In “Navigating the Modernization of Legacy Infrastructure,” a technical research study commissioned by Dell Technologies, Prowess Consulting compares two server refresh strategies for legacy HPE and Intel environments: upgrading to Intel® Xeon® 6 processors in HPE® ProLiant® Gen12 servers or migrating to 5th Generation AMD EPYC™ processors in 17th generation Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers. In our study, 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors in 17th generation PowerEdge servers emerge as the stronger modernization path.
We found that cross-platform migration complexity is often overstated because server refreshes require similar workload validation, maintenance windows, and virtual machine (VM) movement. The more important differentiators are post-refresh outcomes, such as consolidation potential, licensing efficiency, ease of management, and energy consumption.
Our study found that the Dell and AMD solution shows up to 64% lower five-year total cost of ownership (TCO), up to 34% lower per-core licensing costs, up to 65% power savings, and up to 3x greater energy efficiency in cited comparisons. Dell™ OpenManage™ Enterprise (OME) and Integrated Dell™ Remote Access Controller 10 (iDRAC10) also add cross-platform monitoring and power-management value for heterogeneous environments.
Evidence: See Executive Summary, Figures 1–3, Conclusion, Appendix A, and Endnotes.
TL;DR
Organizations modernizing their legacy HPE servers, powered by 2nd or 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, should evaluate more than migration effort. Regardless of the intended final destination, all refresh paths require similar planning, workload validation, maintenance windows, and VM migration, so organizations should prioritize factors like long-term performance, consolidation potential, cost, energy consumption, and ease of management. A migration to Intel Xeon 6 processors in HPE ProLiant Gen12 servers offers continuity, with up to 45% lower TCO and up to 45% energy savings. However, this study found that migrating to 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors in 17th generation PowerEdge servers provided a stronger modernization path, offering up to 64% lower TCO, up to 34% lower per-core licensing costs, up to 65% power savings, and up to 3x greater energy efficiency. OME and iDRAC10 also strengthen cross-platform monitoring, automation, and power management.
Evidence: See Executive Summary, Figures 1–3, Decision Framework, Conclusion, Appendix A, and Endnotes.
FAQ
Q: Who is this paper for?
A: This paper is for IT infrastructure leaders, data center architects, virtualization teams, procurement stakeholders, and operations teams planning a server refresh from legacy HPE systems powered by 2nd or 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors. It is especially relevant to organizations balancing migration disruption against consolidation, licensing cost, modernization, energy efficiency, and support for AI-driven workloads.
Q: What is the main conclusion?
A: The main conclusion is that 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors running on 17th generation Dell PowerEdge servers offer the stronger overall modernization path for the enterprise profile evaluated. The paper cites advantages in TCO, power savings, energy efficiency, consolidation potential, and management capabilities, while emphasizing that migration complexity should not dominate the platform decision.
Q: Is migrating from Intel and HPE to AMD and Dell much more complex?
A: Not meaningfully. The study argues that most effort comes from the platform refresh itself, not the hardware vendor change. Both paths require workload validation, maintenance windows, application cutovers, firmware validation, and VM migration. Dell and AMD batch VM migration is cited as taking less than 15 minutes total in the evaluated scenario.
Q: How do the two paths compare in terms of consolidation and cost?
A: Both paths offer a 7:1 consolidation ratio compared with the legacy infrastructure evaluated. An HPE and Intel refresh is cited as providing up to 45% lower TCO and up to 90% virtualization licensing cost savings, whereas a Dell and AMD refresh is cited as providing up to 64% lower five-year TCO and up to 34% lower per-core licensing costs, making the Dell and AMD option stronger for long-term economics.
Q: How do the two paths compare in terms of energy efficiency?
A: Both paths improve energy efficiency over legacy systems, but the Dell and AMD solution shows larger gains. The HPE and Intel solution offers up to 45% energy savings per processor and up to 40% better performance per watt, compared to the Dell and AMD solution, which offers up to 65% power savings, with 17th generation PowerEdge servers delivering up to 3x greater energy efficiency.
Q: Why do Dell management tools matter?
A: OME and iDRAC10 matter because they support heterogeneous infrastructure operations, not just same-vendor management. The paper highlights cross-platform migration support, BIOS baseline enforcement, monitoring and reporting for non-Dell infrastructure, power caps, energy trend tracking, and thermal profile control. These capabilities can simplify administration when organizations operate mixed server environments during modernization.
