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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

"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."
"The server management and automation capabilities have been outstanding in automation, greatly benefiting our IT team."
"They are really easy to maintain. I've added RAM to them. I've done a lot of other things with the virtualization."
"Cisco has better visibility and manageability for disaster recovery."
"The Cisco chassis is very easy to configure and any network engineer or expert can configure the solution and easily integrate it with the chassis."
"The product is overall stable."
"What I can advise other prospective customers is that they should not worry about Cisco's support, stability, and performance."
"The product's most valuable features are stability, speed, and scalability."
"The solution integrated well."
"One of the best aspects of PowerEdge is that it provides a consolidated hardware infrastructure, allowing multiple servers in a simple ten-rack unit."
"The iDRAC feature is most useful for server management in Dell, comparable to HP iLO."
"I rate Dell PowerEdge a ten out of ten as it is a great tool with perfect support."
"Regarding technical support from Dell, I find them to be one of the best support providers in the industry right now."
"Once we moved to Dell products, it all came together, we could use all three."
"Dell PowerEdge MX- Series enhances my IT department's operational efficiency through several valuable features, including modularity that allows for easy scaling and good planning, and advanced networking capabilities with SmartFabric that make upgrades plug and play while it takes care of everything."
"Using Dell PowerEdge MX- Series has helped reduce unplanned production downtime by approximately 60 to 70 percent."
 

Cons

"The processing capacity could be improved."
"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 tool must be made compatible with multi-vendor ecosystems."
"I think that's probably one of the biggest failure points with Cisco, from their documentation all the way to their products."
"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."
"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 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."
"What we feel is lacking is the availability of some enterprise-level parts, as big products have some spare parts that are not easily available in the region."
"In terms of improvement, it should also offer a hyper-converged option."
"Because the costs have increased dramatically, some of those use cases may get turned down."
"Technical support is not good."
"The last year, we experienced problems with support, as Dell decreased staff in Latin America, impacting support quality."
"Regarding firmware updates, the complexity of seeing the compatibility matrix with the operating system and all the firmware that we have to install in Dell PowerEdge MX- Series blade servers, the chassis, and switches inside is challenging."
"I wanted to highlight that sometimes the patches from the firmware are not compatible with the hardware, which can crash the operating system and mess up the RAID configuration."
"In HP, there are some series of servers which are called partition servers. These use virtualization built-in on the server hardware. I am not seeing this feature in Dell."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"It's expensive, they are quite pricey."
"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 pricing of the solution is reasonable. From a commercial point of view, the prices are okay."
"The product is expensive."
"The solution's pricing is slightly higher."
"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."
"If we would not have gone with the vendor we might have been charged unnecessarily for packages we did not need."
"The pricing of PowerEdge Next is higher than it was before."
"It was budget friendly."
"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."
"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 cost varies significantly depending on the server's configuration and can range from $10,000 to $60,000 for the same server line family."
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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.