Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series comparison

Dell PowerEdge R-Series and Dell PowerEdge XE-Series are both solutions in the Rack Servers category. Dell PowerEdge R-Series is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.1, while Dell PowerEdge XE-Series is ranked #8 with an average rating of 9.0. Dell PowerEdge R-Series holds a 25.9% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to Dell PowerEdge XE-Series’s 2.1% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Dell PowerEdge R-Series users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Dell PowerEdge XE-Series users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Read 268 Dell PowerEdge R-Series reviews

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12,941 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Read 11 Dell PowerEdge XE-Series reviews

867 Views
867 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 2025

Dell PowerEdge R-Series and XE-Series compete in the high-performance server market, with the R-Series generally having the upper hand due to its scalability and ease of deployment.

Features: Dell PowerEdge R-Series is notable for its scalability, remote management via iDRAC, and smooth integration with management tools, enhancing its performance for various workloads. On the other hand, the XE-Series is known for its compatibility with VMware, multi-versioning support for endpoint security, and a strong focus on security and reliability.

Room for Improvement: The R-Series could improve in centralized management and licensing simplicity, power efficiency, and faster feature deployment. The XE-Series needs better standalone server extendability and more seamless integration into broader IT infrastructures. Additionally, XE-Series support can be improved in terms of response time and stability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both series are primarily deployed on-premises, although the R-Series has slightly more deployment diversity across clouds. Customer support for both is generally praised, with the R-Series having more responsive and engaged support teams, though XE-Series sometimes faces support delays.

Pricing and ROI: The R-Series offers competitive pricing and good value for performance, though hardware costs can be high. The XE-Series competes with flexible licensing options, though prices can be high in some regions. Both series deliver strong ROI, with XE-Series excelling in maintenance savings and R-Series praised for longevity.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

February 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 R-Series

Ranking in Rack Servers

1st

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

268

Ranking in other categories

Converged Infrastructure (1st), Data Center Networking (2nd), Blade Servers (4th)

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Ranking in Rack Servers

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 25.9%, down from 27.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge XE-Series is 2.1%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series	25.9%
Dell PowerEdge XE-Series	2.1%
Other	72.0%

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

reviewer2776431

Supply Chain and Procurement Specialist at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Relied on consistent support and efficient hardware to streamline engineering test environments

Currently, it is sometimes challenging when a component gets out of fashion or is no longer available at end of life, to quickly get a drop-in replacement. I would appreciate an XE version of the server where we have some drop-in replacements lined up beforehand, and we already know how to validate them. Right now, when this happens, we have about three months to validate the new systems, and that is usually a little short notice for us. I am already happy we get the time we get. I do have something to say about customer service and support. From time to time, we need to get special licenses or extended warranties or other items, especially for end customers. I think that could be streamlined. Right now, there is a human factor in it; there is not a click and buy option. This could save Dell some time to iterate that as well. If we have a technical question, it can take a little time, especially if we are trying to reach the Dutch support line. Usually, we still get redirected to a UK representative, which is acceptable because I speak English, but some of our customers are a little less happy. It would be beneficial if there were more local technical support. All of our questions get answered usually within a day or two, which I consider pretty quick. If it is high priority or critical, it gets answered within a couple of hours.

Read full review

Hany Magdy

CEO at Matrix ITS

Positive feedback highlights seamless integration and exceptional support

The reviewer primarily works with HCI, specifically Dell VxRail Hyper-Converged Infrastructure. Dell's HCI solution is considered superior to HP's in Egypt, where most customers prefer VxRail. For HP products, they provide blades, servers, C7000, and DL380. Dell's product range includes servers, storage, and hyper-converged infrastructures. Dell offers better pricing for server and technology, especially for HCI since they use VMware, which is considered one of the best hypervisors. Dell's Data Domain is recognized as the leading backup appliance globally, offering cyber resilience backup solutions. The reviewer has experience with Dell PowerProtect from eight years ago and Dell Avamar, which is particularly suitable for larger companies and virtual environments. They have also worked with Unity, VNX, and VMAX all-flash storage solutions, with the VMAX implementation using all NVMe (non-volatile memory). For backup solutions, they utilize GBS, Veeam, Veritas, and Dell solutions including DBS and Data Domain. The reviewer rates this solution 9 out of 10.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Using PowerEdge helped to reduce unplanned production downtime by 20% to 25%."

"Their management tools are the most valuable. Our customers like the flexibility of being able to scale up and out. It is very easy for them to scale and add additional nodes and servers to their storage solutions, such as the ATI solution. It has very good quality and a great deployment model. Its warranty is also very good, and it is very stable. Their fixes have been quick if they have those."

"The most valuable features are that they are very reliable, and Dell's technical service is also optimal."

"Ease of use."

"It's helped us reduce unplanned downtime."

"The ability to do everything through that iDRAC interface is a key for us, allowing us to perform tasks remotely without needing to physically touch anything."

"The calculation potential with modern CPUs is valuable. We have the capacity to increase the number of CPUs per machine, and there are also energy savings."

"We like their quality. I have also dealt with HPE and other manufacturers. In terms of service, Dell is optimal."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pros

"PowerEdge XE servers are high-performing. We're hardly using 15 percent of their computing power, so there's a lot left over that we could utilize."

"One of the most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge XE Servers is the ease of fixing issues if there are any."

"The solution is flexible in my experience."

"The most valuable feature of these servers is the ability to store a lot—the capacity and the number of hard disk drives."

"The most valuable feature is that it can support up to 32 drives of internal storage."

"The most valuable feature is the trusted platform module."

"Its reliability and consistency are most valuable."

"The strong point of this solution is its compatibility with VMware and its resilience."

More Dell PowerEdge XE-Series pros

Cons

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers could be improved in areas such as cooling."

"The equipment is very good, but the price is a bit too high. In addition, their support for parts can be better."

"The flexibility of card use could be improved."

"The Industrial and healthcare areas both need improvement."

"When trying to piece out a server for our builds, there are so many different SKUs—probably 30 to 40 SKUs—that it can be difficult to read. If that could be condensed a little bit, that would help."

"Different types of applications that are now trendy in the market, like AI, are still big topics that are not mapped correctly in the server and storage environment. Knowing those kinds of activities and definitions will help us more to position these kinds of servers for the client."

"My experience with customer service is that it can sometimes be challenging because there are GPUs in that system. When there is an error and the customer support asks if I can remove all kinds of items like network cards and GPUs, I have to do that myself."

"It takes a long time to deliver the hardware. The riser cards can be better. The riser cards are where the PCI cards connect. They need to have more than two riser cards in the server because it can be difficult to connect sometimes."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series cons

"In future releases, there should be more support options for the latest processor."

"The quality and reliability could be improved."

"We use OpenManager a lot, and that can be a bit clunky at times. They can make that better."

"The support team must improve the speed of response."

"Dell PowerEdge XE Servers can improve by adapting HCI technology."

"It should be easier to extend PowerEdge XE servers. We haven't architected them with an eye toward scalability. They have a fixed number of slots for hard drives, which is enough for our present use case, However, we would have more options if we could extend that. We could deploy the servers in a broader range of use cases with different requirements. It's fine for our current deployment with only a few thousand users. We're exploring other solutions like such as VxRail or PowerFlex for larger public-facing use cases."

"It is mostly stable, but the usual problem would be, for example, upgrading to a newer version of VMware or dealing with compatibility issues during the process."

"I would like to have support for performing a detailed analysis of the server from a mobile device."

More Dell PowerEdge XE-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers are very expensive."

"The tool's pricing is very good."

"We weren't paying very much, but it was at the end of the lifecycle. We are now using the VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure, and the pricing was very similar for the same amount of power but with easier automation."

"The solution's prices are good, especially considering what you get to use...The licensing aspect of the solution is also fine."

"I don't see any issues with respect to licensing. It's power-efficient, so it's beneficial to the customers price-wise. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fee."

"PowerEdge is not a cheap product. It's a quality product, but there is always competition. If you want to buy a server, you need an operating system, and most of it is Microsoft. A bundled solution costs less than a separate operating system and hardware."

"They seem to have become more expensive. I've not done a comparison with other vendors recently. If the price increases more, we would need to do a comparison next year just to make sure that we are benchmarking our server purchases correctly."

"It's a one-time licensing fee for the device and we pay a quota per year for the support."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pricing and cost advice

"The pricing model is quite competitive."

"This solution is priced very reasonably."

"You always want slightly cheaper, but overall, they are quite comparable and quite neutral."

"If you want an SLA for parts and equipment then you need to purchase a support agreement."

"Dell has competitive pricing."

"There are different types of licensing available, that works well for customers. The product is not very much to purchase."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

University

Financial Services Firm

Retailer

Computer Software Company

University

Marketing Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	95
Midsize Enterprise	59
Large Enterprise	112

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?

Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....

See all answers

What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?

It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?

I am not the right person to talk about improvements for Dell PowerEdge R-Series because I am not related to the networking aspect; I am related to CAE. At my end, everything looks good for me. In ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge XE Servers?

For Dell PowerEdge XE Servers, particularly for standalone servers, extendability would be a great improvement. This feature is currently available only with virtualization environment. Adding exte...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Dell PowerEdge XE Servers?

I worked with HP Blade Servers including HP Integrity and Altex for the banking sector where I sold blade servers. I have not sold HP Superdome X or HP NonStop. The customers are using it for big d...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Dell PowerEdge XE Servers?

See all answers

Comparisons

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 39% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 9% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 6% of the time

Huawei KunLun Mission Critical Server vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 1% of the time

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series Competitors

HPE Apollo Systems vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Compared 17% of the time

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Compared 16% of the time

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Compared 15% of the time

Oracle SPARC Servers vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Compared 13% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

Compared 9% of the time

More Dell PowerEdge XE-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

February 2026

Download Dell PowerEdge R-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Rack Servers

January 2026

Download Dell PowerEdge XE-Series product report

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

PowerEdge XE Servers

Overview

PowerEdge R-Series delivers high performance, flexibility, and scalability for data centers. It supports demanding tasks with robust management tools and advanced cooling, providing reliability and efficiency across various workloads.

Engineered for large deployments, PowerEdge R-Series supports extensive configurations optimizing performance in data centers. With features like advanced cooling and energy-efficient architecture, it empowers organizations to manage heavy workloads while facilitating seamless scalability. It offers remote management, robust security, and integration with VMware ensuring operational excellence and high availability for business-critical applications.

What are the key features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series?

Scalability: Supports flexible configurations for diverse workloads.
Remote Management: iDRAC and OpenManage facilitate easy oversight.
Energy Efficiency: Architecture helps reduce energy consumption.
Security: Robust features ensure protected performance.
VMware Integration: Enhances manageability and productivity.

What benefits and ROI should you look for?

Performance: Handles high-performance and demanding tasks.
Flexibility: Offers easily upgradable configurations.
Reliability: Provides consistent performance with long-term support.
Efficiency: Reduces energy use and operational costs.
Ease of Use: Simplifies management and maintenance.

PowerEdge R-Series is deployed across industries for virtualization, database hosting, and application servers. It supports environments like VMware and Hyper-V for AI, cloud infrastructure, and computing tasks. Widely used by finance, healthcare, and academia, it enhances reliability and efficiency of IT infrastructure.

Dell Technologies

The PowerEdge XE-Series caters to AI-centric workloads by offering exceptional GPU support and processing power for demanding tasks like inferencing and large-scale training, making it ideal for organizations aiming to innovate with AI.

PowerEdge XE-Series stands out in modern GPU-centric computing with its purpose-built design for AI acceleration. Known for handling extreme workloads like model fine-tuning and AI-driven applications, it supports high-density GPU configurations and advanced thermal management. Its vast storage capacity and compatibility with VMware ensure reliable performance across virtualization, big data, and analytics while providing trusted security integration and robust scalability options. However, improvements in processor support, reliability, and management monitoring are sought by users.

What are the key features of PowerEdge XE-Series?

High-Density GPU Support: Configures multiple GPUs for demanding AI tasks.
Advanced Thermal Design: Optimizes cooling for enhanced performance.
Vast Storage Capacity: Supports up to 32 drives for extensive data management.
Compatibility: Works seamlessly with platforms like VMware.
Security Integration: Includes trusted platform modules for data protection.

What benefits should users expect from PowerEdge XE-Series?

Efficient AI Management: Enhances AI workloads with advanced processing.
Scalability: Adapts to growing demands in virtualization and big data.
Security: Offers robust data protection and reliability.
Improved Resource Management: Facilitates straightforward setup and usage.

In different industries, PowerEdge XE-Series is utilized for hosting SaaS, high-performance computing, and general-purpose servers. System integrators use it in client networks for applications like Hadoop, backup, and ERP. It supports virtualization and hyper-converged infrastructure solutions. Real estate sectors leverage iDRAC for efficient management, enhancing data security, power, and network redundancy.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

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

Epsilon, ROZETTA CORP, JIGUANG, RACKSPACE, NEW BELGIUM BREWING

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

February 2026

Free Report: Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series

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