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Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs Dell PowerEdge XE Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

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 Rack Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
211
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (3rd), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (5th)
Dell PowerEdge XE Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is 27.5%, down from 28.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge XE Servers is 1.1%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Syed Masuood - PeerSpot reviewer
Handles workloads and diverse applications efficiently
We have a lot of VMs on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. On a single server, we have probably hosted 14 or 15 VMs. Out of these, 8 to 10 are continuously running, and four of them are backup VMs, so it can handle a good workload. For cybersecurity, it is only accessible on the intranet; it is not accessible through the web. We use it for local development purposes, and it is behind our firewall. Its security is strong. We handle a lot of test data for government and confidential customers. It is safe and strong locally. We have not experienced any security issues. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime if we need to replace a hard disk, instead of completely shutting a server, there is a hot swap feature. It is quite good in that aspect. Usually, for any activity, there is a downtime of about 30 minutes. It has saved a lot of time. We have tried AI workloads for a development environment for a government customer in Singapore. The servers are hosted in Singapore. It is an ML-based engine with AI. It is a government project where data is processed, and we run it on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. The benefit of running AI workloads on PowerEdge Servers is that it is easy to allocate memory. The application we are running is memory intensive. It is pretty easy to scale memory and storage.
Muzammil Nasim - PeerSpot reviewer
We're hardly using 15 percent of their computing power, so there's a lot left over that we could utilize
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The core strength of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers lies in their expansive connectivity and seamless integration with other offerings within the Dell product ecosystem."
"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel are easy to use, are easy to manage with Dell's OpenManage Console, and have extended support for five years."
"I find Dell PowerEdge Servers to handle diverse applications and evolving needs effectively, but we have to upgrade the hardware periodically."
"When it comes to energy consumption they're also very good. They don't use power because they're power-hungry, but because we use them very hard."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"The most valuable features are resiliency, reliability, easy installation, maintenance, and compatibility with other systems or servers."
"What we like the most is the stability. Without shutdowns, our VMs and servers are up and running fine."
"I'd give Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a rating of ten out of ten."
"In general, it works well. We haven't had issues."
"Its reliability and consistency are most valuable."
"One of the most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge XE Servers is the ease of fixing issues if there are any."
"The strong point of this solution is its compatibility with VMware and its resilience."
"The resource management features are valuable."
"The most valuable feature is the trusted platform module."
"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."
 

Cons

"I would increase the life cycle management and those life cycle management tools."
"The pricing of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers has been a little problematic. It was sticker shock with our most recent purchase compared to the previous one, and there's a gap in pricing at our current level because what we do isn't very compute-intensive, resulting in a mismatch where we fit into an in-between category without an exact solution available."
"Its customer support should be improved."
"Its price could be better."
"PowerEdge is not that flexible. For example, it's difficult if I need something that is not in Dell's portfolio. We offer the flexibility to the customer. We can implement different things Dell doesn't have. If you have preconfigured systems, it's hard to transition them to what you need."
"The flexibility of card use could be improved."
"I need more transparency on how OpenManage can help me with our company being an SMB. I want more documentation for SMBs regarding Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers."
"I want Dell to offer more virtualization platforms because the cost of VMware is getting too high."
"I would like to have support for performing a detailed analysis of the server from a mobile device."
"The support team must improve the speed of response."
"We use OpenManager a lot, and that can be a bit clunky at times. They can make that better."
"Upgrading can be a bit difficult."
"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."
"In future releases, there should be more support options for the latest processor."
"The quality and reliability could be improved."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution is reasonable. It's very comparable to similar solutions."
"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 pretty much on par."
"One of the clients has been offered a price of $18,000 instead of the regular price of around $25,000."
"It's not a very expensive solution."
"I am satisfied with the pricing of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers and would rate the cost as seven out of ten, with ten being the best."
"The pricing could always be better."
"The pricing and licensing are fair."
"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."
"The pricing model is quite competitive."
"This solution is priced very reasonably."
"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
21%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
Mainly, I would like to improve the speed of storage response. We would like to improve our performance by using disks without rotation. The price is better now, and I think it will be better in th...
What do you like most about Dell PowerEdge XE Servers?
The resource management features are valuable.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge XE Servers?
The support team must improve the speed of response. The product should be promoted more in the market.
 

Also Known As

PowerEdge R
PowerEdge XE Servers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Epsilon, ROZETTA CORP, JIGUANG, RACKSPACE, NEW BELGIUM BREWING
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs. Dell PowerEdge XE Servers and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.