HPE Apollo Systems vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers comparison

HPE Apollo Systems vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

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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

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Density Optimized Servers (2nd)

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...

Ranking in Rack Servers

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 4.2%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is 16.0%, down from 16.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

Gayan Senadheera

Director at Tyax Pvt Ltd

Offers higher capacities compared to other solutions, making it suitable for handling large storage needs

In terms of improvement, we could benefit from some training. If there could be some training for our team, we would be better equipped to promote and support HPE Apollo. Currently, we haven't received any specific training related to HPE Apollo throughout my career. If HPE Apollo provides training, we can share the knowledge with our partners, which could lead to more opportunities for HPE Apollo in the market. Deal protection and other support measures would also be beneficial, as they could help us achieve better results in this market.

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Adalberto Giaretta

Technology director at Infodive Representações e Serviços ltda

Reliable with an easy setup and good support

These are rack servers. We use them for applications. It stores everything including VM servers, application servers, Windows, et cetera The reliability is great. The solution is like any other commodity like Dell or HPE. These are all very similar. Setting up the solution is easy. It is stable.…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's very reliable. I haven't had a single failure at all in the year and a half; not the slightest problem with it."

"The technical support from HPE has always been good in my experience."

"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."

"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."

"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."

"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."

"HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products."

"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."

More HPE Apollo Systems pros

"We appreciate the stability and easy mountings of all the machines. We have some direct connections with IBM, Lenovo, and other companies, and we get close support from them."

"Its performance and the local support of Lenovo in my city are the most valuable features. Its performance is the best, and its user interface is also very easy."

"I would say the stability of the system itself would be the biggest advantage."

"Easy integration with UPS systems provides added convenience and efficiency for our operations."

"Ensures high availability, better hardware management, and support for active features."

"The product is very user-friendly."

"I like everything about this solution. It is a very good server, with excellent availability. The size of the power is adequate and the low heating is beneficial."

"The most valuable aspect of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is the brand name and the service relationship we have with Lenovo."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers pros

Cons

"We would like to see SimpliVity on top of the Apollo."

"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."

"What's coming out in Gen 10 is very strong in terms of additional security."

"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."

"We could, perhaps, use more GPUs in the future, go from eight to 16 GPUs per instance. That could run head-to-head against the DGX-1, the DGX-2 that NVIDIA has developed in their own chassis. That would be interesting to see."

"The solution's deployment, security, and scalability need improvement."

"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."

"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."

More HPE Apollo Systems cons

"The performance of the solution could be better."

"The power consumption needs to be optimized in Lenovo."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers does a very good job. However, what could be improved can be their Configurator because it's very bulky and it sometimes gives logical errors."

"To be frank, the technical support from Lenovo's team needs improvement. There seems to be a lack of support, and it is important for Lenovo to address this issue."

"There are other solutions that are less expensive."

"The solution's initial setup was complicated."

"Its price could be better. Its price is sometimes an issue for our clients. XClarity Controller is a very good feature, and Lenovo should include the XClarity Controller license without any additional cost. It should be integrated within the product."

"It is quite an expensive product. Its price can be improved."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers cons

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."

"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."

"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."

"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is highly competitive. Many customers prefer this solution because of the price. However, the price could be reduced."

"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is competitive."

"In India, the solution is cheap compared to its competitors."

"The licensing cost is the same as HP. It doesn't have any additional cost. However, the price, for example, for the memory option, does not match other vendors such as HP or Dell. They should work on the pricing of Lenovo. It is a great competitor, and it should compete with the price."

"The cost of the solution depends entirely on the client. There are not any additional costs other than the standard licensing fee."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers can be categorized as a product falling under an affordable price range but more expensive than its competitors."

"The price of the solution is very expensive when compared to other solution like HP or Dell."

"It costs around $8,000. There is an additional cost for the support for a year."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers pricing and cost advice

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845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

16%

University

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

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?

HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved. The solution should provide fast delivery when it comes to replacing a particular product that is under warranty.

What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?

We use HPE Apollo for specific requirements of Linux servers.

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...

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 Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers?

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is the easiest product to set up and maintain.

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems

Comparisons

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Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerEdge FX vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 9% of the time

HPE Synergy vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 7% of the time

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Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 55% of the time

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 34% of the time

Dell PowerEdge FX vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 3% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 3% of the time

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

HPE Apollo Systems

Download HPE Apollo Systems product report

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Download Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers product report

Also Known As

HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo

SR Series, Lenovo SR Series, ThinkSystem Rack Servers, IBM Rack Servers, ThinkSystem SR Series, Lenovo Rack Servers,

Overview

The HPE Apollo high-density server family is built for the highest levels of performance and efficiency. They are rack-scale compute, storage, networking, power and cooling – massively scale-up and scale-out – solutions for your big data analytics, object storage and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. From water-cooling that’s 1,000X more efficient than air, to “right-sized scaling” with 2X the compute density for workgroup and private cloud workloads, the HPE Apollo line is a dense, high-performance, tiered approach for organisations of all sizes.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

From growing small businesses to enterprise workloads, Lenovo rack servers offer the unmatched value, flexibility and industry-leading efficiency to meet mission-critical demands with legendary quality and reliability.

Lenovo

Sample Customers

Weta Digital

immixGroup, Komsomolskaya Pravda, SRG Global, Seekr, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, jKool, Tennis Australia, VEKA, Netpoints, Gamma Powersports

HPE Apollo Systems vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers