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Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.7
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series boasts a competitive ROI, offering significant savings and a favorable impact compared to alternatives like HP.
Sentiment score
3.8
HPE ProLiant DL Servers show mixed ROI, with quick returns from reliability but unrealized potential due to partial utilization or costs.
That's both for time saving and money saving with Dell PowerEdge XR-Series.
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
I do see some ROI with Dell PowerEdge XR-Series, for example, like savings in time and money.
Head Of Platform Engineering at Ascend Group Co., Ltd.
In terms of percentage, I am saving from 5 to 10%.
IT Consultant at SPE
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series customer service excels with sophisticated remote support, appreciated responsiveness, and valuable assistance despite initial contact delays.
Sentiment score
6.4
HPE ProLiant DL Servers' support is praised for responsiveness but can improve documentation and initial response times.
From 1 to 10, I rate the support as 10.
ICT Assistant GM at Phpco
I would rate the support from Dell related to Dell PowerEdge XR-Series a 10.
Sr. Software Engineer at Accton Technology Corporation
If we could improve the time from just picking up the phone and calling for help—perhaps not necessarily going through the whole chain of support—it would make getting results quicker.
Senior Virtualization Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
We do not communicate directly with HPE's technical support because our local support company is primarily responsible.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series provides scalable, flexible expansions with ease, making it ideal for cost-efficient infrastructure development.
Sentiment score
5.7
HPE ProLiant DL Servers offer strong scalability and adaptability, supporting seamless expansion and modular upgrades for growing businesses.
Dell PowerEdgeXR-Series is a scalable product and is not expensive to scale.
System Advisor at CRIF SpA
There is no limitation in scalability with Dell PowerEdge XR-Series.
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is scalable.
Project Manager And Technical Consultant at EEMC
From our usage point of view, we rely less on onboard storage, depending instead on SANs and NAS, and the fiber connections and throughput are satisfactory.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series offers exceptional stability and uptime, handling demanding applications reliably without performance issues or downtime.
Sentiment score
4.9
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are praised for their reliability, stable performance, and minimal hardware issues compared to competitors.
Stability is not an issue for a few years, which is important because it is for a production environment where I need the solution's stability and availability.
System Advisor at CRIF SpA
All our designs were built with the resiliency to expect that failure, and it has never exceeded that expectation.
Senior Virtualization Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
If you have already selected the right product from the beginning, you usually do not face any performance issues.
Project Manager And Technical Consultant at EEMC
Since the distributors are not physically present in Pakistan, that creates a risk for long-term large customers.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
 

Room For Improvement

The Dell PowerEdge XR-Series needs better virtualization, modular storage, integration, customization, monitoring, efficiency, appearance, and cost management.
HPE ProLiant DL Servers need better boot times, power monitoring, software integration, scalability, cost-efficiency, and global support enhancements.
We struggle with that we cannot afford to have three different monitoring systems, management systems, or lifecycle management systems for different environments.
Senior Virtualization Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The price of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is expensive, and there are much cheaper products available than Dell PowerEdge XR-Series.
Sr. Software Engineer at Accton Technology Corporation
I suggest a protection mechanism that can protect the power issue from damaging the board.
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
Improvements could be made in database engine hosting services because, as it stands, the pricing of Oracle is too high from both the service and software solution perspectives.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
 

Setup Cost

The Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is cost-efficient with competitive pricing and reasonable licensing, particularly favorable in the Middle East.
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are often seen as expensive, but valued for remote management and competitive overall cost-benefit.
The pricing, the setup cost, and the licensing of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is competitive.
Senior Virtualization Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Recently, I received a quote from Dell, and the price is much cheaper.
Sr. Software Engineer at Accton Technology Corporation
The pricing of Dell PowerEdge XR-Series is cost-efficient.
ICT Assistant GM at Phpco
 

Valuable Features

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series offers high reliability, advanced security, GPU compatibility, and easy management, ideal for extreme conditions and remote locations.
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are praised for reliability, scalability, remote management, performance, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and broad compatibility.
The advanced security features in our organization help protect the infrastructure as we work in the energy industry of oil and gas, helping to protect data and privacy.
ICT Assistant GM at Phpco
Regarding security for Dell, it has the disk encryption capability which helps us to achieve compliance easily.
Head Of Platform Engineering at Ascend Group Co., Ltd.
What I like the most about Dell PowerEdge R-Series is probably the Redfish manageability, which provides management, remote management, and remote configuration capabilities.
Senior Virtualization Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The price-performance ratio is better than IBM counterparts, which is why we have opted for these solutions.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerEdge XR-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Rugged Servers (1st)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
159
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 XR-Series is 1.8%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is 20.2%, down from 21.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers20.2%
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series1.8%
Other78.0%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Igor Tiskov - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Virtualization Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Redfish manageability has supported remote site operations and consistent private cloud deployment
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. I would love to see closer integration with different vendors. As a company, we are still using a multi-vendor approach and cannot go all-in with one single vendor. What we struggle with is that we cannot afford to have three different monitoring systems, management systems, or lifecycle management systems for different environments. I would love to see in the future how that integrates with other vendors as well. Perhaps not as a primary tool, but at least some features and functions from other vendors.
ArifSheikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
High availability servers have boosted hosted payment services but still need better local support
We are not using PowerVM because of certain limitations; it is on a back-end engine. However, we are using other components such as vSphere for some small interfaces, and those are the main components we are utilizing. Since these servers are fully dedicated to various high-end solutions, they have some embedded features that their kernel and applications are using, which are bound to that functionality. We may not provide an exact assessment on its usage, but we are considering those products for some AI solutions; however, we are currently in the review stage and have not concluded our evaluation on how those are utilized yet. We are aware of the pricing of HPE ProLiant DL servers, but not off the cuff. We have obviously acquired those solutions ex-Pakistan, so they are on the rise, and while we do not remember those prices offhand, they are generally better than the IBM series, although they are becoming slightly pricey in Pakistan due to processor shortages and demand. Improvements could be made in database engine hosting services because, as it stands, the pricing of Oracle is too high from both the service and software solution perspectives. If pricing can be reduced, especially for DB servers, that could have a direct positive impact on the overall solution. Regarding reliability, it has been satisfactory so far, but since the distributors are not physically present in Pakistan, that creates a risk for long-term large customers. They provide import-based services, necessitating us to over-invest in backup stock and offline servers. If there was a market presence from those players in Pakistan, it could benefit both clients and distributors by reducing the need for investment in backup inventory.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
University
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business55
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise98
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC XR2 Rugged Server?
Regarding the price, Dell is slightly less expensive than HP, maybe in our area. I don't know about Europe, but in the Middle East, Dell prices are usually slightly better than HPE in an apple-to-a...
What needs improvement with Dell EMC XR2 Rugged Server?
I suggest virtualizing the CPU between multiple operating systems on the same server. Many vendors, like Nutanix, are already doing this. If you have this feature, you can partition the server itse...
What is your primary use case for Dell EMC XR2 Rugged Server?
Dell PowerEdge XR-Series server was deployed for a cybersecurity application based on a recommendation from the vendor of the security software. Based on this recommendation, we have already integr...
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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
The pricing of HPE ProLiant DL Servers depends purely on the configuration, and it is not affordable. However, if you look at the technical caliber of the server, if a customer invests that additio...
What needs improvement with HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
We are not using PowerVM because of certain limitations; it is on a back-end engine. However, we are using other components such as vSphere for some small interfaces, and those are the main compone...
 

Also Known As

XR2 Rugged Server
HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

DIGISTOR - Secure Data Storage
AmeriPride Services, iSource, Bolagsverket, BlueShore Financial, British Columbia Assessment Authority, National Stock Exchange, Cardlytics
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge XR-Series vs. HPE ProLiant DL Servers and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.