Cisco UCS B-Series vs Supermicro SuperBlade comparison

Cisco and Supermicro are both solutions in the Blade Servers category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Supermicro is ranked #9. Cisco holds a 8.3% mindshare in Blade Servers, compared to Supermicro’s 6.2% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of Supermicro users who would recommend it.

Cisco UCS B-Series

Read 73 Cisco UCS B-Series reviews

1,135 Views
742 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Supermicro SuperBlade

Read 4 Supermicro SuperBlade reviews

705 Views
545 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS B-Series

Supermicro SuperBlade

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 25, 2025

Supermicro SuperBlade and Cisco UCS B-Series compete in the server blade market. Cisco UCS B-Series has the upper hand due to its advanced features and efficiency, despite Supermicro's competitive pricing.

Features: Supermicro SuperBlade offers versatile power efficiency, high-density computing, and flexible configurations. Cisco UCS B-Series provides robust scalability, integrative management tools, and superior networking capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Supermicro SuperBlade could improve ease of deployment, automation capabilities, and customer support. Cisco UCS B-Series might enhance its complexity in management, reduce costs, and simplify its licensing structure.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Supermicro SuperBlade's deployment is straightforward but requires more manual setup. Cisco UCS B-Series excels with streamlined deployment, advanced automation, and comprehensive support.

Pricing and ROI: Supermicro SuperBlade offers a cost-effective solution with an impressive price-performance ratio. Cisco UCS B-Series, although more expensive initially, provides long-term savings and favorable ROI through improved performance and management efficiencies.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Supermicro SuperBlade Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Supermicro SuperBlade

June 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:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco UCS B-Series

Ranking in Blade Servers

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Supermicro SuperBlade

Ranking in Blade Servers

9th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS B-Series is 8.3%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Supermicro SuperBlade is 6.2%, down from 7.1% 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.

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Gergely Lakos

DevOps Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

With many servers in one, these blade servers are easier to manage

The service could be improved by faster servers, more widely available VMs, and more storage in one place. Then, in the event of a blade failure, we could start our VMs on another blade in a couple of minutes. This is why we wanted to buy storage. But now, we want to buy a twin server with 24 VMware discs to create test storage. The next product release should allow more servers to be controlled simultaneously.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Dell has a huge portfolio of products."

"I like that the hardware is separated from the software definition of the components."

"The scalability is very good."

"The most beneficial feature is UCS Manager. It's the best way to manage hardware, creating group policies, like scrub policies and maintenance policies."

"The servers' resilience was particularly impactful."

"The Cisco solution provides a unified dashboard which enhances virtualization tasks, allowing configurations from a single interface. It also helps with space and power management, which are vital for data center efficiency."

"The most valuable feature is the service profile."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to replace a server with another one, simply by applying the profile"

More Cisco UCS B-Series pros

"The ability to save resource is a key feature."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"I think the IPMI is a really good feature."

Cons

"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."

"It needs a better UI. Cisco makes a great product, but doesn't know how to make a UI."

"The price of this product is too high. They should work to make it more affordable."

"There is a delay in the product's reporting and the rebooting system compared to servers from other vendors."

"The solution’s technical support could be better."

"There are some shortcomings in the product when you look at it from the perspective of the area involving multiple configurations, making it an aspect where improvements are required."

"The initial setup is not easy."

"The solution is difficult to set up."

More Cisco UCS B-Series cons

"There is a lack of support for fiber channels currently that needs to be added."

"The solution does not scale well."

"Supermicro blade servers are not the best. They could improve in scalability but are not really scalable right now."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"We have to pay a monthly licensing fee for the solution."

"The licensing cost is a little bit expensive because by default, it depends on your fabric interconnect model. Most of the time, however, Cisco provides a lot of promotions to the customers, so the cost can be waived for many projects. The price of the chassis itself is fair."

"The pricing for Cisco is less than for the HP Proliant series."

"UCS is expensive, and we will be migrating to the cheaper HP servers."

"Cisco UCS B-Series is an expensive solution."

"Make sure you work with a vendor partner than can get you a substantial discount off of list pricing."

"The cost of the blade servers is okay, but the cost of Fabric Interconnects ends up increasing the overall costs. For example, suppose it costs 3,500 USD per blade server. When you include the Fabric Interconnects, you could pay up to 30,000 USD. Therefore, compared to the cost of servers from Lenovo, Huawei, Dell, or HP, the cost of Cisco servers can be high. However, Cisco gives good discounts (about 90% to 94%) to partners and to customers who are already using Cisco servers. New Cisco customers do not get the level of discount that an existing customer does. Because you can get discounts with Cisco, I would give pricing a rating of four out of five."

More Cisco UCS B-Series pricing and cost advice

"The product is not expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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?

The licensing cost for three years, followed by an AMC for two years, is reasonable. However, the management software, Cisco One, is priced a bit high but still considered reasonable. No additional...

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What needs improvement with Cisco UCS B-Series?

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

See all answers

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Comparisons

HPE Synergy vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 35% of the time

Dell PowerEdge M vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 18% of the time

HPE BladeSystem vs Cisco UCS B-Series

Compared 16% of the time

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

Compared 16% of the time

More Cisco UCS B-Series Competitors

Dell PowerEdge M vs Supermicro SuperBlade

Compared 21% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Supermicro SuperBlade

Compared 15% of the time

HPE Synergy vs Supermicro SuperBlade

Compared 14% of the time

HPE Integrity vs Supermicro SuperBlade

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs Supermicro SuperBlade

Compared 10% of the time

More Supermicro SuperBlade Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series

June 2025

Download Cisco UCS B-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Blade Servers

May 2025

Download Supermicro SuperBlade product report

Also Known As

UCS B-Series, Unified Computing System B-Series

SuperBlade

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

Supermicro SuperBlade delivers innovative computing performance and efficiency, perfect for data-intensive tasks. With its modular design, it optimizes space and power, providing a flexible and scalable infrastructure for demanding business workloads.

Supermicro SuperBlade is specifically engineered for modern data centers needing high-density computing. It offers a compact, modular architecture that simplifies system management and enhances agility. It integrates seamlessly with cloud and virtualization technologies, supporting diverse applications and workloads. Its design focuses on reducing operational costs while achieving peak performance. Users appreciate its balance of power efficiency and high computing capacity.

What are the key features of Supermicro SuperBlade?

High-Density Design: Packs multiple servers in a small form to maximize computing power per square foot.
Scalability: Easily expand or modify with modular components to adapt to growing demands.
Efficient Cooling: Advanced cooling systems ensure optimal performance and energy efficiency.
Built-In Management: Integrated management tools for streamlined operations and monitoring.
Green Computing: Focuses on energy savings for cost-effective and ecological operation.

What benefits and ROI can be expected from Supermicro SuperBlade?

Cost Savings: Reduces energy and operational expenses with its efficient design.
Improved Performance: Delivers exceptional processing power for faster task execution.
Resource Optimization: Maximizes IT resource utilization and efficiency.
Ease of Management: Simplifies management processes, reducing administrative overhead.
Future-Proofing: Provides flexible expansion options to accommodate future growth.

Supermicro SuperBlade is widely implemented in sectors such as finance, healthcare, and research where high computational power and storage are critical. In finance, it's used for real-time analytics and transactions. Healthcare facilities use it for patient data analysis and complex simulations, while research institutions leverage SuperBlade for simulations and data-intensive research tasks. Its adaptability allows enterprises to efficiently meet technical requirements unique to each industry.

Supermicro

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

Prace

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Supermicro SuperBlade

June 2025

Free Report: Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Supermicro SuperBlade

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Supermicro SuperBlade and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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