HPE ProLiant Drives - HDDs & SSDs

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) servers support a variety of drive types, including:

• HDD (Hard Disk Drive):
  Traditional mechanical storage drives that have been widely used in servers for many years and offer large storage capacities at a lower cost per GB, compared to other drive types.
• SSD (Solid-State Drive):
  Flash-based storage drives that offer faster data access and transfer speeds compared to traditional mechanical hard disk drives (HDD). These come in traditional SATA and SAS interfaces, as well as the next generation M.2 and PCIe based options (NVMe)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) servers support both SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) and SATA (Serial ATA) drives. The choice between the two depends on the specific requirements of the user, including the data transfer rate, the size of the storage, and the cost. SAS drives are typically more expensive but offer higher performance and reliability compared to SATA drives. SATA drives are more affordable and suitable for less demanding applications.

• SAS (Serial Attached SCSI):
  SAS high-performance, high-reliability drives that are commonly used in enterprise-level servers. SAS is backward compatible with SATA.
• SATA (Serial ATA):
  SATA less expensive drives that offer lower performance and reliability compared to SAS drives but are suitable for less demanding applications.
• NVMe (Non-volatile Memory Express):
  This interface comes in several form factors and is accessed via the PCIe bus which supports tens of thousands of parallel command queues and thus is much faster than hard disks and traditional all-flash architectures.

HP Enterprise (HPE) server drives can have different interface speeds, including 6Gbps, 12Gbps, and 24Gbps. The choice of interface speed depends on the specific requirements of the application, as well as the capability of the server hardware.

• 6Gbps interface speed is commonly used for SATA and SAS drives and is suitable for less demanding applications that do not require high data transfer rates.
• 12Gbps (backward compatible to 6G) interface speed is commonly used for SAS drives and is designed for high-performance enterprise-level applications that require high data transfer rates.
• 24Gbps (backward compatible to 6G/12G) interface speed is the latest generation of SAS interface and is designed to meet the requirements of demanding high-performance storage applications that require very fast data transfer rates.

It is important to choose the appropriate interface speed for a specific application to ensure that the server performs optimally and to avoid any potential bottlenecks in data transfer.

The form factor size of a drive refers to its physical dimensions and the design specifications that it follows. The most common form factor sizes for HP Enterprise (HPE) server drives include:

• LFF (3.5 inch):
  The largest form factor size, typically used for high-capacity hard disk drives (HDD) and solid-state drives (SSD).
• SFF (2.5 inch):
  A smaller form factor size that is commonly used for high-performance solid-state drives (SSD) and laptop hard disk drives (HDD).

The choice of form factor size depends on the specific requirements of the application and the available space within the server. It is important to choose a form factor size that is compatible with the server hardware to ensure proper installation and performance.

The choice of carrier for HP Enterprise (HPE) server drives depends on the form factor size of the drive and the specific requirements of the server configuration. The following are the most common types of carriers:

• BC (Basic Carrier):
  BC a standard drive carrier used to mount and secure the drive in a server.
• SC (Smart Carrier):
  SC a drive carrier that provides additional functionality, such as hot-swap capabilities, for easy installation and maintenance of the drive.
• LP (Low Profile Carrier):
  LP a drive carrier that is specifically designed for low profile server configurations where height clearance is limited.

It is important to choose the appropriate carrier type that matches the form factor size of the drive and the configuration of the server to ensure proper installation and performance. HPE carriers are not interchangeable so choosing the wrong type will prevent you from installing your new storage.

The choice of storage capacity for HP Enterprise (HPE) server drives depends on the specific requirements of the application. Some factors to consider when choosing the appropriate storage capacity include:

• Data size:
  The amount of data that needs to be stored on the drive.
• Performance requirements:
  The performance level required by the application, as well as the capability of the server hardware.
• Budget:
  The budget available for purchasing the drive, as well as any potential future expansion needs.

When choosing the appropriate storage capacity for a server drive, it is important to consider both the current and future needs of the application to ensure that the server has adequate storage for its requirements.

The rotation speed of a HPE Drive is an important factor in determining its performance and the specific applications for which it is best suited. The following are common rotation speeds for HP Enterprise (HPE) server drives:

• HDDs
  • 15K RPM:
    High-performance drives with the fastest read and write speeds. Typically used in the most demanding applications, such as mission-critical databases and high-performance computing.
  • 10K RPM:
    High-performance drives with faster read and write speeds. Typically used in demanding applications, such as databases and high-performance computing.
  • 7.2K RPM:
    Mid-range drives with slower read and write speeds. Typically used in applications with moderate storage and performance requirements, such as file and print servers.
• SSDs
  • Mixed Use:
    Drives that are designed for a mix of both read and write workloads. Typically used in applications with a moderate mix of storage and performance requirements.
  • Read Intensive:
    Drives that are optimized for read-intensive workloads. Typically used in applications with a high percentage of read operations, such as content delivery networks.
  • Write Intensive:
    Drives that are optimized for write-intensive workloads. Typically used in applications with a high percentage of write operations, such as high-definition video editing and large databases with many write transactions.

It is important to choose the appropriate rotation speed for a server drive based on the specific requirements of the application to ensure that the server has adequate performance to meet its needs.