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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 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 C-Series Rack Ser...
Ranking in Rack Servers
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
268
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (2nd), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 5.3%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 26.4%, down from 27.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series26.4%
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers5.3%
Other68.3%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1441011 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr, Manager- Network Solution Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Comprehensive support and integration ensure smooth cloud infrastructure operations
I may not be the right person to comment on advanced improvements because we are just using basic functionalities. We are getting all the functionalities which we used to get in other OEM rack servers. Potential areas for improvement may include a more flexible pricing model, better technical support, or tutorials from the vendor for users.
Tom van Mil - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at Lico Innovations B.v.
Supports flexible hosting needs through seamless upgradability and strong monitoring capabilities
The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series for me are the feature richness and the upgradability. I really love the way that it is so dynamically applicable for every situation, and they manage to have an all-in-one solution for every single situation. Dell PowerEdge has supported the growth and operational success of my company through its great compute power and price-to-performance ratio. Every time Dell is at the top of its game for us, and there is just no other brand for us that is able to reach that kind of price-to-performance ratio. Dell PowerEdge R-Series has features that specifically cater to the needs of my small company, such as iDRAC. The iDRAC system is a complete feature set for managing servers and hardware technically and monitoring-wise. It really fits in our system and our ecosystem, and monitoring-wise, it is excellent. They have all these sensors available via different protocols and end points, which I love, and the ability to manage and control everything via the iDRAC interface is just a welcome bonus. In our use case, Dell PowerEdge R-Series is very flexible. It is another computer which helps a lot because of the durability over time. They keep running, making scalability for getting more of those resources in our environment so easy.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have many people in my organization using Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers in the administration."
"The integration with IT infrastructure is seamless based on our experience."
"Excellent server solution with incredible network throughput."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is performance."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy to do."
"In most cases, computes compute, and there isn't much differentiation, but one point of differentiation is Intersight cloud management."
"It has centralized our server management and allows us to treat servers like a pool of resources instead of discrete devices."
"The solution is scalable."
"PowerEdge helped to reduce our customer’s data processing time."
"The feature of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers that I value the best is the iDRAC, as it is extremely good and simplifies tasks."
"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."
"Their support is very good and very effective."
"The standout feature is the remote control accessibility, which allows our team to access and manage the servers locally or remotely."
"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped reduce our downtime by a lot."
"The complete hyper-converged infrastructure of this solution has been most useful. PowerEdge has helped to reduce data processing time by 20%."
"We constantly upgrade to newer hardware, and everything stays the same but with updated architecture. This consistency is good for our technicians on the data center side. We also appreciate the integration with VMware. It keeps things simple for us."
 

Cons

"There is very little scalability for the cluster. If you need a higher availability, there is a user limitation. So that is the low side."
"The only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."
"The scalability of the product is an area of concern where Cisco needs to focus on making some improvements."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve integration with third-party solutions."
"The initial setup could be easier."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve by adding a wider portfolio because they only have two main categories, the C-220 and 240. There is no wide range of options as other solutions have, such as Dell. Additionally, if it was more flexible with the configuration it would be good."
"Technical support could be more responsive."
"The C-Series is not designed to be as scalable. They are designed to have enough RAM and enough CPU on their own side. If you want scalability, it's better to choose the B-Series— the Blade Servers — because those are much more scalable with Fabric Interconnect."
"From the licensing model perspective, it might be useful for enterprises to get an overall enterprise license, rather than licensing each server. That is one option because we tend to buy the service with the licenses, but some of our older equipment does not have them."
"The product must provide more options to add GPUs to the machines."
"In terms of energy use, it takes up a lot."
"I do not have any input as such. There can be a bit more expansive AI portfolio, but I have not worked on any AI projects with Dell, so I might not be up to date in knowledge."
"There is no advantage compared to other vendors when tracking return on investment."
"For example, I have an old R230, and I have a problem with a fan. I cannot determine that the fan needs attention without putting the alarm on this fan."
"Since the start of COVID, there is a shortage of support resources and it is challenging to get queries resolved quickly."
"I'd appreciate seeing more options in terms of expandability for certain Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers models."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have to pay for the VMware and Cisco licenses."
"The prices of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are higher compared to the competition. When we try and sell against the competition, then it becomes quite difficult to sell"
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis, which is only $2,000 or $3,000."
"The solution is moderately priced."
"The price for Cisco is a bit higher than its competitors. We paid 40k for one server."
"The price of the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve. It's a little more expensive in comparison with Dell or HPE solutions."
"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is approximately 20 percent more than other solutions."
"​Best to buy all the blades configured for the same purposes of load balancing and failover or load shifting.​"
"I have no issues with the pricing and licensing costs. They are fine."
"It's a bit of a shock when you have to find the money, but the pricing is very competitive, so I'm happy with that."
"If price isn't a concern, I would recommend it."
"The licensing is expensive and inflexible."
"The pricing for this solution is reasonable. We pay a basic premium with a military premium on top of that."
"They seem to have become more expensive. I've not done a comparison with other vendors recently. If the price increases more, we would need to do a comparison next year just to make sure that we are benchmarking our server purchases correctly."
"Dell is priced better than alternative solutions."
"The pricing is fair enough."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business95
Midsize Enterprise59
Large Enterprise112
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?
I may not be the right person to comment on advanced improvements because we are just using basic functionalities. We are getting all the functionalities which we used to get in other OEM rack serv...
When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....
What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
I do not have anything that I believe could be improved about Dell servers. However, I would like to see a range for AI that is more accessible for companies that do not have significant budgets. T...
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Artoni Transporti, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, City of Mississauga, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Kind en Gezin, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Nationwide, Quest, Talbots, University of St. Gallen
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge R-Series and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.