HPE ProLiant ML350p Gen8 Drives
Genuine HPE hot-plug hard drives and solid state drives for the HPE ProLiant ML350p Gen8, new and refurbished, tested before shipping. This tower is built around cages rather than a fixed backplane: it ships with one cage of eight SFF or six LFF bays and grows to three cages for 24 SFF or 18 LFF — but SFF and LFF cages cannot be mixed in one server.
ML350p Gen8 Drive Specifications
- Standard cage: eight hot-plug small form factor (2.5-inch) bays or six hot-plug large form factor (3.5-inch) bays, SAS or SATA
- Maximum bays: 24 SFF or 18 LFF, with a second cage and a third in the half-height media bays that would otherwise hold optical or tape
- Cage rule: mixing SFF and LFF cages is not allowed, and each extra standard cage needs its own Smart Array controller
- Expander cages: the 5U SFF and LFF Expander Cage Kits put every bay under one controller carrying at least 512MB of flash backed write cache
- Documented maximum capacity: 72TB on eighteen 4TB LFF drives, 28.8TB on twenty-four 1.2TB SFF SAS and 19.2TB on twenty-four 800GB SFF SAS SSDs
- Carriers and interface: HPE SmartDrive (SC) carriers throughout, Converter carriers seating a 2.5-inch drive in a 3.5-inch bay; the embedded controller is 6Gb/s SAS, 3Gb/s SATA
On this tower the controller is the limit, not the cage. Each additional standard hot-plug drive cage needs a Smart Array card of its own, which is why the Expander cage kits exist: they put all 24 SFF or 18 LFF bays behind one controller, provided it carries at least a 512MB flash backed write cache. And mixing SFF and LFF cages in one server is not allowed.
How Many Drives Will Your ML350p Gen8 Hold?
| Front end | Cages | Bays | Documented maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| SFF, as shipped | 1 | 8 | 2.5-inch SAS or SATA |
| SFF, second cage fitted | 2 | 16 | 2.5-inch SAS or SATA |
| SFF, third cage in the media bays | 3 | 24 | 28.8TB on 1.2TB SAS |
| LFF, as shipped | 1 | 6 | 3.5-inch SAS or SATA |
| LFF, all three cages | 3 | 18 | 72TB on 4TB SAS or SATA |
The catch on the way to 24 bays is the controller, not the cage: each extra standard cage wants a Smart Array card of its own, and HPE names the P420 with 1GB FBWC. Expander cage kits consolidate every bay behind one card instead. Larger drives than the table's entries are listed here, so those figures are published configurations, not a hard limit.
Choosing the Right ML350p Gen8 Drive
- Confirm SFF or LFF before anything else. A 2.5-inch drive will not seat in a 3.5-inch bay without a Converter carrier, and the two cage types cannot share a chassis.
- Match the whole storage path. HPE notes that the drive, controller, firmware and backplane should run at the same transfer rate or the system negotiates to the slowest — a 12G SAS drive on a P420i runs at 6G.
- Pick the endurance class for the workload. Read intensive suits boot volumes and mostly-read data, mixed use general virtualisation, write intensive logging and database write paths.
- Check whether a drive is 512e. Many higher-capacity drives here use 512-byte emulation over 4K physical sectors, which older operating systems handle differently.
- SAS for spindle-bound work, midline SATA for bulk. Enterprise SAS carries the higher rotational speeds and duty cycle; 7.2K midline SATA carries the terabytes.
Complete Your ML350p Gen8 Build
Cages and controllers are bought together — read ML350p Gen8 storage controllers before committing to a second or third cage. Also available: memory, processors, networking adapters and power supplies, or the full ML350p Gen8 parts listing. Background reading: SAS vs SATA, 512e drives explained and SSD endurance classes. Other models: HPE parts by server model.
ML350p Gen8 Drives FAQ
How many hard drives does an ML350p Gen8 hold?
Up to 24 hot-plug 2.5-inch SFF drives or 18 hot-plug 3.5-inch LFF drives, from a standard cage of eight SFF or six LFF bays plus a second and third cage.
Can I mix SFF and LFF drive cages in one ML350p Gen8?
No. HPE states that mixing SFF and LFF drive cages is not allowed. The front end you have is the form factor you buy drives for.
Do I need another controller when I add a drive cage?
With standard cages, yes - HPE documents a separate Smart Array controller for each additional hot-plug cage, and recommends the P420 with 1GB FBWC. Expander cage kits are the way round it, putting every bay under one controller with at least 512MB of cache.
What is the maximum storage capacity of an ML350p Gen8?
HPE documents 72TB on eighteen 4TB LFF drives and 28.8TB on twenty-four 1.2TB SFF SAS drives. Larger drives are listed for this server, including 6TB and 8TB LFF.
Will a 12G SAS drive run at full speed in an ML350p Gen8?
Only behind a 12G controller. The embedded Smart Array P420i is documented at 6Gb/s SAS, and HPE notes that the drive, controller, firmware and backplane negotiate to a common rate.
Do these drives come with carriers?
Yes. Drives ship in HPE SmartDrive hot-plug carriers matched to the bay size, and Converter carriers let a 2.5-inch drive sit in a 3.5-inch LFF bay.
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