HPE ProLiant BL660c Gen8 Drives
Genuine HPE hot-plug drives for the HPE ProLiant BL660c Gen8, new and refurbished, tested before shipping. Four sockets and 32 DIMM slots buy no extra storage: the blade has two small form factor bays, they take the SmartDrive (SC) carrier only, and HPE drives from previous generation servers are not compatible with them.
BL660c Gen8 Drive Specifications
- Bays: two hot-plug small form factor (2.5-inch) bays, each taking a SAS, SATA or solid state drive, both served by the embedded Smart Array P220i
- Carrier: the SmartDrive (SC) hot-plug carrier introduced with Gen8; drives from previous generation servers will not seat
- Largest drives documented: 1.2TB 6G SAS 10K enterprise, 1TB SAS or SATA 7.2K midline, and 800GB solid state — 2.4TB, 2.0TB and 1.6TB respectively across both bays
- Interface: a 6G SAS drive interface on the P220i; 12G SAS High Endurance solid state drives are also listed as supported
- Formats stocked: enterprise SAS 10K and 15K SmartDrive families including 512e parts, 6G SAS and SATA 7.2K midline drives at 500GB and 1TB, and solid state drives from 100GB to 800GB
- RAID: RAID 0 and RAID 1 only, across up to 64 logical drives with the 512MB cache fitted
Four sockets, two drive bays. Scale-up on this blade is cores and memory, not storage: two SFF SmartDrive (SC) bays, RAID 0 or RAID 1 on the embedded Smart Array P220i, and 2.4TB at most on two 1.2TB SAS drives. Drives from previous generation servers will not seat in them.
What Fits in the Two BL660c Gen8 Drive Bays?
| Drive family | Maximum across both bays | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| SAS enterprise, 10K and 15K rpm | 2.4TB on 2 × 1.2TB | A mirrored boot pair |
| SAS and SATA midline, 7.2K rpm | 2.0TB on 2 × 1TB | Local capacity where spindle count no longer matters |
| SAS and SATA solid state | 1.6TB on 2 × 800GB | Latency-sensitive local storage under a hypervisor |
Two bays makes this a short decision: a RAID 1 mirror, which leaves one drive's worth of usable space, or two independent volumes with no redundancy. There is no middle ground, because the P220i supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 and nothing else. A blade of this size is not meant to hold its data locally — HPE lists up to two expansion blades per BL660c Gen8, and up to eight D2200sb storage blades in the enclosure.
Choosing the Right BL660c Gen8 Drive
- The carrier decides whether a drive will seat. SmartDrive (SC) parts fit; the older SFF carriers from G6 and G7 blades do not, and no adapter bridges them.
- Mixing SAS drives with SAS SSDs costs you RAID 1. HPE supports the combination but limits it to two separate RAID 0 volumes; mixing other drive types is not supported.
- Buy the pair, not the drive. In a two-bay mirror, matched capacity, spindle speed and sector format are the difference between a clean rebuild and a degraded array.
- Size the bays for boot, not for data. With a 1.0TB memory ceiling behind them, 2.4TB of local disk is boot and scratch space; the working set belongs on a storage blade or a SAN.
Complete Your BL660c Gen8 Build
The bays are wired to the embedded Smart Array P220i, so the cards on the BL660c Gen8 storage controllers page serve storage outside the blade rather than inside it. Also available: BL660c Gen8 memory, networking adapters and processors, or the full BL660c Gen8 parts listing, which also carries the D2200sb storage blade. The half-height blade of this generation takes the same carrier: BL460c Gen8 drives. Background reading: SAS vs SATA hard drives, why HPE moved on from Smart carriers and the HPE parts by server model index.
BL660c Gen8 Drives FAQ
How many drives does a BL660c Gen8 hold?
Two, each taking a SAS, SATA or solid state drive, and both are served by the embedded Smart Array P220i.
What is the maximum internal storage of a BL660c Gen8?
2.4TB on two 1.2TB 6G SAS 10K drives, the largest HPE documents for these bays. Midline configurations reach 2.0TB on two 1TB drives, and solid state 1.6TB on two 800GB drives.
Will drives from an older blade work in a BL660c Gen8?
No. The BL660c Gen8 uses the SmartDrive (SC) hot-plug carrier, and HPE states that drives from previous generation servers are not compatible with its drive bays.
Does the BL660c Gen8 support RAID 5?
No. The embedded Smart Array P220i supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 only, which is all two drive bays can use anyway.
Can I mix a hard drive and an SSD in a BL660c Gen8?
Standard SAS drives can be mixed with SAS SSDs, but doing so limits the blade to two separate RAID 0 volumes rather than a mirror. Mixing other drive types is not supported.
How do I get more than two drives' worth of storage on this blade?
Through the enclosure. HPE documents up to two expansion blades per BL660c Gen8 - storage, tape or PCI expansion blades - and up to eight D2200sb storage blades in the enclosure for as many as 96 drives, plus SAN attachment through a Fibre Channel mezzanine card.
✅ Looking for a specific BL660c Gen8 drive? Browse our full selection below.
Browse all models
Why Global One?
- Trusted by thousands. Over 36,000 customers in 100+ countries trust Global One Technology to deliver mission-critical HP Enterprise hardware - including Fortune 500 businesses, schools, hospitals, and federal, state, and local goverment agencies.
- HPE is our specialty! We only sell genuine HP Enterprise parts.
- EASY ordering process. Purchase online now with credit card or PayPal!
- FAST shipping. Global One Technology ships orders received by 4pm ET the same day and offers NEXT DAY delivery to US customers.
