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Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

 
Razor_Ramon
Occasional Visitor

ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

A simple question, but very hard to find answer.  Is the new Gen8 crippled to only use HP hard drives?  I understand the drive tray issue etc. but many systems use drive trays and use standard drives.  Call to HP sales / support said that the SATA drive was special and many of the backplane items are now localized to the actual drive.  Is this true, or can I just use a WD Black 3TB drive or do I need to pay triple for HP to put their logo on the same drive?

 

Similar issue with the P420i card, calls with not many answers.  Upgrading a simple server for very small business and moving to a ML350 would be very suitable for any future requirments with SBS Essentials.  However, without knowing what I can do and cannot I am stuck on the purchase.

43 REPLIES 43
kanchisharma
Advisor

Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

hi,

 

New Gen8 Drive come with ..New hot-plug hard disk drive (HDD) carriers which are server specific, so hp will support the HP hdd only. its not only the logo , it has many LED's for extened fuctionality.

 

Regards

 

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Goutham_Sabala
Esteemed Contributor

Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

Hi 

 

Gen8 servers are coming with New carrier and the size of the hard drives have been further shirnked a bit , Hard drives for gen8 are specific to the server. These hard drives cannot be used in older generations and thrid party drives cannot be used in Gen8 servers. Also FYI memory modules that come along with Gen8 servers are HP Smart memory however you can still use memory from older gen servers and it will work but Post and IML logs will flag it as Non HP Smart memory , let me know if you need any more info 

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Goutham Sabala
Razor_Ramon
Occasional Visitor

Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

Based on the very high cost of the HDD's from HP and the very specific HP only parts working I am really turned off by this server.  The upfront cost seems reasonable, but spending thousands of dollars on drives because HP designed in incompatibility really makes this server uncompetitive.  It is a real shame all my other products and servers are HP and I was planning on upgrading from an older HP server to this one, but not now.

 

I never thought I would go back to Dell (Previous employer standard), but HP is really giving me no other choice.

 

Any recommendations on what HP server I can get that is not "crippled"?

Neelixx
Frequent Advisor

Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??


@Razor_Ramon wrote:

The upfront cost seems reasonable, but spending thousands of dollars on drives because HP designed in incompatibility really makes this server uncompetitive.  

I never thought I would go back to Dell (Previous employer standard), but HP is really giving me no other choice.

Any recommendations on what HP server I can get that is not "crippled"?


You certainly can go back to the Dell servers.  My motto is, "You get what you pay for".  In my eyes, the hard drives in the Gen8 servers are so advanced, the other vendors have not thought of it yet.  At some point, a vendor is going to be so far ahead of the competition, you have no choice but to move forward.  Maintaining backward compatibility, at some point, will hinder innovation, don't you think?

 

I agree, that there are certain aspects that make this "expensive".  But, you can't install a Dell drive in an EMC array, or install a 3rd-party memory in an IBM AS400.  At some point, the standards "aren't good enough".

 

I don't think HP is "forcing" it's customers to do anything.  You can either choose to take advantage of technology, or choose to use a Vendor that is "common".  :)

 

http://www.myteneo.net/blog/-/blogs/hp-gen8-proliant-servers

 

Cheers, and best of luck!! :)

-------
Aaron Paxson
@Neelixx
kanchisharma
Advisor

Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

Hi,
i would like to Add to Neelixx point ! very true. the New Gen8 drives are expensive in your view however they are designed to reduce hdd failures to a number the market can't commit .. hence less failures..overall enhanced performance.. you are also eliminating the % probabilities of failures and time loss and downtime due to insertion or use of a non HP / non recommended drive.. its all in all for customer benifit..


Find more Gen8 information here : http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/unified/gen_8.html
Mayo1971
New Member

Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

I want to make some remarks on some of the above comments.  We recently received two new Gen8 DL380p's with 2x 2.5" SAS internal drives.  The new HP drive caddy has enhanced drive status indicators on the front, supported by contact points to the backplane on the back right.  But the drive itself is the standard size, made in Singapore like every other drive on the planet.

 

For purposes of experimentation, I replaced the HP drives with two SATA3 SSD's [240GB Corsair Force GT's for reference] in slots 3&4 alongside the original HP 146GB SAS disks in slots 1&2.  Several server reboots and a few 100 GB's of disk I/O later, those off-the-shelf drives were humming along just peachy.

 

It will take some time for 3rd party caddies to become available, but it is only a matter of time.

HDP Support
Occasional Contributor

Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

1.  You can still use the Gen7 servers if you want to continue to use 3rd party HD

2.  HP needs to realize some of the customers will not purchase the Gen8 if they're limited to using only HP drives.

 

Everyone knows HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. does not make HDs.  Some manufacturers, like HP, do modify the HD firmware specific to their products.  The best solution is for HP to list the advantages of using HP drives instead 3rd party drives.  Customers will see the advantages of using the HP drives and purchase the HP "only" solution. There will also be customers that believe the advantages does not warrant the high cost of the drives and will continue to use 3rd party drives. My request to HP is not to go back to the old SYSTEMPRO/PROSIGNIA days when HP drive shortages causes so many problems.  LEARN...and not repeat history.

 

Customers like choices so give them the options....

blooms
Occasional Visitor

Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

I agree that HP drives are too expensive. I'm currently running 6 DL180 servers for streaming services with 3rd party drives, and I'm really satisfied with its cost effectiveness.

 

If the HP drives have only double prices of 3rd party drives, it's okay for us for paying extra for genuine drives, but  the reality is that the HP drives have 10x prices of 3rd party drives. It's totally unacceptable for a system like streaming services which needs relatively low reliability and cheaper storage price.

 

I will buy another DL180 before it's going discontinued, because Gen8 caddies are currently not sold from 3rd party sellers. It's a pity because I really like the new ilo features of Gen8 servers.....

 

jknowles
Member

Re: ML350p Gen8 - Hard Drives, SBS and Controller??

Crucial M4 SSDs are working fine with no trays. There is a warning that the drives are not HP brand and that the LED's will not function, but @ $200 each versus $2000, I'll wait until the trays become available too.