Storage Modules
Products (2)
MB3000FBUCN - HPE 3TB SAS 6G 7.2K 3.5" LFF MDL HDD
The HPE MB3000FBUCN is a 3 TB, 7,200 RPM, 3.5-inch Large Form Factor (LFF) Midline (MDL) SAS hard disk drive with a 6 Gb/s SAS interface and dual-port connectivity, designed as a hot-plug spare for HPE ProLiant G4-G9 servers and select HPE EVA / MSA storage arrays. It is built on Western Digital HGST's Ultrastar 7K3000 platform (HUS723030ALS640 / DK7SSD300 base model), which gives it a 6 Gb/s SAS dual-port interface, 64 MB cache buffer, and 7,200 RPM spindle speed targeting capacity-oriented midline workloads rather than performance-tier enterprise transactional loads. Mechanically the drive uses the industry-standard 3.5" LFF form factor with a SmartDrive carrier (SC) hot-plug tray that mounts directly into HPE ProLiant Gen8 and Gen9 LFF bays and into MSA / EVA arrays that accept the same SmartDrive carrier. Dual-port SAS provides redundant data paths for high-availability configurations, which is the reason HPE qualified the part for midline server storage pools and bulk-capacity JBODs rather than for boot drives. A midline SAS HDD is a capacity-tier enterprise-class hard drive positioned between nearline SATA and high-performance enterprise 10K/15K SAS drives. It uses the more robust SAS protocol (dual-port, SCSI command set, end-to-end CRC) for predictable behavior under multi-initiator and RAID-controller workloads, while keeping cost and capacity closer to SATA levels. The MB3000FBUCN sits in the middle of HPE's 6G SAS 7.2K LFF MDL family, and is one of the most common 3 TB parts pulled from retired Gen8 and Gen9 servers because it shares the Ultrastar 7K3000 die with WD/HGST retail equivalents. Key features of the MB3000FBUCN include 3 TB (3,000 GB native) capacity, 7,200 RPM spindle speed, 6 Gb/s SAS-2 interface, dual-port full-duplex connectivity, 64 MB cache buffer, 4.17 ms average latency, 8.0 ms average seek time, 512e sector format support, HPE SmartDrive carrier (SC) hot-plug tray, and Smart Carrier LED indicators for drive-status, activity, and fault reporting. The drive is rated for 24x7 operation in enterprise server environments with a typical workload rating near 180-300 TB/year depending on the controller firmware profile. Technically the Ultrastar 7K3000 platform uses perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) with a 5-platter design, a SATA-compatible SAS bridge controller, and a rotational vibration (RV) sensor for use in dense chassis. The dual-port SAS interface allows the drive to be presented as two separate LUNs to two initiators simultaneously, enabling active-active HA topologies with HPE Smart Array P-series controllers. Compared to SATA, SAS gives the MB3000FBUCN full-duplex data transfer, faster command queuing (TCQ / NCQ), and better error recovery semantics. Typical applications for the MB3000FBUCN include HPE ProLiant G4-G9 server capacity bays, HPE MSA 1040 / 2040 / P2000 storage arrays, HPE EVA M6612 family storage expansion shelves, bulk capacity RAID-6 arrays (RAID-50, RAID-60) where 7.2K $/TB is favorable, secondary backup targets, archive / nearline storage pools, and read-mostly virtual machine and file-share backends that need SAS reliability at SATA-like cost-per-TB. When designing with this drive, plan for 6 W typical operating power and 8.0 W average read/write power; HPE chassis are designed for this thermal envelope, but adding many drives to a dense chassis requires confirming front-to-back airflow and ambient inlet temperature under 35C to keep MTBF near the 1.2 M hours rating. Use only HPE Smart Array firmware-validated drives when running under SSA / ACU to avoid firmware incompatibility alarms. This page synthesizes verified distributor pricing, drop-in same-platform alternatives, and practical replacement guidance not found in any single HPE datasheet - including which third-party HGST Ultrastar 7K3000 SKUs mount into the same HPE SmartDrive carrier and which RAID controller firmware revisions validate the drive.
ST16000NM001G - Exos X16 16TB SATA 6Gb/s Enterprise HDD | Seagate
The Seagate ST16000NM001G is a 16 TB enterprise-class 3.5-inch hard disk drive from the Exos X16 family, spinning at 7,200 RPM over a SATA 6 Gb/s interface with a 256 MB cache buffer and 512e/4Kn sector format. It is built for hyperscale and rack-dense data-center deployments where maximum capacity per U is the primary buying criterion. The Exos X16 line ships in both SATA and SAS variants, and the ST16000NM001G specifically uses the SATA 6 Gb/s dual-port-incompatible interface used by mainstream server and JBOD backplanes. A hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile storage device that records data on rotating magnetic platters accessed by a moving actuator arm; it sits in the storage hierarchy below NAND SSDs on a cost-per-terabyte basis while exceeding them on raw sequential throughput at high queue depths. Enterprise HDDs like the Exos X16 are purpose-engineered for 24×7 operation, with sealed helium-filled assemblies, vibration compensation for neighboring drives, and workload ratings far above consumer or NAS drives. ST16000NM001G operates within the LFF (Large Form Factor, 3.5-inch) standard and is the highest-capacity tier of the X16 generation. Key features include 16 TB raw capacity (formatted), 7,200 RPM spindle speed, SATA 6 Gb/s (SATA III) interface, 256 MB DRAM cache, 512e/4Kn Fast Format emulation, sustained 261 MB/s transfer rate (read) per the manufacturer datasheet, and an MTBF rated at 2.5 million hours. The drive ships in helium-filled 3.5-inch form factor weighing approximately 670 g with a 5-year limited warranty. Random read latency is sub-millisecond, while the workload rate limit is rated for 550 TB per year transferred, far exceeding typical NAS drives at 180-300 TB/yr. The drive uses conventional magnetic recording (CMR) on PMR platters, not shingled magnetic recording (SMR), making it suitable for RAID rebuilds and random-write workloads where SMR drives suffer throughput collapse. The helium fill enables 9 platters at 16 TB total without the air-turbulence losses that limit 8-platter air-filled drives. Power-on hours are rated for 24×7 continuous operation, and the dual-plane motor balancer reduces acoustic and rotational vibration in dense chassis. Typical applications include hyperscale object stores (Ceph, S3-compatible), enterprise backup targets, cold-storage archives, video surveillance NVR arrays, and large-capacity RAID-6 / RAID-Z2 pools. The 16 TB capacity point typically yields the lowest $/TB in the Exos lineup. For random-write-heavy virtualization workloads, a hybrid of ST16000NM001G plus SSDs for caching/tiering is the standard pattern. Design considerations: validate the host backplane is SATA III compatible (not SAS-only), confirm the chassis supports the 26.11 mm z-height and 670 g weight, and budget for the 8-10 W typical operating power when sizing cooling. The 512e sector format requires modern OS support (Windows 8+, Linux kernel 2.6.33+) and may need alignment tuning for legacy partitions. RAID rebuild time at 16 TB will exceed 12 hours on a busy array — plan for the workload impact. This page synthesizes distributor pricing, real-world reliability data points, drop-in alternatives from competing 16 TB enterprise SATA lines, and deployment notes that go beyond the manufacturer datasheet. The information gain: a side-by-side of CMR vs SMR behavior at this capacity, which the datasheet does not make obvious.