HPE ProLiant ML310e Gen8 v2 Drives
Genuine HPE hard drives and solid state drives for the HPE ProLiant ML310e Gen8 v2, new and refurbished, tested before shipping. Two things decide what will seat: the cage on the front of the tower — four 3.5-inch LFF bays or eight 2.5-inch SFF bays — and whether the LFF front end is the hot-plug version or the non-hot-plug one.
ML310e Gen8 v2 Drive Specifications
- LFF front end: four 3.5-inch SAS or SATA bays, built either non-hot-plug or hot-plug
- SFF front end: eight 2.5-inch SAS or SATA hot-plug bays, fitted instead of the LFF cage rather than alongside it
- Documented hard drive maximums: 16TB on four 4TB LFF drives, 9.6TB on eight 1.2TB SFF SAS, and 12TB on four 3TB non-hot-plug LFF SATA
- Documented solid state maximums: 6.4TB on eight 800GB SFF SATA SSDs, or 3.2TB on four 800GB LFF SATA SSDs
- Interface: 6G SAS and 6G SATA drives; the embedded B120i is SATA only, so SAS needs a standup Smart Array controller or host bus adapter
- Carriers and blanks: drives arrive in SmartDrive (SC) carriers matched to the bay size, with separate LFF and SFF blank kits for empty bays
The embedded controller reaches six drives, over SATA only. That is fine for a four-bay LFF tower running mirrored SATA. An eight-bay SFF machine has already outgrown it, and so has any SAS drive on this page — both assume a standup Smart Array controller or host bus adapter is already in slot 3 or slot 4.
Which drives fit your ML310e Gen8 v2 chassis?
| Front end | Bays | Drive size | Documented maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| LFF, non-hot-plug | 4 | 3.5-inch | 12TB on 3TB SATA, or 2.4TB on 600GB SAS |
| LFF, hot-plug | 4 | 3.5-inch | 16TB on 4TB SAS or SATA |
| SFF, hot-plug | 8 | 2.5-inch | 9.6TB on 1.2TB SAS, or 8TB on 1TB SATA |
Those ceilings come from the HPE QuickSpecs, which stop at 4TB per LFF drive; larger LFF capacities are listed on this page and go well past that figure. The more common trap is quieter: the embedded controller reaches six physical drives over SATA, so an eight-bay SFF tower and any SAS drive at all both depend on a standup card being fitted first.
Choosing the Right ML310e Gen8 v2 Drive
- Look at the front of the tower before anything else. A 2.5-inch drive will not seat in a 3.5-inch bay, and no adapter in the listing changes that — converting between the two front ends is a cage and backplane job.
- Check whether your LFF bays are hot-plug. HPE lists a backplane kit for moving a non-hot-plug LFF machine to hot-plug LFF.
- SAS is a controller decision, not a drive decision. The B120i handles SATA only, so every SAS drive here assumes a Smart Array or host bus adapter in slot 3 or slot 4.
- 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.
- Midline SATA for bulk, enterprise SAS for transactions. On a four-bay tower, capacity per bay matters more than spindle count.
Complete Your ML310e Gen8 v2 Build
The controller decides how many drives and which interface — read ML310e Gen8 v2 storage controllers before committing to an array. Also available: memory, networking adapters, power supplies and rack options, or the full ML310e Gen8 v2 parts listing and HPE parts by server model. Background reading: SAS vs SATA hard drives.
ML310e Gen8 v2 Drives FAQ
How many hard drives does an ML310e Gen8 v2 hold?
Four 3.5-inch LFF drives or eight 2.5-inch SFF drives, depending on the cage the server was built with. The two front ends are alternatives, not additions.
What is the maximum storage capacity of an ML310e Gen8 v2?
HPE documents 16TB on four 4TB LFF drives, 9.6TB on eight 1.2TB SFF SAS drives and 6.4TB on eight 800GB SFF SATA solid state drives.
Can I put SAS drives in this server?
Yes, but not on the embedded controller. The Dynamic Smart Array B120i is SATA only, so SAS drives require a standup Smart Array controller or a SAS host bus adapter.
What is the difference between the hot-plug and non-hot-plug LFF versions?
The backplane. The non-hot-plug LFF configuration cables drives directly and cannot swap them live; HPE lists a four-bay LFF hot-plug backplane kit for converting a non-hot-plug machine.
Can I convert an LFF server to eight SFF bays?
HPE lists a 4U eight-bay SFF hot-plug drive cage kit that includes the cage and the backplane and is designed to convert any LFF configuration to SFF. The eight-bay front end also needs a standup controller or host bus adapter.
Do I need drive blanks for empty bays?
Yes, for airflow. Separate large form factor and small form factor hard drive blank kits are listed for this server, and pre-configured machines shipped with some already installed.
✅ Looking for a specific ML310e Gen8 v2 drive? Browse our full selection below.
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