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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco UCS Series

    Score9.3 out of 10
    N/AThe 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

    Proxmox VE

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/AProxmox Virtual Environment is an open source server virtualization management solution based on QEMU/KVM and LXC. Users can manage virtual machines, containers, highly available clusters, storage and networks via a web interface or CLI. Proxmox VE code is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3. The project is developed and maintained by Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH.

    $7.50

    per month

    Pricing
    Cisco UCS SeriesProxmox VE
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Community
    € 90
    year & CPU socket
    Basic
    € 280
    year & CPU socket
    Standard
    € 420
    year & CPU socket
    Premium
    € 840
    year & CPU socket
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco UCS SeriesProxmox VE
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Proxmox Virtual Environment's source code is published under the free software license GNU AGPL, v3 and thus is freely available for download, use and share. A Proxmox VE Subscription is an additional service program that helps IT professionals and businesses keep Proxmox VE deployments up-to-date. A subscription provides access to the stable Proxmox VE Enterprise Repository delivering software updates and security enhancements, technical help and support.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco UCS SeriesProxmox VE
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Proxmox Server Solutions
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    94 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    85 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    95 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    79 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    85 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    Features
    Cisco UCS SeriesProxmox VE
    Server Virtualization
    Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Cisco UCS Series and Proxmox VE
    Feature
    Cisco UCS Series
    -
    Ratings
    Proxmox VE
    7.3
    12 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Virtual machine automated provisioning00 Ratings7.112 Ratings
    Management console00 Ratings7.112 Ratings
    Live virtual machine backup00 Ratings8.012 Ratings
    Live virtual machine migration00 Ratings6.112 Ratings
    Hypervisor-level security00 Ratings8.011 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco UCS SeriesProxmox VE
    Small Businesses
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Oracle VirtualBox
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    VMware vSOM (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM Power
    Score9.1 out of 10
    IBM PowerVM
    Score9.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco UCS SeriesProxmox VE
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (99 ratings)
    8.3
    (12 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (10 ratings)
    8.8
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (12 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco UCS SeriesProxmox VE
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    I like the solutions because they are easy to use and operate via Cisco Intersight. Also, the support is amazing, as there is no better support than Cisco has ever seen. I recommend it for companies to improve reliability and achieve easier operation without incurring overhead. The solution is ready to be used for any workload.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    We used Proxmox to implement private cloud services, for clusters
    of a small number of servers, from 3 to 11 with and without high
    availability. Allways with ZFS file systems, and we used to install the
    root pool in SSDs mirrored and use other pools with RAID 10 in groups of
    four, for the virtual machines and containers, for the backups and snapshots, we used magnetic disks with RAID 10, in groups of four. Do
    not use an even number of servers because does not facilitates the
    implementation of High Availability, because the corosync service must
    have an odd number of servers to detect a failed server for the quorum
    system. We used a variety of servers, from clone PCs with AMD Ryzen with 6 cores and 12 threads with 64 GB of RAM no ECC, to high end servers with 64 cores and 128 threads per cpu and 2 cpus per server, with AMD EPYC Rome or Milan, 2 terabytes of RAM ECC.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • It's very customizable. It's customizable as in you have a chassis, but you could pick and choose the size of your blades puff with full width depending on what your workloads are. So in a way, you're not locked in. It's not like you buy a chassis and you're stuck into one thing could go and put, you need something that's storage intensive or maybe you've got more graphics intensive workload. You could choose and mix and match in the same.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    • BackUp System, provides extensive propiertes and verifications. An exclusive server for BackUp Administration (PBS)
    • Hardware Customization. You can select several properties to adapt the hardware to your needs
    • Easy administration. You will be able to manage the server with easily accessible tools such as the web console and usage statistics.
    • Certificates Administration.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • It’s about to be replaced, so I would rather wait until I try the UCSX series out, because it’s about to be replaced by a better version of it. So what I would have to say would need to be upgraded is probably being replaced. Well, I mean, some of the issues we would have with it or things we would like to have with it might be in the new thing.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    • The web UI does not work as well on mobile devices. It is useable, but a mobile optimised / responsive UI would be nice to have. There is a mobile app, so that may alleviate this issue, but I have not yet tried it.
    • Support in the community forums could be better. There are paid support plans, but new users trying out the software will not have access to this. Answers to questions can sometimes be terse, and I can imagine this may put some people off.
    • The wiki is a bit hit and miss with certain topics. I've often seen outdated or missing information, and the whole thing looks like it could do with some polish. I'd love to see it opened up for the community to add to.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    Cisco UCS has been a highly reliable compute platform for our workloads, handling MSSQL, SSIS, virtualization (VMware vSphere), and analytics workloads with low latency and high efficiency. UCS Service Profiles and centralized management (UCS Manager, Intersight) make it easy to provision, scale, and manage compute resources efficiently across production and non-production environments. Our UCS setup integrates well with Pure Storage and Nimble HF40, delivering high IOPS, low latency, and fast throughput for data-intensive workloads. Cisco UCS hardware and licensing can be expensive compared to some alternative compute platforms, especially when considering cloud-based or hyperconverged options. While UCS can work in a hybrid cloud setup, it doesn’t natively integrate as seamlessly with public cloud providers like Azure or AWS compared to some newer solutions. We may need to evaluate Azure Stack HCI or AWS Outposts for future flexibility.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    Proxmox VE provides the most capable, yet stable virtualization platform in the market today. Licensing options are also competitive and cost-effective for support, and support is extremely fast and knowledgable of getting issues resolved as quickly and soundly as possible.
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    The interface is easy to use for most of it, but still lacks screens for some configurations. Also, a few of the screens are not as intuitive as they could be. This is specially true with disk and network configuration, where some graphic/visual representations of the configurations would be very useful
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    The platform’s redundant fabric interconnects, power supplies, and built-in high-availability features ensure that systems remain online even during hardware failures or maintenance. Unplanned outages are rare, and when combined with proactive monitoring, UCS provides a very reliable environment for critical workloads.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    Proxmox VE's ha-cluster functionality is very much improved, though does have a not-very-often occurrence of failure. In a 2-node cluster of Proxmox VE, HA can fail causing an instance that is supposed to migrate between the two nodes stop and fail until manually recovered through the command-line tools provided. Other than this, the HA clustering capability of Proxmox VE has proven to be reliable in 3 or more clustered environments with much less chance of these failures to occur.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Cisco
    The system performs exceptionally well in terms of speed and efficiency, with pages loading quickly, and reports completing in a reasonable time frame, even with complex configurations. The integration of UCS with other systems, such as VMware vSphere and storage solutions, has generally not caused noticeable performance degradation. The scalability of UCS allows it to handle growing workloads without significant slowdowns. However, the performance could be slightly impacted during hardware or firmware upgrades, but these instances have been rare and well-managed. Overall, the performance has met our expectations and continues to provide reliable results.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    Proxmox VE's interfacing is always fast to load, both the Web interface and the command-line tool interfaces. Reporting is practically real time almost all the time, and you can see everything in mere seconds, easily able to identify if something is wrong or it everything is in tip-top shape as always desired
    Incentivized
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    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
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    They are fast, understanding, very intelligent, know their product very well, fast, responsive, and concise. Need I say more?
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    I would rate the in-person training as excellent. The sessions were well-structured, hands-on, and delivered by knowledgeable instructors who made UCS concepts easy to understand. It greatly improved our team’s confidence in managing the platform.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Cisco
    The training materials provided were generally informative and covered the essential aspects of the UCS platform, such as UCS Manager, Service Profiles, and integration with other systems. However, some of the training modules could benefit from being more hands-on and interactive. Additionally, certain advanced topics, like complex network configurations or troubleshooting hardware issues, were not covered in as much depth. Overall, while the training was useful, there’s room for improvement in terms of depth and practical application for more advanced users.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    We were very satisfied with the implementation of Cisco UCS Series. The deployment was well-structured, Cisco’s support team was highly responsive, and the solution integrated smoothly with our existing infrastructure. The project was completed on time with minimal disruption to operations.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    It worked, was easy and super fast to deploy, and provided everything we needed in a matter of minutes
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    UCS integrates with VMware vSphere while adding hardware automation and unified fabric. Why UCS?
    Cisco UCS offers better infrastructure abstraction and automation via UCS Manager and Intersight. The integration of compute and fabric in a single system reduced configuration time and enabled faster troubleshooting. We selected Cisco UCS because it aligns with our long-term strategy, offering infrastructure, simplified lifecycle management, automated scaling, and reduced operational complexity. Additionally, we secured a significant discount from Cisco due to our use of another Cisco solution.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    Proxmox VE is cheaper than VMware, especially upscaling an HA architecture. Compared with other free or less expensive solutions, Proxmox VE is high compatible with more types of hardware solutions and more VM types. From my point of view, Proxmox VE has no competitor at the same price level, it offers the most complete and production-ready HA solution.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    Cisco UCS Series provides a highly flexible architecture with service profiles, fabric interconnects, and modular blades/rack servers, allowing organizations to scale compute and network resources across multiple departments and sites efficiently. The only minor limitation is that careful planning is required to maintain consistency at very large scales.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    Proxmox VE provides everything you need to quickly add new storage mediums, network and local, as well as networking interfaces, such as using Linux standard bridges and now Open-vSwitch bridges which can be even more scalable than before. Proxmox VE 4.0 dropped support for OpenVZ in favor of the more well supported and native LXC and made an upgrade path to it very simple.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • I'm going to start with the negative impact. Maybe in order to have the ease of use, you have to get some time to prepare correctly and to correctly to design the correct design. But now that you've done this time, you don't have to take that to get back to this configuration. You are all free. And this is the positive side, it's that when everything is prepared correctly, everything is smooth. So the use of the profiles, the connection of new servers, the decommissioning and the adding of new servers, the modification of configuration, everything is more easy to use and the less we interrupt user access to our service, the more the hospital is working fine and we can achieve a better support to our end users. And then to the patients.
    Incentivized
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    Proxmox Server Solutions
    • Due to the open source nature of Proxmox, we have no licensing costs while training our employees
    • We've migrated 100% of our clients to Proxmox and have found improved uptime, and flexibility.
    • In the 10 years of using Proxmox, we've yet to lose any data or not be notified of backup issues.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Cisco UCS Series Screenshots

    Screenshot of Cisco System I/O ControllerScreenshot of Cisco UCS S3260 System I/O ControllerScreenshot of Cisco UCS S3260 Base ChassisScreenshot of Cisco UCS C4200 Series Rack Server ChassisScreenshot of Cisco UCS C125 M5 Rack Server NodeScreenshot of UCSC-C245-M8SX Rack Server