Dell PowerEdge R-Series Reviews

I use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers in general IT infrastructure for all purposes, including virtualization and as cluster nodes with AMD's chipset drivers since there is a broad amount of cost involved for cluster nodes instead of just smart costs.

With Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, my company has entered a new generation of hardware and possibilities and is happy to use them.

The most valuable features of the solution are its integration with OpenManage Enterprise, a unified management system, a management interface, and its function as a working connectivity management platform that helps with areas like deployment.

Considering from a hardware perspective, some areas of concern were network cards on the models we had in our organization, which were fairly inaccessible, so we had to remove the whole motherboard and, basically, the whole system to get rid of or swap a network card. The aforementioned aspect can be considered for improvement. Everything else in the solution seems to be completely fine.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for three or four years. My company is a customer of the product.

The solution's stability is good.

The solution's scalability is good.

The enterprise support provided by Dell is good, especially the support for servers, which is an area where our organization has no complaints yet. If something is broken in the solution and has to be repaired, my organization has seen that the very next day, Dell's support team has always worked on it. There are some small issues related to the support offered by Dell, but it is okay to have such small issues that need to be refined, considering there are many generations of the product released during the product development phase.

I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.

In our company, the introduction of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers helps replace cluster notes primarily in the first batch and later on certain areas of our general infrastructure, like virtualization.

With the product's OpenManage Enterprise part, my company has obviously saved money and time in computing, workflows, and jobs. I am pretty sure my company has saved a lot of money and time with the use of the product.

The solution's prices are good, especially considering what you get to use. I have no complaints with the pricing model of the solution. The licensing aspect of the solution is also fine. My organization is happy with the product's prices since the whole package deal offered by the product is more than fine in terms of pricing.

My company did not evaluate any other solutions available in the market against Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers since we were just involved in the phase of testing the systems out, and we were happy with the results, especially when considering the product as a benchmark against other tools. No real tests were conducted in my organization with any other product, so we decided to proceed with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers.

My company was not looking to address any challenges when implementing rack servers in our environment. My company needed new hardware to replace old ones, and we looked at what was available on the market and decided to have a proof of concept with the hardware provided by Dell. After my company got to test Dell's hardware, and once we were happy with it, we decided to order Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers.

Using the product's OpenManage console has certainly affected our company's IT staff's productivity, especially when working with the system management interface.

With the product, our company could save a lot of time since there's a need for only one or a single configuration to be rolled out on all of the devices.

As per my assessment, Dell PowerEdge Cyber Resilient Architecture approach to security in terms of silicon-based root of trust, signed firmware updates, user access security, and supply chain integrity is something we need in the IT industry. It's no secret that more and more cyber-attacks have been taking place, and taking precautions at a hardware level is as important as any other precautions taken.

I cannot comment on the area related to energy consumption in Dell PowerEdge Servers.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers can handle the evolving needs of high-performance workloads in our company since we could use the product in the cluster, especially with high performance, which has worked out fairly well. I think the product offers better scalability than what we had before, but we need to consider that it is a newer product in the market.

I don't know how the use of the product has impacted the overall flexibility of our organization's operations and business.

I think there is a lot of stuff to improve in the product. The product itself is solid, and it is genuinely good. It is a good hardware to begin with in general.

I rate the overall tool an eight to nine out of ten.

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for servers and backup.

The product has improved our business. There are fewer complications than what we had before with other brands.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is simpler to use when compared with HPE. The product provides more features than what we expected six years ago.

The solution must increase the space provided. It is still an issue. The terabytes are never enough.

I have been using the solution for six years.

The support is getting better. Before, we had to call and explain what was going on. Now, the support has a website. I rate the support a seven or eight out of ten.

Neutral

We were using HPE before. Many schools were already doing business with Dell. So, we tried it. We also have Dell's laptops and desktops.

The deployment is not difficult at all.

The tool's pricing is very good.

The server does consume energy. The energy consumption is less than what it was three years ago. We still have the same capacity. We don't have many high-performance workloads. We have AutoCAD and SolidWorks. These are two programs that need a lot of CPU. The rest is file surfing and document printing. We are planning to use the OpenManage console.

Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

My organization uses the product as a simple server.

We implemented the product for its simplicity and scalability. We wanted a simple system that we could scale up if needed. Currently, we only have a few servers. It's easy to change them. The components can be changed around.

The simplicity of the bars is valuable. We can pull out elements and change them ourselves. It saves us time. We do not open the machine much. It leads to less maintenance efforts. We can also use components of other brands. It is easy to use.

The product must provide more options to add GPUs to the machines. It's always a challenge. If we don't think about it when buying the machine, we cannot do it afterward.

I have been using the solution for 20 years. We use R730 and R630.

The support is good. The support was better ten years ago. Now, we have to do more things ourselves. Ten years ago, the team focused on solving the issues first instead of finding who was to blame.

Positive

We used HPE some time ago. The machines are the same, but the support provided by Dell is better.

The initial setup was easy.

The product's pricing is not good. It's always a winning factor for other solutions. It is not the most affordable tool.

I hope PowerEdge's Cyber Resilient Architecture approach is sufficient. Once, we had a problem because the rack was not updated. It's annoying that I didn't get informed by Dell that we had to update it. Communication should be better for security reasons.

I never thought about energy consumption, but we all must decrease our power consumption. It was never an issue for us, though. The tool is efficient for what we use it for. It is scalable till the end. The product lasts for seven years. We can use the machine for a long time.

The solution has helped reduce unplanned production downtime. We have a cluster. If one fails, the other one takes over. The OpenManage console has affected our IT staff’s productivity. We use it a lot. It's a good tool to access our service. The tool saves 25% of our time.

Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

We use multiple models of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. We're currently using the more hypervisor-focused models with AMD CPUs but from different generations.

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers mostly for hypervisors and also for single application usage.

We've had some supply and support challenges with other manufacturers, and Dell could deliver for us, and the cooperation with the Dell team works really well for us. The accounting team knows a lot. They can help us out with our challenges. They can help us fill our needs.

Through Dell's OpenManage software, we can track our power usage, but we can also track what components use how much power in the system. It helps us at least get the intelligence we need to get the reports out to the business and to our partners.

In regards to energy consumption for the whole company, it's only a small percentage. But if we look at just IT, then the surface does consume a sizable amount. And whether that's renewable or fossil energy, it's still impacting.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are able to handle high performance well. We're using high-performance systems and they fill our needs. 

We are able to save days' worth of time depending on the number of services we are deploying.

The flexibility of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is good because they come in smaller spec sizes to larger spec sizes. If we need it for a stand-alone system, we can get a really small system. For our Hypervisor, we can get the larger spec systems to carry a higher workload.

The most valuable feature is the ease of use. It's very easy to get new systems in the data center and to get them ready for production.

I'm currently not running into specific cases that I'd say we could improve. Of course, the most important features are security and sustainability. Those are subjects that Dell does a lot of work on. The whole industry works a lot on it, but everyone also sets goals of being sustainable. Working together on those subjects, I'd say could help us achieve those goals together. Sustainability and the data center is a hot topic. I work for the airport and we want to be the most sustainable airport in the world. So starting with our IT stack could benefit.

The most important for us is once someone gets access to a system that we don't want them to have access to, it probably won't be physical access. What will a system do to detect besides all the software we have in place? And right now, I'm not really aware of what the PowerEdge stack does for us in those scenarios, but that's an interesting use case. I would like more resilience because, for all companies, cybersecurity is important. Once something goes wrong, then we'll see the whole business go along. Within the IT department, we have to be ahead of that.

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

In terms of a real IT company, we're small. So for us, our needs can be easily filled with the current scalability that Dell can deliver to us.

We've had some small communication errors with support agents going on holiday and not doing a good handover of a case, but that's just one thing. The rest of our experiences with technical support are great.

Positive

We used exclusively Lenovo and IBM in the past. For some reason, we switched to Dell. It may have been pricing, but also support. 

The initial installation is easy. Through Dell software, we can create baselines. And with those baselines, we can automate the first steps of deployment. Stuff we would normally have to go into the data center, physically connect to a server, and do by hand, can now just be done after two simple steps.

Normally, deploying new hardware would sometimes take a couple of days, including getting it already for the business. Now especially on the tedious first steps of installation, we save time.

We have had good life cycles. While they may not directly generate a return on investment, they fulfill their intended purpose and have demonstrated long-term viability.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack ten out of ten.

We use them to host a car parking system. 

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers with pre-installed Microsoft Windows Server. It is just easier when they come already loaded. There is less for us to do.

We host our application on them. They are great for running our applications. We recently had to upgrade the specs of some of the servers due to the demands on the system. For example, where it used to be Dell R350 with hard drives, we are now expected to go with SSDs, but it deals with our applications very well.

We do not necessarily use a lot of its security and other features. We take it out of the box, put our application on it, and then just run it or install it on a device if needed.

With Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, we now have more resilience. Previously, we used a PowerPC as a server. By using a dedicated PowerEdge Rack Server, there is resilience when using, for example, a RAID array.

Our in-house application runs directly on it. That is a big critical element, but the impact of these servers on our IT infrastructure is no different from another server.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime by about 20%.

The ease of setting them up is valuable. It is easy to set them up. 

Training needs to be improved. I feel we are not getting the best benefit out of the PowerEdge servers at the moment because we do not have in-depth knowledge on how to fully configure them. The PowerEdge servers are fine. It is our training that needs to be improved.

Their support can be better. Getting to the right person for support is a challenge.

We have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for eight or nine years.

I have never seen any major issues with stability. They are stable.

Once we have deployed a server, we do not increase any specs on it, so we do not have too much experience with scalability. If we do need an improved or enhanced server, we will get that straight from Dell. We would not enhance RAM, SSD, or anything else on our own.

There are about eight people who may configure them. Once these servers go to the site, there are more people using them, but I do not know how many.

Their support is usually very good, but getting to the right person is a challenge. They are good once we get to the right person or once somebody is dedicated to helping us, but getting to that point in the first place is a bit annoying. 

Neutral

My predecessor was already using them, so I carried on ordering them. We do not have any experience with anything similar. We just stick with what we know. The only alternative that we use is a tower PC as a server. It is just a standard PC.

We did not consider public cloud servers before choosing PowerEdge servers. Our platform at the moment is not native to the cloud. It has a heavy data demand and bandwidth requirement, so the cloud was not necessarily within the scope of our product at the time. However, we are developing a cloud-native solution. That might be something we can consider moving forward.

We went for PowerEdge servers because of the price and specs. It is something that has been used by our team before I even joined it, so we continue to use it. The support from Dell is usually very good as well. So, it is a combination of price, specs, and support that makes us keep using Dell.

It is easy to set them up. We could realize their benefits within a few months of deployment.

I am involved in their deployment as an assistant and not as the main person. Most times, it is straightforward, but it also depends on the spec that we get with different solid-state drives or hard drives. Sometimes, the RAID sets can be a bit more complex.

With regards to getting the server into a state where we can deploy our application, it takes a few hours. In a few hours, we can deploy the Windows operating system, do the RAID setup, and then it is ready for our in-house solution.

It is usually a one-man job. I might provide some assistance, but typically, it is a one-man job.

We have potentially seen an ROI, but I would not be able to give a figure. We deploy our solutions onto those servers, and effectively, that is no longer our equipment, so we do not necessarily see what is going on with them. 

They are fairly priced.

I would recommend Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. I would advise having a good relationship with Dell, and they will support you above and beyond.

Overall, I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers an eight out of ten.

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for our storage.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are always ahead of the curve when it comes to speed and performance, and therefore, they are more than adequately positioned to deal with the demands of changing infrastructure and changing demands from the business.

The cyber-resilient architecture of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers allows us to customize the information for individual users rather than being limited to a single generic account.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are continually evolving to achieve optimal energy efficiency and performance, utilizing the latest processors from both AMD and Intel.

Dell's OpenManage Console for lifecycle management is user-friendly. We have utilized a centralized console for both overall management and individualized control. The process, from initial setup to complete patching of firmware and drivers, is remarkably straightforward. Furthermore, its integration with the cloud eliminates the need for manual driver downloads or ISO installations. Since it operates entirely through the cloud, the process is exceptionally uncomplicated.

OpenManage Console helps our IT staff to be more productive.

The OpenManage Console reduces the time required for us to deploy new data centers by 25 percent because we can perform all tasks from the central console on a subscription basis.

The native OS security features have helped protect our environment from attacks.

The Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers exhibit high uptime. Once they are up and running, they remain operational, making them easy to maintain and manage in terms of driver patching. We observed these advantages immediately.

The impact of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers on our IT infrastructure and its ability to handle the demands of a remote or distributed workforce is good. This is because we can manage all of them from a central source. The presence of iDRAC means that we don't have to visit sites unnecessarily; everything can be managed efficiently.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers help in reducing unplanned production downtime by 100 TB. The maintenance we perform is very efficient. We plan for it, and the average failure rate is quite low. Therefore, we don't experience too many failures.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are user-friendly. The setup is easy and the overall experience with Dell from sales to support is absolutely wonderful.

The most valuable feature is the integration with ESXi, where they provide their custom ISOs, ensuring that all the drivers are installed.

I would appreciate the capability to carry out live updates without the need to take the system offline.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for 20 years.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have been stable, which is why I have been using them for 20 years.

The Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are scalable across the entire product range, ranging from one U to multiple U configurations and from single sockets to multiple sockets to cater to various markets.

The technical support is excellent, and they consistently possess extensive knowledge about the products.

Positive

We previously utilized Cisco Servers but transitioned to Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers due to their cost-effectiveness and reliability. These systems have slight differences; while one serves as Unified Communications, the other is stand-alone and is more manageable.

The initial setup is straightforward. I created a document explaining how to perform the task, and it was quite straightforward for individuals who are not familiar with PowerEdge systems. There weren't any complexities in the setup process; it's essentially a repetitive procedure. Once we've configured one PowerEdge server, the process is the same for all of them, as the product line doesn't substantially differ from a setup standpoint when utilizing PowerEdge servers.

Starting from the moment when ESXi is installed, the deployment takes approximately half a day to finish.

I have implemented the solution in-house and have also utilized Insight UK as our integrator at my previous job.

I am satisfied with the pricing of the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers and would rate the cost as seven out of ten, with ten being the best.

We chose Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers and Microsoft due to their lower cost and user-friendly nature.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers an eight out of ten.

The integration of the app workloads with PowerEdge Rack Servers depends on the key factor of the operating system.

Using a public cloud instead of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers can potentially be more costly. The latency of any on-premises device will always be greater than that of the cloud.

I highly recommend Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as long as they meet the organization's requirements for their use case. Users should first figure out their use case and ensure that their goals align with the available options.

We have one PowerEdge Rack Server that we got a little while ago that is running Hyper-V and some Windows VMs and we just got a new one, which will be running SQL. We use them for Windows networking tasks. One is a file store server and the other is an application server.

These servers have expanded our storage for our call recording. We no longer have to offsite our calls prior to needing them, within the lifecycle of the call requirements. Before, we'd have to ship off some call recordings after two years, but we can now keep them onsite longer. 

They have also optimized some of the infrastructure and allowed us to reduce our footprint in the server room. We were able to upgrade two servers into one and virtualize them when we got the PowerEdge.

Some of the apps that are critical to our business are Office 365, Sage, which is a finance payment company in the UK, and AWS for some of our hosted solutions that are public-facing, because we don't want them coming in directly to our data center. The integration of these apps' workloads with our PowerEdge Rack Servers is of high importance. We're able to put our applications on them that integrate these services and have them automated and run without worry.

Moving on to the new PowerEdge Rack Server that we have just purchased will definitely reduce downtime and allow more flexibility in our workloads, going forward.

While it's not specific to the PowerEdge side of it, I do like the new feature in the Dell servers, the BOSS system [Boot Optimized Storage Solution]. That is really nice. I don't know if it's unique to Dell, but I like it.

And when it comes to handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads, the PowerEdge Rack Servers are fit for purpose. They do what they need to do. 

I am also grateful for the security features, including the signed firmware, drift detection, and BIOS recovery.

I haven't done any energy monitoring of our servers because I don't have a big enough server farm to need to monitor our power consumption at that level. It's not like I need to turn off half of our fleet to save costs during downtime hours. We have a very small footprint as far as service systems go. Having said that, the PowerEdge servers are probably more energy efficient than the older ones we have because the older ones are a lot bigger. They have a lot more active hard drives and spinning disks. These new servers are nice, clean SSDs. Overall, power consumption will have gone down.

I use the Dell OpenManage console on occasion when I'm investigating an issue with the server, but thankfully, that doesn't happen very often. Using the console is pretty straightforward. I don't have any complaints about it. 

What annoys me about every server is just how loud they are when they're turned on, but that's just a function of the server. It's protecting itself. I can't complain that it's noisy when I turn it on, because it's not in its rack yet. It's sitting on a desk near me. That's just how servers work.

We've been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for a couple of years and we've had at least one Dell in our system for going on 12 years now.

The servers that I have, have been humming away without me having to deal with them in any way, outside of Windows issues. Those issues have nothing to do with PowerEdge. They are the standard Windows issues. Overall, they've been working the way they're supposed to, so I have nothing bad to say about them.

I would imagine they scale very well. Our IT infrastructure has not been overly affected by having these servers. They are easily scaling to our needs and the equipment we have purchased far outpowers our business requirements, but they will be there when we need them.

I haven't had to contact Dell's technical support for the server side. The only technical support from Dell we've had so far was for laptops.

We had HPE ProLiants, but I haven't bought any of those since the last one several years ago. We've gone to Dell since then.

They have good longevity and good warranties. If there were an issue (and we haven't had any) they are covered.

I'd like them to be cheaper, but that's not the world we live in and that's not where the pound is at. 

The price was acceptable for what the product is. If I tried to build my own server, the cost difference would be negligible. And the brand support that Dell provides and the functionality that comes with the PowerEdge Servers made up the difference. So it makes sense. I don't have a problem with the cost. It is in line with what I'd expect.

I considered public cloud servers before choosing PowerEdge Rack Servers, but that solution wasn't fit for purpose in this case. We have some public cloud stuff that is useful in some cases, but we wanted hardware onsite for this specific device.

In terms of native OS security features, we use Active Directory and we have BitLocker and some other things enabled. We mostly use them for compliance and because we have them. Nothing has forced me to look outside of the native-provided solutions.

To protect ourselves from malware and other firmware attacks, we have Mimecast for email endpoints and we have ESET Endpoint Security for all of our clients and servers.

The PowerEdge Rack Servers do what they say on the tin. I like them. And our latest one was delivered really fast. We ordered it on the 7th and it came on the 18th, which was unexpected and nice. That's a good turnaround time.

We have implemented the PowerEdge servers in data centers for intelligence, governments, banks, hospitals, and for different use cases. It's a very robust product. 

We're a Dell Gold partner, and we sell services for our clients. We've been working in this domain for a long time.

We're using the seven series and the six series, and we previously used the eight series.

Most of our implementations are completed on-premises.

PowerEdge's system management capabilities help increase staff productivity.

It provides centralized management capabilities for large environments. In data centers, implementing multi-servers and managing different kinds of resources from a single portal definitely helps us a lot.

PowerEdge reduces data processing times. The server must be set up well to do this. Knowing your application and how to set up a real configuration that will map your request, helps a lot in the PowerEdge environment.

The enabling of full automation has affected the operations of our company.
This is the target of every client and organization. The servers fully support automation. A combination of a company's strategy when implementing solutions and having applications that are synchronized with the hardware requirement will lead to a very good result. The hardware is the best part of it because it's so easy. The hardware supports big implementations. If the structure is right, the results will be very good.

PowerEdge hasn't let us down in any situation. It's a very robust system.

We haven't faced any kind of downtime with applications, especially in analytics, because we implement a PowerEdge cluster and support it with storage. The infrastructure is highly available based on the Dell server.

From our implementations over the years and the new demand in technology, we haven't faced any kind of problems related to hardware based on PowerEdge. Everything is based on the application itself and the algorithm that the client uses through the servers. The problem isn't with the servers. The problem is with development.

It's all about processing. If you use a different kind of application that needs a lot of resources, that is a key factor, especially in data collection, open-source data, and applying different analytics over that. That will need a lot of processing, and the hardware is a key factor in that part.

Full automation is fully supported with PowerEdge. From the server perspective, it is fully compliant.

We haven't faced any problems with the power supplies. The consumption of power is robust. We still have slots for the new hard discs for availability and upgrading RAM, but the machine itself has been working nonstop for ten years.

We haven't faced any problems with new demands for digital transformation and infrastructure development.

The system is very updated. The machine itself is secure, but it depends on the client's environment and security strategy.

PowerEdge has good value for energy consumption. We know this from other vendors that have the same data centers that we used to work with. It provides better performance in terms of power consumption. More power is saved with the use of a full cabinet of PowerEdge servers versus other solutions with multi-servers.

We work in environments with systems in analytics, AI, Hadoop infrastructure, open source, and data gathering. We have those kinds of servers in our setups, and we never face problems when running the latest high-demand applications. We have an advantage in getting those results on PowerEdge servers rather than other servers.

We had some applications in artificial intelligence. Some of the clients are starting to adopt those use cases. We didn't face any problems adopting those kinds of solutions, although it's still an open discussion.

We are very familiar with the Dell portal, updates, supports, and assessments.

The integrated Dell Remote Access Controller telemetry for monitoring the PowerEdge system data and providing analytics is very simple and accessible. For centralized management, it's a good value. These kinds of implementations in a big data center make a difference.

We have CloudIQ in the machine learning systems that we are implementing for some of our clients, and those are based on Dell PowerEdge. We have those kinds of predictive analytics, and the hardware is doing great so far.

Dell EMC is a combination of processing, storage, and power. We're in a really good position in terms of technology, trends, and the leaders in the market. 

Dell has different types of servers that can fit different types of businesses.

Different types of applications that are now trendy in the market, like AI, are still big topics that are not mapped correctly in the server and storage environment. Knowing those kinds of activities and definitions will help us more to position these kinds of servers for the client.

I have used this solution since 2005.

It's very stable. We have been using it for ten years.

It's easy to scale.

I would rate technical support an eight out of ten. We have never had a problem with technical support. There are a lot of different layers of support, and they're all very responsive. Dell is a very good company.

Positive

We used to work with HP most of the time, and we worked with servers from Cisco for a short time.

Dell used to have different categories of servers that can fit different types of businesses. Sometimes we find that small servers have good specs over other competition, which is key for some new clients. For some new businesses, small servers can help achieve different targets for SMEs.

The setup is very simple. When deploying PowerEdge, we used the automated server and OS deployment features. Our clients are very familiar with the setup. It's straightforward and very fast. If someone is knowledgeable in IT, they are familiar with PowerEdge.

As a partner, most of the time we help clients. However, most of the clients are knowledgeable enough to implement the servers in a very simple way.

PowerEdge is not a cheap product. It's a quality product, but there is always competition.

If you want to buy a server, you need an operating system, and most of it is Microsoft. A bundled solution costs less than a separate operating system and hardware.

We cannot compare public cloud solutions with PowerEdge. This decision is related to the availability of features over the internet versus something that you own in your data center, your servers, and your manageability and power. Implementing those kinds of servers on-premises will cost more, but having a cloud solution with on-premises storage is more feasible and economically better.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

I cannot recommend a solution other than PowerEdge. I'm very happy with it and proud that we have it implemented.

I would definitely recommend this solution to those who are interested in using it. It's a robust, solid solution, and the hardware is designed carefully. The features and capabilities are built-in and it's a very supportive, long-term company. There are continuous efforts for development.

It's a standard server that we've got. It's a site server, so it'll hold up to a manufacturing server and a normal Active Directory server.

We have Dell PowerEdge servers with pre-installed Microsoft Windows Server OS. For security, we mainly have antivirus. We've got web security monitoring tools. In addition, we've got firewalls. So, we've got a number of technologies that will hopefully protect us from ransomware.

Reliability is its main benefit. It works. I have not had many servers go down with hardware failure.

Email and ERP systems are critical to our business. We've also got manufacturing applications running on it as well. Those are one of the biggest key areas for our business. For the manufacturing and everything else, it's highly integrated. We need a server that's always on.

It has been good in terms of the impact on our IT infrastructure and the ability to handle the demand. It does what it says on the tin. We haven't had any issues with it. It's a server. It's one of those things that once it's in, it's in. We don't want it to do anything special because it's there for our infrastructure. It looks after our infrastructure, and it has been doing its job, and it has been working. Because we've not had any issues, its reliability has made a big impact on our business.

The ease of installation is valuable. The physical side of installation is quite intuitive and has got better by leaps and bounds. The hardware has always been fantastic, and it has always been reliable.

The iDRAC is one of my favorite features of this solution. From an IT or management perspective, we are able to easily control the servers with it. It has been the biggest help.

Its pricing could be better. In terms of features, I've got nothing to improve.

I have about 25 years of experience with the product.

Its stability is very good. Its performance has always gone up in leaps and bounds. They've always been ahead of the curve, and we've always got the best technology from Dell.

Its scalability is very good.

Their support is good. I would rate them a 10 out of 10.

Positive

I previously used an HP solution. I switched because of my experience with peer reviews for Dell products. Ever since we made the change to Dell servers, we've not gone back. There is the ease of use of racking and the ease of use of remote management. There is reliability and simplification of the server as well. They've not overcomplicated it. Those are the main selling points for Dell servers in comparison to HP.

Its initial setup was very straightforward. It took a day. We have a certain process that we follow. We've had a server setup from a couple of years ago, and we follow that process. It's just making sure that all the relevant information is in.

It's very difficult to measure, but it should be good. We've made an initial investment in the capital costs for the server purchase, and if we get good five years of use out of it, then we've got good returns for it.

We could realize its benefits straightaway after the deployment.

They seem to have become more expensive. I've not done a comparison with other vendors recently. If the price increases more, we would need to do a comparison next year just to make sure that we are benchmarking our server purchases correctly.

We did consider public cloud servers before choosing PowerEdge Rack Servers, but it wasn't a choice. We are in a hybrid environment. We do have a number of servers internally, but then we have public cloud servers as well. Overall, the public cloud is cheaper because I don't require internal expertise and internal maintenance for the physical environment, which is cost-saving. The only reason for getting PowerEdge internally was to meet the demand for great speed for our manufacturing services. Therefore, we have to have something internal.

I would definitely recommend it. You just have to install it, and that's it. It works.

I would rate it a 10 out of 10.

We mostly use them for managing our testing environment. They manage a different brand of blade servers, not Dell, but the Rack Servers powered by Intel are monitoring and managing the queues that run the tests. Developers are submitting tests to the system 24 hours a day, and nodes on the blade servers run the tests. Our PowerEdge servers manage the test queues.

The management portal is essential because it gives you a lot of flexibility. You don't have to be at the location to manage the server. You can power it on and off remotely or start an installation remotely. All you need to do is connect it to the network and you can do things from thousands of miles away. That is essential when working with data centers. You don't want to be there but you want to have full control remotely.

Another valuable feature is that it's a Dell and that means it's a reliable product.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel for the last 10 years.

It has performed the way that we expected it to with no technical problems. I don't recall any problems with the server itself that required us to call support or get replacement parts. It does what we expect it to do.

It's stable. It's working 24/7, 365. We don't ever stop it. We have two offices in Israel, and each has two PowerEdge Rack Servers. They're monitoring our testing environment and that environment is running 24 hours a day, so the servers are very heavily utilized.

We usually keep them for four years or stretch them to five years with a warranty extension. We wreck them and have never had to deal with any problems. The PowerEdge servers we have are the third generation that we purchased for this specific role. I'm assuming the integration team that requested these models specifically is satisfied with the outcome.

We got them in a configuration that hasn't required us to make any changes in terms of scalability.

Dell's support works. Here in Israel, Dell works with a third party that handles the contact with the customer. I don't recall if that third party handles servers, but in general, a lot of improvement is required there.

We are a corporate environment. When I call Dell support and give them my credentials or customer number, I expect the guy on the other side to understand who he is talking with. He should immediately see that I have at least 500 laptops, desktops, and more than 1,000 Dell monitors. I'm not just a private customer calling from home. I expect the service to work accordingly. 

Don't ask me, "Did you reboot the machine?" or "Did you update?" We only call Dell support when we cannot solve the problems ourselves. By the time we call, we have done all the testing and all the updating. We have done everything on our side and that's when we need professional, technical support. But when we call them here in Israel, we get what seems like very consumer-oriented customer support. There is a lot of room for improvement in this area.

Neutral

We had HP ProLiant in the past, but we haven't used them for quite a while. Our entire organization is using Dell for end-user machines, laptops, workstations, and desktops. The PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel deliver what we need. It's easier to work with the same vendor and have a unified environment.

While I wouldn't call it a problem, physically mounting the servers into the rails that come with the servers can be a challenge. They could be engineered to be a little bit easier to use. It's not that significant, we can manage it, but you need at least two people to do it together because they're a bit heavy. You have to slide them exactly into the rails. It's a little bit challenging, but not serious.

From unboxing it to preparing the rack and sliding the server into it, connecting everything, and powering it up, it takes about 30 minutes or so.

Integrating it into a particular environment is very simple. We set up an IP, connect it, and install a server operating system. It's a very rapid process. Within about an hour, it is up and running in the environment.

In terms of handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads, you get your money's worth. When you buy something, you need it to perform and deliver and these servers do that. It's a very good product.

PowerEdge pricing is equivalent to that of all the others in the market. We always try to get a better price, but I don't see any problem with the pricing and licensing of Dell's servers. It's not the case, when I compare them to other vendors, that they are extremely more expensive or that the licensing is much more complex.

We looked at HP and Supermicro. We went with Dell, in part, because we are a Dell shop, but price was one of the most critical aspects. We also looked at what we needed to gain from the server. When we connected all these factors, we decided that Dell was the best solution for us.

Before you approach procurement, you should know exactly what you are looking to get out of the product. If you're looking for a reliable vendor and performance, have all your information ready first. Then check the pricing and make sure that you have the budget. It's not like buying a PC for your home. It's a professional server and it costs. You'd better have all the information beforehand, and then you can evaluate whether the purchase of a PowerEdge is suitable for your requirements.

We don't use Dell's OpenManage console. When we need to make changes that don't directly apply to the operating system but to the server itself, we only go into the iDRAC management interface and do it from there on.