Our customers are having additional VMware environments which we are converting into one because of the backup advantage. We can do the complete backup of VM within approximately eight to ten seconds.
Technical Account Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Fast backup speeds, easy to learn, and simple installation
Pros and Cons
- "The speed of the backups and having the system be immune to ransomware are the main advantages."
- "The support structure from HPE is excellent; when comparing the support to Dell and Huawei, they cannot match the level of support HPE provides, with great response times and very talented engineers who give precise information so we do not have to question if their solution will resolve the issue."
- "When it comes to security there can always be room for improvement. If there was an option to build security into the system it would be an advantage."
- "When it comes to security there can always be room for improvement. If there was an option to build security into the system it would be an advantage."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The speed of the backups and having the system be immune to ransomware are the main advantages. Additionally, It is very user-friendly, repairable, flexible, and anybody can easily learn it.
What needs improvement?
When it comes to security there can always be room for improvement. If there was an option to build security into the system it would be an advantage.
The solution could improve by providing local support here in Sri Lanka, we do not have a local office.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately five years.
Buyer's Guide
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about HPE ProLiant DL Servers. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
We have approximately 500 customers using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
The support structure from HPE is excellent. When comparing the support to Dell and Huawei, they cannot match the level of support HPE provides. I have experienced great response times and the engineers are very talented with precise information. When they give a solution to a problem we do not have to question if it will resolve the issue.
HPE frequently checks its competitors' capabilities to ensure they deliver the best service. This is something valuable this is why they are one of the best.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is easy. The hardware installation takes approximately 20 minutes and the Windows installation takes another 20 minutes.
What about the implementation team?
We have support engineers for the maintenance and implementation of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are one of the best-selling solutions in this industry. There is not a license required for this solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate HPE ProLiant DL Servers a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Owner & General Manager at a media company with 1-10 employees
State-of-the-art, easy to use, stable, and has good performance
Pros and Cons
- "This solution is perfect. From the time of purchase, it was state-of-the-art, and still, after five, 10 years, they still meet our demands extremely well."
- "This solution is perfect, and from the time of purchase it was state-of-the-art, and still, after five to ten years, it continues to meet our demands extremely well."
- "The installation could be simplified."
- "The installation is reasonably complex."
What is our primary use case?
We are system integrators in a fiber optics company. We use this solution mainly as high computational devices, but also we use it as a storage device.
The deployment is data center-based.
What is most valuable?
This solution is perfect. From the time of purchase, it was state-of-the-art, and still, after five, 10 years, they still meet our demands extremely well.
It is easy to use and it also has good performance.
What needs improvement?
The latest generation has made good improvements in power consumption. G6, and G7, which is approximately 10-year-old technology, have some issues with power consumption.
The installation could be simplified.
I would also like to pay less for the out-of-the-box product, but everything else is okay.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with HPE ProLiant DL Servers for ten years.
We are using generations six to nine. G6, G7, G8, and G9.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of this product is very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We deployed it in our network, and our network is the backbone of the company. Through our backbone, we serve millions of end users, but indirect users are internet service providers that use our services, which is approximately 50.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have never contacted technical support because everything worked perfectly.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is reasonably complex.
The length of time it takes to deploy depends on the software that we are installing, but it can take a couple of days, approximately.
We have two engineers and one technician to maintain it.
What about the implementation team?
We had the help of a system integrator.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The iLO (integrated lights out) license is very expensive, but the functionality you receive is worth it.
What other advice do I have?
We are fully satisfied with this solution and I recommend it for others who are interested in using it.
On a scale from one to ten, I would rate HPE ProLiant DL Servers a 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Buyer's Guide
HPE ProLiant DL Servers
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about HPE ProLiant DL Servers. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Good for our regular server needs but has no scalability
Pros and Cons
- "We have had no issues with the stability of the product."
- "We have had no issues with the stability of the product."
- "HPE ProLiant DL Servers are not scalable."
- "HPE ProLiant DL Servers are not scalable."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the product for normal server purposes, for the running of Windows 2016 or 2019. We also use it for custom network monitoring applications, so we may monitor some of our infrastructure. I would not consider the product to be very specific, as the application is dependent on the HP server. We can post it on any server.
What is most valuable?
While there is nothing specific that I like about HP server products, they are stable, as much so as Dell EMC.
What needs improvement?
HPE ProLiant DL Servers lack scalability.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using HPE and Dell EMC service products for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have had no issues with the stability of the product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are not scalable. There will be no dependency between the other servers, should we need to scale. Unlike VxRail, it will be completely isolated, the solutions being capable of being scaled up to 64 nodes. It is a pay-as-you-grow solution, which is the one that we are moving on from now.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not had occasion to make direct use of HPE technical support, although we we are in regular contact with the contractor who's providing the software running on the HPE. I do not recall any issue involving the hardware.
How was the initial setup?
While the product was delivered by a single contractor, the installation time was that of any other typical server. This only consisted of configuring the ILO, followed by putting on the operating system. That is all. Up to a certain operating level, the configuration of the product would not be a matter of days.
As the business services we provide are of a confidential nature, both for government and military purposes, we deploy strictly on-premises.
What about the implementation team?
The HPE and Dell EMC service products we are using were delivered by the vendor as part of one specific project and it is not up to us to advise which hardware will be provided. Yet, we always take advantage of any internal projects that we have.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We did not need to pay for a license for the use of HPE DL Servers, just for normal hardcore support.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
In addition to HPE server products, we also evaluated Dell EMC and found the two to be equally stable, although the former does not have a strong presence in Qatar. This said, we evaluated Dell EMC VxRail and Cisco HyperFlex for their virtualization player or hyper-converged player capabilities, but did not consider HP for these features.
Due to Dell EMC's strong presence in Qatar, I would recommend use of this product over that of HPE. This does not owe itself to any technical issues, only that Dell EMC has a stronger presence. Of course, the level of support is an important feature for the end-user.
What other advice do I have?
The kind of servers or HPE products we are using with those of ProLiant DL are DL390, 380, gen 10 and HPDL. We are utilizing gen 10 as our latest version of DL servers.
We utilize a total of six HPE Servers, strictly as a monitoring tool. The NOC membership comprises only 10 people.
As I mentioned, HPE ProLiant DL Servers came as part of a project. We will continue to use it for as long as we continue to renew the contract for the solution that is provided by the contractor.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
M. I. S. Manager at Ruby Mills Ltd
Easy to upgrade but not very stable and the installation is complex
Pros and Cons
- "It's easy to upgrade, and it is very easy to take care of the firmware upgrades."
- "It's very useful; it's easy to upgrade, and it is very easy to take care of the firmware upgrades."
- "The implementation should be simplified, it is not straightforward."
- "At this point in time, I would not say that it is a very stable product, because of the bad experience that we had."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for the 12 VMs we have on it. We are using VMware.
What is most valuable?
It's very useful.
It's easy to upgrade, and it is very easy to take care of the firmware upgrades.
With a complete bootable CD, we can do the upgrades quite remotely and pretty easily.
What needs improvement?
A black mark that we felt with HPE is that it failed within four to six months of use, even after it was addressed with HPE.
The implementation should be simplified, it is not straightforward.
The product should be better tested before they send it to the end-user.
The stability needs improvement.
Support could be improved to be faster in responding.
For how long have I used the solution?
We just purchased HPE ProLiant DL Servers six months ago.
We are using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
At this point in time, I would not say that it is a very stable product, because of the bad experience that we had.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable to a certain extent. Not very much, but at least 20% scalable.
We have 300 users in our organization.
How are customer service and technical support?
We contacted technical support for the issues that we were facing.
I found them to be quite slow in their response.
We could put up with the delay because it had just been brought in, and the applications were being transferred.
In fairness, it could have been because of the COVID issue. But I found them to be pretty slow.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously we were using Dell, and we switched from Dell to HPE.
We have been very dedicated users of Dell and never had any issues with them. Unfortunately, we had to switch to HPE for a specific reason.
We switched from Dell because of some specific requirements that could not be met with Dell. Also, we switched because of some financial issues. Dell was more expensive and we couldn't afford it at that time.
How was the initial setup?
It wasn't straightforward.
We had some issues with some failures initially. Though it was taken care of by HPE, we still had some failures, which was surprising.
We have a team of ten admins, engineers, managers, and data entry guys to maintain and deploy this solution.
What about the implementation team?
We had the help of the HPE service providers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have purchased this solution and it is under warranty. It is more economical than some other products.
What other advice do I have?
We will continue to use this solution, as we have purchased it and can't afford to just throw it away. If we continue to have further issues, we will consider changing it over.
With my current experience, I could not recommend this product to others.
I would rate this solution a six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Product Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Very stable, 100% scalable, and easy to deploy
Pros and Cons
- "It is very stable. This is the feedback that I'm getting from my customers for the hardware. It is also 100% scalable. HPE is also very specialized when it comes up to the server industry. It is not only about the rack servers; it is also about the blade servers. They were the first ones to bring these to the market more than ten years ago."
- "It is very stable; this is the feedback that I'm getting from my customers for the hardware, and it is also 100% scalable."
- "It has something called WorldView. They should do some enhancement over WorldView to run an operating system as a code. Such a feature would be amazing for running multiple servers. They are already working on this, and they can enhance the existing versions for this. It should also be cheaper. It is currently expensive."
- "It has something called WorldView. They should do some enhancement over WorldView to run an operating system as a code."
What is our primary use case?
It is mainly an x86 Intel server. There are some versions of AMD processors as well. You can use it for many purposes. You can use it as a web server, a backup server, a database server, or an application server. You can use it for any main purpose for which you need a server.
It is mainly on-premises, but you can also deploy it in a cloud.
What is most valuable?
It is very stable. This is the feedback that I'm getting from my customers for the hardware. It is also 100% scalable.
HPE is also very specialized when it comes up to the server industry. It is not only about the rack servers; it is also about the blade servers. They were the first ones to bring these to the market more than ten years ago.
What needs improvement?
It has something called WorldView. They should do some enhancement over WorldView to run an operating system as a code. Such a feature would be amazing for running multiple servers. They are already working on this, and they can enhance the existing versions for this.
It should also be cheaper. It is currently expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been selling this solution for almost six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is 100% scalable. We have about a hundred customers.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't directly get in touch with them, but I haven't heard anything bad about it.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complicated for HPE or any other server.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is expensive. Its price should be better.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution. I would rate HPE ProLiant DL Servers an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
IT Manager at a construction company with 10,001+ employees
Strong, easy to manage and monitor, and have very few failures
Pros and Cons
- "This is all I've ever used. These servers are strong, and they have very few failures on them. They are also easy to manage and monitor."
- "These servers are strong, and they have very few failures on them."
- "They are pretty solid servers, but, just like all servers, they become obsolete after some time. They can maybe provide a console to monitor the health of the servers. There should be some kind of console to which you can log in to remotely check on the health of a server, even when the server is off. The servers that we have are only scalable to some extent. They have got a limited amount of hard drive that you can insert. Their scalability should be improved."
- "They can maybe provide a console to monitor the health of the servers. There should be some kind of console to which you can log in to remotely check on the health of a server, even when the server is off."
What is our primary use case?
We have installed VMware on DL Server, and the operating system sits on this DL Server host.
What is most valuable?
This is all I've ever used. These servers are strong, and they have very few failures on them. They are also easy to manage and monitor.
What needs improvement?
They are pretty solid servers, but, just like all servers, they become obsolete after some time.
They can maybe provide a console to monitor the health of the servers. There should be some kind of console to which you can log in to remotely check on the health of a server, even when the server is off.
The servers that we have are only scalable to some extent. They have got a limited amount of hard drive that you can insert. Their scalability should be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for more than ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
They are pretty stable servers. The hardware failures are very minor. We do have one or two hardware failures but very far spaced. The major failures are mostly operating system failures, but on the hardware, they have been working pretty well.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
They are scalable to some extent. For instance, you can only put a specific amount of hard drive on the base. You can insert the hard drives of a limited size, which makes them not very scalable. This could be dependent on the servers that you have. There are probably models that are more scalable than what we have.
We have about 200 people on the site, and they use it on a daily basis.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not contacted them. We didn't have any major issues to escalate. The few issues that we had were easily resolvable. You can also use online support to check. There are quite a number of people using these servers. You can share problems and get some advice from someone who has faced the same problem before.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We will be switching to a combination of Cisco and Dell EMC. For computation, it will be Cisco, and for storage, it will be Dell EMC. The main reason for this switch is group policy. The group has decided that we move from HP and use Cisco with EMC Storage.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is a simple process. The old ones used to have a CD that would guide you through the process. Newer ones should also have a system where you go step-by-step and install your operating system and configure it.
What about the implementation team?
I deployed it myself. I got servers from a company and then installed and configured them. All servers were not deployed at once. I deployed just one server at a time. Typically, deploying a server, including the operating system and everything else, takes less than two hours. I also do the maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Proliant DL Servers have a reasonable cost. They are not as expensive as the Cisco servers. Everything is included when you purchase a server. You just have to install and configure it.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend these servers. I would rate HPE ProLiant DL Servers a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Telecommunication Department Head at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Good support, easy to set up, we haven't had downtime in three years, and it's within our budget
Pros and Cons
- "We have had our system working for between two and three years with no downtime."
- "We have had our system working for between two and three years with no downtime."
- "The technical support could be a little faster."
- "The technical support could be a little faster."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use for this product is our electronic faxing system. We have a number of applications that are hosted on it, working together.
What needs improvement?
The technical support could be a little faster.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using HPE ProLiant DL Servers for three years. We started using the most recent version, Gen10, a year ago.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have had our system working for between two and three years with no downtime. We plan to continue using it in the future.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have about 300 end-users who log into the system to use our applications.
We have to extend our electronic access system for our sites, and we will be purchasing another ProLiant.
How are customer service and technical support?
There is another team in our company who deals with technical support, and they have a lot of experience with the product. I can say that the support is very good, although it would be better if it were quicker.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also have a similar solution by Dell, and I find that the ProLiant support is much better.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very easy. The ProLiant was complete, and we just had to plug it into power and check the hardware. We did not have to put in new parts, such as additional hard disks. They are made to order.
What about the implementation team?
We have four or five engineers for maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This product is within our budget.
What other advice do I have?
In summary, this is a good product and I can recommend it to others.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Telecommunication Department Head at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Stable with an easy initial setup and good scalability
Pros and Cons
- "The pricing of the product is fair and not too expensive."
- "The technical support is very, very good and the experience in our organization has made us interested in buying more HP ProLiant."
- "The technical support is pretty good, however, they could be a bit faster and more responsive."
- "The technical support is pretty good, however, they could be a bit faster and more responsive."
What is our primary use case?
The main use for the last order was for the applications and other items around an electronic fencing system.
What is most valuable?
The initial setup is very easy.
The solution scales well.
The pricing of the product is fair and not too expensive.
The product is very stable.
What needs improvement?
The solution is pretty complete, for what I have seen over the past three years. I can't recall if I've felt that any features were lacking within that time.
The technical support is pretty good, however, they could be a bit faster and more responsive.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using the solution for three years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is quite stable. It's worked for two or three years with no downtime whatsoever. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's pretty reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We haven't had any issues with scaling over the time we've had the solution. If a company needs to scale, it should be able to do so relatively easily.
We have about 300 users that log into the system at any given time.
We plan to increase usage. We have to extend our electronic fencing system to our other sites, and we will likely purchase another product from ProLiant when that happens.
How are customer service and technical support?
There's another team for technical support. The technical support is very, very good and the experience in our organization has made us interested in buying more HP ProLiant. We're quite satisfied with the level of support they give to us.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
While the company hasn't used a different solution, I personally have experience with Dell. I generally prefer to use HP instead.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation is not complex at all. We find the initial setup to be quite straightforward.
The product was ordered and came complete and ready to go. It was basically plug and play, so that there really wasn't a deployment period per se. We just had to power it up and check the hardware. We put in the discs and had the spare parts on hand as well. They deliver it ready to go, so it's pretty fast.
We have five individuals that handle the implementation and maintenance. They are all engineers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't consider it an expensive product. We're quite happy with the pricing so far. It's reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
We're just customers. We don't have a business relationship with HP.
We're using the latest version of the solution. We purchased Gen 10 about a year or so ago.
I'd recommend the solution to other organizations.
Overall, I would rate the product at a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free HPE ProLiant DL Servers Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2026
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