HDDs & SSDs

Compatible hard drives for older servers as storage expansions or spare parts

Older servers often require storage expansion as application requirements increase and data volumes grow. Compatible hard drives are also needed as spare parts in the event of a failure, so that the drive array can be quickly restored. Older generations of servers generally offer a sufficient number of drive bays for the installation of HDDs (hard disc drives), but often only support outdated connection standards and transfer protocols. Depending on the device generation and the installed RAID controller (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) or HBA (Host Bus Adapter), drives with SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) or SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) connections are supported. There are also different generations within these standards, which differ in terms of possible transfer speeds (MB/s: megabytes per second), and other factors.

SCSI Generations

• Ultra160 SCSI: up to 160 MB/s
• Ultra320 SCSI: up to 320 MB/s

SAS Generations

• SAS-1 (3G SAS): Up to 300 MB/s
• SAS-2 (6G SAS): Up to 600 MB/s

SATA Generations

• SATA-1: Up to 150 MB/s
• SATA-2: Up to 300 MB/s
• SATA-3: Up to 600 MB/s

Depending on the drive cage, older server systems also allow the installation of hard disks of different sizes with 3.5" LFF (Large Form Factor) and 2.5" SFF (Small Form Factor) hard drives. Installation is carried out by inserting the appropriate model-specific compatible tray into the server chassis. LFF drives generally offer higher capacity but take up more space than the smaller SFF models due to their larger format. Their advantage, on the other hand, is that a greater number of drives can be installed in the same space.

If the server supports hot-plug functionality, hard drives can be swapped out while the server is running. This contributes to high availability as systems do not have to be shut down for repairs.

As well as form factor and capacity, drives also differ in terms of access speed. Designations such as 7.2K, 10K and 15K indicate the rotational speed of the disk drive, with the achievable performance increasing with higher specifications.
When it comes to finding the right hard drives for older servers, there are several factors to consider to meet the different storage requirements of different applications.

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Used and carefully tested hard drives from our online shop are a cost-effective and often ideal option for expanding the storage capacity of your older server systems. Our range includes compatible drives of older standards, as well as matching trays, which you can use when your storage requirements increase, or as spare parts for older server generations. 
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