On this page
Which HDDs, SSDs, and NVMe drives fit your HPE ProLiant Gen11 server — including the DL360, DL380, and ML350 — plus the Basic Carrier, Low Profile Carrier, U.3, and EDSFF details that actually decide compatibility.
Last updated: 2026
HPE launched the ProLiant Gen11 family in late 2022 on 4th and 5th Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, with PCIe Gen5, DDR5 memory, and iLO 6. The storage subsystem changed meaningfully from Gen10, so a drive that served you well in an older server will not necessarily drop into a Gen11 chassis. This guide covers exactly what fits a Gen11 server, the handful of rules that apply across the whole generation, and the specific drive bay layouts of the three most popular models: the DL360 Gen11, DL380 Gen11, and ML350 Gen11.
Note: Everything here applies to Gen11 HDDs and SSDs alike, across SATA, SAS, and NVMe. Where a rule is specific to one form factor or interface, we call it out.
Start here: the five Gen11 essentials
Before looking at any individual model, five things are true of every ProLiant Gen11 server. Get these right and you've solved most of the compatibility puzzle.
1. Carrier: Basic Carrier for SFF, Low Profile Carrier for LFF
The drive carrier (the tray the drive is mounted in) is the number-one cause of Gen11 buying mistakes. Gen11 uses two carriers depending on form factor: 2.5" SFF drives use the Basic Carrier (BC), and 3.5" LFF drives use the Low Profile Carrier (LP). Neither is the same as the Smart Carrier (SC) used on Gen8 through Gen10, so older SC drives will not seat in a Gen11 server even when the capacity and interface match. When you shop, match the carrier code in the product title (BC or LP) to your server, not just the capacity.
2. Form factors: SFF, LFF, and EDSFF
Gen11 servers accept up to three physical drive formats: SFF (2.5") for HDDs and SSDs, LFF (3.5") for high-capacity HDDs, and EDSFF E3.S, a slim high-density format used exclusively for NVMe SSDs on PCIe Gen5. EDSFF requires a dedicated EDSFF drive cage, and it is not interchangeable with SFF or LFF bays. Which formats a given server supports depends on the chassis you ordered — see the per-model breakdowns below.
3. Interfaces: SATA, SAS (up to 24G), and NVMe
Gen11 supports SATA (6 Gb/s) for cost-effective bulk storage, SAS at both 12 Gb/s and 24 Gb/s (SAS4) for performance and enterprise resilience, and NVMe for the lowest latency. NVMe itself comes in two physical shapes on Gen11: 2.5" U.3 SSDs (in a Basic Carrier) and EDSFF E3.S drives.
4. Tri-mode U.3 backplanes: one bay, three interfaces
Most Gen11 SFF backplanes are tri-mode (U.3), meaning a single 2.5" bay can accept a SAS, SATA, or U.3 NVMe drive. This gives you real flexibility to mix drive types as needs change — but the drive still has to arrive in the correct Gen11 carrier, so tri-mode does not change the carrier rule above.
5. Boot drives are separate: the NS204i-u M.2 device
Across the Gen11 line, HPE separates the operating-system boot drive from your data drives using the NS204i-u Boot Optimized Storage Device — two hot-plug M.2 NVMe drives pre-configured in a mirrored RAID 1. Using it keeps your hot-plug front bays free for data, so factor it in when planning capacity.
The one warning to remember: Smart Carrier (SC) drives from Gen8/Gen9/Gen10 do not fit Gen11 servers, and Gen11 Basic Carrier / Low Profile Carrier drives do not fit Gen8/Gen9. Always confirm the carrier before you buy.
Gen11 drive support at a glance: DL360 vs DL380 vs ML350
| ProLiant Gen11 server | Chassis | SFF (2.5") | LFF (3.5") | EDSFF E3.S (NVMe) | Typical best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL360 Gen11 | 1U rack | 8 (up to 10) | up to 4 | up to 20 | Dense 1U compute, virtualization, edge |
| DL380 Gen11 | 2U rack | 8 up to 24 (30 with rear) | 8 or 12 (up to 16 with rear) | up to 36 | Versatile 2U workhorse for mixed workloads |
| ML350 Gen11 | 4U tower (rackable) | 8 up to 24 | 4 up to 12 | up to 12 | Office/edge tower; storage + GPU flexibility |
Bay counts reflect the maximum supported front (and where noted, rear) hot-plug drives across HPE's chassis options; your actual count depends on the drive cages your server was configured with. All three share the same carriers (BC for SFF, LP for LFF), the same interfaces (SATA / SAS / NVMe), and the same NS204i-u boot option — so once you know the form factor, the drives themselves are largely common across these models.
HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 (1U rack)
The DL360 Gen11 is HPE's compact 1U dual-socket server, built for density. A standard chassis holds 8 SFF drives (expandable to 10 with a rear/Universal Media Bay cage) or 4 LFF drives, and an EDSFF chassis can carry up to 20 E3.S NVMe SSDs for very high flash density in 1U. SFF bays are tri-mode U.3, so each accepts SAS, SATA, or U.3 NVMe; note that 3.5" LFF SSDs in this model ship in the Low Profile Carrier. It's an excellent fit for virtualization, VDI, content delivery, and edge deployments where rack space is tight. Browse compatible options on our HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 drives page.
HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen11 (2U rack)
The DL380 Gen11 is the versatile 2U workhorse and the most storage-flexible of the three. Depending on chassis, it scales to 24 SFF front drives (up to 30 with rear bays), 12 LFF front drives (up to 16 with a rear cage), or an EDSFF chassis supporting up to 36 E3.S NVMe SSDs. It supports tri-mode U.3 backplanes, 24G SAS, direct-attach NVMe, and Intel VROC for NVMe RAID, making it the natural choice when a single platform has to handle mixed HDD, SSD, and NVMe workloads. See current drives on our HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen11 drives page, where you can filter by SFF/LFF, capacity, speed, and interface.
HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen11 (4U tower)
The ML350 Gen11 is a 4U tower (with an optional tower-to-rack conversion) aimed at offices, branch sites, and growing businesses that want server-grade storage without a data center. It supports 4 to 12 LFF (3.5") drives or 8 to 24 SFF (2.5") drives, and an SFF configuration can take an EDSFF cage for up to 12 E3.S NVMe SSDs. A particularly useful trait is that it can run mixed LFF and SFF drive cages in a single chassis, and it pairs storage flexibility with strong GPU capacity. Find the right drives on our HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen11 drives page.
Choosing the right drive type for your workload
Once you've matched form factor and carrier, the remaining decision is drive type, and it comes down to the balance of capacity, performance, and cost:
SATA HDDs and SSDs are the most economical option for backups, archives, file storage, and general-purpose workloads where raw speed isn't the priority. SAS (12G or 24G) steps up performance and reliability for databases and busier virtualized environments. NVMe — whether 2.5" U.3 or EDSFF E3.S — delivers the lowest latency and highest throughput for demanding databases, analytics, AI/ML, and high-transaction workloads. A common, cost-effective pattern is to mix: NVMe or SAS SSDs for hot, performance-sensitive data, and high-capacity LFF SATA HDDs for bulk storage in the same server.
On capacity, Gen11 drives scale a long way: high-capacity LFF SATA/SAS HDDs reach into the tens of terabytes each, and EDSFF NVMe SSDs are available at very large per-drive capacities, so a single well-configured Gen11 server can hold a great deal of storage.
Buy genuine HPE drives
Third-party drives may physically fit a Gen11 bay, but HPE drives carry firmware that the server and HPE iLO 6 use to authenticate the drive and report detailed health, wear, and predictive-failure data. A non-HPE drive can lose that monitoring, raise "unsupported drive" warnings, or behave unpredictably in an array. For production Gen11 systems, genuine HPE Enterprise drives are the safe choice — and that's all we sell.
Where to buy HPE Gen11 drives
The fastest path is to start from your exact server model, then filter by form factor, capacity, speed, and interface:
- HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 drives (1U rack)
- HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen11 drives (2U rack)
- HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen11 drives (4U tower)
Prefer to shop by drive type? These category pages cover the formats Gen11 servers use:
- 2.5" SFF SAS and SATA HDDs & SSDs in the Basic Carrier — SAS BC drives and SATA BC drives
- 3.5" LFF SAS and SATA HDDs in the Low Profile Carrier (LP)
- 2.5" U.3 NVMe SSDs (tri-mode SFF bays)
- EDSFF E3.S NVMe SSDs
- M.2 NVMe SSDs for NS204i-u boot
Not sure which chassis or carrier you have? Contact us with your server's model or serial number and we'll confirm the right drive before you order.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my old Gen10 (Smart Carrier) drives in a Gen11 server?
No. Gen8, Gen9, and Gen10 drives use the Smart Carrier (SC), which does not fit Gen11 servers. Gen11 uses the Basic Carrier (BC) for 2.5" SFF drives and the Low Profile Carrier (LP) for 3.5" LFF drives.
What drive carrier do HPE Gen11 servers use?
Two, by form factor: 2.5" SFF HDDs and SSDs use the Basic Carrier (BC), and 3.5" LFF HDDs use the Low Profile Carrier (LP). EDSFF NVMe SSDs use their own E3.S carrier in a dedicated EDSFF cage.
Do Gen11 servers support NVMe? What's the difference between U.3 and EDSFF?
Yes. Gen11 supports NVMe in two physical forms: 2.5" U.3 SSDs, which install in a Basic Carrier and share tri-mode SFF bays with SAS/SATA, and EDSFF E3.S, a slim high-density format for PCIe Gen5 NVMe that needs a dedicated EDSFF drive cage. U.3 is the flexible mainstream choice; EDSFF is for maximum flash density and performance.
What is a tri-mode (U.3) backplane?
It's a backplane whose 2.5" bays can each accept a SAS, SATA, or U.3 NVMe drive. It lets you mix drive types in the same bays as your needs change, though every drive still has to be in the correct Gen11 carrier.
Do the DL360, DL380, and ML350 Gen11 use the same drives?
Largely yes. All three use the same carriers (BC for SFF, LP for LFF), the same SATA/SAS/NVMe interfaces, and the same NS204i-u boot device. They differ mainly in how many drives and which form factors each chassis holds — the DL360 is the densest 1U, the DL380 the most flexible 2U, and the ML350 a high-capacity tower that can mix LFF and SFF.
How do I boot a Gen11 server without using a data bay?
Use the HPE NS204i-u Boot Optimized Storage Device, which holds two hot-plug M.2 NVMe drives in a mirrored RAID 1 and keeps your front hot-plug bays free for data.
How do I confirm exactly which drives fit my server?
Start from your model's drive page (DL360, DL380, or ML350 Gen11 above) and filter by form factor and interface, or send us your server's model or serial number and we'll verify compatibility for you.
Have a Gen11 configuration question we didn't cover? Reach out to our team — we'll help you match the right HPE drives to your exact server.
Authoritative references: HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen11 QuickSpecs, the HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen11 Server User Guide, and the HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 Server User Guide.
