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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
Ranking in Density Optimized Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE Apollo Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
10th
Ranking in Density Optimized Servers
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Density Optimized Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 14.5%, up from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 20.6%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Density Optimized Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers14.5%
HPE Apollo Systems20.6%
Other64.9%
Density Optimized Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Md Rafique - PeerSpot reviewer
Desktop support Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Centralized servers have improved virtualization and now support critical workloads reliably
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could be improved by making its management interface more intuitive and simplifying configuration and troubleshooting tasks. Better automation for routine maintenance, firmware updates, and server provisioning would help reduce manual efforts for IT teams. I would also like to see more detailed real-time monitoring and predictive analytics to identify potential hardware issues before they affect business operations. Additionally, simplifying integration with third-party monitoring and virtualization tools, along with more transparent licensing and support costs, would make the platform even more efficient and easier to manage. One area where Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve is simplifying day-to-day administration through better automation and a more user-friendly management interface. Our team would benefit from having a single clear view of server health, performance, firmware status, and potential hardware issues. Faster firmware updates, easier troubleshooting, and more detailed alerts would also help reduce manual checks and resolve problems more quickly. Additionally, improved documentation and quicker technical support for complex issues would make maintenance smoother and help the team manage the infrastructure more efficiently. The improvement would be to enhance predictive maintenance and capacity planning so that Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers can help identify potential hardware failures and resource bottlenecks before they affect business operations. More detailed performance analytics, proactive alerts, and simpler integration with third-party monitoring tools would be valuable. Additionally, improving the speed of firmware updates, simplifying lifecycle management, and providing clearer guidance during troubleshooting would help reduce maintenance effort. These improvements would make the platform easier to manage, improve infrastructure visibility, and help our IT team operate more proactively.
Gökhan  DURMAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Account Manager at TD SYNNEX
High-quality integration and strong support have optimized our rack server operations
HPE Apollo Systems is a good product because it has better support and best quality with integrity. When I speak about integrity, I speak about GPU integration or other integrations such as GPU integration, backup software integration, and hypervisor integration. Regarding the integration of high-speed interconnectors in HPE Apollo Systems, they impact computational tasks because the high-speed interconnect affects performance. I don't remember the specifics. Regarding the cooling technologies, they help to reduce operational costs. The positive impact I see from HPE Apollo Systems is that support is good and quality is good. In general, HPE Apollo Systems appears to be for rack servers with some optimization capabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is the best because we work with Dell, we work with Huawei, we work with other companies, but first of all, our first option is always Cisco."
"The processors are so strong that they can deliver AI solutions without any additional GPU card, but we are also using some GPUs, which surely gives even better results."
"The hardware customization capabilities are great."
"I think Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is one of our choices because besides the HPE and the Dell, we have another solution."
"The solution has improved our organization by easily integrating with our VMware and storage solutions."
"When you hear the brand Cisco, you don't really need to recommend it."
"In summary, this is a good product and it's sustainable."
"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are agileness, ease of operation, and manageability."
"Tech support has been outstanding."
"We previously used the DL380s; compared to those, Apollo has roughly four times the amount of space per server, which means we can really do a lot."
"Taking into consideration the cost, HPE gave us the ability to actually do what we wanted to do."
"The cost benefit of this solution is most valuable."
"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."
"The solution is well documented in a data sheet."
"We had a PoC, as I said, and we were happy with it and decided to implement it, as it satisfies all our needs and is the perfect solution."
"We are running Apollo with SL-series servers and the best thing about them is the density of the storage area available."
 

Cons

"The solution needs more capacity and more scalability."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve integration with third-party solutions."
"The initial setup could be easier."
"The solution is not as economical as other vendors."
"Its accessibility and manageability can be improved. Currently, we have to visit the office to manage it. It should be manageable outside our network. I would like it to be on the cloud."
"The pricing is too high and no discounts are available for our country."
"On the contact center and video conferencing, I would definitely like to see more AI features. The AI features are key for us. You will find a lot of them in the cloud-based solution, but in the on-premises solution, they're hardly there. I would like to see the same AI features that are there in the cloud-based Cisco UC."
"Potential areas for improvement may include a more flexible pricing model, better technical support, or tutorials from the vendor for users."
"OpenView is a new product which does not support older versions of the hardware."
"We have tried to used standardization using Ubuntu Linux and it's been hard. They had some difficulties getting the RAID configuration up and running because there are no drivers for it. It's not supported by HPE."
"Our first batch of Apollo servers that we got were so new that it was just hard to know kind of what to expect from HPE and what they wanted to deliver to us."
"HPE Apollo Systems is a bit expensive, and there are some issues with scalability."
"There is a shared battery for all cache controllers in the node. When you have to replace that element, you have to take down all three nodes and not just one."
"Lustre seems to be just a little bit unstable overall."
"We are quite happy with it, but its price and storage density can be better."
"We would like to see improved cooling because that is quite an issue. If you put that much compute power into a single rack, cooling really becomes an issue. And there is room for improvement there."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco is expensive, but we didn't look at the cost of the product. We were looking at reliability and support."
"This solution is a little expensive."
"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"
"My company has an agreement with Cisco to get discounted rates. It is one of the reasons why we chose the product."
"We have to pay for the VMware and Cisco licenses."
"The price for Cisco is a bit higher than its competitors. We paid 40k for one server."
"​Best to buy all the blades configured for the same purposes of load balancing and failover or load shifting.​"
"The solution could be more cost-effective."
"It is an expensive solution but it is worth the money. The standard licensing cost is for the GPU and the features that someone is using. There are additional charges but they depend on the solution."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"The price of the solution is more expensive than Dell which is their main competitor. However, there are times we have managed to receive a comparable price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?
The price is the only disadvantage I see.We are comfortable; the client didn't report to us anything that they want to add to this equipment now or in the future. All that they want is more scalabi...
What is your primary use case for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?
My main use case for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is unified communication on UCS servers. A specific example of how I use Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers for unified communication involves the ...
What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
It is too early to say what improvements HPE Apollo Systems could implement because the report still needs to come out and the customer needs to properly evaluate the solution.
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
My main use case for HPE Apollo Systems is replacing many of the servers and storage boxes at one of the customer's sites to achieve workload optimization and optimized solutions. Additionally, whe...
What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?
My advice for someone considering HPE Apollo Systems is that if they are looking for consolidation and their workload involves high availability requirements, or if they want to utilize GPUs, then ...
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
 

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
Weta Digital
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. HPE Apollo Systems and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.