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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 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 XR-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
13th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Rugged Servers (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 5.1%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is 0.5%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers5.1%
Dell XR2 Rugged Server0.5%
Other94.4%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Berthold Manz - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless server transitions enhance IT infrastructure for AI projects and improve management capabilities
If you are integrated into the Cisco management solution, it is very easy to handle. The performance aspects of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are very strong. The ability to move from one server to another without changing anything is excellent. We can transfer all the identity of the servers between the servers.
Jesse_B - PeerSpot reviewer
Simple to scale, high availability, and top level service and support
Dell XR2 Rugged Server's technology is always on the competitive edge, with the most current technology. They have proven reliability. If you're looking for a mission-critical system and support is important to you, then this is something a solution you should consider. I rate Dell XR2 Rugged Server a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The C-series is the most valuable."
"The solution is stable."
"Its hardware is really reliable. We also like Cisco for its support."
"The solution is easily scalable."
"Excellent server solution with incredible network throughput."
"The server can be configured easily."
"The solution is scalable."
"It has centralized our server management and allows us to treat servers like a pool of resources instead of discrete devices."
"The storage and the disc performance in terms of IOPS is great."
"The scalability of the Dell XR2 Rugged Server is good and easy to do."
 

Cons

"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve by selling storage. Cisco doesn't sell storage, which is a problem because some customers ask for storage. There are several brands in the market, such as HPE, and Dell EMC. However, Cisco doesn't have any storage. This is where the tension comes from buying this solution."
"The solution needs more capacity and more scalability."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers can improve by providing customization features to allow us to deploy them on the cloud. For example, we need VMware to allow us to accomplish a cloud deployment."
"Definitely the support area needs improving. Especially the time response in case of hardware failure."
"The only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."
"There is room for better integration with other brands."
"The product's stability and delivery time could be better."
"The improvement should be done as per customer requirements."
"Dell XR2 Rugged Server could improve if there was more customization allowed."
"It lacks a modular option to expand to a 16-bay system."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This product is slightly more expensive when compared to others."
"The solution requires an annual licensing fee."
"The server itself isn't costly at all, but the CPU and the RAM can be pretty expensive. You can buy a UCS for $2,000, but the RAM and CPU can cost up to $80,000. The most expensive asset is the intel processor, but it depends on how many cores you want and the technology you want to use on your CPU, like Hyper-V, etc."
"The price for Cisco is a bit higher than its competitors. We paid 40k for one server."
"The price of the solution could be better when compared to other solutions. However, when we purchased the solution we received Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers in a bundle with other hardware, such as IP phones and networking switches."
"If they plan to expand their infrastructure in periods, then simply Cisco is not a good choice."
"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is high."
"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"
"The price of one Dell XR2 Rugged Server is approximately $10,000."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Energy/Utilities Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise13
No data available
 

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...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
XR2 Rugged Server
 

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
DIGISTOR - Secure Data Storage
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge XR-Series and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
866,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.