Compare enterprise server platforms — ICD’s comparison reference helps IT teams choose between Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant, Lenovo ThinkSystem, Cisco UCS, IBM Power and x86, and Supermicro server families based on workload, generation, form factor, and total cost of ownership.
Generation & CPU Cross-Reference
Generation alignment across major OEMs:
- Intel Xeon Scalable Gen3 (Ice Lake-SP, 2021) — Dell PowerEdge G15 (R750/R650), HPE ProLiant Gen10 Plus (DL360/DL380 G10+), Lenovo ThinkSystem V2 (SR650 V2), Cisco UCS M6, Supermicro X12-series
- Intel Xeon Scalable Gen4 (Sapphire Rapids, 2023) / Gen5 (Emerald Rapids, 2024) — Dell PowerEdge G16 (R760/R660), HPE ProLiant Gen11 (DL360/DL380 Gen11), Lenovo ThinkSystem V3 (SR650 V3 / SR655 V3), Cisco UCS M7, Supermicro X13/X14
- AMD EPYC Genoa/Bergamo (Gen4) — Dell PowerEdge R7625/R6625, HPE ProLiant DL385 Gen11, Lenovo SR665 V3, Supermicro H13
Form-Factor Comparison
1U mainstream: Dell R660/R650, HPE DL360 Gen11, Lenovo SR630 V3, Cisco UCS C220 M7. Best for compute-dense racks, web/app tier, edge.
2U mainstream: Dell R760/R750, HPE DL380 Gen11, Lenovo SR650 V3, Cisco UCS C240 M7. Versatile flagship — virtualization, database, software-defined storage.
2U storage-dense: Dell R740XD/R760XD2, HPE DL380 Gen11 LFF, Lenovo SR650 V3 LFF. SAN-attached or hyperconverged storage tier.
4U/GPU-dense: Dell XE9680, HPE Cray XD675, Lenovo SR675 V3, Supermicro AS-4125GS. AI training, HPC.
Workload-Matched Recommendations
- VDI / VMware vSphere — 2U dual-socket Gen3+ with 1 TB+ DDR4/DDR5 RDIMM, NVMe vSAN cache
- OLTP database — 1U or 2U with high-clock Gen4/Gen5 CPUs (Gold 64xx series), low-latency NVMe
- Object storage — 2U LFF with 12–14 large-capacity NL-SAS HDDs per node
- AI training — 4U/8U GPU-dense with H100/H200 NVL or B200 + InfiniBand
- Inference at scale — 1U/2U with L40S or L4 multi-GPU + 25/100 GbE NIC
Request a sizing recommendation with your workload profile. Email [email protected].
Side-by-Side Server Comparisons
Compare specific server models across generations and platforms. Each comparison covers CPU/memory/storage/network deltas, upgrade paths, and total-cost-of-ownership analysis.
HPE ProLiant Comparisons
- DL380 Gen9 vs Gen10
- DL380 Gen10 vs Gen10 Plus
- DL380 Gen10 vs Gen11
- DL380 Gen11 vs Gen12
- DL360 Gen10 vs Gen11
- DL385 Gen10 Plus vs Gen11
- DL560 Gen10 vs Gen11
- ML350 Gen10 vs Gen11
- Synergy 480 Gen10 vs Gen11
- Apollo 4200 Gen10 vs Gen11