Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

HPE Apollo Systems vs HPE ProLiant DL 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

HPE Apollo Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.7
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
158
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 3.8%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is 21.8%, up from 21.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user1356702 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 22, 2021
 

Featured Reviews

Aruna Udawatte - PeerSpot reviewer
An affordable and easy-to-implement solution, but its after-sales support and technical support should be improved
We use HPE Apollo for specific requirements of Linux servers HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products. HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved. The solution should provide fast delivery when it comes to replacing a…
SHIVAKUMAR A P - PeerSpot reviewer
Addresses end-to-end customer needs and improves data center efficiency
The AI engines that HPE ProLiant DL Servers suggest for their customers include NVIDIA graphics and EnvyLink graphics for AI customers. The AI engines are more than sufficient for the current situation. HPE ProLiant DL Servers address end-to-end customer needs. It is a perfect combination with the generation 12 now, and there are absolutely no gaps. Customers usually deploy HPE ProLiant DL Servers on-premises, as on cloud, they do not have the option to specify the server model, and the cloud vendors will not specify which server it is. My usual deployment process involves checking the power AC requirements, power and cooling requirements, then the rack requirements, and then I proceed to deploy the servers based on the customer requirement. I rate HPE ProLiant DL Servers 10 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

"It's going to meet our needs moving forward, it is scalable."
"The cost benefit of this solution is most valuable. It is quite effective for the work for which we are using it. We are mainly running video servers on these, and we are quite happy with the resilience, density storage, and streaming capacity of the system."
"we can use the same platform for several use cases: Hadoop, Ceph, and we are considering the server for another use case right now. It's a single solution, we only have to integrate it once and we can use it for several technologies."
"Apollo Systems provide stuff that standard services do not. More HTDs, more compute power, at very reasonable pricing."
"The technical support from HPE has always been good in my experience."
"HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products."
"It's pretty flexible. You can choose how much storage you put on the server. You can have one to three nodes, depending on whether you want more CPU or storage."
"When we moved to the Apollo and all flash drives, we gained a lot of performance."
"The pricing of the product is fair and not too expensive."
"There is a lot of extra storage. I am only using half of what I need."
"The scalability is very high in 380, so instead of using the high-end servers, you can use multiple servers and segregate the applications between the servers. ​"
"The initial setup was easy."
"Where there is a need to actually expand on the capacity, it's easily done, especially when more memory is needed."
"HPE ProLiant DL Servers are easy to use and the GUI is rather simple and intuitive. The Americans know how to make things beautiful. Their Japanese counterpart has outdated GUIs. There is a lot of other services and software that HPE provides for the server. The software can connect all the infrastructure to form a unified management or monitoring system."
"​We use HPE Datacenter support, and it is good support. It is automatic support. When I have a problem, the question is written automatically.​"
"What I like most about HPE ProLiant DL Servers is that it gives the support and hardware availability that my company requires."
 

Cons

"The predictive analysis feature could be improved."
"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."
"If there could be some training for our team, we would be better equipped to promote and support HPE Apollo."
"The solution's deployment, security, and scalability need improvement."
"We are quite happy with it, but its price and storage density can be better."
"The technical support from HPE has always been good in my experience."
"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."
"HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved."
"The solution should work to be more scalable."
"In terms of what could be improved, if I could have faster processors with less cores, that would be good."
"The implementation should be simplified, it is not straightforward."
"Configurations could be simplified."
"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."
"The scalability of Gen8 models should be improved. They can also improve its price."
"They are pretty solid servers, but, just like all servers, they become obsolete after some time. They can maybe provide a console to monitor the health of the servers. There should be some kind of console to which you can log in to remotely check on the health of a server, even when the server is off. The servers that we have are only scalable to some extent. They have got a limited amount of hard drive that you can insert. Their scalability should be improved."
"HPE ProLiant DL Servers are not scalable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"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."
"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
"The solution comes with a one time perpetual license which is included with the server."
"This product is within our budget."
"The pricing of these servers is fair. It is in the mid-range."
"The price of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"They need to work with Microsoft to make the licensing costs better and more efficient."
"It is expensive. Its price should be better."
"The iLO (integrated lights out) license is very expensive, but the functionality you receive is worth it."
"The solution's pricing is high. It needs to be more flexible. The flexibility would be beneficial for our clients, especially in a competitive market. Adding additional features and addressing complex requirements on top of the price can be challenging for us as a reseller."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rack Servers solutions are best for your needs.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Answers from the Community

it_user1356702 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 22, 2021
Nov 22, 2021
It depends on your purpose. Apollo 4200 is usually used for Backup data, Software defined storage or Big data. And for others that doesn't require disk density, we should use DL360 for cost saving.
2 out of 4 answers
TW
May 26, 2020
It depends on what you actually need to do. Apollo servers are designed for significantly more disk density. If these are hypervisor hosts, the DL360s will generally be more useful. If these are standalone servers running single applications that require a lot of storage (for example, a Veeam backup server), the Apollo servers would be better.
it_user1112820 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 27, 2020
What services do you want to serve on your servers? It's very dependent on your answer, is it maximum ten disks Ok for you (DL360) or you want more? Do you need many PCIe slots?
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HPE Apollo?
HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products.
What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
Additional features would be beneficial in the next release of HPE Apollo Systems.
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
We were working with HPE Apollo Systems for one of our projects for the company named VVDN. We were using HPE Apollo Systems, GPU systems and CPU systems. For GPU systems, the model was 6500, in wh...
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 do you like most about HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
The most valuable feature of the solution is HPE Integrated Lights-Out (iLO)...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
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...
 

Also Known As

HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Weta Digital
AmeriPride Services, iSource, Bolagsverket, BlueShore Financial, British Columbia Assessment Authority, National Stock Exchange, Cardlytics
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Apollo Systems vs. HPE ProLiant DL Servers and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.