Cisco UCS Series vs. HPE BladeSystem

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco UCS Series
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
The Cisco UCS Series is a modular, high-density, high-availability, dual-node storage- optimized server suited for service providers, enterprises, and industry-specific environments. It provides dense, cost-effective storage to address your ever-growing data needs. Designed for a new class of data-intensive workloads, it is simple to deploy and excellent for applications for big data, data protection, software-defined storage environments, scale-out unstructured data repositories, media…N/A
HPE BladeSystem
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
HPE BladeSystem is a brand of blade server, from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. HPE blades include the ProLiant BL series and the ProLiant WS series.N/A
Pricing
Cisco UCS SeriesHPE BladeSystem
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco UCS SeriesHPE BladeSystem
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco UCS SeriesHPE BladeSystem
Considered Both Products
Cisco UCS Series
Chose Cisco UCS Series
Cheaper cost but was very buggy.
HPE BladeSystem
Chose HPE BladeSystem
It's been said that BladeSystem is very similar to the UCS B-Series. While the network fabric features of the UCS B-Series outshine those of the BladeSystem, HPE has created extensive orchestration within HPE OneView to provide feature parity with and even surpass those of the …
Chose HPE BladeSystem
Within our organization, HPE BladeSystem enjoyed widespread recognition. Also, HPE Apollo can't make advantage of Virtual Connect, so every Apollo server needs to be hardwired into the LAN. That has far-reaching consequences for the network portal. We would then need to install …
Chose HPE BladeSystem
Within our organization, the HPE BladeSystem was a widely recognized brand. We're a customer/end-user. Working with the blade server is fun, and it's easy to keep track of everything. On a scale from one to
Chose HPE BladeSystem
We tested Cisco UCS in its early days, so this might be a bit of an old comparison, but UCS had the promise of being very configurable, with templates for everything and automatable for just about every task. However, even working with a Cisco engineer for weeks, we could not …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Cisco UCS SeriesHPE BladeSystem
Small Businesses
Dell PowerEdge R
Dell PowerEdge R
Score 8.6 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
HPE ProLiant DL
HPE ProLiant DL
Score 7.4 out of 10
Cisco UCS Series
Cisco UCS Series
Score 8.4 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM Z
IBM Z
Score 9.3 out of 10
Cisco UCS Series
Cisco UCS Series
Score 8.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco UCS SeriesHPE BladeSystem
Likelihood to Recommend
7.8
(46 ratings)
9.1
(11 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(1 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
7.8
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco UCS SeriesHPE BladeSystem
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Cisco UCS blades are very well suited if you want to have dense and easily managed environment that is flexible (server profiles). its perfect if you have a need for business critical applications that requires whole blade to run. in case of any hardware failure you can simply swap its profile with standby node and power your application server back up very quickly, not something you could do with a standard rackmount
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise
All nodes can be managed centrally through the ILO interface. Users and services alike benefit from the lightning-fast response time. Enable service continuity during VM migration between nodes. The purchase of a blade system is something we endorse as a viable alternative for your business. In order for the convergent system to work, the architecture can be adapted to accommodate new devices, and by applying new modules, both the technology and the system's responsiveness to demands for high availability can be enhanced.
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Pros
Cisco
  • When used with VMWare, firmware changes cause minimal disruption.
  • Simple system software updates using all-inclusive firmware bundles covering the individual parts.
  • UCS, in contrast to other Cisco products, is stable and reliable, with relatively few hardware failures during its lengthy lifespan.
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • It ensures substantial process and system security in terms of infrastructure by keeping things running smoothly all the time.
  • There are few things that are more helpful in day-to-day living than having straightforward controls and configurations.
  • Capacity to keep a highly redundant system operating reliably.
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Cons
Cisco
  • Some issues with the operating system were present in Memory's memory for some time. A few DIMMS had to be replaced before the current firmware stabilized the problem
  • Although some of the templating is a little difficult to understand, this is typical of most Cisco products
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • The small form factor of a blade server cannot accommodate expansion cards.
  • Shared infrastructure, like the interconnects, means a larger fault domain.
  • Firmware updates can be disruptive and administrators should pay close attention to firmware recipes and bundles to ensure compatibility between components.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
We are All satisfied with the value and Performance of the UCS servers
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise
We do not intend to make new investments in HPE BladeSystem as it is in the end-of-life phase and we have continued with the new HPE Synergy environment. It is therefore not a process of discarding, but of evolution. This environment will possibly continue to be used in the institution, but for less critical purposes and more related to the development of new solutions.
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Usability
Cisco
While Cisco's hardware is solid and long running, their software is usually the weak point. I will say that they are getting better with each release but if I had to find a problem with usability that would be it. Overall usability is good when you can work around software issues.
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
Cisco TAC is simply unbeatable and that goes for Cisco UCS server support just as well as it does for Cisco CUCM software. TAC has a well-deserved, excellent reputation and I do not hesitate to call them or open a ticket online, because I always know that I will get the help that I need and get it quickly
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
Easier to integrate and to use after that. It gives a better feeling as a server and it is better in performance also it is more durable. Offers a variety of use cases and also it is a very scalable server. Offers a great redundancy (has already [been] integrated) and also [gives] you easy access from terminal or GUI.
Read full review
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
It's been said that BladeSystem is very similar to the UCS B-Series. While the network fabric features of the UCS B-Series outshine those of the BladeSystem, HPE has created extensive orchestration within HPE OneView to provide feature parity with and even surpass those of the UCS B-Series. The fundamental distinction between the two is whether the focus is on the computing (BladeSystem) or the fabric (UCS). In contrast to UCS's tight fabric integration, BladeSystem's centralized focus on servers simplifies administration.
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Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Life cycle of new hardware. We were able to refresh 40 existing servers with new ones in under a day
  • When having to move chassis around, having to only move 4 cables instead of the 16 that would have been required for rack-mount servers
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • After a crash, the blade server's dependability and capacity to recover quickly rank highest.
  • The alert service allows for the administration of all servers to be handled from a single location.
  • Blade servers from HPE are reliable and easy on the eyes of upper management.
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