HPE Apollo Systems vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Lenovo are both solutions in the Rack Servers category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.5, while Lenovo is ranked #7. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 6.0% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to Lenovo’s 7.0% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Lenovo users who would recommend it.

HPE Apollo Systems

Read 25 HPE Apollo Systems reviews

3,575 Views
3,146 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...

Read 27 Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers reviews

5,463 Views
5,463 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

HPE Apollo Systems

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers and HPE Apollo Systems are competing products in the server market. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers are favored for better pricing and support, while HPE Apollo Systems is seen as superior for its robust features, justifying its higher price.

Features: Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers provide reliable performance, customizable configurations, and are well-suited for enterprises with specific needs. HPE Apollo Systems offer high-density storage, advanced analytics tools, and are designed for data-intensive applications.

Room for Improvement: Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers could enhance energy efficiency, cooling options, and update management tools. HPE Apollo Systems could improve scalability options, integration flexibility, and cost management strategies.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers are noted for straightforward deployment and responsive customer support. HPE Apollo Systems are appreciated for detailed deployment guides, though they face challenges with longer customer support response times.

Pricing and ROI: Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers stand out for cost-effective setup and quick ROI, attracting budget-conscious buyers. HPE Apollo Systems, while more costly to set up, provide significant ROI through comprehensive features and long-term value.

To learn more, read our detailed HPE Apollo Systems vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

HPE Apollo Systems vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

September 2026

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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

HPE Apollo Systems

Ranking in Rack Servers

9th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Density Optimized Servers (2nd)

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...

Ranking in Rack Servers

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 6.0%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is 7.0%, down from 15.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers	7.0%
HPE Apollo Systems	6.0%
Other	87.0%

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

Gökhan DURMAZ

Account Manager at TD SYNNEX

High-quality integration and strong support have optimized our rack server operations

HPE Apollo Systems is a good product because it has better support and best quality with integrity. When I speak about integrity, I speak about GPU integration or other integrations such as GPU integration, backup software integration, and hypervisor integration. Regarding the integration of high-speed interconnectors in HPE Apollo Systems, they impact computational tasks because the high-speed interconnect affects performance. I don't remember the specifics. Regarding the cooling technologies, they help to reduce operational costs. The positive impact I see from HPE Apollo Systems is that support is good and quality is good. In general, HPE Apollo Systems appears to be for rack servers with some optimization capabilities.

Read full review

Mike Bellemans

Project manager at Sopraco NV

One of the products in the market that is the easiest to set up and maintain

Performance and scalability-wise, there are certain areas where the product lacks and needs improvement as it does not provide a lot of fancy features presently. In general, it is a normal product that is good enough for our company. For the time being, my company does not need any extra features.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is well documented in a data sheet."

"We usually use three blades for two-rack units, and with enough storage, it's really a small system with a powerful CPU, powerful hard drives, powerful disks."

"It's pretty flexible."

"When we moved to the Apollo and all flash drives, we gained a lot of performance on that."

"The technical support from HPE has always been good in my experience."

"HPE Apollo's most valuable feature is the ability to expand our storage capacity."

"The cost benefit of this solution is most valuable. It is quite effective for the work for which we are using it. We are mainly running video servers on these, and we are quite happy with the resilience, density storage, and streaming capacity of the system."

"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."

More HPE Apollo Systems pros

"I would say the stability of the system itself would be the biggest advantage."

"I like everything about this solution. It is a very good server, with excellent availability. The size of the power is adequate and the low heating is beneficial."

"It is a stable solution."

"The hardware performance is very valuable."

"The reliability is extremely good, it is very stable, it can run forever."

"We appreciate the stability and easy mountings of all the machines."

"It is a very good product, it is very easy to implement, and you can scale it easily."

"Its performance and the local support of Lenovo in my city are the most valuable features. Its performance is the best, and its user interface is also very easy."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers pros

Cons

"The solution could improve the hardware, such as the motherboard or servers. We have had hardware faults in the past."

"There is a shared battery for all cache controllers in the node. When you have to replace that element, you have to take down all three nodes and not just one."

"The technical support for HPE Apollo Systems could be improved."

"If there could be some training for our team, we would be better equipped to promote and support HPE Apollo."

"The solution's deployment, security, and scalability need improvement."

"Big stability issues with the CPU on the first generation which made them virtually unusable."

"We are quite happy with it, but its price and storage density can be better."

"We would like to see SimpliVity on top of the Apollo."

More HPE Apollo Systems cons

"The RAID Management and the RAID Configuration tools need to be improved."

"Upgrading firmware is easier in Dell than in Lenovo."

"The solution's initial setup was complicated."

"It is quite an expensive product. Its price can be improved."

"I would like to see an automatic call home feature for IMM2."

"I definitely suggest potential users skip Lenovo and go for Dell EMC, which has good hardware, and great internal security components."

"From a user's perspective, it not so straightforward if you want to add some features."

"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers availability could improve. We have been waiting two months for one server."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."

"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."

"It is an expensive solution but it is worth the money. The standard licensing cost is for the GPU and the features that someone is using. There are additional charges but they depend on the solution."

"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."

"The price of the solution is more expensive than Dell which is their main competitor. However, there are times we have managed to receive a comparable price."

"It is the cheapest solution we have seen on the market."

"Its pricing is very competitive."

"I don't know the exact amount of money, but when I compared it to Dell or HPE, Lenovo was the best when it comes to price and equipment."

"It costs around $8,000. There is an additional cost for the support for a year."

"It is expensive compared to other vendors."

"It is too expensive. Because we are a university and we have to look for our money, many times we buy some refurbished machines or equipment at reasonable prices from IBM or Lenovo. We are a little bit limited in terms of money, and we buy as much as we can. If they were cheaper, we would buy more."

"The price of the solution is very expensive when compared to other solution like HP or Dell."

"Other than the standard licensing fees there are no other additional costs. The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers could be better, and the availability of the solution could improve. We have been waiting two months for one server."

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

University

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	15

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	9

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?

It is too early to say what improvements HPE Apollo Systems could implement because the report still needs to come out and the customer needs to properly evaluate the solution.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?

My main use case for HPE Apollo Systems is replacing many of the servers and storage boxes at one of the customer's sites to achieve workload optimization and optimized solutions. Additionally, whe...

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What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?

My advice for someone considering HPE Apollo Systems is that if they are looking for consolidation and their workload involves high availability requirements, or if they want to utilize GPUs, then ...

See all answers

How do Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers compare with HPE ProLiant DL servers?

Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers offer flexibility and efficiency in order to meet mission-critical demands. I like that Lenovo blends outstanding performance, reliability, and manageability. The bi...

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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....

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 12% of the time

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 11% of the time

HPE Moonshot vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs HPE Apollo Systems

Compared 7% of the time

More HPE Apollo Systems Competitors

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 29% of the time

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 21% of the time

IBM Power Systems vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 6% of the time

AMAX ClusterMax vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Compared 3% of the time

More Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE Apollo Systems

October 2026

Download HPE Apollo Systems product report

Buyer's Guide

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

October 2026

Download Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers product report

Also Known As

HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo

SR Series, Lenovo SR Series, ThinkSystem Rack Servers, IBM Rack Servers, ThinkSystem SR Series, Lenovo Rack Servers,

Overview

HPE Apollo Systems deliver high compute and storage density, scalability, and environmental efficiency with exceptional performance for AI initiatives and data capturing across diverse applications.

HPE Apollo Systems are characterized by their dense compute and storage capabilities, offering flexibility in configurations to meet the demands of AI, deep learning, and high-performance computing. Their management software simplifies deployment, ensuring effective performance across tasks that require significant storage. While Apollo Systems are designed for efficiency and scalability, improvements can be made in security, tech support, and integration with hypervisors and backup solutions. Enhancing cooling and licensing processes, connectivity, and faster drive writing capabilities are also areas for growth.

What are the key features of HPE Apollo Systems?

High Compute Density: Supports intense processing needs efficiently.
Scalability: Easily adaptable to growing data demands.
Environmental Efficiency: Minimizes energy consumption, enhancing sustainability.
Flexible Configurations: Caters to a range of applications from AI to data storage.
Reliable Performance: Consistently delivers under various workloads.

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Cost Effectiveness: Reduces expenditure with its efficient design.
Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly fits into diverse IT environments.
Performance Enhancement: Boosts operational efficiency and output.
Easy Deployment: Streamlines the setup process for quick operation.

HPE Apollo Systems find extensive use in sectors such as telecom, supporting high-performance computing and AI workloads. They optimize Linux servers, replace legacy systems, and serve as storage solutions across industries. Their applications span from big data management in Splunk clusters to backup solutions in medical faculties, enhancing compute power and storage within compact racks.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers offer robust performance with efficient management, easy VMware integration, and high stability. Known for powerful hardware and simple maintenance, they ensure effective technical support and space-saving design, meeting high industry standards.

Designed for virtualization, data centers, and storage solutions, Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers are equipped with scalable processors and RAM updates. XClarity tools simplify server management, providing a single dashboard for upgrades and monitoring. Effective technical support and Predictive Failure Analysis further enhance their reliability. Despite some management port and expandability issues, they remain a compelling choice for comprehensive IT infrastructure.

What features define Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers?

Efficient Management: XClarity tools simplify upgrades and monitoring.
Robust Hardware: Offers powerful processors and easy maintenance.
Predictive Failure Analysis: Minimizes downtime with early problem detection.
Space-Saving Design: Optimizes physical server footprint.
VMware Integration: Facilitates seamless virtualization processes.
Network Connectivity: Ensures reliable, high-performance connections.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Performance Stability: Delivers consistent and reliable operations.
Cost Efficiency: Combines good pricing with power efficiency.
Technical Support: Comprehensive assistance enhances user satisfaction.
Scalability: Supports growth with easy upgrades and cloud compatibility.
Energy Efficiency: Reduces operating costs through power-efficient design.

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers play a critical role across industries such as BFSI, media, and education, supporting complex applications like ERP systems and specialized educational software. Their scalable, hybrid deployment options facilitate seamless integration in both on-premise and cloud environments, ensuring high customer satisfaction.

Lenovo

Sample Customers

Weta Digital

immixGroup, Komsomolskaya Pravda, SRG Global, Seekr, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, jKool, Tennis Australia, VEKA, Netpoints, Gamma Powersports

Buyer's Guide

HPE Apollo Systems vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

September 2026

Free Report: HPE Apollo Systems vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers

Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Apollo Systems vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.

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