Dell PowerEdge XE-Series Reviews

I worked with HP Blade Servers including HP Integrity and Altex for the banking sector where I sold blade servers. I have not sold HP Superdome X or HP NonStop. The customers are using it for big data and data analytics.

Dell PowerEdge XE servers are typically recommended for big companies, particularly in real estate sectors.

Dell PowerEdge XE Servers are valuable for big data solutions and data analytics applications. For Dell Avamar, the integration with virtual environment is particularly beneficial.

From my point of view, the deduplication feature is better when implemented on the backup appliance rather than using software deduplication. It is preferable to use Data Domain deduplication instead of software solutions such as Avamar or GBS.

For Dell PowerEdge XE Servers, particularly for standalone servers, extendability would be a great improvement. This feature is currently available only with virtualization environment. Adding extendability capabilities to standalone servers would be a significant enhancement to make the solution closer to perfect.

The solution has been in use since 2018.

When discussing servers and blades, they all use the same concepts as they are based on Intel Xeon processors. In terms of competition in servers, they are technically similar. The choice between HP, Dell, and Lenovo is often based on customer preference rather than technical differences.

Regarding thermal management of PowerEdge servers in challenging environments, there are no significant challenges as servers from Dell, HP, and Lenovo with the same specifications perform similarly.

The hyper-converged solution for VxRail features a one-click setup. Regarding scalability for standalone servers, finding a way to make them extendable and scalable would be beneficial.

The technical support provided by Dell is excellent. Their support service rates 10 out of 10.

The initial setup for hyper-converged VxRail requires just a one-click setup. Dell PowerEdge servers have a very simple setup process, being the most straightforward when compared to other HCIs.

When Dell PowerEdge doesn't fit requirements, VxRail with backup solution using GBS is typically recommended.

The reviewer primarily works with HCI, specifically Dell VxRail Hyper-Converged Infrastructure. Dell's HCI solution is considered superior to HP's in Egypt, where most customers prefer VxRail.

For HP products, they provide blades, servers, C7000, and DL380. Dell's product range includes servers, storage, and hyper-converged infrastructures. Dell offers better pricing for server and technology, especially for HCI since they use VMware, which is considered one of the best hypervisors.

Dell's Data Domain is recognized as the leading backup appliance globally, offering cyber resilience backup solutions. The reviewer has experience with Dell PowerProtect from eight years ago and Dell Avamar, which is particularly suitable for larger companies and virtual environments.

They have also worked with Unity, VNX, and VMAX all-flash storage solutions, with the VMAX implementation using all NVMe (non-volatile memory). For backup solutions, they utilize GBS, Veeam, Veritas, and Dell solutions including DBS and Data Domain.

The reviewer rates this solution 9 out of 10.

We are using Dell PowerEdge XE Servers for application systems, such as email.

We have a server for computing and we use VMware resources for applications.

One of the most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge XE Servers is the ease of fixing issues if there are any.

Dell PowerEdge XE Servers can improve by adapting HCI technology.

In a feature release, it would be beneficial to have better management monitoring.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge XE Servers for approximately 10 years.

Dell PowerEdge XE Servers is a stable solution.

The stability of Dell PowerEdge XE Servers is good. You can scale all aspects of the solution.

We have approximately 1,500 that use the solution.

I have used the support from Dell PowerEdge XE Servers once a year. The support is good.

Previously we used IBM, but they did not have an Intel platform. They sold it to Lenovo and the alternative was HPE and Dell. Dell fitted our needs the best and that is why we use them.

The initial setup of Dell PowerEdge XE Servers is simple and fast. It is plug-and-play.

in-house team with vendor low support.

100 % return on investment

Low cost of implementation. In-house team can perform.

Other industry standard products

My advice to others is Dell PowerEdge is stable, easy to install, and it is simple to resolve issues. I have used the solution for a long time and it is reliable.

I rate Dell PowerEdge XE Servers a ten out of ten.

We use PowerEdge XE for a transactional system. In the future, we'll use it for warehousing data and analytical queries using AI/ML. We typically use Dell PowerEdge-based custom nodes and set up our clusters on them. They don't have a large user base. We primarily use them for data-intensive operations on three-node clusters in various deployments. 

PowerEdge XE servers are high-performing. We're hardly using 15 percent of their computing power, so there's a lot left over that we could utilize.

It should be easier to extend PowerEdge XE servers. We haven't architected them with an eye toward scalability. They have a fixed number of slots for hard drives, which is enough for our present use case, However, we would have more options if we could extend that. We could deploy the servers in a broader range of use cases with different requirements. It's fine for our current deployment with only a few thousand users. We're exploring other solutions like such as VxRail or PowerFlex for larger public-facing use cases. 

I have used PowerEdge XE for about two years.

I rate PowerEdge XE nine out of 10 for stability. We only faced one problem. The CMOS battery failed on one of our servers, which had been running for a long time without incident. We replaced it, and now it works fine. 

PowerEdge is scalable enough for our current use case. We only have around 2,000 users doing transactions. 

I rate Dell support eight out of 10. The technical support is good, but we had to involve a contractor, which caused some delays. The whole process took some time because the customer contacted us, and we contacted our vendor who contacted Dell. Direct communication would've been better.

Positive

Deploying PowerEdge servers is straightforward. The servers come fully assembled, and we only needed to set up our cluster. We have five or six in-house clusters. Deployment takes no more than a couple of days with two people. We have an engineer who handles the rack mounting and some configuration. I was responsible for the software aspects. There isn't much maintenance after deployment unless we have a hardware failure. 

I rate Dell PowerEdge XE servers nine out of 10. It's a good solution for smaller transactional use cases. 

Our ERP servers are running on these servers, and our training solutions have been running for a long time. We have multiple servers that we have used.

Many people use endpoint security solutions, like CloudStrike, et cetera. It's good for multi-versioning and assigning solutions. You can add, let's say, McAfee, direct to the solution also and the back servers and firewalls. Or you can have Palo Alto or FortiGate likewise for firewall solutions. It integrates well with many solutions. 

In general, it works well. We haven't had issues. 

The setup is straightforward.

The solution is stable.

It is scalable. 

The pricing could be a bit better.

Upgrading can be a bit difficult. 

I've been using the solution for seven years. 

The solution is working fine. It is stable and reliable. It's been stable for a long time. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

The solution can scale. 

We have worked with technical support. They are fine. They help us if we need them to.

We use HPE and Dell.

Which one we use depends on the applications and the content, and the pricing as well. 

The solution is very straightforward. It's not overly complex. 

How long it takes to deploy depends on the application. Typically, it is fast, and we have a lot of implementations running on it. 

While upgrades are difficult, maintenance is generally easy.

The pricing is okay. However, it could always be less. It might be a bit expensive. 

The license cost depends on the region. We are working for the regional providers. I cannot say what the exact cost is.  

I'd rate the affordability at a seven out of ten.

I'm a user and integrator.

We're working on the 2016 servers and looking to update them.

I'd rate the product eight out of ten.

I work with the solution for our customers.

The resource management features are valuable. The product is easy to use. The documentation is good enough for primary troubleshooting.

The support team must improve the speed of response. The product should be promoted more in the market.

I have been using the solution for around three years.

The product is stable.

I recommend the solution for big companies. We are satisfied with the product’s scalability.

The team supports us whenever we raise a query or call them.

Dell and HPE are similar solutions. HPE is more scalable and performs better.

We didn't have any problems with deployment. We were able to set it up in a day or two.

Dell has competitive pricing.

Whether an organization should choose Dell or HPE depends on the organization’s current infrastructure. If they already have racks and infrastructure from HPE, we may incline towards HPE. Most of my implementations were on Dell. We provide only software solutions to our customers. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Its use cases are related to workload and a bit of storage.

Its reliability and consistency are most valuable.

We use OpenManager a lot, and that can be a bit clunky at times. They can make that better. There could also be API support.

I've been working with this solution for six or seven years.

It's a stable solution. I'd rate it an eight out of ten.

We don't have any real problems with it. I'd rate it an eight out of ten in terms of scalability. 

We have around 400 users. 

We have not used their support much. The way we are set up, we can't use some of the features such as dial home for legal reasons, so I haven't had much exposure to them. It's on the warranty, there is an RMA, and most of that is initiated by other engineers. Normally, they come out fairly quickly and replace the motherboard, etc.

We only use Dell servers.

Overall, it's fairly simple. It's quite standard.

For maintenance, we have a team of about four people.

You always want slightly cheaper, but overall, they are quite comparable and quite neutral.

Overall, I'd rate it a seven out of ten.

Our use cases for Dell PowerEdge XE servers include virtualization, high-capacity storage, hyper-converged infrastructure, and various other workloads. The benefits of these servers include increased data security, power redundancy, and network redundancy, and they are equipped with iDRAC for efficient server management.

The strong point of this solution is its compatibility with VMware and its resilience. And ease of use.

There is room for improvement in terms of stability, particularly in addressing disk failures or connectivity issues.

I have been using this solution for five years. I use the latest version. 

It is a stable solution. If there are problems with the client, contact our team, and our technician will look into it. 

The issues sometimes include disk failure or connectivity problems. The issue is not something that is quite big. I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. It is mostly stable, but the usual problem would be, for example, upgrading to a newer version of VMware or dealing with compatibility issues during the process. Other than that, it's quite simple and very stable for servers and storage.

It is a scalable solution. Each server is standalone, but one can certainly add the memory. Additionally, there are other enhancements we could add. Each server is distinct, but it's important to note that they aren't connected.

We have clients of various sizes, including medium-sized businesses and large enterprises like banks and governmental entities.

The customer service and support team is good. The support is good, considering their response time and availability of technicians. 

Neutral

The initial setup is not difficult. Our technical team didn't have any problems with the installation or configuration.

Most of the time, two or three people for a standard project are required for the deployment. 

For maintenance, we sell it with partner support. And it comes with either the next business day for a critical contract.

The pricing depends on the project. The pricing model is quite competitive, and you can choose accordingly.

For most products, it was competitive. But that depends on the product. For example, every contractor will have their own requirements. So, it depends on the category. Storage, servers, networking, etcetera. The commercial team would contact the client for the final price.

This server doesn't need a license. It's a one-time purchase. When it comes to additional costs, the client will pay for the hardware and the support for the duration they need, either three or five years. If the client wants an extension, that is another issue.

If others are looking into using Dell PowerEdge servers, my advice would be that it's quite good for the usual workloads. That's what I've experienced, especially for the virtualized versions and storage.

I definitely recommend using the solution for workloads. Most companies, especially the lightweight ones, prefer the utilization, so it was adapted to their needs.

Overall, I would rate it a seven out of ten. It's a general-purpose server, so it's not very powerful. If it were more powerful, it would be more expensive. So it's a good compromise between performance and price.

The most valuable feature is the trusted platform module.

The quality and reliability could be improved.

I've been using this solution for thirteen or fourteen years.

PowerEdge XE is quite stable.

This solution is definitely scalable.

Dell's technical support is quite good.

The initial setup is quite easy.

This solution is priced very reasonably.

I'd rate this solution eight out of ten.

This solution is primarily used for Hadoop, like a data warehouse kind of solution, and for backup servers. 

The most valuable feature of these servers is the ability to store a lot—the capacity and the number of hard disk drives. 

I have been working with XE Servers for three years. 

This solution is stable. 

This solution is scalable. 

This solution has brought us a return on investment. It can store a lot of hard disks, which helps users to have a lot of capacity in smaller rack space. 

I rate Dell EMC PowerEdge XE Servers a nine out of ten. This is because I have seen a lot of good features, but I guess it's not up to a ten yet. 

We are a system integrator and the Dell EMC PowerEdge XE Server is one of the products that we implement for our clients. Our customers use it as a server in their network.

The most valuable feature is that it can support up to 32 drives of internal storage. This is a very large capacity for a single server and a key advantage for this product.

Support is very good from Dell.

The compatibility of the controller is one of the main advantages.

It is a secure platform and has a number of unique features.

These servers can implement a virtualization platform, so they don't need to utilize their internal storage.

Integrating with other vendors is easy. Using the direct management interface, you can integrate with many other platforms.

I would like to have support for performing a detailed analysis of the server from a mobile device.

We have been implementing Dell EMC PowerEdge XE Servers for more than three years.

This is a very stable product. We have implemented more than 60 servers over the past three years and we have not come across any issues with stability. It is a very reliable server.

This is a really scalable server. We normally configure it with three terabytes, but you can get larger storage or add more internal drives. You can also scale up in terms of the number of CPU cores.

We have more than 20 customers.

Technical support from Dell is very good.

Several years ago when I was with another company, I worked with various HPE solutions including the ProLiant DL Servers and BladeSystem.

With respect to BladeSystem, HPE is dominating in Sri Lanka.

The initial setup is straightforward because all of the tools are available with the servers. We have deployed the enterprise version and it can also be done remotely, where we don't need to attend the site.

We can deploy in less than an hour, including everything.

We are system implementors and our in-house team handles deployment and maintenance. We have 12 engineers who are certified on this product.

If you want an SLA for parts and equipment then you need to purchase a support agreement.

In summary, this is a good product and I recommend it.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.