SAP and for other critical information that our customers need.

Our customers are really happy when we use PowerEdge because it improves the performance of their company. They also end up having more internal users or internal customers satisfied with solutions that they use in their company, such as SAP.

The system management capabilities of PowerEdge helped increase staff productivity by 50% for our latest client.

I've found the reliability, support, the capability to grow, and the ability to add other Dell solutions to be very valuable features.

As for security features, it's a good quality solution for the price. You can add different software or patches to have a better security solution.

It has helped reduce the data processing time by 30%.

The PowerEdge system management frameworks have enabled us to progress toward full automation when it comes to managing more.

The Industrial and healthcare areas both need improvement.

I've been using this solution for about three years.

The stability is really good.

It is scalable. You can start small and then add more products that allow you to increase the productivity of your company.

We have about 300 users and plan to upgrade the solution with more components.

We have not had a good experience with support. Technical support staff take too much time to resolve tickets. We have a super plus level of agreement, which means that the time of response is supposed to be four hours. The resulting time is supposed to be 48 hours. We sometimes see 72 hours go by with no solution provided to resolve the problem. So I would rate technical support and customer service at six on a scale from one to ten.

Neutral

We replaced Dell technology because PowerEdge is much better.

The initial deployment was straightforward because we already had technical architects who knew how to deploy the solution.

The deployment took over a month.

We implemented it ourselves with a team of six to seven people including a technical architect, an SAP Basis engineer, technicians, and a security officer.

The price is good for the quality of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers.

We looked at Lenovo.

You should compare PowerEdge's time for response, the scalability of the solution, the licensing cost, and support to those of other brands.

Sometimes you try not to spend too much on technology, but there is a point at which it is necessary to invest in this solution because you will increase the productivity of your company. When you see the quote, remember that all that money can be recouped with the increase in production.

If you wait for too long, you may start having problems and lose productivity. You can really get hit hard with a loss of productivity. You have to determine the time to change the technology to a new one.

If I were to rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, I would rate them a nine on a scale from one to ten.

We run the 900 and 700 models.

PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel offer good performance in handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads and offer good value for money. 

The Intel Xeon scalable processor has helped to improve the performance of our targeted workloads. Dell's OpenManage console is easy to use. 

PowerEdge Rack Servers has affected the overall flexibility of our operations. We are able to build our data centers with multiple clusters, and that provides sufficient scalability for us to do bigger deployments.

The support that you receive from Dell after buying this product is very valuable.

The long lead times in receiving hardware could be improved. 

We have experienced issues with memory. We received help from the Dell team and this has been resolved. 

The security of this solution could be improved. We have very specific needs as an engineering company and require multiple layers of security. This is not offered when implementing the Dell hardware.

Dell's OpenManage console is easy to use but could be better by offering additional features. The console has not decreased the time it takes to deploy new data centers.

I have been using PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel for over 15 years. 

This is a stable solution. 

This is a scalable solution. 

The customer service for this solution is very good. I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

Positive

We have used different solutions including Lenovo. We currently use Dell for all of our needs from our user hardware to our infrastructure data center. 

The initial setup is straightforward. We had 10 staff members involved in the deployment. The server bill team set up the hardware and the DMR team ran the virtualization layer over it. The security team completed the checks. We have about 55,000 users supported by this solution.

The licensing is expensive and inflexible. 

For anyone looking for a reliable storage solution, I would recommend PowerEdge. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

We used PowerEdge Rack Servers to transfer all of our physical servers and legacy systems into a virtualized environment on VMware. 

When we moved to PowerEdge Rack Servers, we converted all the physical legacy servers to the virtualized server. This reduced the operational cost, maintenance, and availability of the environment by 30 to 40%.

This solution's analytics have helped to decrease downtime. We were previously maintaining functionality by 92 to 93%, and this has increased to 98 to 99%.

The security features that PowerEdge provides have been very useful for our environment. We have integrated iDRAC Telemetry with our internal centralized monitoring tool, HPSM.

The complete hyper-converged infrastructure of this solution has been most useful. PowerEdge helped to reduce the data processing time by 20%. The system's management frameworks enabled us to progress towards full automation. 

This is a very stable solution. 

This is a scalable solution. We have almost 800 servers hosted on PowerEdge as well as almost all major banking applications. 

I would rate the technical support for this solution a seven out of ten. Since the start of COVID, there is a shortage of support resources and it is challenging to get queries resolved quickly. 

We previously used HPE servers, but found that Dell offered enhanced features in comparison and was the best option in Saudi Arabia. Dell offered stability and scalability. 

Deployment took approximately a week. Initially, we required three people to do the deployment. After the deployment, we have three people dedicated to doing operations and maintenance.

The initial setup was completed by Dell.

Within 24 months, we saw return on investment by using this solution. 

The pricing is good compared to other products. 

I would recommend PowerEdge Rack Servers because it is very stable and easy to deploy, manage, and maintain. It also offers reliable performance. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

We specifically used the VMware and ESX host.

The system integration details are our favourite feature and the fact that we can maintain and control the systems remotely.

The iDRAC Telemetry for monitoring the PowerEdge system is useful. Some of our servers are not in our data centers so we are able to manage them remotely, in case of an outage or any other problem.

This solution is really reliable. The storage functionality is our favourite feature. I would rate this solution a ten out of ten when it comes to running the latest high-demand applications. It is easy to work with, maintain and deploy. 

Lastly, this solution has helped decrease production down time by 25%. The system management capabilities of PowerEdge have helped increase staff productivity by 25% and helped to reduce data processing time in our organization by 10%. 

The data analytics for this solution could be improved. 

I have been using this solution for 15 years. 

This is a stable solution. It offers reliability and we have not had any outages. It improves with every generation. 

This is a scalable solution. We have 200 employees making use of a full stack of applications supported by this solution. 

I would rate the support for this solution a seven out of ten. This is due to the fact that there is sometimes a shortage of parts. 

Neutral

The initial setup is straightforward. Deployment took two days. We implemented new power servers in a cluster one by one. 

This solution is reasonably priced and licenses are easy to acquire. 

The PowerEdge system management frameworks have enabled our business to progress towards full automation. This has freed up time to focus on different parts of the business, rather than constantly monitoring issues.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

We use PowerEdge Rack Servers for quantitative analytics, data simulations, and machine learning.

The hardware makes it a good solution.

PowerEdge Rack Servers are very good for handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads.

Its tuning and performance are good.

The specs for the benchmarks are very good, but the firmware and software are lacking. There are some issues with the Linux kernel and the long-term support (LTS) for some of the firmware's dependencies. It is causing the kernel to dump. The support for the Linux brands isn't optimal. We would like them to optimize the kernel drivers for benchmarks.

There are some issues that need to be solved with our model in regards to UEFI and firmware. 

I have been using it for about 10 years.

There haven't been any issues with downtime.

Dell's open source support is very good. There are a lot of issues that they need to handle though, like the firmware and UEFI.

We previously used IBM and Lenovo.

It is a cluster, so you just plug and play.

Lenovo is very good with updates.

We use AMD Opteron instead of Intel Xeon.

We chose Dell because of its open source. Our community likes Dell because of its open source delivery.

We use GCP Spot and AWS Graviton as our failover solutions.

I would rate this solution as eight out of 10.

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel for research calculations. 

With Intel Xeon processors, the solution has helped improve our target workloads' performance by 50 percent at times, depending on the exact calculation we are doing.

It's great at handling high-performance workloads.

They have also done their job when it comes to security features. We haven't ever had a breach, although it is a closed network.

When it comes to energy consumption they're also very good. They don't use power because they're power-hungry, but because we use them very hard.

I don't know much about the new Intel CPUs, but they need to put more than two CPUs in the servers. It may be an Intel limitation, but I'm not sure.

I have used Dell solutions for six years.

We haven't had any downtime with them due to anything on Dell's side. So far, they haven't failed.

We have hundreds of them, and adding as many as we can is as easy as the first one.

The support has been great. We haven't needed it much because the servers just work. But when we had issues, I called Dell. If it was a malfunction of the hardware, we had a solution within a day, and that was usually because of my schedule, not Dell's schedule. I would tell them, "Okay, come tomorrow or the day after. That will be better for me."

Positive

We used to have HP servers but they were horrible. We maintained them for about three years, but by the end of the three years, we didn't get all the features of the BIOS. The Dells, from day one, worked like a charm, with no additional fees or hidden costs, like we had with the HPs.

It's easy to handle. You just put it in, connect it, and it works. The average time it takes me to set up a server and get it to work is about 15 minutes.

We have seen ROI compared to cloud solutions. Similarly, compared to the HPs that we didn't select, we don't need to handle and pet them all the time. We didn't need another system engineer to handle the computers. I was enough.

The pricing is great; very competitive. That's the reason we bought hundreds of them.

We mainly evaluated HPs and Lenovos. Dell was the most cost-effective, power-efficient, and the easiest to handle.

The solution is a great service. They do their job. It requires minimal effort from my side as a system engineer, with very few errors or malfunctions.

My advice is to buy them. They are really good servers. They're straightforward. You don't need to research hidden definitions in the BIOS. They're simple to handle.