Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems comparison

Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Rack Servers category. Dell Technologies is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.0, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.0. Dell Technologies holds a 26.4% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 3.8% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Read 268 Dell PowerEdge R-Series reviews

13,148 Views
12,622 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

HPE Apollo Systems

Read 24 HPE Apollo Systems reviews

1,858 Views
1,635 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

HPE Apollo Systems

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 2025

Dell PowerEdge R-Series and HPE Apollo Systems compete in the server technology category. Dell appears to have the upper hand in manageability and scalability, while HPE Apollo excels in storage density and high-performance computing.

Features: Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers enhanced remote management with iDRAC, scalability, and user-friendly OpenManage software. HPE Apollo Systems are prominent for their storage density, ability to handle high-performance computing needs, and flexibility in configuration.

Room for Improvement: Dell PowerEdge R-Series could improve its centralized management interface, scalability options, and network integration. HPE Apollo Systems should focus on enhancing hardware support, offering more competitive pricing, and optimizing technical aspects like advanced cooling solutions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both systems provide robust on-premises deployment strategies. Dell excels in hybrid cloud integration with commendable customer service, though users wish for better responsiveness. HPE's customer service is adequate but could improve in global consistency and quicker troubleshooting.

Pricing and ROI: Dell PowerEdge R-Series is often deemed more cost-effective, with transparent licensing and extensive support, generally priced lower than HPE Apollo Systems. HPE justifies its higher costs with features that handle complex workloads. Both offer proven ROI, with Dell beneficial for cost-effective cloud solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems

December 2025

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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 (2nd), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (4th)

HPE Apollo Systems

Ranking in Rack Servers

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Density Optimized Servers (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 26.4%, down from 27.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 3.8%, down from 4.5% 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	26.4%
HPE Apollo Systems	3.8%
Other	69.8%

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

Tom van Mil

Systems Administrator at Lico Innovations B.v.

Supports flexible hosting needs through seamless upgradability and strong monitoring capabilities

The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series for me are the feature richness and the upgradability. I really love the way that it is so dynamically applicable for every situation, and they manage to have an all-in-one solution for every single situation. Dell PowerEdge has supported the growth and operational success of my company through its great compute power and price-to-performance ratio. Every time Dell is at the top of its game for us, and there is just no other brand for us that is able to reach that kind of price-to-performance ratio. Dell PowerEdge R-Series has features that specifically cater to the needs of my small company, such as iDRAC. The iDRAC system is a complete feature set for managing servers and hardware technically and monitoring-wise. It really fits in our system and our ecosystem, and monitoring-wise, it is excellent. They have all these sensors available via different protocols and end points, which I love, and the ability to manage and control everything via the iDRAC interface is just a welcome bonus. In our use case, Dell PowerEdge R-Series is very flexible. It is another computer which helps a lot because of the durability over time. They keep running, making scalability for getting more of those resources in our environment so easy.

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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

"The feature of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers that I value the best is the iDRAC, as it is extremely good and simplifies tasks."

"From a technical perspective, the iDRAC system's most valuable feature is its performance, while from the customer's perspective, it is the other features."

"I like a feature they call iDRAC. It's a feature that allows you remotely power on and off the server."

"Dell PowerEdge R-Series is delivered as a platform for clients in the AI domain, allowing them to build on top of the infrastructure and utilize the compute capacity provided."

"It is quite flexible when you use it."

"What we like the most is the stability. Without shutdowns, our VMs and servers are up and running fine."

"I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a ten out of ten."

"Dell PowerEdge R-Series product is overall very stable, very mature, and support is excellent."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pros

"HPE Apollo Systems is a good product because it has better support and best quality with integrity."

"We're going to buy another Apollo 6500. We may configure it with half the number of GPUs because that may be all we need. In a sense, we can see the Apollo 6500 being so powerful that we only need half the GPU capability that we have now."

"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."

"I find HPE Apollo Systems to be scalable and efficient for AI initiatives, and the environmental efficiency has a significant impact on operational costs."

"HPE Apollo's most valuable feature is the ability to expand our storage capacity."

"It enables us to implement software defined solutions very easily, because Apollo servers are certified for use with Linux systems"

"It's pretty flexible. You can choose how much storage you put on the server. You can have one to three nodes, depending on whether you want more CPU or storage."

"The solution is well documented in a data sheet."

More HPE Apollo Systems pros

Cons

"My experience with customer service is that it can sometimes be challenging because there are GPUs in that system."

"Dell PowerEdge R-Series could improve by focusing the servers to optimize their performance for Kubernetes clusters or something similar might be beneficial."

"The security of this solution could be improved. We have very specific needs as an engineering company and require multiple layers of security. This is not offered when implementing the Dell hardware."

"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers could improve in clarity when specifying options; for instance, the difference between power supplies can sometimes be a little challenging to understand if you don't already know."

"Customer service receives a rating of eight out of ten. A perfect ten cannot be given because there is always something that can be improved."

"They could improve the time between new versions of the product."

"I recommend not locking the GPU behind a different license for iDRAC."

"I would prefer more flexibility when configuring Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series cons

"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. It's not supported by HPE."

"We are quite happy with it, but its price and storage density can be better."

"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."

"The solution's deployment, security, and scalability need improvement."

"We would like to see SimpliVity on top of the Apollo."

"The technical support for HPE Apollo Systems could be improved."

"Lustre seems to be just a little bit unstable overall."

"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."

More HPE Apollo Systems cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool's pricing is very good."

"The price of this solution is reasonable. It's very comparable to similar solutions."

"The more complex the server requirements, the more expensive it gets."

"The solution's analytics helped to decrease production downtime by at least 30%."

"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."

"The product is cheaper than HP servers, but the price could always be better."

"This is an expensive solution."

"The cost structure associated with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers presents itself as a potential point of contention for budget-conscious consumers, as it could be more strategically positioned to compete within the broader marketplace."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pricing and cost advice

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

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

"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."

"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

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

University

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

University

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	7
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	13

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 do not have anything that I believe could be improved about Dell servers. However, I would like to see a range for AI that is more accessible for companies that do not have significant budgets. T...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

Comparisons

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 40% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 23% 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

Lenovo Edge Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 2% of the time

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series Competitors

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 26% of the time

HPE Synergy vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 7% of the time

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 6% of the time

Lenovo High-Density Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 5% of the time

More HPE Apollo Systems Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

January 2026

Download Dell PowerEdge R-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE Apollo Systems

January 2026

Download HPE Apollo Systems product report

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo

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 HPE Apollo high-density server family is built for the highest levels of performance and efficiency. They are rack-scale compute, storage, networking, power and cooling – massively scale-up and scale-out – solutions for your big data analytics, object storage and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. From water-cooling that’s 1,000X more efficient than air, to “right-sized scaling” with 2X the compute density for workgroup and private cloud workloads, the HPE Apollo line is a dense, high-performance, tiered approach for organisations of all sizes.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Sample Customers

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

Weta Digital

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems

December 2025

Free Report: Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems

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