Dell PowerEdge MX- Series Reviews

There is no significant difference between HPE and Dell Technologies in terms of their use cases. Customers can choose solutions from HPE and Dell that are suitable for their environment. There is not a big difference in use cases for these brands.

Dell offers reliable solutions. When a customer deploys Dell in their environment, they don't usually experience major support requirements or part failures within two to three years, so they don't need much support.

The iDRAC feature is most useful for server management in Dell, comparable to HP iLO. Both Dell and HPE are continuously enhancing their feature sets in new generations. Dell is a reliable solution, and if a customer sets it up in their environment, they will find it dependable without significant support needs.

I do not know if I can comment about the tool itself since I do not have much experience with Dell. I work mostly with HP and only sometimes with Dell. I cannot say where improvement is needed. Dell support should be faster. Dell's technical support sometimes takes time, and there's a support gap issue. HP support is better than Dell's technical support.

I have been working with Dell Technologies for two years.

The stability of Dell PowerEdge is rated at eight. It offers easy setup and is generally considered stable.

Dell's technical support could be improved. HP support is seemingly more reliable and always available for customers.

There is more trust in HP solutions as HP's market is bigger in Pakistan compared to that of Dell. HP is perceived as more reliable.

The initial setup is easy. I would rate it 7.5 out of ten.

Customers get a good return on their value of money with Dell PowerEdge. Dell is a reliable solution that does not usually require major support or experience part failures within two to three years.

The cost of Dell is reasonable. Dell is not expensive compared to HP. It is a little cheaper, but customers still prefer HP.

Dell PowerEdge and HP are broadly equivalent in performance. I would recommend choosing Dell PowerEdge if there are cost savings or budget issues, as it is a little cheaper than HP solutions. I rate Dell PowerEdge eight out of ten.

Our primary use cases are mostly for compute and consolidation. If our customer needs to consolidate their existing infrastructure, they are using many applications, software, and databases, and they need a significant number of virtual machines. 

For instance, they might need fifty virtual machines, and they try to consolidate all of this on one chassis, great chassis, and maybe four or five blades to reach good compute and memory performance. This setup allows them to start and explore fifty or sixty machines on the same platform.

We are able to consolidate the infrastructure, which allows us to deploy a large number of virtual machines on a single chassis to enhance performance.

The most valuable aspect of Dell PowerEdge M is the time of consolidation. It allows us to consolidate our infrastructure very efficiently, enabling us to deploy eight servers in a seven-unit density. This setup provides us a unified interface for management, allowing us to manage several rack servers from the same interface. The consolidation provides good compute and memory performance across the board.

One area for improvement is the connectivity, specifically the backplate and switch connections. Currently, for direct-attached connections to storage arrays, we need to install two switches to connect. A more intuitive setup interface could enhance user experience as well.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge M with the first generation and series for about 12 to 13 years.

I rate the stability of the solution very highly, around nine out of ten.

Scalability is straightforward within the same generation or class, yet becomes difficult if the server exceeds three years in age due to software version compatibility issues.

Customer service and support in Tunisia are quite good, and I would rate them nine out of ten.

Positive

We have used other solutions. For example, Lenovo does not have strong support in Tunisia, whereas Health Packard Enterprise provides good technical support but is more expensive.

The initial setup is somewhat complex. A more intuitive and unified setup interface would significantly enhance the initial experience.

Pricing is relatively high. I would rate it as a six. It is somewhat expensive but manageable.

Besides Dell, Health Packard Enterprise and Lenovo are possible evaluations. They each have their own limitations.

Overall, I have a positive experience, and my customers have had good experiences as well. Some of my customers have been using Dell PowerEdge M solutions for fifteen years. 

I would rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.

We use Dell PowerEdge M for data center consolidation. If a customer requests, we position the blade server to save the cabling or electricity.

The solution's most valuable features are centralized monitoring and management and the ease of upgrading firmware. Dell PowerEdge M has enhanced our virtualization and containerization.

Cisco UCS X-series provides a GPU node and compute node in a single chassis. Dell PowerEdge M lacks GPU nodes and doesn't have a direct solution for GPUs.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge M for three years.

Dell PowerEdge M is a stable solution. Once it's installed, the solution operates without any maintenance.

Our clients for Dell PowerEdge M are medium and enterprise businesses.

The solution provides very good technical support.

Positive

Cisco is better than Dell PowerEdge M.

The initial setup of the solution is not straightforward but a little complex. By default, if the switching comes with 100G or 40G, then we need to split it to 10G or 25G as per the requirement. All these configurations are complex in Dell PowerEdge M as compared to Cisco.

In Cisco, we have a GUI or something called Intersight, which allows us to graphically select the ports and deploy them to the corresponding speed. We lack those interfaces in Dell and need to do it in the command line.

One architect and an engineer can install and configure the solution in two to three days.

The solution's pricing is slightly higher. However, we don't require an additional license for it. The solution's pricing depends on the customer's connectivity requirements, whether 10G, 25G, or 100 G.

The solution is scalable, and you can add multiple chassis. You don't need to worry about the physical cabling or the number of switchboards. It can be easily scaled based on the requirement. When we calculate other factors like power and cooling, we'll get savings by the end of the third or fourth year. One person can easily maintain the solution. We faced no challenges integrating Dell PowerEdge M into our existing infrastructure.

Dell PowerEdge M should have GPU addition or future scalability. Cisco claims a ten-year life cycle, wherein its product will support new technology like GPU and water cooling for ten years. However, Dell PowerEdge M lacks that part regarding future enhancements and adaptation to new technologies like water cooling.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

We use the solution for hyper-converged infrastructures with VMware and physical/virtual SQL solutions. 

Both Dell and Cisco would be data center modernization. We're modernizing from a three-tier to a single infrastructure. 

The enterprise manager feature sets are great. It's great for managing overall infrastructure. 

It is scalable. 

The setup is fine if you have some expertise.

It offers average pricing.

They are pretty much all the same in terms of what this solution versus competitors offers. Cisco is number one, HP Synergy is number two, and this solution would be number three.

I'm more into PowerEdge R-600, 700, and 800 series instead of blades. 

Technical support is not good. 

I've used the solution for a couple of years from a presales perspective.

I'd rate the stability at a five or six out of ten. 

The scalability is fine. It's blade infrastructure. You just basically plug into converged switches. It isn't a single pane of glass for management. You don't have the feature set that HPE and Cisco have with the fabric interconnects and everything. You still can scale up, however.

I've never had a good experience with technical support. 

Negative

I've used Cisco and HP as well.

The initial setup is a bit more complex unless you are really savvy with Dell. I'm more used to HP and Cisco. Other engineers handle Dell-centric blade solutions. We've been migrating off Dell blades to HPE and Cisco. 

It is possible to get an ROI from this solution. I probably wouldn't say you'd get an ROI from Cisco or HPE.

I'd rate the pricing as average. It's not terrible. The lead times over Cisco and HPE are weeks as opposed to months. 

I'd advise potential new users that they need to have experience with PowerEdge and management to understand all of the features on offer.

I'd rate the solution six out of ten.

I mainly use PowerEdge M for virtualization and HDC cluster management. It is effectively managed from a single console, which greatly supports my admin tasks.

PowerEdge M allows me to manage all servers and blades from one admin console. It is essential for my virtualization tasks and proves very effective in HDC cluster management. The scalability is excellent, and it is well-suited for my virtualization needs, especially with Linux. The ease of troubleshooting and managing through remote access, using tools like iDRAC, significantly saves me time.

There are differences in security configurations, particularly in SNMP and SNMP3, between HP ILO and iDRAC. When configuring SNMP or SNMP3, I face challenges that require additional support, although Dell support is generally helpful.

I have been working with Dell for the last 15 to 20 years.

Scalability is excellent and suitable for my virtualization needs.

I am very satisfied with Dell's technical support. They provide excellent help when needed.

Positive

For my large setup, the initial configuration took a couple of days. The Dell part of the installation process is quick, however, it also involves various network parties, which can cause some delays.

I rate Dell PowerEdge a ten out of ten as it is a great tool with perfect support. 

The tool aims to serve as a hypervisor service for hosting virtual machines.

The tool's most valuable features are high availability and scalability. Its integration is easy. 

Dell PowerEdge M is stable. 

As we need to grow our infrastructure, we can add extra host servers, expand the memory, and increase components as necessary.

I haven't contacted the tool's support yet. 

The tool's deployment is easy and takes around two days to complete. 

The return on investment for us comes from its reliability and stability. The tool has been a good investment because they haven't experienced any downtime, and they keep everything running. 

The product is budget-friendly. The initial cost for each server was around 10,000 euros. It's a standard price, not too high or too low.

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. 

We primarily use the solution for web services.

Dell PowerEdge M has a centralized administration for networks; instead of working with standalone servers, you have a centralized administration console. So you can administrate all servers from one location.

The networking features for administration and working with the server are valuable.

There is currently a new generation of Dell Blade Systems, so it requires time to transition to the new generation. However, the current version of the solution we are working with meets our requirements.

We have been using the solution for approximately twelve years and are currently using series 620.

The solution is stable and works on customized sites and virtual classes.

The solution is scalable, and you can scale the resources up and down, which was very important for us in the COVID-19 situation. The servers work to verify, and the resources are raised up and handle all the web applications that are working and installed on it.

Our first contact is our partner Dell, who provides us with customer support directly.

We previously used HPE standalone and Lenovo standalone servers, either rack or tower servers. However, we prefer Dell servers because the pre-installation and preparation process is easy, and the user interface is more friendly for the administrators.

The initial setup was straightforward for our team because we have years of experience and complete documentation in case we face any issues during deployment.

We implemented the solution in-house.

We have seen a return on investment.

The price of the solution is reasonable.

I rate the solution as ten out of ten. The solution is good, and I recommend it to users considering implementing it depending on their business needs, as some businesses require standalone servers and some require central servers.

Our customers only have light use cases of this solution, deploying one or two applications because they do not want to spend too much money.

The most valuable feature of Dell PowerEdge M is iDRAC.

The product is very solid, never fails, and runs forever.

Dell PowerEdge M needs to run AMD CPUs on it. 

For future releases, I would like to see the Ethernet connectivity updated. It is a very old technology. Dell has alliances with other companies that make their networking components, like Cisco and Brocade, but the choice is very slim. Dell also has their own networking products which are good however, there needs to be a better selection of networking components.

I have been using Dell products and platforms for 20 years.

This solution is outstanding when it comes to stability.

Dell PowerEdge M has its limits. There are only so many blades that you can put in a chassis. As far as blade service goes, it's good, but it has limits with scalability.

Technical support from Dell is not good. I rate it a zero out of five.

Negative

The initial setup of Dell PowerEdge M is easy. The applied servers are very easy, making it one of the most straightforward products to deploy.

Deployment and maintenance of this product require two engineers.

You will see the return on investment of Dell PowerEdge M in about two months.

Anyone looking to implement Dell PowerEdge M into their organization should make sure that they have a channel partner that knows the product inside and out.

I would rate this solution a nine out of 10. 

We are using Dell PowerEdge M for application and database servers.

The solution is made with high-quality hardware.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge M for approximately seven years.

Dell PowerEdge M is stable.

The solution is scalable.

We have had some issues with the vendor's support that we have received. When you open up a support case with Dell they send a partner to assist you and in our experience, they are lacking knowledge about the solution. There are times when you need professional support from the vendor that knows the solution well. 

Here in my country, it has been a problem for Dell to keep offices here. This has been a problem for other vendors too, such as HP.

Dell PowerEdge M price is comparable to other solutions but cheaper than IBM. However, the IBM solution is a higher grade solution whereas Dell PowerEdge M is a medium-level solution.

I have evaluated HPE solutions.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Dell PowerEdge M an eight out of ten.

The initial set up was fairly easy. It wasn't difficult compared to other packages. We did the initial set up for Synergy's fibre channel switches before we started but afterwards, we did not have to worry about using the virtualized fibre or anything with them, the storage automatically came with it.

Their features and product overall are comparable to others on the market, nothing stands out. The company should have either been more clear with the packaging, or a little bit more forthcoming with what you needed, what is in the package, and what came with it.

I have been using the solution for a couple of years.

The solution is pretty stable.

The solution integrated well. We were able to still use Synergy, which is our main platform, and usually, as long as you can still use your main platform for upgrades then it is easy to scale. However, if you were to start changing the main hardware out it then becomes more difficult to be able to scale.

The customer service was pretty good.

My career started with using HP servers. The problem aroused when the HP servers became very hot and resource-intensive. We then started using Cisco products, and they were about the same as HP with the issues we were having. Once we moved to Dell products, it all came together, we could use all three. All three had their own separate purpose.

The set up is complex. However, once everything is up and running, it was pretty straightforward. We had a vendor assisting with the initial set up but once we were through those initial problems, finding out the order of how it is supposed to be set up, and finding out the packages needed, you are good to go to use them.

We had to contact a vendor to give us some help with some of the areas of the install.

There are many packages available, it was a benefit using a vendor to help us get a package we needed. If we would not have gone with the vendor we might have been charged unnecessarily for packages we did not need. 

I would recommend using engineers to help make the design for the setup of the solution. This will allow for a clear view of what is needed for your environment, they can identify issues and know exactly what packages are needed before purchasing. 

I rate Dell PowerEdge M a seven out of ten.