HPE ProLiant ML30 Gen11 Drives
Genuine HPE hard drives and solid state drives for the HPE ProLiant ML30 Gen11, new and refurbished, tested before shipping. HPE builds this tower three ways — four LFF non-hot-plug bays, four LFF hot-plug bays or eight SFF hot-plug bays — and the front of your chassis decides which carrier will seat before any other specification matters.
ML30 Gen11 Drive Specifications
- Chassis builds: four LFF non-hot-plug bays taking SATA only, four LFF hot-plug bays or eight SFF hot-plug bays taking SAS, SATA or SSD
- Carriers: Basic Carrier (BC) on 2.5-inch drives, Low Profile (LP) on hot-plug 3.5-inch drives, and Raw (RW) drives on the non-hot-plug chassis
- Hard drives: 12G SAS Mission Critical 10K SFF drives from 300GB to 2.4TB, and Business Critical 7.2K LFF drives from 1TB to 20TB in 12G SAS or 6G SATA
- Solid state drives: Read Intensive and Mixed Use 6G SATA and 12G Value SAS in SFF Basic Carriers, a 24G SAS Read Intensive SFF SSD, a 960GB Read Intensive LFF SSD, and an M.2 NVMe Gen4 module
- Maximum hard drive capacity: 80TB on four 20TB LFF SAS or SATA drives, 19.2TB on eight 2.4TB SFF SAS, and 16TB on four 4TB SATA in the non-hot-plug chassis
- Maximum solid state capacity: 122.88TB on eight 15.36TB SFF SAS SSDs, 61.44TB on eight 7.68TB SFF SATA SSDs, or 3.84TB on four 960GB LFF SATA SSDs
The chassis on the front of the tower is the whole decision. Four LFF non-hot-plug bays, four LFF hot-plug bays or eight SFF hot-plug bays, and the carriers are not interchangeable between them. The non-hot-plug build is the one to watch: HPE lists it as SATA only and supports neither the tri-mode controllers nor the E208e-p on it, so a SAS array there means a different chassis rather than a different card.
Which drives fit your ML30 Gen11 chassis?
| Chassis | Bays | Drive types | Maximum hard drive capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 LFF non-hot-plug | 4 | 3.5-inch SATA, Raw carriers | 16TB on 4TB SATA |
| 4 LFF hot-plug | 4 | 3.5-inch SAS, SATA or SSD, LP carriers | 80TB on 20TB SAS or SATA |
| 8 SFF hot-plug | 8 | 2.5-inch SAS, SATA or SSD, BC carriers | 19.2TB on 2.4TB SAS |
The four LFF hot-plug bays hold the most terabytes and the eight SFF bays hold the most spindles, which is the usual trade. The build that needs watching is the non-hot-plug chassis: HPE lists it as SATA only and supports neither the E208e-p nor the tri-mode controllers on it, so a SAS array there is not a card away — it is a different chassis.
Choosing the Right ML30 Gen11 Drive
- Confirm the chassis before the drive. A Low Profile LFF carrier will not seat in an SFF bay, and a Raw non-hot-plug drive ships without the carrier a hot-plug bay expects.
- SAS needs a plug-in controller. The embedded Intel VROC RAID is SATA only, so every SAS drive on this platform assumes one of the MR Gen11 tri-mode cards is fitted.
- Check 512e against your array. HPE marks the 1.8TB and 2.4TB SFF drives and most LFF drives from 6TB up as 512e, and an existing 512n array will not take them as like-for-like replacements.
- Match endurance to the workload. Read Intensive SSDs suit boot volumes and read-heavy data; Mixed Use parts carry the higher endurance for write-heavy work, and both are offered at 480GB, 960GB and above.
- Boot storage is separate from the bays. The M.2 PCIe 3.0 x2 NVMe slot sits on the iLO/NIC/M.2/COM Port Kit module, and the NS204i-u Gen11 boot device brings its own pair of 480GB NVMe SSDs in RAID 1 — but it cannot be fitted alongside an optical drive.
Complete Your ML30 Gen11 Build
What the array can do is set by the card in front of it — see ML30 Gen11 storage controllers before committing to SAS. Also available: ML30 Gen11 memory, processors, networking and power supplies, or the full ML30 Gen11 parts listing. Background reading: the Gen11 drive compatibility guide, SAS vs SATA hard drives and what 512e drives are. Other models are listed under HPE parts by server model.
ML30 Gen11 Drives FAQ
How many drives does an ML30 Gen11 hold?
Four or eight. HPE builds the chassis three ways: four LFF non-hot-plug bays, four LFF hot-plug bays, or eight SFF hot-plug bays. The bay count and the carrier type are both fixed by the chassis you own.
What is the maximum storage capacity of an ML30 Gen11?
80TB on four 20TB LFF SAS or SATA hard drives, or 19.2TB on eight 2.4TB SFF SAS drives. The documented solid state ceiling is 122.88TB, on eight 15.36TB SFF SAS SSDs.
Can I put SAS drives in an ML30 Gen11?
In the hot-plug chassis, yes, with a plug-in controller fitted. The embedded Intel VROC RAID handles SATA only, and the four-bay non-hot-plug chassis is listed as SATA and does not support the internal tri-mode controllers.
Do ML30 Gen11 drives need HPE carriers?
Yes, and the carrier type follows the chassis. Hot-plug 2.5-inch drives use Basic Carriers, hot-plug 3.5-inch drives use Low Profile carriers, and the non-hot-plug chassis takes Raw drives with no hot-plug carrier.
Can I boot an ML30 Gen11 from an M.2 SSD?
Yes. There is one M.2 PCIe 3.0 x2 NVMe slot, on the iLO/NIC/M.2/COM Port Kit module. The alternative is the NS204i-u Gen11 boot device, with two 480GB NVMe SSDs in hardware RAID 1.
What does 512e mean on these drives?
It is the sector format: 4K physical sectors presented as 512-byte sectors. HPE marks most larger LFF drives and the 1.8TB and 2.4TB SFF drives as 512e, and mixing formats in one array is not supported.
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