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Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs Dell PowerEdge MX- Series comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 8, 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 E-Series Servers
Ranking in Blade Servers
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerEdge MX- Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is 3.7%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge MX- Series is 8.4%, down from 15.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge MX- Series8.4%
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers3.7%
Other87.9%
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

AK
Solution Architect at COPYCAT LIMITED
Automation and integration capabilities streamline IT infrastructure management
The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is the Cisco interface. The server management and automation capabilities have been outstanding in automation, greatly benefiting our IT team. Pricing is acceptable, and these servers have had a significant impact on cost savings and operational efficiency. The integration with Cisco routers simplifies the IT infrastructure.
reviewer2881110 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Modern infrastructure has reduced our rack footprint and simplifies large-scale virtualization
No product is perfect, and there are improvements that can be done on Dell PowerEdge MX- Series. The first improvement is the complex matrix for firmware updates and patching. Managing the cycle for a modular chassis means managing alignment across multiple layers: the chassis management module, compute nodes including I/O, BIOS, and iDRAC, switch network OS such as SmartFabric OS, and the hypervisor driver.Upgrading firmware can feel challenging when an OS10 switch patch is out of sync with an iDRAC version and a VMware ESXi driver release, as it can trigger network instability or failed compliance checks. A simple, single-click, whole-stack update engine that completely guarantees baseline stability across switch OS, server BIOS, and hypervisor drivers without manual dependency checking would be beneficial. The second area for improvement is the high upfront cost and initial setup complexity. The initial capital expenditure for an MX7000 chassis, redundant management nodes, and fabric switching engines is steep compared to buying a few standalone 2U servers or rack servers. Additionally, initial configuration, particularly setting up SmartFabric services and inter-chassis stacking, has a steep learning curve. A lower barrier to entry price for smaller cities and a simplified deployment wizard for IT generalists who do not specialize in enterprise network fabrics would be improvements. The third improvement is the limited native GPU density for modern AI workloads. While composable PCIe fabric exists, running intensive AI training locally inside the chassis is restricted. Sleds designed with specialized cooling, specifically tailored to support high-wattage enterprise GPUs natively with the standard sled footprint, would be beneficial. Power and thermal management per rack is another area that can be improved. A fully populated MX7000 series loaded with high-wattage CPUs, dual switches, and NVMe drives consumes a significant amount of power in a compact 7U space. Racking three or four chassis in a single rack can typically exceed standard power density limits or require specialized rack power distribution units and high-CFM cooling airflow.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I can advise other prospective customers is that they should not worry about Cisco's support, stability, and performance."
"The server management and automation capabilities have been outstanding in automation, greatly benefiting our IT team."
"The product's most valuable features are stability, speed, and scalability."
"The product is overall stable."
"Cisco UCS E-Series Servers have been reliable, and it took almost five years for any hardware failure, which was only about a $100 repair, so nothing too major."
"Overall, the Cisco chassis is pretty good, pretty stable and easier to configure as compared to HP and others."
"The most valuable features are that they are efficient and easy to setup."
"They are really easy to maintain. I've added RAM to them. I've done a lot of other things with the virtualization."
"The solution integrated well."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The features I appreciate most about Dell PowerEdge MX- Series are reliability and consistency, as I have used it for a long time, which has made it consistent over the years."
"Dell PowerEdge MX- Series has impacted our organization in a very positive way, and there are many benefits to it."
"The installation is easy."
"Dell PowerEdge MX- Series is highly scalable and highly stable."
"What I like about Dell PowerEdge MX-Series is the whole integration, where you do not have a lot of cables, which is a strong point compared to others on the market."
"It is easy to manage by an administrator and we can spend valuable time on other IT issues."
 

Cons

"The processing capacity could be improved."
"The product should also be available in a standard edition or a standard license since currently there is a need to pay for an extra license, which is very expensive, especially when considering the budgeting part of our company."
"The biggest pain point for us is the matrix for the firmware upgrades. It is a pain. You look at that thing, you might as well be reading Greek. It would be a whole lot better if they could clean up their documentation on it."
"I am always asked to justify why we should purchase such expensive hardware when there are other brand names available with same capacity for a lesser price."
"It is not a solution that is cloud ready."
"The tool must be made compatible with multi-vendor ecosystems."
"I would like to see improvements in VMware integration with Cisco, especially in terms of documentation and integration tools. Support of NVIDIA integration would also make it better."
"One thing that could be improved is the cost - it is very high for this Blade chassis as compared to other vendors. Especially in Asia. Asian customers mostly prefer a cost effective, cheaper solution."
"The costing could be improved as it is somewhat expensive."
"The last year, we experienced problems with support, as Dell decreased staff in Latin America, impacting support quality."
"In terms of improvement, it should also offer a hyper-converged option."
"I would like to have additional HPC and AI capabilities on general Dell PowerEdge servers."
"The only area for improvement is the price."
"More interconnections with third party equipment and limited I/O selection."
"I did not have any problem with the initial pricing or cost setup with Dell PowerEdge MX- Series, but I had some problems with ongoing maintenance and getting regular updates from Dell."
"There are differences in security configurations, particularly in SNMP and SNMP3, between HP ILO and iDRAC."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a need to pay towards the licensing costs of the solution. The most expensive server from Cisco is Cisco UCS B-Series."
"The product is expensive."
"It's expensive, they are quite pricey."
"The pricing of the solution is reasonable. From a commercial point of view, the prices are okay."
"The solution is expensive."
"The cost varies significantly depending on the server's configuration and can range from $10,000 to $60,000 for the same server line family."
"I know we get three years basic, and the on-site licensing model for business seems fine. I wouldn't pay for a support plus or anything."
"Dell PowerEdge M price is comparable to other solutions but cheaper than IBM. However, the IBM solution is a higher grade solution whereas Dell PowerEdge M is a medium-level solution."
"If we would not have gone with the vendor we might have been charged unnecessarily for packages we did not need."
"It was budget friendly."
"The pricing of PowerEdge Next is higher than it was before."
"The product is budget-friendly. The initial cost for each server was around 10,000 euros. It's a standard price, not too high or too low."
"The product is neither expensive nor cheap. It is manageable for medium enterprises as well."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
17%
Wholesaler/Distributor
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
The pricing of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is okay, costing around 30,000 per year. Support is included in this cost.
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
I would like to see improvements in VMware integration with Cisco, especially in terms of documentation and integration tools. Support of NVIDIA integration would also make it better.
What is your primary use case for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
I use Cisco UCS E-Series Servers ( /products/cisco-ucs-e-series-servers-reviews ) for managing our IT infrastructure and supporting AI-driven projects. The integration with Cisco routers simplifies...
What do you like most about Dell PowerEdge M?
The best feature is the idrac tools, which allows me to manage/config the platform from the Linux level.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerEdge M?
Total cost of ownership depends on the purchase cost plus deployment cost and other things such as maintenance cost and upgrade cost. TCO in Dell PowerEdge MX- Series has shared infrastructure that...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge M?
For the time being, I do not see any particular weaknesses or room for improvement for Dell PowerEdge MX- Series; it's working perfectly fine with us with two environments, one for Citrix and one f...
 

Also Known As

UCS E-Series Servers
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Navaho,  MiroNet AG, Columbia Sportswear
Newport City Homes, Neuroblastoma and Medulloblastoma Translational Research Consortium (NMTRC), Georgian College, AgreeYa Solutions, IIHT Cloud Solutions, Arizona State University, AudienceScience, University of the Incarnate Word (UIW), The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Holy Cross School
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge MX- Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.