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Dell PowerEdge FX [EOL] vs HPE Apollo Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 26, 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

Dell PowerEdge FX [EOL]
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE Apollo Systems
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Rack Servers (8th), Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

MP
IT Lead at Meditab Software, Inc.
Offers a user-friendly interface and saves costs in data centers
Dell PowerEdge FX is very good and user-friendly, with a console that is easy to manage, and it is budget-friendly compared to other products. Dell PowerEdge FX has made management very good and easy for us, and we have created virtual machines on these PowerEdge servers as well. The modular design of Dell PowerEdge FX is very beneficial for our IT operations because it is small and compact, fitting easily into our data center rack while saving physical space and power. They have a capable technical support team that helps to resolve issues, and their regular updates to hardware components and communication keep us up to date with challenges. Dell PowerEdge FX has some features that we noticed for supporting AI initiatives or data-intensive applications, but we are planning to explore all the features in depth.
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

"The best feature is PowerEdge's ability to stack up eight blade servers in one 2U chassis."
"The setup is straightforward. It can take anywhere from an hour to half a day."
"The console and user-friendly UI of Dell PowerEdge FX are the most valuable features. Its interface is easy to understand even for non-technical users."
"The product seamlessly integrates with the storage portfolio."
"My advice to new users evaluating Dell PowerEdge FX is that it is definitely value for money, and you should consider it for purchase."
"It has extremely high performance, and it is easy to manage."
"The most valuable feature is its stability."
"We like PowerEdge for its high-performance computing architecture."
"HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products."
"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."
"Apollo Systems provide stuff that standard services do not. More HTDs, more compute power, at very reasonable pricing."
"We are running Apollo with SL-series servers and the best thing about them is the density of the storage area available."
"It's going to meet our needs moving forward, it is scalable."
"We usually use three blades for two-rack units, and with enough storage, it's really a small system with a powerful CPU, powerful hard drives, powerful disks."
"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."
"Absolutely being able to mount into Omni-Path architecture, HFIs on those nodes, because we were the very first site in the world"
 

Cons

"It should have more simplified management. It is a common problem where vendors think that they have simplified a solution, but the users don't look at it in the same way. A vendor thinks that there are only ten steps for a task, but we consider them as many steps. It should also have more support for NVMe. For high performance and speed, there should also be more network cards for the fiber channel and ethernet."
"They could improve from a manufacturing perspective."
"Before the cloud solution and virtualization, we relied on Dell hardware from specific vendors. The lifecycle for cloud infrastructure is shorter than it used to be. We need a longer lifecycle from the IT supplier providing the computing solution."
"In terms of the cost, it is a little bit high, meaning, there is some difference in the cost compared to the equivalent product with HP servers."
"I think that Dell has full documentation on their products, but it needs to be improved for this one."
"When it comes to Dell PowerEdge FX, the area of concern revolves around the delivery time where improvements are required."
"The system is good, but compared to open-source and assembled servers, it is somewhat costly."
"There are times when a part might break down and we need to have Dell replace it."
"We could, perhaps, use more GPUs in the future, go from eight to 16 GPUs per instance. That could run head-to-head against the DGX-1, the DGX-2 that NVIDIA has developed in their own chassis. That would be interesting to see."
"Connectivity to the outside of the server needs to be improved at the same time the network is improving."
"The licensing could be greatly improved, I think."
"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."
"OpenView is a new product which does not support older versions of the hardware."
"Lustre seems to be just a little bit unstable overall."
"HPE Apollo Systems is a bit expensive, and there are some issues with scalability."
"One drawback which I had: When I needed to expand storage on the Apollo, I had significant problems getting disks for it. It was a very long wait-time. So, if I were to give any advice in regards to improving this product, I would say make more of the 8TB disks available quicker."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Payments are generally made towards the perpetual-based licensing costs attached to the solution, but people can also opt for subscription-based licenses."
"I rate the product price a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price."
"Compared to other brands, this solution is the cheapest. I would rate the pricing as a five out of five."
"The cost of Dell PowerEdge FX depends on the configuration we are using. We usually pay $5,000 to $10,000 based on the configuration, including RAM and storage."
"The price of the license is expensive."
"The price of Dell PowerEdge FX is affordable, and when compared to other solutions, such as Lenovo and HPE it is less expensive. There are any extra costs other than the standard 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."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerEdge FX?
The cost of Dell PowerEdge FX depends on the configuration we are using. We usually pay $5,000 to $10,000 based on the configuration, including RAM and storage.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge FX?
The system is good, but compared to open-source and assembled servers, it is somewhat costly. If it were cheaper, it would be even better. I would prefer the next releases of Dell PowerEdge FX to b...
What is your primary use case for Dell PowerEdge FX?
We are providing the end-user experience by creating virtual machines on the server and assigning them to our clients. We set up multiple virtual machines on the Dell PowerEdge FX server and isolat...
What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
Some features could be added to HPE Apollo Systems in the future, and I feel that some capability is needed. HPE Apollo Systems is a bit expensive, and there are some issues with scalability. Two f...
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
I have been distributing this product for three years. I don't have specific use cases, and everything about the major use case for HPE Apollo Systems is good. I don't know the purpose clients are ...
What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?
I am not using these products today, and I do not work with some specific firewalls. My company is TD Synnex, a distributor company, and I work for this company. My email is , and my first name is ...
 

Also Known As

PowerEdge FX
HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tracewell, Govers, AXA ASSISTANCE ITALIA
Weta Digital
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