Cisco UCS B-Series vs PowerEdge C comparison

Cisco and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the Blade Servers category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.4, while Dell Technologies is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.8. Cisco holds a 8.2% mindshare in Blade Servers, compared to Dell Technologies’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

Cisco UCS B-Series

Read 74 Cisco UCS B-Series reviews

1,087 Views
1,065 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

PowerEdge C

Read 29 PowerEdge C reviews

414 Views
124 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS B-Series

PowerEdge C

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

PowerEdge C and Cisco UCS B-Series compete in the server management and virtualization market. PowerEdge C seems to have the upper hand due to its affordability, ease of use, and competitive features for hybrid environments, while Cisco UCS B-Series offers significant scalability and integration benefits but is more complex and costly.

Features: PowerEdge C offers strong virtualization capabilities with advanced reliability due to Intel's RAS feature and hot-swappable nodes, making it highly efficient and user-friendly. Cisco UCS B-Series excels in scalability and integration with storage systems, offering centralized management through UCS Manager and robust remote management capabilities.

Room for Improvement: PowerEdge C needs improved pricing, more intuitive integration with AI tools for monitoring, and enhanced iDRAC application features. Cisco UCS B-Series could benefit from simpler management interfaces, improved integration tools, and reduced complexity and costs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PowerEdge C is favored for diverse deployment options and good technical services, though offshored support may slow response times. Cisco UCS B-Series provides solid deployment experiences but faces challenges due to its technical intricacies, requiring improvements in support speed and regional specialization.

Pricing and ROI: PowerEdge C is competitively priced with flexible licensing, offering strong ROI. Users appreciate its affordability with bundled offerings. Cisco UCS B-Series, although more expensive with high licensing costs, provides substantial ROI for enterprise features but requires more competitive pricing for mid-market competition.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS B-Series vs. PowerEdge C Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series vs. PowerEdge C

July 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

7.6

Cisco UCS B-Series improved performance, reduced costs by 40%, and enabled management of 1600 servers with just two people.

Sentiment score

7.2

PowerEdge C offers competitive ROI with cost efficiency, faster performance than HP, and better support ease than Cisco.

Additionally, we achieved server consolidation, running multiple services on fewer servers without purchasing new ones, resulting in significant financial benefits.

Muhammad AlihyderBhuiyan

Head of IT Operations at NCC BANK LIMITED

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco UCS B-Series report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the PowerEdge C report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.1

Cisco UCS B-Series support is praised for efficient, proactive service, though improvements are suggested for response times.

Sentiment score

6.6

PowerEdge C customer service is reliable and available 24/7, with some challenges in communication and support delay.

Cisco's technical support is highly helpful and responsive.

Muhammad AlihyderBhuiyan

Head of IT Operations at NCC BANK LIMITED

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco UCS B-Series report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the PowerEdge C report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.9

Cisco UCS B-Series excels in seamless scalability and integration, efficiently supporting thousands of servers for diverse industry needs.

Sentiment score

7.6

PowerEdge C is praised for its scalability, adaptability, and robust performance across diverse organizations and varying workloads.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco UCS B-Series report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the PowerEdge C report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.9

Cisco UCS B-Series is praised for its stability, reliability, and strong performance, with swift resolutions to occasional issues.

Sentiment score

8.2

PowerEdge C is highly stable with minimal downtime, achieving user ratings of 8-10, despite occasional minor challenges.

The stability of Cisco UCS B-Series is impeccable, as it has been running smoothly without any need for maintenance.

Muhammad AlihyderBhuiyan

Head of IT Operations at NCC BANK LIMITED

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco UCS B-Series report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the PowerEdge C report

Room For Improvement

Cisco UCS B-Series requires improved user-friendliness, integration, pricing, storage management, and software update processes per user feedback.

PowerEdge C requires improvements in compatibility, pricing, storage, memory, support, and stability to remain competitive and user-friendly.

Last year, we faced challenges with firmware upgrades, but they were quickly resolved with assistance from Cisco TAC.

Muhammad AlihyderBhuiyan

Head of IT Operations at NCC BANK LIMITED

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco UCS B-Series report

This is one area where they can improve the performance of the server or implement some application improvements in the solution to make it easier for end users to implement properly.

Naveen Radhwani

Head IT at TO THE NEW Digital

For more quotes and insights, download the PowerEdge C report

Setup Cost

Cisco UCS B-Series has high pricing, complex licensing, but offers discounts and long-term value through reliability and integration.

PowerEdge C's pricing varies with configuration, offering a balance of affordability and quality, but some components can be costly.

The management software, Cisco One, is priced a bit high but still considered reasonable.

Muhammad AlihyderBhuiyan

Head of IT Operations at NCC BANK LIMITED

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco UCS B-Series report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the PowerEdge C report

Valuable Features

Cisco UCS B-Series provides centralized management, scalability, high memory, virtualization support, and reduced costs, enhancing efficiency and performance.

PowerEdge C delivers high performance, easy management, and virtualization support, emphasizing affordability, scalability, and integration with VMware.

Its administration capabilities provide easy access to performance reports, logs, and utilization data, which are essential for effective server management.

Muhammad AlihyderBhuiyan

Head of IT Operations at NCC BANK LIMITED

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco UCS B-Series report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the PowerEdge C report

Categories and Ranking

Cisco UCS B-Series

Ranking in Blade Servers

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

PowerEdge C

Ranking in Blade Servers

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Density Optimized Servers (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS B-Series is 8.2%, down from 9.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PowerEdge C is 1.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Blade Servers

Featured Reviews

DavidMbugua

Group General Manager-ICT at SkyLink

Reliable product with efficient automation capabilities

Cisco UCS B-Series manages various processes, including handling payments for over 650,000 growers, running group financials, managing human resources, and operating our main ERP system, SAP. The servers' resilience was particularly impactful. Even during power outages, the servers resumed operations from the last saved point without human intervention. The enhanced processing speed also allowed us to complete tasks that took two days in just one hour. The automation capabilities enhanced efficiency and facilitated integration with our networking components, particularly since we also used Cisco switches. The servers' security was reliable, and formal training on Cisco products made management easier. I rate the product an eight.

Read full review

Naveen Radhwani

Head IT at TO THE NEW Digital

Offers great performance and customization for application servers

There are a few bugs in PowerEdge C that require some configurational settings to be done with the help of a support team when we reconfigure the solution. This is one area where they can improve the performance of the server or implement some application improvements in the solution to make it easier for end users to implement properly.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Venture Capital & Private Equity Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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.

See all answers

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...

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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...

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What do you like most about PowerEdge C?

The solution provides good support and service.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PowerEdge C?

My experience with the pricing of this tool is that it's in mid-range. They have good competitors in the market who are offering better pricing, so there is scope for improvement in this area.

See all answers

What needs improvement with PowerEdge C?

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Comparisons

HPE Synergy vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 36% of the time

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

Compared 19% of the time

Dell PowerEdge M vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 17% of the time

HPE BladeSystem vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 14% of the time

Supermicro SuperBlade vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 14% of the time

More Cisco UCS B-Series Competitors

Huawei FusionServer X Series vs PowerEdge C

Compared 51% of the time

HPE Cray Supercomputing vs PowerEdge C

Compared 36% of the time

HPE Apollo Systems vs PowerEdge C

Compared 13% of the time

More PowerEdge C Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series

August 2025

Download Cisco UCS B-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Blade Servers

August 2025

Download PowerEdge C product report

Also Known As

UCS B-Series, Unified Computing System B-Series

No data available

Overview

Based on Intel Xeon processor E7 and E5 product families, Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers work with virtualized and non-virtualized applications to increase: Performance, Energy efficiency, Flexibility and Administrator productivity.

Cisco

PowerEdge C help you to maximize hyperscale performance with up to 4 independent server nodes, flexible storage and shared infrastructure in a compact 2U chassis.

Dell Technologies

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

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series vs. PowerEdge C

July 2025

Free Report: Cisco UCS B-Series vs. PowerEdge C

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS B-Series vs. PowerEdge C and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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