Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers comparison

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

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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

271

Ranking in other categories

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

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...

Ranking in Rack Servers

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 25.4%, down from 27.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is 12.2%, down from 16.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series	25.4%
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers	12.2%
Other	62.400000000000006%

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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Adalberto Giaretta

Technology director at Infodive Representações e Serviços ltda

Reliable with an easy setup and good support

These are rack servers. We use them for applications. It stores everything including VM servers, application servers, Windows, et cetera The reliability is great. The solution is like any other commodity like Dell or HPE. These are all very similar. Setting up the solution is easy. It is stable.…

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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 complete package we get from Dell makes work easier; it is not just the handling of the devices, but also the support and if there are ever problems."

"Using Dell PowerEdge R-Series generally helps reduce unplanned production downtime due to their reliability."

"Compared to the other vendors and generations, this one tends to be more user-friendly, so you spend less time trying to get where you want to go."

"The optimization of hardware and the ability to extend the hardware are valued features."

"It is quite flexible when you use it."

"The convenience, because we can swap very easily swap hard drives when one goes down."

"The management portal is essential because it gives you a lot of flexibility. You don't have to be at the location to manage the server. You can power it on and off remotely or start an installation remotely. All you need to do is connect it to the network and you can do things from thousands of miles away."

"It's a very user-friendly solution."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pros

"The product is designed to make adding RAM and disk space easier for users."

"The most valuable aspect of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is the brand name and the service relationship we have with Lenovo."

"It is a very good product, it is very easy to implement, and you can scale it easily."

"Its performance and the local support of Lenovo in my city are the most valuable features. Its performance is the best, and its user interface is also very easy."

"The product is very user-friendly."

"Easy integration with UPS systems provides added convenience and efficiency for our operations."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is the easiest product to set up and maintain."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers pros

Cons

"Pricing might be an area for improvement. There is competition, and lowering prices could be beneficial."

"Since the start of COVID, there is a shortage of support resources and it is challenging to get queries resolved quickly."

"After purchasing the product, customers have not been getting the support that they need in the early stages of getting set up."

"The only aspect that might raise it to a ten is the response time for quote turnaround; it used to be one day, however, it now seems to take longer since the merger of Dell and EMC."

"The specs for the benchmarks are very good, but the firmware and software are lacking. There are some issues with the Linux kernel and the long-term support (LTS) for some of the firmware's dependencies. It is causing the kernel to dump. The support for the Linux brands isn't optimal. We would like them to optimize the kernel drivers for benchmarks."

"There is potential for enhancement in terms of its overall upgradeability."

"The price distance increases with the higher-end, more complex servers, and there is room for improvement."

"I'd like to take the complexities out of all the different tools that surround it, like OpenManage."

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series cons

"HP has a riser inside, but Lenovo does not have a riser. It would be good to have a riser with Lenovo. The GUI of the system is really bad. HP has a very good UI for smart memories and everything inside, but in Lenovo, we have a black-and-white UI. HP right now manufactures a server with scalable SP1 and SP2 on a single machine, which is not the case with Lenovo. They are changing the machine. For SP 1, there is one server, and for SP2, there is another server, which is really bad. In HP, we can use two models of processors in a single case. Lenovo should also be improved to have SP1 and SP2 scalable processors simultaneously on a single machine. They should not release another machine. This issue is also there in H3650 severs. They are all inside, but only V3 CPU or only v4 CPU can work, whereas, in HBG9, we can deploy V3 and V4 simultaneously. Lenovo also needs to advertise more because I can't see advertisements anywhere."

"I have a few notification alerts about PCI cards but it's rare."

"The RAID Management and the RAID Configuration tools need to be improved."

"I do not have any notes for improvements."

"I would like to see an automatic call home feature for IMM2."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers could improve the availability of their solution. The supply chain is severely broken, we've had to wait many months for component parts to a system time after time. The availability of discs and raid controllers has been difficult lately."

"From a user's perspective, it not so straightforward if you want to add some features."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers availability could improve. We have been waiting two months for one server."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We do use Dell's OpenManage console. It is easy to use this console for lifecycle management or PowerEdge servers."

"It is expensive. The price needs to be more competitive. Additional licenses are required to enable some of the features for scalability."

"Dell is somewhat more expensive than HPE."

"The price is reasonable. You have to pay if you want quality. When we purchase something, we have to do some market analysis, and I haven't seen a significant difference compared to other solutions."

"This is an expensive solution."

"The pricing for this solution is competitive compared to others on the market."

"The pricing is fair enough."

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

More Dell PowerEdge R-Series pricing and cost advice

"I don't know the exact amount of money, but when I compared it to Dell or HPE, Lenovo was the best when it comes to price and equipment."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers can be categorized as a product falling under an affordable price range but more expensive than its competitors."

"The cost of the solution depends entirely on the client. There are not any additional costs other than the standard licensing fee."

"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is highly competitive. Many customers prefer this solution because of the price. However, the price could be reduced."

"Its pricing is very competitive."

"It is the cheapest solution we have seen on the market."

"Your budget determines the scalability."

"In India, the solution is cheap compared to its competitors."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

University

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

University

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	98
Midsize Enterprise	59
Large Enterprise	113

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	9

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....

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

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

What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?

I do not see any area for improvement in Dell PowerEdge R-Series, particularly nothing very significant. I do not know what new features Dell could add to Dell PowerEdge R-Series; I have no idea, a...

How do Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers compare with HPE ProLiant DL servers?

Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers offer flexibility and efficiency in order to meet mission-critical demands. I like that Lenovo blends outstanding performance, reliability, and manageability. The bi...

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Comparisons

Compared 36% 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 FusionServer RH Series Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 4% of the time

HPE Apollo Systems vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Compared 2% of the time

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HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 32% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 4% of the time

Oracle SPARC Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 3% of the time

Huawei FusionServer RH Series Rack Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 2% of the time

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers Competitors

Product Reports

Dell PowerEdge R-Series

Download Dell PowerEdge R-Series product report

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Download Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers product report

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers

SR Series, Lenovo SR Series, ThinkSystem Rack Servers, IBM Rack Servers, ThinkSystem SR Series, Lenovo Rack 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

From growing small businesses to enterprise workloads, Lenovo rack servers offer the unmatched value, flexibility and industry-leading efficiency to meet mission-critical demands with legendary quality and reliability.

Lenovo

Sample Customers

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

immixGroup, Komsomolskaya Pravda, SRG Global, Seekr, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, jKool, Tennis Australia, VEKA, Netpoints, Gamma Powersports

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers