Dell PowerEdge C- Series vs HPE Apollo Systems comparison

Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Density Optimized Servers category. Dell Technologies is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.5, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.5. Dell Technologies holds a 20.9% mindshare in DOS, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 20.9% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerEdge C- Series

Read 32 Dell PowerEdge C- Series reviews

1,676 Views
670 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

HPE Apollo Systems

Read 25 HPE Apollo Systems reviews

2,643 Views
449 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge C- Series

HPE Apollo Systems

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 8, 2026

Dell PowerEdge C-Series and HPE Apollo Systems compete in the high-performance computing market. Dell is preferred for its pricing and support, while HPE Apollo is favored for its robust features, indicating it as the more comprehensive solution.

Features: Dell PowerEdge C-Series stands out with its powerful virtualization capabilities, robust management tools, and flexible scalability. Additionally, it offers remote management through the iDRAC feature and high performance and reliability. HPE Apollo is known for its exceptional storage density, tailored for AI and deep learning applications with strong GPU and storage capabilities, and offers excellent configurability to handle intensive computational tasks.

Room for Improvement: Dell PowerEdge C-Series needs to enhance reliability, pricing flexibility, and AI integration. Users express concerns over stability, support, and cost-effectiveness. HPE Apollo requires better pricing models, improved support services, and enhanced IO performance. Users also call for faster component delivery and more efficient storage expansion solutions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell PowerEdge C-Series is noted for its flexibility between cloud and on-premises environments and mostly positive technical support experiences, despite some service delays. HPE Apollo offers consistent on-premise deployment supported by commendable assistance, though there's room for improvement in service responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: Dell PowerEdge C-Series is recognized as cost-effective with reasonable licensing, yet some users find it pricier than competitors. HPE Apollo, though more expensive upfront, is considered a valuable investment for comprehensive solutions. Users highlight ROI benefits for both products, with Dell being slightly more economical, particularly in support and maintenance.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerEdge C- Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge C- Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems

April 2026

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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

Dell PowerEdge C- Series

Ranking in Density Optimized Servers

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Blade Servers (6th)

HPE Apollo Systems

Ranking in Density Optimized Servers

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Rack Servers (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Density Optimized Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge C- Series is 20.9%, down from 25.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 20.9%, down from 22.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Density Optimized Servers Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge C- Series	20.9%
HPE Apollo Systems	20.9%
Other	58.2%

Density Optimized Servers

Featured Reviews

Gouranga Maiti

Sr. Project Manager IT at ITC Ltd

High-performance servers have powered secure database analytics and flexible virtualization

The processing power and computing power are very good. Even with the Xeon Gold processor, it is performing very well without any issues. After migrating to these servers, we reduced the number of cores or CPUs from our infrastructure level. However, it is still not reaching the threshold limit of CPU usage. The bandwidth handling capability as well as computing capabilities are excellent. Day by day, Dell is enhancing and releasing new models and new Dell PowerEdge C- Series systems with new computing capability CPUs from Intel. These types of compatibilities are getting evaluated, and I am keeping my eye on that aspect so that when new technologies and new areas emerge, we can buy new hardware to migrate and host our other applications. Dell PowerEdge C- Series advanced security features are noteworthy. My applications are running without any issues, without any hacking or data leakage. Our security team and gateway firewall teams are always concerned about security, and I have peace of mind. Of course, Dell PowerEdge C- Series security features are helping us improve that. The hardware design is getting more and more powerful day by day. Whenever Dell releases new things, it is getting compatible with our different types of Gold, Platinum, Intel Xeon, and AMD type of CPUs. Dell PowerEdge C- Series handles L2 and L3 cache capabilities, caching capabilities, memory computing capabilities, and the NVMe RAM type also improves performance. The OS level hardware also has this type of NVMe type of high-speed storage implemented on that hardware. The hardware is getting improved day by day. Dell PowerEdge C- Series storage is used in our data center, but I am not concerned about that because it is not used in my division. Although I am part of that organization, in my division, I am not using that.

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Gökhan DURMAZ

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"With the tool, we can easily upgrade and ensure compatibility between operating systems, hardwares and drivers. Among other features, the hardware also stands out because it is certified and aligns with the processor manufacturers like Intel. This enables them to offer the latest options which are not available with other suppliers."

"The most significant benefits, in my experience, are the configuration, reliability of the equipment, and the support of Dell."

"It was not complex to deploy."

"It is a scalable solution."

"The product stability has been excellent."

"The management platform is great."

"The solutions are easy to handle, priced correctly, reliable, and dependable."

"We deployed four PowerEdge C6100 when we needed to reduce the power consumption and the amount of heat generated in our data-center."

More Dell PowerEdge C- Series pros

"It's pretty flexible."

"we can use the same platform for several use cases: Hadoop, Ceph, and we are considering the server for another use case right now. It's a single solution, we only have to integrate it once and we can use it for several technologies."

"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 this is a machine that should be considered instead of deploying multiple machines and multiple systems."

"Tech support has been outstanding."

"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."

"The cost benefit of this solution is most valuable. It is quite effective for the work for which we are using it. We are mainly running video servers on these, and we are quite happy with the resilience, density storage, and streaming capacity of the system."

"We are running Apollo with SL-series servers and the best thing about them is the density of the storage area available."

"It's very reliable, I haven't had a single failure at all in the year and a half; not the slightest problem with it, and it's been a pretty good product so far."

More HPE Apollo Systems pros

Cons

"For improvements, the iDRAC application isn't very intuitive to handle."

"There could be some more ports added in the future."

"Customer service and support have been generally helpful but can be slow due to the need to navigate different specialists."

"There could be some more ports added in the future."

"There has been an increase in quality issues."

"With reference architectures like VX rack, the update process is quite painful."

"It would be better if it worked with SMTP servers on the cloud. Right now, it only allows notifications via the SMTP server. In the next release, I would like to have a better processor."

"The product’s cost needs improvement."

More Dell PowerEdge C- Series cons

"What's coming out in Gen 10 is very strong in terms of additional security."

"Big stability issues with the CPU on the first generation which made them virtually unusable."

"One drawback which I had: When I needed to expand storage on the Apollo, I had significant problems getting disks for it."

"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."

"If the workload is not purely sequential, then performance in the IO is less than optimal because it's optimized for streaming processing."

"The predictive analysis feature could be improved."

"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."

"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."

More HPE Apollo Systems cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We buy licenses for the solution's advanced features."

"The product costs can be high, especially for disks and other components."

"I would rate the pricing 4 out of 10, in terms of its cost expense."

"PowerEdge C is a product that is priced at a medium range, so it is not too expensive."

"PowerEdge C is very expensive, but personally, I think it's worth the price."

"There is a need to pay towards the annual subscription-based licensing model offered by the solution. The product is moderately priced. Price is a critical issue, and it is always good to have moderately priced solutions."

"I don't handle the financial aspects, so I don't know the exact costs, but in terms of the value it brings, it's worth it."

"When we talk about pricing it is the cheapest on the market that I have found."

More Dell PowerEdge C- Series pricing and cost advice

"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."

"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."

"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."

"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."

"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

Comms Service Provider

10%

University

Venture Capital & Private Equity Firm

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PowerEdge C?

I just use normal switches for the domain controller in the network, as I have not used the advanced thermal management solutions of Dell PowerEdge C- Series.

See all answers

What needs improvement with PowerEdge C?

Dell PowerEdge C-Series does not need much improvement in the configuration part.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for PowerEdge C?

I am currently utilizing ProLiant servers from HP. I am working with PowerEdge, and that is correct. I have been utilizing Dell PowerEdge C-Series for around three years. I use Dell PowerEdge C-Ser...

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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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 15% of the time

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Compared 13% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge C- Series

May 2026

Download Dell PowerEdge C- Series product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE Apollo Systems

May 2026

Download HPE Apollo Systems product report

Also Known As

No data available

HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo

Overview

Dell PowerEdge C-Series is known for its high performance, scalability, and efficient power usage, making it suitable for demanding applications in data centers. Its compact design and affordability offer practicality and value for businesses seeking reliable hardware solutions.

PowerEdge C-Series offers robust virtualization capabilities and advanced reliability with Intel Xeon sockets and Intel's RAS. This series is valued for seamless expansion and strong technical support, enhancing its appeal for enterprise environments. While there is room for improvement in cost, compatibility, and additional memory slots, it remains a favored choice for database servers, VOIP systems, and application hosting due to its flexible configurations and ease of integration with VMware infrastructure. Enhancements desired by users include better AI integration, more iDRAC functionality, and improved stability and service procedures.

What are the key features of PowerEdge C-Series?

Remote Management: Features iDRAC for efficient remote management.
Performance: Supports high performance with Intel Xeon sockets.
Reliability: Advanced reliability assured with Intel's RAS capabilities.
Scalability: Offers seamless expansion and scalability.
Compact Design: Compact build enhances usability and tool-free maintenance.

What benefits should users consider?

Cost Efficiency: Provides affordability with efficient power usage.
Flexibility: Offers configurations for diverse budget needs.
Technical Support: Backed by robust customer and technical support.
Integration Capabilities: Seamless integration with VMware for workload management.

In banking, telecommunications, and public sectors, Dell PowerEdge C-Series is implemented to support virtual machines, internal applications, and high-performance computing tasks. Its reliable integration with VMware infrastructure makes it an ideal choice for businesses seeking efficient workload management and critical hardware backup solutions. Its affordability and power efficiency allow organizations in these sectors to meet their computing demands without straining budgets.

Dell Technologies

HPE Apollo Systems deliver high compute and storage density, scalability, and environmental efficiency with exceptional performance for AI initiatives and data capturing across diverse applications.

HPE Apollo Systems are characterized by their dense compute and storage capabilities, offering flexibility in configurations to meet the demands of AI, deep learning, and high-performance computing. Their management software simplifies deployment, ensuring effective performance across tasks that require significant storage. While Apollo Systems are designed for efficiency and scalability, improvements can be made in security, tech support, and integration with hypervisors and backup solutions. Enhancing cooling and licensing processes, connectivity, and faster drive writing capabilities are also areas for growth.

What are the key features of HPE Apollo Systems?

High Compute Density: Supports intense processing needs efficiently.
Scalability: Easily adaptable to growing data demands.
Environmental Efficiency: Minimizes energy consumption, enhancing sustainability.
Flexible Configurations: Caters to a range of applications from AI to data storage.
Reliable Performance: Consistently delivers under various workloads.

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Cost Effectiveness: Reduces expenditure with its efficient design.
Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly fits into diverse IT environments.
Performance Enhancement: Boosts operational efficiency and output.
Easy Deployment: Streamlines the setup process for quick operation.

HPE Apollo Systems find extensive use in sectors such as telecom, supporting high-performance computing and AI workloads. They optimize Linux servers, replace legacy systems, and serve as storage solutions across industries. Their applications span from big data management in Splunk clusters to backup solutions in medical faculties, enhancing compute power and storage within compact racks.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco

Weta Digital

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge C- Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems

April 2026

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