Top Five AI Server Companies for Data Centers and Enterprises

Artificial Intelligence (AI) server manufacturers have experienced surging demand as data center operators require significantly more computing power than before the advent of ChatGPT and other Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) tools. Enterprises are investing billions of dollars in cloud infrastructure and Gen AI/Agentic AI development, fueling strong demand for high-performance AI servers.

Beyond providing the physical hardware, customers have come to expect AI server Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to offer cooling technology, infrastructure management software, and professional services.

Some server manufacturers outperform others in these areas.

To bring clarity to the market, ABI Research’s AI Server OEMs Competitive Ranking assesses eight global AI server companies. We evaluated server manufacturers based on performance, partner channels, workload optimization, environmental impact, future-readiness, and other criteria. This blog lists the top five companies from the report.

Below is a side-by-side comparison of the top five AI server vendors based on ABI Research’s assessment.

Table 1: Comparing the Top Five AI Server Companies

What Are Some Key AI Server Trends?

Legacy servers are unsuitable for modern AI data centers. They cannot accommodate the processing power and cooling capabilities that customers now require. AI server OEMs have responded by prioritizing the following features in new products:

• Performance & Densification: NVIDIA and AMD have set the precedent for increased performance, power, and thermal density of compute. These chipmakers are vital partners, leading to the development of more advanced server solutions.
• Servers to Racks & Clusters: Leading AI server manufacturers recognize the demand for solutions that are pre-validated. Enterprises and data center operators increasingly prefer pre-configured racks and clusters that combine compute, networking, and cooling in one package.
• Openness over Proprietary: Growing membership (and influence) of organizations like Open Compute Project (OCP) and Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC) reflects the strong demand for open data center designs. Open architecture reduces vendor lock-in (NVIDIA, AMD) and simplifies infrastructure upgrades and expansions.
• Services & Software: The top AI server companies look beyond hardware. Vendors like Supermicro, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) provide wide-ranging professional services for planning, deployment, lifecycle management, and ongoing support. Best-in-class server vendors also offer software designed to simplify data movement, orchestration, and scheduling workloads.

The rest of this blog explores how AI server market leaders incorporate these features into their solutions.

1. Supermicro

San Jose, California-based Supermicro secured the top ranking in ABI Research’s AI Server OEMs competitive assessment. Data centers and enterprises view Supermicro as the go-to server manufacturer for cutting-edge Gen AI technology.

One of the top reasons why Supermicro was ranked first in our assessment is due to developing the most agile AI servers on the market. It brings technologically advanced servers to market faster than other manufacturers analyzed.

Another key reason why Supermicro took the top spot is that its servers are unique in respect to the extent of modularity and choice afforded by the Data Center Building Block Solutions offering. This enables the vendor to cater to both small-scale enterprise systems and large-scale data center deployments.

Supermicro also offers a full suite of liquid cooling solutions. Customers managing high Thermal Design Power (TDP) systems benefit from the cooling solution’s ability to handle rack densities up to 250 kW.

Supermicro’s speed to market, broad range of deployment support, and advanced cooling have made it a trusted partner of well-funded AI innovators requiring the latest and greatest server hardware. Notable customers have included Amazon Web Services (AWS), Alibaba, Intel, NASA, and NVIDIA.

2. Dell

ABI Research ranks Round Rock, Texas-headquartered Dell as the second-best AI server provider. The high score stems from its broad server portfolio supporting a wide range of AI workloads.

Dell offers Stock-Keeping Units (SKUs) that address every stage of the AI lifecycle. These include systems for Central Processing Unit (CPU)-only data processing, high-power model training, and Agentic AI deployments.

Dell has a strong track record in developing High Performance Compute (HPC) solutions. Deployments such as Dawn and Doudna demonstrate the company’s expertise in large-scale AI clusters. At the same time, Dell supports the most modern Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), CPUs, and interconnects from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel. Close ties with leading silicon providers ensure that Dell’s servers stay current and meet modern compute demands.

One area where Dell has an edge over top-ranked Supermicro is its partner ecosystem. The company has a global network of distributors, system integrators, and manufacturers to collaborate with. Dell also has an OEM/Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) solutions arm and an e-procurement platform.

Notably, Dell provides impressive AI server cooling solutions outperforming other OEMs studied. Through a vast network of cooling partners, Dell delivers up to 480 kW cooling capacity in high-performance systems. The cooling portfolio includes the most advanced methods, such as liquid cooling, direct-to-chip, and immersion.

In summary, Dell leverages its significant financial capital and scale to deliver a comprehensive, enterprise-grade AI server portfolio. Combined with professional services and state-of-the-art thermal solutions, the server manufacturer has become a dependable choice for customers scaling AI workloads.

3. 3. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE)

   Also based in Texas, HPE ranks third in the AI server OEM market. HPE has a few parallels to Dell, such as having a steep legacy in supercomputing, support for the latest semiconductor products, massive scalability, and enterprise-grade readiness.

On cooling, HPE’s EX4000 and EX2500 server racks can cool up to 400 kW per rack. This is comfortably above industry average.

It’s also worth pointing out HPE’s thought leadership role and influence in the AI server market. The company has a direct impact on the development of open, high-performance AI fabrics through its membership in both the UEC and the UALink consortium.

4. Lenovo

Chinese tech vendor Lenovo was ranked fourth in ABI Research’s competitive benchmarking. Like other Chinese manufacturers, Lenovo benefits from a vertically integrated supply chain. This enables the company to manufacture its own critical components (motherboards, cooling systems, etc.).

Lenovo’s AI server portfolio supports a variety of workloads, including fine-tuning and large-scale training. The company offers traditional leasing/financing, in addition to a subscription model. This provides payment flexibility for a diverse customer base.

While Lenovo is a big champion of NVIDIA’s latest silicon, the same can’t be said about AMD and Intel. The vendor has not made any public announcements regarding support for AMD’s MI350X or Intel’s Gaudi3 accelerators.

Lenovo develops its AI server cooling solutions in-house under the Neptune brand. While its 105 kW capacity per server rack meets most of today’s compute demands, it lags behind other market leaders that have future-proofed their thermal offerings.

5. Cisco

Cisco rounds out the top five AI server manufacturers, relying on its networking and software competencies to deliver reliable solutions. The San Jose, California-based vendor is a solid choice for users prioritizing network performance, security, infrastructure management, and solid, global managed services.

On the downside, Cisco’s server hardware is roughly one generation behind leading vendors. AI server manufacturers that offer the latest accelerators and pre-configured, rack-scale systems rank higher than Cisco.

Cisco’s cooling technologies can provide thermal management capabilities of up to 250 kW per rack. DeepCoolAI, Vertiv, and Schneider Electric are notable cooling partners.

All in all, Cisco offers a comprehensive server portfolio that is interoperable with a wide range of hardware. Thanks to its computing legacy and strategic acquisitions, Cisco delivers the reliability needed for modern AI cluster deployments. However, if a customer seeks the most cutting-edge hardware, there are other vendors to choose from.

Get the Full AI Server OEM Rankings

ABI Research’s AI Server OEMs competitive ranking assesses eight vendor portfolios. Download this report today to determine the Go-to-Market (GTM) strategies, innovations, and strengths and weaknesses of the top market players. Get the full ranking today!