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Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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 XR-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Rugged Servers (1st)
HPE Apollo Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is 2.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 5.6%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series2.8%
HPE Apollo Systems5.6%
Other91.6%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Ajit Pratap Kundan - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Solution Consulting at Accops Systems Pvt Ltd
Rugged servers have delivered reliable high-performance analytics and reduced downtime
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series servers include rugged devices that are very tough, and we are using these servers in very sensitive areas. Their tolerance is good; they are resistant to dust and other elements. They feature redundant power, and they have a TPM 2.0, which is very important from a security perspective. This also has a Silicon Root of Trust. iDRAC, which is part of all Dell servers, is also included here. These are the important aspects from the servers' point of view. In terms of capabilities, Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is high performance and capable of addressing high performance workloads. They have front access networking, which makes it easy to work with. We also get all the GPU ready workload configuration required from the workload perspective, resulting in very low latency. Even users accessing from remote locations are able to achieve optimum performance. Dell PowerEdge XR-Series has flexibility; it is very flexible and can handle all kinds of workloads. We are running a variety of applications on this system. It is also easy to scale up and down on demand, which is the best part. Additionally, it has good rack compatibility, as most places do not have optimal power or space, and these servers address that concern.
Gökhan  DURMAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Using these servers has helped to reduce unplanned production downtime."
"I appreciate Dell PowerEdge XR-Series server because everything is integrated and the full solutions are integrated, including firmware and updating."
"Dell PowerEdge XR-Series has had a positive impact on my organization by improving the reliability and performance of my infrastructure."
"The most positive aspect of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is the availability, which is very high, and the support and services are very good."
"What I like the most about Dell PowerEdge R-Series is probably the Redfish manageability, which provides management, remote management, and remote configuration capabilities."
"Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is very popular and we are selling this as a standard."
"Dell XR2 Rugged Server's technology is always on the competitive edge, with the most current technology."
"The performance of the product in extreme conditions is good; it can run in critical workloads with not much hardware issue."
"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."
"We usually use three blades for two-rack units, and with enough storage, it's really a small system with a powerful CPU, powerful hard drives, powerful disks."
"We are running Apollo with SL-series servers and the best thing about them is the density of the storage area available."
"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."
"Apollo Systems provide stuff that standard services do not. More HTDs, more compute power, at very reasonable pricing."
"HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products."
"It enables us to implement software defined solutions very easily, because Apollo servers are certified for use with Linux systems"
"HPE Apollo's support is the most valuable feature."
 

Cons

"My assessment of the new Dell PowerEdge servers for energy consumption is that energy consumption is on par with what I've used in the past. I can't say it's been any better or any worse."
"I suggest virtualizing the CPU between multiple operating systems on the same server."
"I see areas for improvement in Dell PowerEdge XR-Series as sometimes there is some delay during the boot time; we occasionally need to disable some ROM options to prevent a boot delay or a network boot loop."
"Service is a specific aspect that could be improved, but it is nothing bad."
"The support could work faster, but that is the only small thing that could be better."
"Regarding the weakness of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series, I think the main drawback is that it is more expensive than other servers."
"Dell XR2 Rugged Server could improve if there was more customization allowed."
"I think Dell PowerEdge R-Series can be improved in appearance. I would say that the improvement opportunity is probably on the monitoring side, the overall monitoring side."
"The technical support for HPE Apollo Systems could be improved."
"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."
"There is a shared battery for all cache controllers in the node. When you have to replace that element, you have to take down all three nodes and not just one."
"I would want to see the flexibility of being able to run various network protocols including InfiniBand, Fibre Channel, as well as iSCSI, with iSCSI going up to 100 gigabytes per second - that would be outstanding."
"The licensing could be greatly improved, I think."
"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."
"One drawback which I had: When I needed to expand storage on the Apollo, I had significant problems getting disks for it. It was a very long wait-time. So, if I were to give any advice in regards to improving this product, I would say make more of the 8TB disks available quicker."
"The support from HPE Apollo could be better, they are making knowledgeable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of one Dell XR2 Rugged Server is approximately $10,000."
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"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."
"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."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
26%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC XR2 Rugged Server?
Using Dell PowerEdge XR-Series has helped reduce my total cost of ownership compared to other solutions such as HP or Lenovo, which are servers I have used. Dell is less expensive compared to Lenov...
What needs improvement with Dell EMC XR2 Rugged Server?
There are many areas to improve in Dell PowerEdge XR-Series. Eliminating the single point of failure on the network, such as a traditional setup with cloud or central data center outages that impac...
What is your primary use case for Dell EMC XR2 Rugged Server?
I am a reseller for Dell PowerEdge XR-Series. As a partner, I have to provide the users and services for Dell PowerEdge XR-Series deployments or any kind of virtualization purpose.
What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
It is too early to say what improvements HPE Apollo Systems could implement because the report still needs to come out and the customer needs to properly evaluate the solution.
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
My main use case for HPE Apollo Systems is replacing many of the servers and storage boxes at one of the customer's sites to achieve workload optimization and optimized solutions. Additionally, whe...
What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?
My advice for someone considering HPE Apollo Systems is that if they are looking for consolidation and their workload involves high availability requirements, or if they want to utilize GPUs, then ...
 

Also Known As

XR2 Rugged Server
HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

DIGISTOR - Secure Data Storage
Weta Digital
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs. HPE Apollo Systems and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.