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Cisco Nexus 9000 Series vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Nexus 9000 Series
Ranking in Data Center Networking
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (9th)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Ranking in Data Center Networking
4th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
341
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (1st), Blade Servers (1st), Rack Servers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Data Center Networking category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is 4.3%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 4.3%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Center Networking Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series4.3%
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series4.3%
Other91.4%
Data Center Networking
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Technical Marketing Engineer Hybrid Cloud Infrastructures at NetApp
Policy-driven data centers have delivered low-latency connectivity for critical applications
The most critical and important feature in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is VPC. Apart from VPC, there are many other features in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series that stand out as advantages. You can apply access control lists on that. You can do Layer 3 capabilities. You can configure HSRP. You can implement VRFs. You can isolate the L3 network within your data center. It has a lot of features including network segmentation capabilities. You can apply a lot of security hardening and manage the access on the switches through auditing to see who is doing what and restrict access based on the network admin role. These are great features. The overlay technology support in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is good for large-scale deployment where you are going to build something like a hyperscaler. You need more network segments, and with VXLAN, you can definitely build a large fabric with those Nexus switches.
Tom van Mil - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at Lico Innovations B.v.
Supports flexible hosting needs through seamless upgradability and strong monitoring capabilities
The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series for me are the feature richness and the upgradability. I really love the way that it is so dynamically applicable for every situation, and they manage to have an all-in-one solution for every single situation. Dell PowerEdge has supported the growth and operational success of my company through its great compute power and price-to-performance ratio. Every time Dell is at the top of its game for us, and there is just no other brand for us that is able to reach that kind of price-to-performance ratio. Dell PowerEdge R-Series has features that specifically cater to the needs of my small company, such as iDRAC. The iDRAC system is a complete feature set for managing servers and hardware technically and monitoring-wise. It really fits in our system and our ecosystem, and monitoring-wise, it is excellent. They have all these sensors available via different protocols and end points, which I love, and the ability to manage and control everything via the iDRAC interface is just a welcome bonus. In our use case, Dell PowerEdge R-Series is very flexible. It is another computer which helps a lot because of the durability over time. They keep running, making scalability for getting more of those resources in our environment so easy.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The stability and reliability of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series are robust, and once you put it on, it does not just fail; that takes a long time, maybe even years."
"There has been improvement in our connectivity with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series, and there is less drag."
"The performance in data center operations with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is excellent; we have never faced any performance issues."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very durable and very reliable, and there has never been any issue with it."
"RealPresence works effectively."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is easy to use, and the performance is exceptional."
"The features for manageability and visibility are impressive."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is quite a complex machine, but we are using a very simple configuration with basic Nexus switching, and we don't have many issues with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series at the moment in our present infrastructure."
"Great value for money is definitely provided."
"By reliable management, I am referring to how easy and efficient the administration is. We are very pleased with the iDRAC interface, which allows us to remotely manage our servers individually."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series has impacted my organization positively as they've been very reliable in our remote sites."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series has given us a stable platform to build on, which is significant for us because we do high-frequency trading, so stability and performance are crucial."
"Looking at the new models, they have greatly improved the cooling system, which is a significant advantage."
"What makes Dell PowerEdge R-Series special is the vendor team behind it, the support provided, and the management software."
"From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using this product is the reliability and low downtime that I have had with them, the ease of management, and automation."
"I appreciate all these other features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series as they are intuitive and ready to go—I don't need to configure for hours; I just plug it in, configure two or three things, power cycle it, and that's it."
 

Cons

"I would like to see features that control traffic and maintain service continuity during the transfer of signals from physical connections to servers."
"The SFP modules we are using have had issues. We have Cisco modules, but they frequently heat up or there are packet error issues."
"Cost-wise, Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very expensive."
"When trying to contact support, we had issues trying to get someone to help us."
"We find that Cisco has been left behind by the other vendors. The other vendors have adopted new technology, and we find Cisco lagging behind."
"In terms of automation with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series, it could be better."
"For Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches, I think we need to work on the HSRP. Whenever it flaps or something happens, it creates an issue."
"I would rate the technical support for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series an eight out of ten. This rating is not because of their lack of expertise, but just the assignment period."
"My biggest grievance is related to getting a caddy. We have decommissioned our old servers that we used for development or testing. You cannot buy hard drives for old servers from Dell. It is very annoying."
"I would appreciate the capability to carry out live updates without the need to take the system offline."
"Many things could be improved, and maybe Dell PowerEdge R-Series could help us with that, but that would require development, and it is possible that it could definitely help us."
"The price is acceptable but could be improved."
"The solution could still use some more analytics."
"I chose a rating of nine instead of ten because there is always room for improvements in technology."
"One area where PowerEdge could improve is the challenge of keeping technology consistent over the years."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series can be improved if they put more space for memories."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I'd like them to be cheaper, but that's not the world we live in and that's not where the pound is at."
"The solution’s pricing is competitive with other products."
"We weren't paying very much, but it was at the end of the lifecycle. We are now using the VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure, and the pricing was very similar for the same amount of power but with easier automation."
"The more complex the server requirements, the more expensive it gets."
"It's abundantly clear that the specific licensing requirements will be dictated by the intricacies of the machinery we deploy."
"The tool's pricing is very good."
"I personally think the pricing and licensing of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is actually fairly decent, though the way the business runs leads to sticker shock anytime we give them a quote."
"They are fairly priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
22%
Outsourcing Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business122
Midsize Enterprise68
Large Enterprise150
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
I have not configured the DNA, but I have configured Cisco Intersight, and from Intersight, I have managed monitoring of the servers and switches. I have not given a 10 because there is some depend...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
I am a system integrator and user myself. I have worked with Cisco Smart switches, Nexus switches, and Meraki MS switches. I have deployed these switches for Oil and Gas companies in India.
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
I have been dealing with Cisco series Smart switches and Nexus series, and I have worked with the Nexus switches. I have good support from the overlay technology support in Nexus 1900 for enhanced ...
When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
Dell PowerEdge R-Series could improve by addressing the issue of temperatures and problems with RAM memory, as those are generally where we have had issues. The modules, specifically the DIMMs, ten...
What is your primary use case for Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
My main use case for Dell PowerEdge R-Series is for private cloud infrastructure. A specific example of how I use Dell PowerEdge R-Series in my environment is for private cloud provisioning for 5G....
 

Also Known As

No data available
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus 9000 Series vs. Dell PowerEdge R-Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.