HPE ProLiant DL120 Gen9 Drives
Genuine HPE hot-plug and non-hot-plug drives for the HPE ProLiant DL120 Gen9, new and refurbished, tested before shipping. Two things decide what will work. The chassis was built as eight SFF bays or four LFF bays, and the two front ends are not interchangeable — and on entry models the embedded B140i controller is SATA only, so a SAS drive needs a controller before it needs a bay.
DL120 Gen9 Drive Specifications
- Bays: eight hot-plug 2.5-inch SFF, four hot-plug 3.5-inch LFF, or four non-hot-plug 3.5-inch LFF, with an optical drive bay alongside in every case
- Interface: 12G SAS and 6G SATA hard drives and solid state drives, in re-designed Gen9 SFF and LFF hot-plug SmartDrive carriers
- Maximum hard drive capacity: 16.0TB on eight 2TB SFF drives, SAS or SATA; 40.0TB on four 10TB LFF drives, SAS or SATA
- Maximum solid state capacity: 30.72TB on eight 3.84TB SFF SSDs, SAS or SATA, or 15.36TB on four 3.84TB LFF SATA SSDs
- Controller limits: the embedded B140i handles up to 8 SATA drives and no SAS at all; the H240 Smart Host Bus Adapter handles up to 8 SAS or SATA drives
- Shipped configuration: no hard drives ship standard, and pre-configured models arrive with blanks in the empty bays
Check the controller before the bay. On entry models the embedded Dynamic Smart Array B140i is SATA only, so a SAS drive will not be seen at all until an H240 Smart HBA or a Smart Array P440 is in the server. The bays answer the other half: eight SFF to 16.0TB, or four LFF to 40.0TB.
Which Drives Fit Your DL120 Gen9?
| Front end | Bays | Drive size | Maximum capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8SFF hot plug | 8 | 2.5-inch | 16.0TB on 2TB drives; 30.72TB on 3.84TB SSDs |
| 4LFF hot plug | 4 | 3.5-inch | 40.0TB on 10TB drives; 15.36TB on 3.84TB SATA SSDs |
| 4LFF non-hot plug | 4 | 3.5-inch | Midline SATA, cabled to the embedded controller |
Four large drives beat eight small ones on bulk capacity here by a factor of two and a half, and lose to them on spindle count and on solid state ceiling — which is the whole trade on a 1U entry server. Count the bays on the front of the machine before ordering, because a 2.5-inch drive will not seat in a 3.5-inch bay and no adapter makes it do so. If the bays are not hot-plug, that is a third chassis again, and the drives that suit it are midline SATA.
Choosing the Right DL120 Gen9 Drive
- Confirm SAS or SATA against the controller, not the bay. An entry DL120 Gen9 on the embedded B140i will not see a SAS drive at all; that machine needs an H240 or a Smart Array card first.
- Match the whole storage path. HPE notes that the drive, the controller, the firmware and the backplane should all run at the same transfer rate, or the system negotiates down to the slowest of them.
- Enterprise SAS for transactional work, midline for bulk. The 10K and 15K enterprise drives carry the duty cycle; the 7.2K midline drives carry the terabytes per pound.
- Solid state is where this chassis gains the most. Eight 3.84TB SFF SSDs reach 30.72TB against 16.0TB on spinning SFF drives, which is the one case where the small front end wins on capacity too.
- Buy the carrier with the drive. Gen9 SmartDrive carriers are part of the drive assembly, and blank kits are listed separately for the bays you leave empty.
Complete Your DL120 Gen9 Build
The controller decides whether a SAS drive is visible at all — read DL120 Gen9 storage controllers before ordering an array. Also available: DL120 Gen9 memory, networking adapters, power supplies and processors, or the full DL120 Gen9 parts listing. Background reading: SAS vs SATA hard drives and how to choose the right HPE SSD. Other models are listed under HPE parts by server model.
DL120 Gen9 Drives FAQ
How many drives does a DL120 Gen9 hold?
Eight 2.5-inch SFF drives or four 3.5-inch LFF drives, depending on which chassis the server was built as. There is also a non-hot-plug 4LFF configure-to-order chassis.
What is the maximum internal storage of a DL120 Gen9?
40.0TB, using four 10TB LFF drives. The SFF chassis reaches 16.0TB on eight 2TB drives, or 30.72TB on eight 3.84TB solid state drives.
Can I put SAS drives in a DL120 Gen9?
Yes, but only with the right controller. The embedded B140i is SATA only, so a SAS drive needs an H240 Smart HBA or a Smart Array P440 in the server.
Can I fit 2.5-inch drives in the LFF chassis?
Not directly into a 3.5-inch bay. HPE lists SFF enterprise drives in LFF converter carriers for that purpose, which is a different part number from the plain SFF drive.
Do DL120 Gen9 drives come with carriers?
Yes. Gen9 SFF and LFF hot-plug SmartDrive carriers are part of the drive assembly, and they carry status, activity and Do Not Remove indicators.
Will a 12G 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 should all run at the same transfer rate, or the bandwidth is negotiated down to the slowest of them.
✅ Looking for a specific DL120 Gen9 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.
