HPE ProLiant DL380a Gen12 Drives

Genuine HPE hot-plug NVMe SSDs for the HPE ProLiant Compute DL380a Gen12, new and refurbished, tested before shipping. This platform is NVMe only — U.3 SFF or E3.S EDSFF — with no SAS or SATA drives and no hard drives, so the first decision is form factor, and the cage in your chassis has already made it.

DL380a Gen12 Drive Specifications

• Interface: NVMe PCIe SSDs only, in two form factors — U.3 SFF (Basic Carrier) at PCIe Gen4 and E3.S EDSFF (EC1) at PCIe Gen5
• Bays: one front drive bay for up to 8 SFF NVMe or 16 EDSFF drives; the 4SFF x4 U.3 NVMe cage is standard, cages cannot be mixed, and each form factor requires its own cage
• SFF U.3 drives listed: Read Intensive 1.92TB to 30.72TB, Mixed Use 1.6TB to 6.4TB, and Self-encrypting FIPS 140-3 CM7 drives from 1.6TB to 7.68TB
• E3.S EDSFF drives listed: Mixed Use 1.6TB to 12.8TB, Read Intensive 1.92TB to 30.72TB, and Very Read Optimized 30.72TB and 61.44TB self-encrypting drives
• Maximum internal storage: 122.88TB from 8 × 15.36TB SFF NVMe, or 245.76TB from 16 × 15.36TB E3.S, as HPE tables it
• Controllers: embedded Intel VROC NVMe RAID for up to 8 direct-attach bays (RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 by licence; off by default), or the MR416i-p, MR416i-o and MR932i-p tri-mode controllers
• Boot: HPE NS204i-u v2 480GB or 960GB hot-plug boot device (960GB also as SED) in the front chassis slot, with the NS204i-u Front Cage Kit, occupying no PCIe slot

The cage in your chassis has already chosen your drive form factor. HPE states that SFF U.3 drives can be selected with the 4SFF cage only, EDSFF E3.S drives with the 4EDSFF cage only, and that the two cages cannot be mixed in one server. This is an NVMe-only platform — there are no SAS or SATA drives and no hard drives — so confirm U.3 or E3.S before comparing capacities.

SFF U.3 or E3.S EDSFF?

Read the cage row before the capacity rows. HPE notes that EDSFF drives can be selected with the 4EDSFF cage only, SFF drives with the 4SFF cage only, and that the two cannot be mixed — so the form factor of your existing cage is the form factor of every drive you add. One wrinkle: the 4EDSFF Direct Attach Cable for NVIDIA that unlocks rear PCIe slot 1 cannot be used with SFF NVMe drives.

Choosing the Right DL380a Gen12 Drive

• Confirm the cage, then the cable. Each cage arrangement pairs with its own direct-attach cable kit — 4NVMe, 4EDSFF, 8NVMe front or rear, 16EDSFF x2 — listed with their rules on the parts page.
• Match endurance to the write load. Read Intensive carries the capacity, Mixed Use the endurance; the 30.72TB and 61.44TB Very Read Optimized E3.S drives are for data written once and read constantly.
• Self-encrypting has two flavours. SFF: FIPS 140-3 CM7 drives from 1.6TB to 7.68TB. EDSFF: self-encrypting 7600-series drives and FIPS 140-3 CM7 parts at 6.4TB, 7.68TB and 15.36TB.
• Decide RAID before buying. Intel VROC reaches up to 8 direct-attach bays but is off by default and licensed; the tri-mode controllers come in pairs with an energy pack. A 16-drive EDSFF build is beyond VROC's eight bays.
• Boot from the NS204i-u v2, not a data bay. It has its own front cage and leaves every data bay and PCIe slot free.
• Multi Vendor and named-controller drives are both genuine HPE. CM7, CM9, PM1743, PM1753, PS1010, PE1030, 7600 and 9550 drives sit alongside HPE Multi Vendor parts at matching capacities.

Complete Your DL380a Gen12 Build

RAID and cabling decide what the bays can do — see DL380a Gen12 storage controllers. Also available: DL380a Gen12 memory, processors, networking adapters and power supplies, or the full DL380a Gen12 parts listing. The two-socket sibling is DL380 Gen12 drives; across the store see HPE EDSFF NVMe SSDs, HPE U.3 SSDs and all HPE server SSDs. Background reading: HPE EDSFF E3.S SSDs, U.2 vs U.3 SSDs, DWPD explained, HPE Multi Vendor SSDs and the HPE parts by server model index.

DL380a Gen12 Drives FAQ

Does the DL380a Gen12 support SAS or SATA drives?
No. HPE states that the DL380a Gen12 supports only NVMe SSDs, in U.3 SFF and E3.S EDSFF form factors. There are no SAS or SATA SSDs and no hard drives listed for this server.

How many drives does the DL380a Gen12 hold?
Up to 8 SFF NVMe drives or up to 16 E3.S EDSFF drives in the single front drive bay, depending on which cage the chassis was built with. The 4SFF x4 U.3 NVMe cage is the standard fit.

What is the largest drive for the DL380a Gen12?
61.44TB, an E3.S EDSFF Very Read Optimized self-encrypting SSD. The largest SFF U.3 drive listed is 30.72TB. HPE's maximum internal storage table gives 122.88TB for 8 SFF drives and 245.76TB for 16 E3.S drives, both using 15.36TB modules.

Can I mix SFF and EDSFF drives in a DL380a Gen12?
No. HPE states that mixing of drive cages is not allowed, that EDSFF drives can be selected with the 4EDSFF cage only, and that SFF drives can be selected with the 4SFF cage only. The cage fitted decides the form factor for the whole server.

Do I need a RAID controller for DL380a Gen12 drives?
Not necessarily. Intel VROC on the CPU provides RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 for up to 8 direct-attach NVMe bays, though it is off by default and requires licensing. The MR416i-p, MR416i-o and MR932i-p tri-mode controllers are the hardware alternative, installed in pairs.

What boot drive does the DL380a Gen12 use?
The HPE NS204i-u v2 NVMe hot-plug boot optimized storage device, in 480GB or 960GB, with a 960GB self-encrypting version. It fits the front chassis slot with the NS204i-u Front Cage Kit and does not occupy a PCIe slot.

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