HPE ProLiant DL, excellent architecture, great features and can provide fantastic ROI.
February 25, 2022

HPE ProLiant DL, excellent architecture, great features and can provide fantastic ROI.

Edwin Labirua | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with HPE ProLiant DL

We use HPE Proliant DL servers as the backbone of our VMWare ESXi infrastructure. We utilize them as the ESXi hosts where our critical virtual machines are that are the backbone of the firm's business. From our Active Directory environment to the various apps that support the business. The business problem the product addresses is that with it we have a reliable stable platform that our infrastructure resides. Without it, we would have outages that interrupt the business that would incur losses for the firm.
  • A stable hardware architecture that is very reliable. I've had systems that have run for over 10 years with no hardware issues.
  • The out-of-band management iLO provides an easy remote setup of systems. All it requires is network connections and DHCP on the VLAN and I can build systems with minimal hands-on assistance.
  • The ability to customize the server build to match the required specs. It can be configured for a variety of uses.
  • The support HPE provides. If issues do occur depending on the support purchased, replacement parts will be at the site within hours or days. The support staff is very efficient in troubleshooting issues.
  • The HPE support page can be hard to navigate when searching for firmware or software downloads. It can be made more user-friendly.
  • Better documentation if a part needs to be returned back or not. If a part does not need to be returned, it would be good if that is clear in either the ticket or the documentation provided on the part.
  • A clearer designation on the part numbers. There are just too many parts that need to be ordered that you end up providing the wrong one at times.
  • I like the fact that the hardware specs, particularly the CPU chipset will be the same. Other manufacturers can have different chipsets within the same server model.
  • The out-of-band management capability makes setups easy. With it, you can set up a server remotely with minimal assistance. A network connection is all that is required.
  • The durability of the hardware. I've had a few issues with HPE's hardware, some of our servers have run for over 10 years without issues.
  • HPE's support is excellent. It's easy to get a hold of an engineer and their supply chain is able to provide replacement parts within the support SLA. Be in a four-hour window or the next day.
  • The reliability of the hardware has allowed us to get an excellent ROI. We have been able to run systems for 10 years.
  • With using iLO, HPE out of band management, we no longer needed to send out engineers for systems build or system repair. This has cut down on travel IT would have to do on setups.
  • With the many options, HPE Proliant DLs provide we can tailor each system ordered to the exact requirement. We are able to set up systems that would give us the most ROI.
  • With the ability of HPE support to troubleshoot issues and provide replacement parts as quickly as the support contract warrants, we are able to get systems up and running quickly. Minimizing the downtime of the system and allowing the firm to continue doing business.
We had a POC on a Cisco UCS Blade system. We found that for our purposes, it required too much power. The particular system we had as POC required 4 x 30Amp circuits. We were going to use it to set up a VMWare ESXi cluster. In comparison, if we had used four HPE Proliant DL380 servers, we only needed 2 x 20Amp circuits. It also generated a lot of heat for the space that we had. We also found it just too cumbersome for what upper management wanted.

Do you think HPE ProLiant DL delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with HPE ProLiant DL's feature set?

Yes

Did HPE ProLiant DL live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of HPE ProLiant DL go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy HPE ProLiant DL again?

Yes

It's well suited for a VMWare Esxi cluster setup. You are guaranteed to have the same CPU chipset to ensure the servers on the cluster are compatible with each other. We've had to stagger the purchase of systems by six months and have had compatibility issues. It's also well suited for I/O such as MS SQL or Oracle databases, Exchange servers, domain controllers. Pretty much any server setup will work with no issues on the HPE Proliant DL line. It's less appropriate as a NAS server, we had purchased one that ran on Windows Storage. Since it was more or less running Windows as a single controller, we had issues where it has locked up and caused an outage.

Using HPE ProLiant DL

70 - We use it to run our VMware ESXi servers. Our Active Directory, file server, and other apps as hosted on that. Most of the systems and applications that our business is on those servers. This also includes our management tools and whatever else our developers utilize. Furthermore, VMWare Site Recovery Manager is also on it that replicated our virtual machines to our disaster recovery environment.
4 - A good understanding of various computer hardware is required. Especially when replacing a part in the HPE Proliant DL. A good understanding of networking is also required. When setting up the data network as well as setting ilo. HPE's out of band management utility. A very good understanding of the particular operating system that is run on the servers. We have VMWare ESXi and Windows Server on our HPE Proliant DLs.
  • The hardware stability. I've very minimal issues with hardware, some of them can run for over 10 years.
  • The support provided by HPE, on troubleshooting the issue to parts replacement.
  • The ability to setup and troubleshoot the HPE ProLiant DL remotely using iLO.
  • The reliability that servers purchased six months ago matches the servers purchased a year ago.