Raw drives

[Tom32]

I was browsing through the hard drives for servers, and I found "NHP/Raw drives". I know that NHP stands for Non Hot-Plug but what "raw" means? Does it mean that there are no cables, no screws and I need to have my own, to connect the drive?

[Paul_J_K · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tom32 ,

"raw" drives in storage terminology usually refers to the ones which are not formatted and does not have a file system. 

File systems commonly used are NTFS, FAT32, EXT3, VMFS, etc.

[Jimmy Vance]

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@Tom32 wrote:

I was browsing through the hard drives for servers, and I found "NHP/Raw drives". I know that NHP stands for Non Hot-Plug but what "raw" means? Does it mean that there are no cables, no screws and I need to have my own, to connect the drive?

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Most quickspecs refer to Raw as a plain disk without any carrier, it may not include screws. Most NHP ProLiant tower servers I've worked with have a place on the chassis that holds the drive screws 

[Paul_J_K]

Hi @Tom32 ,

I think I have overlooked the physical perspective. I have to agree with @Jimmy Vance here as what you asked for is referring to the physical form factor and fittings. So yes, this reference to the drive being "raw" definitely refers to without carrier, screws etc.