HPE ProLiant DL120 G7 Hard Drives
Genuine HPE hard drives for the HPE ProLiant DL120 G7, new and refurbished, tested before shipping. Two things decide what will work: this server holds four 3.5-inch LFF drives on the standard chassis, and its embedded Smart Array B110i is SATA only — a SAS drive needs a controller card before it needs a bay.
DL120 G7 Drive Specifications
- Standard bays: up to four pluggable 3.5-inch LFF SAS or SATA drives — cold plug on the entry and base models, hot plug on the performance model
- SFF option: an eight-bay hot-plug 2.5-inch SFF configure-to-order chassis, which HPE notes requires a Smart Array P410 controller purchased separately to support the eight drives
- Maximum internal capacity: 8.0TB on four 2TB LFF SAS drives, or 16.0TB on four 4TB LFF SATA drives
- Interface: the embedded B110i runs SATA at 3Gb/s; HPE notes that SAS requires an optional host bus adapter or Smart Array card
- Hot plug on the embedded controller: a licensed feature — HPE documents the Smart Array Hot Plug Advance Pack for B110i as required for a hot-plug system on the B110i models
- Shipped standard: one 250GB 3.5-inch SATA drive on the entry and base models; the performance model shipped no drive at all
The embedded controller does not speak SAS. The Smart Array B110i is SATA only at 3Gb/s, and HPE notes that SAS on this server requires an optional host bus adapter or Smart Array card. Budget for the card as well as the drive, and check whether your bays are the cold-plug or the hot-plug kind before ordering either.
Which drives will your DL120 G7 actually take?
| Front end | Bays | Drive size | Documented maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| LFF chassis, SATA | 4 | 3.5-inch | 16.0TB on four 4TB SATA |
| LFF chassis, SAS | 4 | 3.5-inch | 8.0TB on four 2TB SAS |
| 8 SFF configure-to-order chassis | 8 | 2.5-inch | HPE publishes no SFF ceiling for this server |
SATA reaches double the SAS capacity on this platform, which is the reverse of the usual assumption: HPE's largest LFF SAS drive here is 2TB against 4TB in midline SATA. The eight-bay SFF front end is a different chassis rather than a cage you retrofit, so count the bays on the machine in front of you — a 2.5-inch drive will not seat in a 3.5-inch bay, and no adapter makes it do so.
Choosing the Right DL120 G7 Hard Drive
- If you want SAS, budget for a card. The embedded B110i does SATA only, so a SAS drive means a Smart Array or host bus adapter in one of the two PCIe slots as well as the drive itself.
- Check whether your bays are cold plug or hot plug. Entry and base models are pluggable cold plug; the performance model is hot plug, and HPE documents a licence, the Hot Plug Advance Pack for B110i, as required for a hot-plug system on the embedded controller.
- Match the whole storage path. HPE notes that the drive, the controller, the firmware and the backplane should run at the same transfer rate, or the system negotiates down to the slowest of them — a 6G SAS drive behind a 3G SATA controller is a 3G path.
- Enterprise SAS for spindle speed, midline SATA for bulk. The enterprise drives here run 10K and 15K rpm; the midline drives run 7.2K rpm and carry the capacity.
Complete Your DL120 G7 Build
On this server the controller decides more than the RAID level — it decides whether a SAS drive is visible at all, so read DL120 G7 storage controllers before ordering. Also available: DL120 G7 memory, networking adapters, power supplies and rack options, or the full DL120 G7 parts listing. Background reading: SAS vs SATA hard drives and choosing the right spindle speed. Other models are listed under HPE parts by server model.
DL120 G7 Hard Drives FAQ
How many hard drives does a DL120 G7 hold?
Four 3.5-inch LFF drives on the standard chassis. HPE also documented an eight-bay 2.5-inch SFF configure-to-order chassis, which it notes requires a Smart Array P410 controller bought separately.
Can I put SAS drives in a DL120 G7?
Yes, but not on the embedded controller. The Smart Array B110i is SATA only at 3Gb/s, and HPE notes that SAS requires an optional host bus adapter or Smart Array card.
What is the maximum storage capacity of a DL120 G7?
16.0TB on four 4TB LFF SATA drives, or 8.0TB on four 2TB LFF SAS drives. HPE does not publish a maximum for the eight-bay SFF configuration of this server.
Are DL120 G7 drives hot-plug?
It depends on the model. The entry and base models take pluggable cold-plug drives and the performance model is hot plug. HPE documents the Smart Array Hot Plug Advance Pack for B110i as required for a hot-plug system on the B110i models.
Which drive shipped with a DL120 G7 as standard?
One 250GB 3.5-inch SATA drive on the entry and base models. The performance model shipped no hard drive at all, so those machines were built around whatever the buyer specified.
Will a 6G SAS drive run at full speed in this server?
Only if the rest of the path does. HPE notes that the drive, controller, firmware and backplane negotiate down to a rate all of them accept, and the embedded controller on this server is a 3Gb/s SATA part.
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