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Cisco UCS B-Series vs Cisco UCS E-Series Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

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

Cisco UCS B-Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers
Ranking in Blade Servers
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS B-Series is 7.2%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is 3.7%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco UCS B-Series7.2%
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers3.7%
Other89.1%
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

MB
Head of IT Operations at NCC BANK LIMITED
Efficient server management reduces costs and supports seamless operations
Cisco UCS B-Series has reliably sustained smooth operations without the need for significant maintenance. Its administration capabilities provide easy access to performance reports, logs, and utilization data, which are essential for effective server management. Additionally, the integration capabilities are seamless, and the power consumption and heat generation are low, resulting in reduced cooling costs and increased financial benefits.
AK
Solution Architect at COPYCAT LIMITED
Automation and integration capabilities streamline IT infrastructure management
The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is the Cisco interface. The server management and automation capabilities have been outstanding in automation, greatly benefiting our IT team. Pricing is acceptable, and these servers have had a significant impact on cost savings and operational efficiency. The integration with Cisco routers simplifies the IT infrastructure.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"UCS has made it possible to replace and upgrade servers quickly and easily while keeping things up and running for the enterprise."
"The most valuable features of the solution are stability and security."
"Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) provides unified, embedded management of all software and hardware components in the Cisco UCS, is scalable, and controls multiple chassis while managing resources for thousands of virtual machines."
"Since its UCS release in 2009, Cisco has extended the core functionality with Central, a tool for managing multiple domains"
"The versatility of the solution is the most helpful to us."
"The solution is stable."
"With Cisco UCS, we became network-centric and changed our mindset to abstract the server, making it a stateless object for workloads."
"The most valuable feature is definitely the service profile."
"What I can advise other prospective customers is that they should not worry about Cisco's support, stability, and performance."
"The most valuable features are that they are efficient and easy to setup."
"The product is overall stable."
"Overall, the Cisco chassis is pretty good, pretty stable and easier to configure as compared to HP and others."
"The product's most valuable features are stability, speed, and scalability."
"The server management and automation capabilities have been outstanding in automation, greatly benefiting our IT team."
"They are really easy to maintain. I've added RAM to them. I've done a lot of other things with the virtualization."
"Cisco has better visibility and manageability for disaster recovery."
 

Cons

"Integration with the storage to get a heatmap of what's going on in the storage site could be improved -- the dashboard, that kind of thing."
"Cisco UCS B-Series competitors have similar features as they do, Cisco needs to make some changes to make their offering better."
"Previously, the unified port functionality allowed the same port to function as both FC and Ethernet, however, this has now changed."
"Compared to the deployment of servers such as Dell XCDs, the deployment of UCS servers is more complex. They take longer to deploy."
"USC Central seems a bit confusing for technicians."
"Cisco products are technically quite bulky if you ask me. You really need to be very proficient technically to deploy it and to understand the assignment of the service profiles before you can really make the most of it."
"We have to have Java to manage the infrastructure. It would be great if we can manage the infrastructure through a web browser."
"HTML5 interface is a much needed improvement over the old Java interface, but still needs a little work."
"One thing that could be improved is the cost - it is very high for this Blade chassis as compared to other vendors. Especially in Asia. Asian customers mostly prefer a cost effective, cheaper solution."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement. There could be more collaborative tools included."
"I am always asked to justify why we should purchase such expensive hardware when there are other brand names available with same capacity for a lesser price."
"One thing that could be improved is the cost - it is very high for this Blade chassis as compared to other vendors, especially in Asia."
"The processing capacity could be improved."
"It is not a solution that is cloud ready."
"The tool must be made compatible with multi-vendor ecosystems."
"The product should also be available in a standard edition or a standard license since currently there is a need to pay for an extra license, which is very expensive, especially when considering the budgeting part of our company."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution is a little bit higher, but given that this system is Cisco, it feels more secure and dependable."
"It is not a yearly subscription but a yearly support renewal that you need to do for Cisco UCS B-Series."
"The type of service level purchase will determine the level of support response that you receive from Cisco."
"UCS is expensive, and we will be migrating to the cheaper HP servers."
"Compared to the more in-demand hyper-converged environments such as Nutanix or DVX rail, Cisco UCS B-Series is even more costly due to the expensive fabric interconnects."
"The price of this solution compared to others is fair."
"This is a premium device and our clients are not as concerned about the reasonableness of the price compared to satisfaction with their productivity."
"The cost of the Cisco UCS B-Series is comparable to HP solutions but higher than Dell solutions."
"There is a need to pay towards the licensing costs of the solution. The most expensive server from Cisco is Cisco UCS B-Series."
"It's expensive, they are quite pricey."
"The pricing of the solution is reasonable. From a commercial point of view, the prices are okay."
"The solution is expensive."
"The product is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
14%
Performing Arts
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise41
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS B-Series?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is easily scalable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS B-Series?
Comparing Cisco UCS B-Series with traditional servers, while its initial cost may be slightly higher, it is not as expensive as Oracle Exadata, making it a worthwhile investment. It pays off in the...
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS B-Series?
There is a need for Cisco UCS B-Series to evolve and scale vertically, particularly with the increasing data demands and the integration of AI, ensuring the solution remains certified and capable u...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
The pricing of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is okay, costing around 30,000 per year. Support is included in this cost.
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
I would like to see improvements in VMware integration with Cisco, especially in terms of documentation and integration tools. Support of NVIDIA integration would also make it better.
What is your primary use case for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
I use Cisco UCS E-Series Servers ( /products/cisco-ucs-e-series-servers-reviews ) for managing our IT infrastructure and supporting AI-driven projects. The integration with Cisco routers simplifies...
 

Also Known As

UCS B-Series, Unified Computing System B-Series
UCS E-Series Servers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Anonymous Banking Group, Artoni Transporti, Bellevue, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Hertz, Houston Methodist, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Lufthansa Systems GmbH & Co.KG, Outscale, Sony Corporation, Talbots
Navaho,  MiroNet AG, Columbia Sportswear
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.