UCS-HD8T7K4KAN Cisco 8TB 7.2K RPM SAS-12GBPS LFF HDD

UCS-HD8T7K4KAN Cisco 8TB 7.2K RPM Overview

The UCS-HD8T7K4KAN Cisco 8TB 7,200 RPM SAS-12Gbps LFF (3.5") internal hard drive with tray is a purpose-built enterprise storage component for modern data centers and server farms. This category focuses on high-capacity, high-reliability 3.5-inch drives optimized for Cisco UCS platforms and other enterprise-class servers that support SAS 12Gbps interfaces and 4K sector formatting. Content in this section covers key specifications, performance expectations, compatibility considerations, deployment best practices, monitoring and maintenance guidance, and purchase tips that help IT buyers, system integrators, and storage administrators evaluate and deploy these drives efficiently and securely.

Key features

High capacity

The 8TB capacity delivers a balance of density and performance for a wide range of workloads: from primary and secondary storage to large capacity archival, backup targets, and virtual machine datastores. Large single-drive capacities reduce rack space and port usage when compared with smaller drives, making 8TB drives an excellent choice for scale-out deployments and capacity expansions.

SAS 12Gbps interface

Native SAS 12Gbps connectivity provides a robust, full-duplex enterprise link designed for server environments, offering lower latency and consistent throughput compared to consumer interfaces. This interface suits multi-drive RAID arrays, JBOD enclosures, and direct-attached storage modules where predictable I/O performance and reliability are required.

7,200 RPM spindle speed

A 7.2K RPM spindle gives a solid compromise between sequential throughput, random IOPS for mixed workloads, and power/thermal characteristics. For many enterprise applications — including file servers, backup appliances, surveillance storage, and capacity-centric database tiers — 7.2K drives provide cost-effective performance without the power and heat demands of higher-RPM options.

4K sector (Advanced Format) for modern efficiency

The 4K sector format (also known as "Advanced Format") improves media efficiency and error correction capability compared with legacy 512-byte sectors. This yields better usable capacity and can improve sustained throughput with workloads optimized or aligned for 4K sectors.

Hot-swap tray included

The inclusion of a hot-swap tray (sled) simplifies replacement and inventory management in rack servers and blade enclosures. Trays are typically keyed and cabled to fit Cisco UCS drive carriers, making field service and tray swaps fast and minimizing downtime in production environments.

Performance

Throughput and latency characteristics

For workloads that favor sequential reads and writes (backups, large file streaming, cold storage), the 8TB 7.2K drive provides excellent sustained throughput. In mixed or random I/O environments, these drives can be used in RAID configurations (RAID-6, RAID-10, RAID-5 where appropriate) to boost effective IOPS and reduce latency through striping and parallelism across multiple drives.

Enterprise reliability features

Drives in this category are engineered for 24/7 operation and typically include firmware and hardware features such as rotational vibration (RV) sensors, beefed-up error recovery tuning (suitable for RAID arrays), and firmware optimized for servo and head positioning under load. These attributes help to minimize rebuild times and improve array stability under heavy load or in dense enclosures.

Mean time between failures (MTBF) and workload rating

Enterprise SAS drives commonly carry MTBF ratings and workload rate limits (expressed as TB/year). When planning capacity and redundancy levels, account for these figures to ensure both warranty compliance and long-term reliability. For storage arrays hosting critical data, pair high-capacity drives with appropriate redundancy to mitigate the increased rebuild risk associated with larger drive sizes.

Compatibility and integration

Designed for Cisco UCS environments

The UCS-HD8T7K4KAN nomenclature strongly indicates Cisco OEM compatibility; many buyers select these drives for direct installation into Cisco UCS servers, chassis, and modular storage enclosures. OEM labeling ensures firmware tuning and carrier/tray fitment that matches Cisco service and field replacement procedures.

Controller and RAID considerations

Ensure RAID controller firmware supports SAS 12Gbps and Advanced Format (4K) media. Most mature controller firmware recognizes 4K sector drives, but alignment and format settings on logical volumes should be validated during provisioning to avoid performance penalties.

Use cases

Primary storage tiers for capacity-oriented workloads

Use 8TB 7.2K SAS drives in tiers where capacity is prioritized but consistent IO is still necessary: large file shares, cold database replicas, object storage tiers, and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) density tiers. Pair these drives with caching layers (NVMe or SSD cache) in hybrid storage arrays to offset random I/O limitations.

Backup targets and archival vaults

High capacity and reasonable sequential throughput make 8TB drives ideal for backup repositories, deduplicated backup appliances, and nearline archival. In such uses, combine drives into RAID-6 or erasure coding configurations to safeguard against multiple device failures during long rebuilds.

High-density server enclosures and scale-out storage

For scale-out storage architectures (distributed file systems, object stores), large LFF drives reduce the number of nodes required to reach capacity targets, minimizing rack space and port counts while keeping management overhead lower.

RAID, resiliency, and data protection

RAID recommendations for 8TB drives

Because drive failure probability and rebuild time both increase with larger drive capacities, consider resilient RAID layouts such as RAID-6 (dual parity) or RAID-10 (striped mirrors) for production datasets. RAID-6 offers better space efficiency with dual-parity protection, while RAID-10 offers faster rebuilds and better random I/O at the expense of raw capacity.

Erasure coding and distributed redundancy

In software-defined storage platforms, erasure coding provides flexible fault tolerance with configurable overhead. Use erasure coding for object stores and distributed filesystems to slice data across nodes and drives while controlling redundancy and rebuild workload.

Monitoring and SMART thresholds

Enable SMART monitoring and integrate drive health telemetry into centralized monitoring tools. Set alert thresholds for reallocated sector counts, pending sectors, and uncorrectable read errors. Early detection enables controlled replacements before catastrophic failures.