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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 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 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
11
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
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series25.9%
Dell PowerEdge XE-Series2.1%
Other72.0%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2776431 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
HM
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When it comes to handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads, the PowerEdge Rack Servers are fit for purpose. They do what they need to do."
"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers scale with the growing needs of my company."
"Overall, I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers ten out of ten."
"For us, the most valuable feature is the iDRAC. It helps us to solve problems when a server is stuck or hung or we don't have any network access."
"Using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers has helped me to reduce unplanned production downtime by 100%."
"I love the updates from the iDRAC, they are very nice. The installation is easy. Replacement, if something fails, is so easy and so good."
"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."
"These web servers were easily manageable from as early as 2003. We have a very large building, and it was possible to manage them remotely in a simple way from as early as 2003."
"Its reliability and consistency are most valuable."
"The most valuable feature is the trusted platform module."
"In general, it works well. We haven't had issues."
"The resource management features are valuable."
"The solution is flexible in my experience."
"The strong point of this solution is its compatibility with VMware and its resilience."
"The most valuable feature is that it can support up to 32 drives of internal storage."
"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."
 

Cons

"Newer systems are more sustainable in terms of energy consumption. I need to consider more power-saving and sustainable options."
"The accessibility when opening up the chassis could be improved."
"The price is acceptable but could be improved."
"It needs improvements in the thermal design and the management of servers."
"I do not any have input as such, but there can be some AI capabilities."
"Its price could be better."
"Currently, even when using SSDs or SaaS disk models in my Dell PowerEdge R-Series servers, the throughput is roughly 10%-15% lower compared to similar offerings from HPE and Lenovo."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series could improve by focusing the servers to optimize their performance for Kubernetes clusters or something similar might be beneficial."
"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."
"The support team must improve the speed of response."
"I would like to have support for performing a detailed analysis of the server from a mobile device."
"Dell PowerEdge XE Servers can improve by adapting HCI technology."
"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."
"We use OpenManager a lot, and that can be a bit clunky at times. They can make that better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"This solution is reasonably priced and licenses are easy to acquire."
"The pricing is very good because there are a lot of types of PowerEdge Rack Servers. You have the R540, R640, and R740. The prices are very scalable through the specific server, e.g., small businesses can take the R640 while large businesses can take the R740 or R840. Thus, Dell technologies touch on every organization."
"We have a strong agreement in place with our parent company, that typically ensures favorable pricing terms for us, although occasionally we may need to negotiate with Dell representatives for further discounts to provide competitive pricing to our customers."
"The product is cheaper than HP servers, but the price could always be better."
"When you compare public cloud solutions to PowerEdge in terms of cost, initially the cost of Dell servers or Dell technology was really high. However, right now it's on par or, maybe, even cheaper when we use Dell hardware. If we don't swap it out in three years and if we stretch it to four or five years, then we can get even more of an ROI versus cloud cost."
"It has generally been very competitive. It is not the best, but it is very competitive."
"The pricing could always be better."
"This solution is priced very reasonably."
"The pricing model is quite competitive."
"You always want slightly cheaper, but overall, they are quite comparable and quite neutral."
"Dell has competitive pricing."
"If you want an SLA for parts and equipment then you need to purchase a support agreement."
"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
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Retailer
9%
University
8%
Marketing Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business95
Midsize Enterprise59
Large Enterprise112
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise3
 

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

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
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 R-Series vs. Dell PowerEdge XE-Series and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,665 professionals have used our research since 2012.