Dell PowerEdge R-Series Reviews

Virtual Environment and performance enhancements for SQL applications and for future VDI implementations.

Performance has been observed once servers have been operational and power consumption has been reduced as well due to the new technology.

The solution has always had very good performance.

The availability/scalability is excellent.

Their technical support is always helpful. They have a very good support timeline that lasts not just a year or two, but even five years down the line. It's a long-term arrangement.

The solution is highly scalable, with a two-socket server, CPU support, and the M.E.N SST. 

It can support VDI.

You can combine these servers. Therefore, not only do they work with virtual environments, you can have them as a Data Analytics server. They can handle a lot of heavy processes. They are one of the main big servers that can handle a lot of things. For example, I'm replacing four servers with three servers, which means I can also reduce the licenses. Instead of buying two licenses, you're buying one license. The lines are reduced to half, and you have a few open managed application that will tell you the health of the server. 

The content and insights with Dell are great. Whenever something happens to your server and you have the support, they will give you a notification. Whether it's CPU or RAM or the power supply, whatever the issue, they will tell you. You always have a proactive notification on all the servers.

Security and BIOS are very good. Previously, BIOS was just a plus for the team to have on the server. Now, BIOS is more into Cyber Security and has the intelligence to recognize what is being loaded before going to the main OS. There's artificial intelligence integrated into these servers and the insights are one of the main reasons that they'll provide you with a good service, and offer you some visibility on the server. You feel safe. The server won't let you down. With the notifications, you can always handle things before they become a bigger problem. 

The company needs to invest in more marketing exposure. Users need to know that Dell servers compete with HP Servers. in the region, the Middle East, many more companies work with HP. They could change this.

The solution could still use some more analytics.

It would be helpful if we had the power of an open managed application. It should be more hands-on in terms of how are you going to manage your server. In order to do that, you need more visibility into the health of the server itself.

I've been dealing with this solution for around a year. I used to have HP servers, as well, however, now I'm working with Dell again.

The solution is extremely scalable, and it's easy to do so as it has a two-socket server and CPU support, etc. It offers quite high performance for easy scaling down the road.

You don't just buy a server for one service. You buy a server to take advantage of several services in your environment, and so, it helps that it can scale.

I've personally never worked with technical support directly, however, it is my understanding that technical support is excellent. They offer long timelines, so you don't just have technical support for, for example, the first year or two. They continue to work with you even years down the line. They're very fast and responsive and their head in Lebanon is very good. 

Support is one of the main reasons we considered as well, as we know that if we have any critical issues, we won't have problems getting the answers we need. We get the answers we require either the same day or 24 hours. It's great.

We did use a different solution, HP, and now we are returning to Dell. Part of what played a major factor is the support for AMD CPU's. Since Dell EMC supports the AMD, there also were internal considerations as well to take them on.

HP is one of the main competitors in the Middle East. They compete head-to-head with Dell EMC also, and HP servers have some things that are better than Dell EMC. Dell has older technology. They're catching up, however, with artificial intelligence, analytics, and reporting, they're catching up.

They are pretty close in style and substance. Therefore, whichever gives me a better price will be the one I choose.

The initial setup was very, very easy. 

There's nothing to work with on the server itself. 

You just handle the configuration, and you do some EFI configuration. In the last stage, you're going to install the operating system so that it is a fast service. It depends on the disks you put in. At the server level, so it doesn't have that much configuration. It's just installing Windows and any operating system. Then you build over that.

Except for the Bios updates and the drivers and the compatibility issues, you don't have any problem with compatibility.

There are certain components on other solutions that I need to check with Dell. Dell was very good before and always is in the performance, availability and support. That said, our region in Lebanon, had some problems with the distributors and the people who are licensed to sell Dell products. It's been about five years now, and it's now official that everybody can partner again with Dell. You don't have to be an experienced partner, per se. 

Before, it was being controlled by one partner. Nobody is able to bring in Dell, and this partner had control for all the prices of all the support and everything. However, after merging with EMC and after having so many partners, its become more exposed to the market. Many partners that were struggling to sell Dell EMC servers and storage, as well as laptops and everything, are able to do so. 

This is the main reason why we have returned to Dell. We know about them. They offer very good servers and they are one of the leaders in the market. Dell and HP are leaders now in the servers. For this season, we reconsidered having their Rack Servers. This is the only reason we're going now to Dell servers. 

With Dell, if a company is considering their work environments and they're considering Data Analytics and Big Data, etc., yes, why not to go for the Dell server. They have an extremely scalable infrastructure designed for Big Data and they have the processes and ERP system that needs a lot of power. The Rack Servers, the PowerUp servers, are very good. They are recommended by many people worldwide.

I'd recommend organizations consider these servers. Dell also has a full portfolio of products that work together in harmony. Whatever you need, Dell likely has a solution for you.

Overall, I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

We are a Dell partner, and we're kind of like a hybrid type of partner that sells new products and also maintains a large stock of inventory. We build servers, storage, and solutions for clients and data centers. In terms of a specific use case, we build a lot of VMware vSAN in this solution. 

Their management tools are the most valuable. Our customers like the flexibility of being able to scale up and out. It is very easy for them to scale and add additional nodes and servers to their storage solutions, such as the ATI solution.

It has very good quality and a great deployment model. Its warranty is also very good, and it is very stable. Their fixes have been quick if they have those.

After purchasing the product, customers have not been getting the support that they need in the early stages of getting set up. They can provide customers a little bit more education as to what they get with certain warranty levels. The data is there if the customers dig, but a lot of times, the customers don't dig. 

Some of the other server models come out a little bit quicker than Dell. It would be good if Dell is quicker to market on new, larger drives when they become available. Sometimes, we do get hit on that against a couple of competitors. Dell vets them a little bit longer than like the super micros to keep their stability and quality level up, but they lose a little bit of ground to a super micro. It would be good if they can release features and models as soon and as fast as they can. It would help them to stay more competitive.

We've been selling these servers for 19 years.

These units are very robust. They're rock solid.

There is absolutely no problem with scalability. These machines are built to be able to scale up.

They've been dynamite. I would rate them a ten out of ten.

It has a great deployment model.

I would advise to just do your homework and make sure that you get the warranty and support levels that you're going to need. Understand what you will get and whether you need software support along with it. 

We do a cost analysis for our clients based upon the total cost of ownership. We do that for every deal. That's a very smart process to follow for any tech solution because some people think that if they just put a solution, it will solve all of their problems, which is not necessarily the case.

I would rate PowerEdge Rack Servers a ten out of ten. We love these servers. These are quality products, and I would personally purchase them for my own business. 

I use Dell R740 servers series as the main compute server to host IT workloads.

It's an excellent choice and it's integrated well with Dell-VMWare virtualization OS (ESXi).

Dell R series are very good engineered servers. Reliability and durability are the key to choose this product. This is a cornerstone to build a highly available IT system.

The reconstructive compatibility with VMware ESXi is the most valuable.

The only thing that could be improved is documentation. The product is highly customizable with a lot of options for each component. These options are not easily understood. It would be great to offer more user-friendly interface/Documentation to build up the system. 

I have been using this solution for four years.

It is very stable.

It is scalable. We can scale it by adding nodes, but some software and licenses are required for that. We have around 60 users using it on a daily basis

I never contacted them. We are usually able to resolve any issues within the company.

Yes, I installed and administered HP Proliant servers. It was a good product in my experience.

I switched because we got a competitive price.

The initial setup was straightforward.

We have three team members for its deployment and regular maintenance.

It's easy to install and configure with suitable server administrator.

iDrac management solution is included with the server. It provides suitable zero-cost solution for monitoring and managing your hardware.

Yes we evaluate all possible alternatives like:

HP and Lenovo

I would recommend this solution for rack servers. It is perfect.

I would rate Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers an nine out of ten.

All of my server's requirements are currently using the Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers.

There are certain aspects, features, and functionality on the motherboard that need improvement. 

If they had some software components that would have helped because I don't like creating electronic waste. We don't like upgrading for the sake of upgrading.

With that process, we tend to lose the newer features which would have come in during that time.

If they could have done something during that time where the new features could have been included, or improved upon the existing ones then it would have been brilliant.

In the next release, I would like to see some means by which they could improve the functionality on the motherboard. It would be a very large help and increase the life of these products.

I have been using Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers for 14 to 15 years.

We are using the latest version purchased from HP.

It's a very stable solution. 

We have many servers still running with this solution because our new one has not yet been commissioned. 

We have the exchange server, ERP that is running on it, file sense servers, and the security server is running.

We plan to continue using this solution in the future.

Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers is scalable.

We have 160 users in our organization.

Technical support has been brilliant. 

They have supported us for several years, but it's now out of support because we are currently implementing a hardware refresh.

The initial setup is straightforward.

The deployment time varies depending on the application being deployed. For example, the exchange took me a couple of days to get it up and running, and on a straightforward file sense server, it was less than three hours to get it up and running.

The security server also took a couple of hours to get it up and running.

We have four members to deploy and maintain this solution. They are made up of engineers, managers, and admins.

It's not a very expensive solution.

We were in a scenario of having every application running on physical servers.

We are now moving to an in-house virtual environment. We are using VMware so that one server can do a multitude of jobs at the same time. Hence the hardware refresh.

We are moving towards virtual experiences, using VMware.

This solution has absolutely fulfilled our needs well.

We are still running, this solution, we are upgrading only because of the features and abilities that it doesn't have. It's run now for 14 to 15 years.

It's a brilliant product.

I would recommend this solution to others looking into using this solution.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We use it for main servers, database servers, and application servers. 

Virtualization and distributed power management are good and valuable features.

It would be easier if the remote connection to the server could be done through the USB port. From the server, we should be able to connect to a laptop or a management workstation through a USB port.

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

It is very stable.

It is scalable. I have extended it using virtualization technologies. We have 5 servers and around 1000 users.

I am satisfied with their technical support.

I had a little bit of difficulty in the beginning when we used provisioning with automated tasks almost ten years ago, but after that, it was very straightforward.

Dell had authorized a vendor in my country. I took some advice and assistance from them. They were okay. 

For its maintenance, some tasks are handled by our administrator internally and some tasks are handled by the vendor.

Dell's solution was cheaper than HP's solution.

I also use similar solutions from HP. Based on my usage, I have found them quite similar. They are at the same level.

I would recommend this solution to others, but they have to see their overall system, that is, the interfaces, fabric, reports, network path, etc. They have to see the compatibility metrics between different parts. I had some difficulties in the beginning when I was supposed to change to the right certified device.

I would rate Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers a ten out of ten.

We are a solution provider and this is one of the storage products that we implement for our clients.

The most valuable features are remote management and iDRAC. Manageability is definitely one of the good points for Dell servers.

This is a quality product that can be customized for our clients.

The design, in terms of power efficiency, can be improved.

Improvements should be made in terms of field expandability. Scalability, in general, has room for improvement.

Support for virtualization support can be better.

I have been working with Dell Rack Servers for about 15 years, since 2004.

The Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are definitely stable. Once we start one, we don't shut them down. The run for three, four, or five years at a time, and the performance does not decrease.

It is easy to scale, although when the server is built, you need to include options for future expandability. In cases where we create room in advance, it is easy. Otherwise, there can be some difficulty.

The local support in Dhaka is very good and we are happy with it.

I have worked with a variety of Dell PowerEdge models including 1850, 2850, 2900, 2950, 5710, 720, and 740.

The initial setup is very easy, as is the management. The time required for deployment depends on the environment and requirements. For example, it will differ based on whether it is a cluster deployment versus a VM implementation.

We also work with similar servers from HPE and Cisco. Many of the features and capabilities are the same. The suitability of one product over another depends on the specific requirements.

In summary, this is a good product and I have had a good experience with it. 

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

We primarily utilize Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as hosts for virtual machines.

We opted for the OCP primarily due to its exceptional modularity. With compute nodes and storage nodes sharing the same form factor and rack, it simplifies maintenance tasks. Any necessary adjustments can be made seamlessly without the need to unplug cables, as everything is contained within the rack itself. This user-friendly design streamlines operations, particularly for individuals with limited training in server management.

Our older PowerEdge servers consume significant amounts of power due to their age.

In terms of high performance, there hasn't been any improvement or decline. We have sufficient redundancy to tolerate the loss of multiple nodes without any impact.

In terms of productivity, we have the capability to interface directly with the servers when necessary, eliminating the need for remote access.

There is potential for enhancement in terms of its overall upgradeability.

I have been using it for five years.

In terms of stability, overall it has been satisfactory, although we encountered some issues due to outdated hardware. At one point, we experienced failures likely stemming from aging components, such as a faulty CPU that led to the shutdown of certain virtual machines.

It fulfills its intended functions, but we haven't identified any advantages to the additional features. Overall, I would rate it seven out of ten.

I chose Dell PowerEdge servers to tackle key issues in our setup. It adds extra security, aligning with our data protection goals. Gold Service support ensures reliable assistance, minimizing downtime. The smooth integration between services makes switching to Dell a confident move for our server needs. PowerEdge Rack Servers boosted our organization's flexibility without any issues. They just worked perfectly, with no negative impact. It has also boosted our IT staff's productivity. I now have more time for other tasks, and while it's hard to quantify, it saves me a few hours each week.

The product is well-rounded and has been effective in meeting our needs. The customer feedback has been positive as well.

For the next release, I would like for PowerEdge Rack Servers to be a bit more compact.

I have been working with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for 12 years.

The overall stability is excellent. There is almost no downtime, and the system runs smoothly. PowerEdge servers have significantly minimized production downtime for me. They run smoothly without causing any hassles, allowing me to focus on administration. Updates are infrequent, and the system operates seamlessly in the background, requiring minimal attention.

I would rate the support as a ten out of ten.

Positive

Quick customer support, especially with gold support, has been key for maximizing return on investment. In a hard disk issue, they fixed it within three hours.

In terms of pricing and licensing, it is a trade-off. If you find it expensive, you can limit access, but if the budget allows, you can expand.

Overall, I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as a ten out of ten.

Foreign Language: (German)

Bietet reibungslose Integration, hohe Stabilität und effizienten Kundensupport

Wie hat es meiner Organisation geholfen?

Ich habe mich für Dell PowerEdge-Server entschieden, um die wichtigsten Punkte in unserer Organisation zu lösen. Sie bieten zusätzliche Sicherheit und entsprechen unseren Datenschutzanforderungen. Der Gold Service-Support gewährleistet zuverlässige Unterstützung und minimiert Ausfallzeiten. Die nahtlose Integration zwischen den Services macht den Wechsel zu Dell zu einem sicheren Schritt für unsere Serveranforderungen. Die PowerEdge Rack Server haben die Flexibilität unserer Organisation ohne Probleme erhöht. Sie haben einfach perfekt funktioniert, ohne sich negativ auszuwirken. Außerdem hat sich die Produktivität unseres IT-Personals erhöht. Ich habe jetzt mehr Zeit für andere Aufgaben, und obwohl es schwer abzuschätzen ist, habe ich dadurch ein paar Stunden in der Woche gespart.

Was ist am wertvollsten?

Das Produkt ist gut ausgestattet und hat unsere Anforderungen erfüllt. Das Kundenfeedback war ebenfalls positiv.

Was muss verbessert werden?

Für die nächste Version würde ich mir wünschen, dass die PowerEdge Rack Server etwas weniger Platz benötigen.

Wie lange habe ich die Lösung verwendet?

Ich arbeite schon seit 12 Jahren mit Dell PowerEdge Rack Servern.

Was halte ich von der Stabilität der Lösung?

Die allgemeine Stabilität ist ausgezeichnet. Es gibt fast keine Ausfallzeiten, und das System läuft reibungslos. Die PowerEdge-Server haben die Ausfallzeiten in der Produktion für mich deutlich minimiert. Sie laufen reibungslos, ohne Probleme zu verursachen, so dass ich mich auf die Verwaltung konzentrieren kann. Es werden nur selten Updates durchgeführt, und das System arbeitet nahtlos im Hintergrund und erfordert nur minimale Überwachung.

Wie sind Kundendienst und Support?

Ich würde den Support mit zehn von zehn bewerten.

Wie würden Sie den Kundenservice und -support bewerten?

Positiv

Wie hoch war unser ROI?

Der schnelle Kundensupport, insbesondere der Gold-Support, war der Schlüssel zur Erhöhung der Investitionsrentabilität. Ein Problem mit einer Festplatte wurde innerhalb von drei Stunden behoben.

Welche Erfahrungen habe ich mit den Preisen, den Einrichtungskosten und der Lizenzierung gemacht?

Was die Preise und die Lizenzierung angeht, handelt es sich um einen Kompromiss. Wenn Sie es teuer finden, können Sie den Zugang einschränken, aber falls Ihr Budget es ermöglicht, können Sie es erweitern.

Welche anderen Ratschläge habe ich?

Insgesamt würde ich die Dell PowerEdge Rack Server mit zehn von zehn Punkten bewerten.