HPE ProLiant DL385 G7 Hard Drives
Genuine HPE hot-plug hard drives for the HPE ProLiant DL385 G7, new and refurbished, tested before shipping. The front of the chassis settles most of this page: the server ships with eight 2.5-inch SFF bays, reaches sixteen with a second SFF cage, or carries six 3.5-inch LFF bays in the large form factor build instead.
DL385 G7 Drive Specifications
- Standard bays: eight hot-plug small form factor (2.5-inch) SAS or SATA bays
- SFF maximum: sixteen bays with the optional second SFF drive cage — a build that also requires a second controller or the SAS Expander Card, and gives up the optical drive
- LFF option: a cage for six 3.5-inch SAS or SATA hot-plug bays, which replaces the SFF cage rather than joining it, and likewise has no optical drive
- Maximum internal capacity: 19.2TB on sixteen 1.2TB SFF SAS drives, or 24TB on six 4TB LFF SATA drives
- Solid state ceilings: 6.4TB on sixteen 400GB SFF SATA SSDs and 2.4TB on six LFF SATA SSDs, with 12.8TB documented for 800GB SAS SSDs
- Interface: 6Gb/s SAS and 3Gb/s SATA through the embedded Smart Array P410i or an add-in Smart Array card
Sixteen bays is not just a cage. The second eight-bay SFF cage needs a second controller or the SAS Expander Card behind it before bays 9 to 16 come up, and that build gives up the optical drive. Eight SFF bays is standard, six LFF bays replace the SFF front end, and an SFF drive will not seat in an LFF carrier.
Which Drives Fit Your DL385 G7 Chassis?
| Front end | Bays | Drive size | Maximum capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| SFF, as standard | 8 | 2.5-inch | 9.6TB on 1.2TB SAS |
| SFF, second cage fitted | 16 | 2.5-inch | 19.2TB on 1.2TB SAS |
| LFF cage | 6 | 3.5-inch | 24TB on 4TB SATA |
Check the front of the machine before ordering, because an SFF drive will not seat in an LFF carrier and no adapter makes it do so. The sixteen-bay row carries a condition the other two do not: HPE documents that build as needing a second controller or the SAS Expander Card, so the cage alone will not light up bays 9 to 16.
Choosing the Right DL385 G7 Hard Drive
- Confirm SFF or LFF first. It is the one mistake that cannot be worked around, and the front of the chassis answers it in a glance.
- Do not mix drive types inside one array. HPE states that installing both SAS and SATA drives, or a mixture of SSDs and traditional hard drives, in a single RAID volume is not supported.
- Match the whole storage path. 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.
- SAS for transactional work, midline SATA for bulk. Enterprise SAS carries the higher spindle speeds and duty cycle; midline SATA carries the capacity, which is how six LFF drives beat sixteen SFF drives on terabytes.
- The solid state drives listed for this server are SATA parts. They are earlier-generation capacities that suit boot and cache roles better than primary bulk storage.
Complete Your DL385 G7 Build
The controller decides the RAID levels, and on a sixteen-bay machine whether half the bays work at all — see DL385 G7 storage controllers before committing to a layout. Also available: DL385 G7 memory, processors, networking adapters and power supplies, or the full DL385 G7 parts listing. Background reading: SAS vs SATA hard drives, choosing the right spindle speed, and the HPE parts by server model index.
DL385 G7 Hard Drives FAQ
How many hard drives does a DL385 G7 hold?
Eight 2.5-inch SFF drives as standard, sixteen with the optional second SFF cage, or six 3.5-inch LFF drives with the large form factor cage fitted in place of the SFF one.
What do I need to run sixteen drives in a DL385 G7?
The second eight-bay SFF drive cage, plus either a second controller or the SAS Expander Card. HPE also notes that the sixteen-bay configuration does not support the optical drive.
Does the DL385 G7 use 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch drives?
Either, depending on how the server was built. The SFF and LFF front ends are alternatives to one another, not additions, and a drive for one will not seat in the other.
What is the maximum storage capacity of a DL385 G7?
19.2TB internally on sixteen 1.2TB SFF SAS drives, or 24TB on six 4TB LFF SATA drives. Solid state configurations are documented to 12.8TB on 800GB SAS SSDs.
Can I mix SAS and SATA drives in a DL385 G7?
Not within one RAID volume. HPE states that a mixture of SAS and SATA drives, or of SSDs and traditional hard drives, in a single RAID volume is not supported.
Do I need HPE drive carriers?
Yes. Drives fit the server in HPE hot-plug carriers matched to the bay size, and the carrier is part of the drive assembly rather than a separate accessory.
✅ Looking for a specific DL385 G7 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.
