Non-HP drives in a D2600

[HDClown]

I'm looking to build out some backup storage and would like to use a D2600 connected to a P812 but I want to use 4TB WD Se or Re series drives because HP 4TB drives are not widely available and they have a huge price premium anyway.

Will non-HP drives work without an issue in the D2600 shelf?  Will there be any issues with the P812 throwing random alarms or alerts because non-HP Drives are being used?

[David_Schwartzs]

You're probably going to have some issues, but your mileage may vary; it's certainly non-supported.

HP drives typically have custom firmware, and sometimes custom hardware with things like additional monitoring sensors, compared to drives purchased directly from a manufacturer like Western Digital.

Also, keep in mind that HP doesn't sell blank drive carriers, and every HP drive ships with the appropriate carrier. To even install 3rd party drives, you'd have to somehow obtain the drive carriers, such as by buying lower capacity drives to remove the carriers from, or through less-than-trustworthy sources like eBay.

[Vlad_T]

Hi,

all points David made are completely valid. Especially the carrier ones.

Also it's worth mentioning, that all HP drives have a custom firmware. Introducing stock drives with stock firmware might pose some threats for the stability of your system, so I would definitely recommend against that. Yes, the drives are built to specs and it would most likely work, BUT for how long? You risk to get drives thrown out of the array quite frequently because of as you said yourself flagging drives erroneously due to the stock vendor firmware and not the custom one we use.

Furthermore any issues with the drive enclosure or the storage controller should be reproduced with genuine HP drives, to make sure it's not the stock vendor firmware itnroduced itno the environment fault.

Hope that helps!

Best regards,

Vlad