Dell PowerEdge R-Series Reviews

We run the 900 and 700 models.

PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel offer good performance in handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads and offer good value for money. 

The Intel Xeon scalable processor has helped to improve the performance of our targeted workloads. Dell's OpenManage console is easy to use. 

PowerEdge Rack Servers has affected the overall flexibility of our operations. We are able to build our data centers with multiple clusters, and that provides sufficient scalability for us to do bigger deployments.

The support that you receive from Dell after buying this product is very valuable.

The long lead times in receiving hardware could be improved. 

We have experienced issues with memory. We received help from the Dell team and this has been resolved. 

The security of this solution could be improved. We have very specific needs as an engineering company and require multiple layers of security. This is not offered when implementing the Dell hardware.

Dell's OpenManage console is easy to use but could be better by offering additional features. The console has not decreased the time it takes to deploy new data centers.

I have been using PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel for over 15 years. 

This is a stable solution. 

This is a scalable solution. 

The customer service for this solution is very good. I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

We have used different solutions including Lenovo. We currently use Dell for all of our needs from our user hardware to our infrastructure data center. 

The initial setup is straightforward. We had 10 staff members involved in the deployment. The server bill team set up the hardware and the DMR team ran the virtualization layer over it. The security team completed the checks. We have about 55,000 users supported by this solution.

The licensing is expensive and inflexible. 

For anyone looking for a reliable storage solution, I would recommend PowerEdge. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

The ones we just bought are going to be hypervisor servers, and we have an on-premises Exchange that is running on a PowerEdge server.

The hands-off demand of the servers and the fact that they're not constantly a thorn in my side has been a big factor. They're running, and I don't have to worry about them. That is the most valuable part about it.

There is no downtime with these servers, and the system management capabilities of PowerEdge have helped increase staff productivity.

PowerEdge has, without a doubt, helped to reduce data processing time in our company. Every time we get a new PowerEdge server, we definitely notice an impact on the SQL databases that are part of our ERP. I do have users come and tell me that they've noticed that things have sped up and that even simple file searches are faster.

Dell PowerEdge servers are powerful. They don't break, and I love that. In my career of over 30 years now, all the Dell servers we've ever used out of the box have never broken.

On top of that, when we had an air conditioning failure and I came in after a weekend, the temperature in the server room was 110 degrees. Inside the cases themselves, it was over 220 degrees. The only thing we lost was a backplane on one of the servers. This alone speaks for the durability of the Dell servers, and we've never gone away from Dell servers ever.

They are fantastic in terms of performance as well.

As for PowerEdge's approach to security, I would rate it very high. The tools provided by Dell update the BIOS and everything else, and the software is running on the server at all times. It is proactive and alerts me. It's taken a load off of my shoulders compared to how it was 20 years ago. I would have to go to their site and find out what was new. Now, I can just go to the computer or the server, and right there, it will tell me what needs to be done.

The security is pretty strong. When we use ethical hackers to hack us, the Dell servers are never the issue.

In terms of power consumption, I have no complaints at all about PowerEdge Rack Servers. My server room's APC, which is a battery backup system, is a full-mounted rack. It handles all the power coming from all our PowerEdge servers. We have never once had to scale it up at all in the almost 20 years that I've been working with them. It's moving technology in and out nonstop, and it shows you that these servers are fantastic. They don't really shift that much in power needs.

Dell needs to focus more on SMBs, helping us get the most out of our products. For example, at events, there should be very specific SMB sessions where there are Dell technicians, engineers, and Dell executives meeting with us and finding out what we need. Dell is big on promoting the fact that they're part of our team and that they want to be our partners, and I would like to see them actually partner with us. Do it less with the big Fortune 500 companies and do a little bit more with us SMBs.

I've been working this solution for the last 17 years.

For stability, there's really no other product that I would trust.

Dell's support, throughout the years that we've used it, is typically fantastic, but, again, because the PowerEdge servers are so durable and good, I haven't used them as much. When I've had to contact them for other issues, they've resolved the issues within a week, if not a day or two.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. It's out-of-the-box, and I've never found a snag or anything like that in the process.

We deploy everything by hand; everything is manual.

It doesn't take that long, and we can even do it with our laptops and desktops. We do not do any ghosting or imaging, and a server usually takes me a day at the most, while I really take my time with it and get all the updates in.

We do it ourselves, or we have one consultant that we use if it's something that is out of our wheelhouse.

Every time I don't have to work on something and my servers are just running without an issue, that is a return on investment for me. The fact that my coworkers and owners are never complaining to me about things being down all the time is the biggest ROI there is.

I have no issues with the pricing and licensing costs. They are fine.

I looked at HP, and in a previous job, I've actually worked on HPs. I didn't love the HP servers. Even more so than the hardware, I couldn't stand HP's service and support. They're really bad.

When it comes to servers, Dell would be my first choice, and IBM would be my second choice.

We have one other server that is an IBM i-series server. (It used to be called AS/400.) If I were to compare it to the PowerEdge servers, there really is no comparison. It's a monster of a machine, and we have a lot more problems with that than we do with any of our Dell servers. Plus, it's finicky. The performance on it is questionable. You have to really baby it a lot more than the Dell servers, whereas the Dell servers are those that are the set-it-and-forget-it type. I work far more on issues with my applications that are running on the Dell servers than I ever do with the actual Dell servers themselves.

I would consider Dell and HP in the same area, whereas I look at IBM as being more specific. My only experience with IBM servers has to do with the AS/400 i-series Power9 line. Those are built specifically to house an ERP, whereas the Dell and HP servers are built to handle everything you need.

When it comes to the servers, I trust Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. They're who I'm going to stick with. I don't consider HP to be a realistic competitor.

If you are comparing Dell against anyone else, just get Dell PowerEdge. It's not even a question. The servers don't break, and they don't give you issues. Your applications are going to cause enough problems for you as it is, and you don't want the hardware they're sitting upon to also be another issue. After all, the servers were 220 degrees during an air conditioning outage and still churning and not causing problems!

If I were to rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers on a scale from one to ten, I would give them a nine.

Our primary use case includes running workloads such as on-premises Active Directory, with a managed hybrid approach on Microsoft Azure and on-premises.

The solution has helped by ensuring no major security incidents or vulnerabilities, and has supported our sustainability goals through energy consumption management. It has also provided reliable uptime with planned downtimes for updates.

Its approach to user security measures is valuable. We haven't experienced any major issues, and the solution has been working really well.

I've been in this company for the last three years, and the solution has been used since before my arrival.

We do not have many issues with downtime; there are windows for planned updates or upgrades.

Dell's customer support is very good, especially since we have premium support for next-day hardware service.

Positive

The return on investment is notable as we've been using the same servers without incurring ongoing operational expenses often associated with the cloud.

The cost of ownership is differentiated by the absence of operational expenses typical with cloud services.

Our storage is on Dell and nearly all our use cases are on the Dell servers. We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for almost everything. 

My company chose Dell because they were looking for something that is easy to manage, stable, and something we can trust. 

PowerEdge servers are great for high-performance workloads. We get excellent performance every time we use them.  

PowerEdge's management interface is easy to use. It's also a platform that we can trust.

I have been at the company and working with PowerEdge for three years. I know the company has been working with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for years but I don't know precisely how long. 

PowerEdge is a stable solution. If it wasn't we wouldn't use it. 

I rate Dell support eight out of 10. While we are generally satisfied with their service, we'd like more connections between meetings and proactive support. We had a session about two weeks ago, where we talked about areas they need to improve. 

Positive

We also use HP servers. 

The price is worth it for what you get from it. It's worth the cost. 

I rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers eight out of 10. 

We use them for general Windows deployments for domain controllers, file print servers, and database servers.

PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime. They have been resilient.

The iDRAC for remote access is the most useful feature because it's built into the machine. I can reboot them without having to be there physically. We do a lot of what we do remotely, and it handles that fine.

Also, the signed firmware, drift detection, and BIOS recovery are useful features in the current security climate. Physically, they're reasonably secure, with locking mechanisms on the physical hardware, and the update processes for firmware fall within the parameters we require for our security.

The OpenManage console for lifecycle management provides an intuitive user experience. The interface is easy to understand. In terms of our IT staff's productivity, it makes things quicker. It's a lot quicker to access OpenManage remotely than actually having to go and look at the server. It depends on where the server is and where most of our staff are. It could save five minutes or it could save two hours. It has also decreased the time it takes to deploy new data centers.

Perhaps they could make it more power efficient. They're pretty good, but there's always room for improvement.

Also, they could try to reduce heat generation.

I've been using Dell PowerEdge Servers for about 20 years.

They're pretty reliable, so we don't have to replace them that often; we just have to maintain them.

We've not had to scale them up from what we've deployed, generally.

But when it comes to handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads, they seem to be keeping up to date and providing the latest hardware to keep up with the requirements.

Dell's technical support is generally pretty good.

Neutral

We used HPE previously. We switched to Dell PowerEdge because they were more cost-effective.

The servers that we've deployed have all been in place for long enough to give us a full return on their value.

The pricing is usually in line with what we expect from Microsoft.

To protect our systems from malware and other firmware attacks we use third-party tools.

I work at a university in a research environment. We use PowerEdge powered by Intel servers to run geophysics simulations that stay in the system for a long time. The servers are used to image and process massive data sets. We develop code that requires a moderate amount of power, so that's why we use the racks. 

We currently have between five to ten units, but some of them are down. It's mostly graduate students and a few faculty using them, and we primarily run Linux. The built-in security features aren't really an issue because everything is behind the university's firewalls. We don't have to worry about it because they have a dedicated IT security department. We can dial in from the outside, and we have all kinds of VPN solutions.

The university provides us with batteries and power supplies. They often run for more than a year without any failures, so power isn't a problem. 

We are working with Intel's Xeon scalable processor, but I'm not sure which models we are using. We typically buy the most advanced processor available when we purchase the racks. 

At this time, we have no plans to switch to cloud servers because it's not as comfortable as having an on-premises rack. Also, there are some security restrictions associated with some of our applications, so we can't transfer the data to the cloud. We work with a lot of data, so we prefer local resources because of the security and the speed. 

It does the job for us. We know it's not a high-end product, but it's good enough. We are looking at getting another box. The next series should be 940. The step is not as big as we expected after having the 930 for several years now. We're thinking about getting another one from Dell, but I'm waiting to see what will be available. We are looking for a 4U rack, fully loaded with CPUs and disks. And we have a disk farm outside that we connect to the server, so we can store a lot of data locally. 

We've had no problems with high-performance workloads on our Dell racks. We use the standard software like Intel compilers plus our in-house code, OpenMP, Pilot Processing, and MPI. Intel's Xeon processors improve the performance of our targeted workloads, which is crucial for us. 

We buy the strongest CPUs and run the Intel compiler. We usually run heavy code, so we're working on traditional software languages like Fortran and C. These are heavy applications that run on this cluster.

We started working on Dell servers more than a decade ago. I think it was the 910 version, and its main advantage was the ability to load a lot of in-core memory into the box. It's irrelevant today because everybody can provide as much as they want, but we had memory issues in the beginning. 

We were running out of memory, and that was the first time we heard of a solution that supports a terabyte of core memory. That was the primary reason we got the first box. We've stayed with it since then because we have so many Dell workstations.

Dell servers are easy to use. We've never had a problem. We do more hardware work with workstations, including adding and replacing cards. It's easy compared to what we used to do with screwdrivers years ago. 

Capacity and performance can always be improved. 

I have been using Dell servers for nearly 15 years. 

PowerEdge servers powered by Intel are highly stable. Some of them have stayed on for two years without ever rebooting. Usually, they only reboot for maintenance or something happening in the building, but it is not due to a failure of the machine. Stability is essential because we have jobs that sit on the system for a couple of days.

I haven't used Dell's technical support much. Usually, when I have a problem, we search online for a solution. Sometimes we use the Dell knowledge base or community groups, but we rarely need to contact someone.

Deploying the PowerEdge Rack Servers wasn't a problem. We just plug it into the rack with help from the university computer center. They let us know where to put it and connect it to the required network.

We take care of all the software, like the operating system, permissions, local security, data access, etc. This is all Linux-based, and we have experience, so it's straightforward. For maintenance, we use Dell's OpenManage console a little to tweak the configuration for performance, but we generally set up the system and let it go. We only update the operating system once a year and upgrade the environment.

The price is reasonable. You have to pay if you want quality. When we purchase something, we have to do some market analysis, and I haven't seen a significant difference compared to other solutions.

I'm used to Dell equipment, and the local network is mainly based on Dell workstations connected to the servers. The other servers are usually IBM and HP. I haven't seen any major difference that would justify switching to other vendors.

I rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers nine out of ten. 

Our main uses for PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel are virtualization, file servers, and Active Directory, which our entire infrastructure sits on.

I have five Dell PowerEdge servers now. About 40,000 users are using these servers. About 70 to 80 people use the file server.

Support for virtualization is very important to us. It provides redundancy when booting from storage, where the servers are loaded from a separate storage. It provides full server support.

The use of OpenManage Console reduces the time it takes to manage PowerEdge Rack Servers in terms of updates and maintenance.

Unfortunately, PowerEdge Rack Servers do not support NVMe storage.

OpenManage Console is slightly confusing, especially after upgrade releases. There isn't a manual for what to do with lifecycle management and in what sequence. I have to rely on user forums instead of Dell in these cases.

This is my third purchase. I bought my first three PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel two years ago.

The primary reason that we chose PowerEdge - they are stable and don’t crash.

I keep my firmware, BIOS, and drivers up-to-date. Regarding security, we have not had any incidents.

The two Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers that I am using solve my needs completely in terms of redundancy and scalability.

I used Dell support a couple of times, and it was okay.

I would rate Dell’s support as eight out of 10. When resolving an issue, they transferred me to multiple support techs. This is because when you reach global support, your request is processed by the operator. Then, there are a few other steps. Usually, I am asked primitive questions before being transferred to Tier 2 or 3, who take a couple of days to get back to me.

Positive

One of the reasons that we choose to use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is because we never had a problem with the previous ones. Whereas, we have had servers and blades from Lenovo with a lot of problems. There were constant motherboard failures.

In addition to Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, we also have Dell's storage. Since there have been no problems with them, except for routine battery changes, we continue to use Dell’s reliable hardware. 

It was straightforward with the help of the Dell wizard. I just needed to connect it to VMware. Obviously, someone has to study when preparing to deploy and configure PowerEdge Rack Servers. In my case, deployment and configuration of two PowerEdge Rack Servers with VMware, cloud, and integration with our storage took about three days.

My strategy was to launch these servers as quickly as possible. First, we made sure that there was communication. Then, we installed clients in VMware. After that, we started installing the PowerEdge Rack Servers.

As an educational institution, we have certain budget restraints. So, we work around our budget and what hardware we can get from it.

We considered Lenovo and HPE, but chose Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers because of their reliability.

Choose stable servers when considering fast servers, because even though they might work fast, they might not last. We have been happy with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers.

I would absolutely rate PowerEdge Rack Servers as 10 out of 10.

We use PowerEdge Rack Servers for quantitative analytics, data simulations, and machine learning.

The hardware makes it a good solution.

PowerEdge Rack Servers are very good for handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads.

Its tuning and performance are good.

The specs for the benchmarks are very good, but the firmware and software are lacking. There are some issues with the Linux kernel and the long-term support (LTS) for some of the firmware's dependencies. It is causing the kernel to dump. The support for the Linux brands isn't optimal. We would like them to optimize the kernel drivers for benchmarks.

There are some issues that need to be solved with our model in regards to UEFI and firmware. 

I have been using it for about 10 years.

There haven't been any issues with downtime.

Dell's open source support is very good. There are a lot of issues that they need to handle though, like the firmware and UEFI.

We previously used IBM and Lenovo.

It is a cluster, so you just plug and play.

Lenovo is very good with updates.

We use AMD Opteron instead of Intel Xeon.

We chose Dell because of its open source. Our community likes Dell because of its open source delivery.

We use GCP Spot and AWS Graviton as our failover solutions.

I would rate this solution as eight out of 10.