Dell PowerEdge R-Series Reviews

Our use case mainly involves running our exchange server 2019 on the SimpliVity, along with other healthcare-related servers that are also on HP, including the domain controller. We are moving away from HP because of their support issues and solutions.

The most valuable function we found in Hyper-Converged is the application version we are currently using, which is HP SimpliVity version 4.1.0.266, although we are not fully satisfied with it. We have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers without issues. We occasionally replace one or two servers, but the majority are still functioning well. We've relied on Dell's EqualLogic storage for over ten years, receiving many alerts but overall having a perfectly functioning setup in the back end.

Dell's support is an area that needs improvement as their product reliability is good, but the support is not as strong as HP's. I suggest that Dell should include a built-in backup solution in VxRail, similar to what we find in Sangfor, where the backup feature is integrated.

We have been working with HP Hyper-Converged for around five years.

We have never faced unplanned downtime with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers.

After HP SimpliVity, the hyper-converged solution, we are not using any more HP servers. We are working with Nutanix and Sangfor, and previously we also worked with Dell. Initially, these servers were with Dell, but we moved them to HP SimpliVity after the hardware expired. Our reason for this shift was based on a technical and financial comparison, as we got a better price from HP.

Dell's pricing has been high for us, which led us to move to SimpliVity.

We are still working with Nutanix products, and we also moved to another vendor called Sangfor. We are using HP SimpliVity as our hyper-converged solution, but we are not satisfied with their services and support. We have 24 nodes of HP SimpliVity, and this year we decide not to renew the contract as we plan for one more solution which could be Nutanix to replace the SimpliVity.

We use Dell's EqualLogic storage technology and Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers R740, R730, R740, and R750 servers. We are also using some applications and one or two servers from HP for Cisco operations. We have been working with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for maybe ten years. We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for our healthcare applications and for running an old version of the exchange server.

The main benefits we receive from Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are stability and reliability. While we occasionally receive complaints about hard disk failures, overall, we find the solution satisfactory. We could not continue with Dell due to high pricing, but we have transitioned to HP and are now moving to Sangfor and Nutanix.

Flexibility-wise, both Dell and HP solutions are okay for us, as we run VMware on Dell hardware, managing around 120 to 130 virtual machines. In the past, we primarily used Dell while paying to Dell and VMware, but given the changes in VMware's pricing after Broadcom's acquisition, we are now transitioning to HCI solutions that provide similar features.

We cannot give a proper estimation of power consumption due to high cooling and availability in our data center, but our HCI solutions consume less electricity now compared to older Dell servers, which had high energy consumption. We are not familiar with AI workloads, as no one has presented this feature to us. We purchased the product from a third-party business partner.

When comparing Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers with HP SimpliVity, we see that they serve different purposes; Dell operates standalone on VMware, whereas HP is a hyper-converged solution. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers stands out as a better option in this context. Overall, we give Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a final rating of six out of ten.

Hybrid Cloud

We choose Dell PowerEdge R-Series to perform backup and to store multiple data for our team in our businesses. We do not do much with it. We mainly use external management for our business applications rather than internal management. For Dell PowerEdge R-Series, we primarily use it for backup and for network shares for the different people and staff.

The most valuable feature of having Dell PowerEdge R-Series is the iDRAC, and the ease of administration is nice too; they are quite easily manageable.

The biggest benefit my company gets from having Dell PowerEdge R-Series is that they work as we expect and deliver the performance that we expect. We mainly look at what is in the hardware when we buy servers; that is what interests us. If we buy servers from Dell, it is because they meet our expectations.

There is a little margin for improvement. I would appreciate more facility to open the server and remove the pieces, such as the CPU, hard drive, and RAM but overall, the product is good to me.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge R-Series for three years, my company has been using it for around 10 years.

My impressions of the stability and reliability of Dell PowerEdge R-Series are good, as we still have some servers from Dell that we use for secondary purposes that are more than 20 years old.

Even though there is some downtime, they are durable. We had to tinker with them a little, change some parts, and repair them.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series does expand with my company's needs in a way, but we are not too dependent on it. Everything that is important for our company is hosted externally; we just have everything for network sharing of documents locally that staff need on the spot. We do not have large needs on the local server that we store at our place.

I have not used Dell's customer support service; I do everything myself.

Neutral

I have previously used other solutions, including HP and other brands of servers, but not many.

The best part about using Dell PowerEdge R-Series for a small company like mine is the simplicity of setup; it is simple to set up and fast, with no particular problems during setup, unlike certain other types of servers from other brands.

Comparing Dell PowerEdge R-Series to HP, HP is already much more complicated, notably on the part of their equivalent of iDRAC, which is much more obscure and less intuitive to understand.

While we have not yet deployed AI initiatives on our Dell PowerEdge R-Series infrastructure, these projects are firmly on our future roadmap. We are currently in the early discussion and planning stages, and we expect to evaluate our hardware requirements more concretely as these projects progress.

I have no specific criticisms regarding the product. When compared to competitors, I highly recommend the PowerEdge R-Series for its streamlined setup and deployment. While I don't claim it is the only solution on the market, its simplicity and reliability are perfectly suited to our current environment. I rate the solution an 8 out of 10; it is a consistently strong performer, though there is always room for minor iterative improvements.

On-premises

My main use case for Dell PowerEdge R-Series is that I use them as VMware hosts to run my virtual environment.

I use Dell PowerEdge R-Series as VMware hosts in my virtual environment for all workloads. I stand them up with the hypervisor software installed on them, and then run 15 to 20 guest machines on them in the data center. I have 17 Dell servers in total.

My main use case is straightforward regarding how I run those workloads on Dell PowerEdge R-Series.

The workloads I am currently running on Dell PowerEdge servers involve VMware as the hypervisor, and then a multitude of applications running on those guest machines.

I have run AI workloads on my PowerEdge servers.

The best features Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers are that they are reliable, they perform well, and the cost is reasonable.

When I mention reliability and performance, I mean that my demands are not high, so I do not have an unexpected expectation for performance, but it performs well and it is reliable. Once I stand them up, I really do not have to worry about a hardware-related issue.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series has positively impacted my organization by being a trusted hardware source, which is always important to have a reliable environment.

This reliability has led to peace of mind and by being reliable, I reduce my downtime, which is always appreciated.

I do not think Dell PowerEdge R-Series can be improved; I think it is in a pretty good position right now, and it is reasonably priced.

I do not have anything else to add about needed improvements.

There is nothing I think could be improved with Dell PowerEdge R-Series, even a small detail.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge R-Series for 10 plus years between this firm and my last.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series is stable.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series' scalability is adequate. I do not really scale them; I just add additional hosts as I need to.

Customer support for Dell PowerEdge R-Series is good.

I previously used HP servers before; they were legacy from when I started, so since I had history with Dell, I wanted to stick with Dell moving forward.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series is deployed in my organization on-premises.

I did not use Dell deployment services or an integrator.

I do not track direct return on investment; I just have an expectation that the hardware is going to run well beyond the expected life cycle, which I have had success with.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that there was no licensing; I used my VMware licensing for that. Setup cost was handled by me. Pricing was straightforward.

I did not evaluate other options before choosing Dell PowerEdge R-Series.

Using PowerEdge rack servers has not affected the overall flexibility of my operations or business.

I do not really look at sustainability regarding PowerEdge server's impact on my organization's sustainability goals.

I recommend Dell PowerEdge R-Series as it is a good product. I would rate this review as a nine out of ten.

We have a variety of servers, including Dell PowerEdge R-Series, as we have a full environment, functioning environment with Kubernetes, virtual servers, and virtual machines that carry on applications, gaming applications.

The most valuable feature of Dell PowerEdge R-Series server is the processing speed. The processing speed is the most important thing that we are looking for in a server, and we want it to function fast as the latency is the most important between the end user and our servers to get the application and to get the feedback from the application. 

We have monitoring systems that allow us to see the improvement without benchmarking, including latency and the time taken by Dell PowerEdge R-Series servers to access data from storage and return it.

Dell can improve or speed up the deployment process with more intuitive dashboards, a more intuitive installing process, and maybe more detailed guides that can help the end user to install and implement their servers and racks.

It would be better if it could be, let's say, a bit less complicated to install everything, to make everything work together. I'm usually on the network side mostly, however, for me, configuring the Dell was a bit more complicated than just using the HP since the HP was really straightforward about everything. The Dell was a bit more complicated. I needed to check a lot of stuff. I needed to contact Dell support a few times to understand exactly how to connect the storage portal. 

I have been with the company for about a year, so I have been using Dell PowerEdge R-Series for about a year now.

This solution is able to scale with our organization.

We used Dell's customer service or technical support for connecting the storage to the servers, which was complicated, and we had many issues because the virtual machines didn't really sync. 

We used them several times, and they were very nice about it, however, it still felt like a long process with two or three sessions until we got the full solution that we wanted. For kindness, 

I would rate Dell's customer support a ten out of ten; for technical knowledge, I would rate them a seven or eight.

Positive

I'm also familiar with HP. I didn't see much improvement between the HP servers and Dell PowerEdge R-Series, however, it got a bit faster; the latency went down, and we can see that the processing speed of the applications or the functioning is faster than what we had with HP.

The initial deployment of Dell PowerEdge R-Series, the actual connection, was two or three days' worth of work; deploying the whole environment until everything functioned as we wanted was a process of two or three weeks overall.

Regarding the benefits and how they complete the mission, I would give Dell PowerEdge R-Series a perfect score as they are doing exactly what they need to. 

It took some time, however, they got to where they need to, and it's working as we expected. If someone asks me about Dell PowerEdge R-Series in general, I would say to go check them. 

I have rated this solution ten out of ten.

We deployed Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers to support a VMware environment, and we're looking for something else, but primarily it's to support our software that we're delivering to our customers, allowing them to bring their own hardware if they wish; however, if they want us to provide it, we only bring Dell.

I find great value in Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, particularly in their excellent serviceability. At cost per feature, the pricing is great; I super love iDRAC and the serviceability, as they're easy to access when needed and work every time, showcasing consistency in quality.

The main benefit my customers see from installing or deploying Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is that they don't have to pay much attention to it because it runs smoothly, meaning they don't babysit it as they should, which while not ideal, indicates how stable the product is.

In my opinion, Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers could improve in clarity when specifying options; for instance, the difference between power supplies can sometimes be a little challenging to understand if you don't already know, but the product itself is great, and I believe it will continue to get better, so I don't have specific requests.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for 15 years.

The main benefit my customers see from installing or deploying Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is that they don't have to pay much attention to it because it runs smoothly, meaning they don't babysit it as they should, which while not ideal, indicates how stable the product is.

We've added nodes with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, and when customers expand their usage, they buy new suites on top of what we previously sold them, allowing new nodes to fit in smoothly without causing issues during additions to the stacks.

I haven't needed to use Dell support recently, but I have in the past, and I feel that one of Dell's strong points is their support; they believe you and usually resolve issues without passing you on to someone else, and I appreciate having one person own my case and build a relationship by following up to check if everything is still working.

Positive

I haven't bought anything but Dell in a long time and found myself using other products at customer sites to assist in troubleshooting, and I've always felt that the interfaces on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are pretty intuitive, which isn't always the case with other products.

My role in using and managing Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers involves specing it, picking it, buying it, ordering it, and installing it, so I manage it end to end until I turn it over to the customers, providing a turnkey service to go with our software that we sell.

We work with a channel partner, distributing under OEM, and while we have a Platinum Dell partner to assist us in quoting and ordering, we maintain relationships with account managers at Dell, who are awesome.

I believe my customers really appreciate the predictability of costs, especially since Dell offers extended warranties that allow them to plan for running their systems for 5 or 6 years while being aware they'll need to purchase new equipment in the future, fitting well with their operations based on expenses.

At cost per feature, the pricing is great.

We've compared Dell's pricing against HP in the past, and I think the pricing is competitive, offering good value.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as a solution overall a 10, as I'm not even considering other servers and am happy with PowerEdge.

On-premises

Other

I manage the VxRail environment at our site, and I was somewhat involved in the installation, but Dell completed the deployment.

It is difficult to judge the most valuable feature of Dell VxRail P670N because VMware primarily runs on it; currently, I cannot identify any problems. There were minimal issues, with only one board replacement, but otherwise everything has been functioning well so far.

Since using the VxRail, I would say Dell VxRail P670N environment definitely makes our work easier, whether that is directly due to the VxRail or not.

There could still be improvements in that area, as there was that one motherboard replacement that had to happen. But that is just something that happens. It is probably the same with any other manufacturer.

I have been using Dell VxRail P670N for three years.

I would rate the stability and reliability of Dell VxRail P670N as good. As I mentioned earlier, there have been failures among the 14 servers in two years, with just one motherboard replacement. Otherwise, I have to say the interface of the iDRAC and the management interface are quite adequate.

I definitely have hands-on experience with Dell VxRail P670N, and I am involved in working with it.

I would rate Dell's support as a ten.

There is something going on right now related to AI initiatives. Currently, I would say it is not being utilized, but it could happen in the future.

Positive

Before using Dell VxRail P670N, I used various solutions in other companies, and I can still make comparisons. I have dealt with a direct competitor, HPE, and I cannot say that the difference was that significant.

Everything went smoothly, and all was good with the Dell colleagues who performed it; everything was great.

My company has around 8,000 users worldwide.

Right now, I would not know the performance indicators for Dell VxRail P670N; I know we monitor failures and any outages, but otherwise, we do not run benchmarks.

I gave this review a rating of 9.

On-premises

Other

Dell PowerEdge R-Series 760 series and the 650XD series are owned by our organization.

We are involved in working with Dell PowerEdge R-Series in many ways, especially for virtualization software.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series does play a role in our company's AI initiatives. We also have AI-supported systems, for example in monitoring.

Dell in general plays a significant role in our operations. Dell PowerEdge R-Series, since we use it the most, clearly serves a critical function. We use it in many ways, and it is always helping us move forward.

The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series are definitely iDRAC along with the Lifecycle Controller integration.

The support alone and the way we are treated with Dell PowerEdge R-Series is worlds apart. When I have a problem, I am helped immediately. When I need a replacement part, I get the right one and not ten wrong ones first. That really adds a lot of value.

In the area of update services as well as support, those are our main points where Dell PowerEdge R-Series has noticeably improved our business operations.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series could be improved perhaps in terms of compatibility with other products. For example, we often have problems with Proxmox and Dell PowerEdge R-Series due to a bug. There could be some collaboration there.

At some point, we are lucky to have ProPlus support, which is really great. However, even they call it a day sometimes, and when you get into the follow-the-sun mode, there could be issues. We have had many discussions recently regarding another server about getting hard drive updates, and they suddenly said they were never installed. That is the point deduction.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge R-Series for over six years.

We once had a problem with a defective RAM stick in Dell PowerEdge R-Series, but that was resolved quickly as well. It was more of a transport issue. Opening it up, pressing it back in, and restarting resulted in everything working perfectly again.

Dell products, including Dell PowerEdge R-Series, grow with our needs. We are always taking on new challenges and Dell keeps up with us and always stands by our side.

The support alone and the way we are treated with Dell PowerEdge R-Series is worlds apart. When I have a problem, I am helped immediately. When I need a replacement part, I get the right one and not ten wrong ones first. That really adds a lot of value.

On a scale of one to ten, I give support for Dell PowerEdge R-Series a nine.

Positive

I used several solutions from HPE before Dell PowerEdge R-Series, with which we were very dissatisfied. This dissatisfaction was mainly due to support.

I was involved in the initial setup of Dell PowerEdge R-Series.

The initial setup of Dell PowerEdge R-Series went absolutely smoothly. We regularly install at least two to three servers a month, and we have never really had problems with that.

I am not sure what distinguishes Dell PowerEdge R-Series itself, but in general I would definitely say Dell really stands out from other companies.

Pricing and licensing of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is a tough consideration. Pricing itself is good. I also appreciate the licensing because it is all-in-one, so you do not always have to buy extras. I find that good. However, the cooperation with certain products from Broadcom is currently very difficult.

Dell PowerEdge R-Series is basically install and feel at home, so to speak, and I find that really great. Especially, for example, the rack rails. Even when working alone, you can install it by yourself and put the server in. That is definitely an advantage.

We switched to Dell PowerEdge R-Series because Dell could deliver to us faster and also had closer contact with us and could offer a better overall solution—the whole package.

Our use case for the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is that we use them as ESXi hosts in our data centers, and we have approximately three data centers. Its primary use case is ESXi host. We occasionally have a smaller Dell PowerEdge that would be designed for single application-based server. Other than that, that is the main purpose.

The benefit of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers to our organization is that our entire infrastructure is VMware driven, so we need ESXi hosts. Our entire VMware systems run off of Dell PowerEdge, so we could not run without it.

One of the most valuable features of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is the redundancy that's built into it: redundant power supplies and redundant RAM modules. It takes care of itself in many cases. 

One thing I appreciate about the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers 17s is the numerous new features.

I appreciate the smaller footprint in terms of its efficiency in the racks, less power consumption, and more modular design for installing other components. Hopefully, the components won't be as expensive as installing extra drives and other components. I'm hoping the cost will be driven down by making them more modular.

They make that very user-friendly and easy. In terms of working with the platform regarding driver compatibility, firmware, and the hypervisor, it is excellent.

The price-to-performance ratio of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is good, and performance is great. It is comparable and acceptable.

Besides the minor issues, the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are rock solid and have been for several years now. That is why we continue to use and deploy them.

If I could improve the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers in any way, I would say that buying the components separately at a lower cost is the only thing.

I have been using the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers since the 10th generation.

I have experienced crashes, downtimes, and performance issues with the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. We have had a crash here and there, but it has only been one host and not multiple hosts. We were able to bounce back quickly.

The reliability and stability of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is good. We run them in our data center in a high-performance scenario which normally takes life off of the hardware, however, we have had no issues. We still have 10th-generation Dell servers running in our data center, which are very old and still running great.

Dell can grow and scale with the needs of my company, as they always have. The Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers cater to the needs of my medium-size business by providing great out-of-box performance from a VMware perspective, scalability, and compatibility with the VMware platform.

If I had to rank Dell support from one to ten, with ten being best and one being worst, I would rank the support as ten. 

Dell support is the best. We have dealt with other support providers. Hands down, Dell is the best in terms of the usability, functionality, and their willingness to help. They help even when a product may go out of warranty, knowing we are loyal customers who will continue to buy their products, they will still do whatever they can to help.

Positive

I don't find the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers to be expensive in general when I buy it a la carte. The aftermarket price for RAM modules and CPU cores is expensive. If I want to switch out a CPU or processor inside of my Dell PowerEdge to gain more cores, which increases my performance for VMware, the aftermarket price is so expensive that we typically take that box, retire an older Dell PowerEdge, and then buy a brand new one.

Before installing the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, we had looked at HP and Cisco which also have their own line of virtualized servers. However, considering Dell support and how Dell has been a very good partner with us, we stick with them.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate this solution an eight.

On-premises

Other