HPE 628063-B21 3TB 7200RPM 3.5in SATA-3G Midline G4-G7 HDD.

HPE 628063-B21 3TB 7200RPM SATA 3GBPS HDD

The HPE 628063-B21 3TB 7200RPM 3.5-inch SATA 3Gbps Midline G4–G7 Hard Disk Drive category represents a crucial segment of enterprise-grade storage solutions designed for reliability, scalability, and cost-efficiency. These midline drives are engineered specifically for businesses that require dependable storage for growing datasets without the premium cost of high-performance SAS drives. 

HPE 628063-B21 3TB Midline Hard Drive

The HPE 628063-B21 represents a cornerstone of reliable, high-capacity storage within HPE's Midline hard drive family. Engineered specifically for Hewlett Packard Enterprise servers and storage systems, this 3.5-inch, 3TB SATA drive delivers the optimal balance of performance, capacity, and cost-effectiveness for demanding business environments. It is designed to handle data-intensive tasks that require substantial storage space without the premium cost associated with performance-optimized SAS drives, making it an ideal solution for secondary storage, nearline storage, archival, and backup applications.

Capacity and Form Factor

This drive offers a formatted capacity of 3 Terabytes (TB), providing ample space for vast amounts of data. The physical form factor is 3.5 inches, which is the standard size for high-capacity drives used in servers and storage arrays. This form factor allows for efficient use of rack space and is compatible with a wide range of HPE server and storage backplanes designed for 3.5-inch drive bays.

Interface and Data Transfer Protocol

The drive utilizes a SATA (Serial ATA) interface, specifically SATA-3GBPS, which is also known as SATA II. This interface provides a maximum theoretical transfer rate of 3.0 Gigabits per second (Gbps). While newer SATA revisions offer higher speeds, the 3Gbps rate is well-suited for the drive's 7200RPM rotational speed and is perfectly adequate for its intended use cases in midline storage, where maximizing capacity and reliability is often more critical than achieving peak sequential transfer performance.

Firmware

This drive ships with HPE-specific firmware, which is a critical differentiator from its retail counterparts. The HPE firmware is tailored to optimize the drive's behavior in an enterprise environment. It enhances error recovery controls, improves compatibility with HPE hardware, and enables seamless integration with HPE's management ecosystem, including HPE OneView and the Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) management controller. This allows system administrators to monitor drive health, receive predictive failure alerts, and manage the drive as a fully integrated component of the HPE infrastructure.

Midline SATA vs. Enterprise SAS Drives

Enterprise SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) drives are designed for maximum performance and reliability in mission-critical, 24/7 transactional applications. They offer higher rotational speeds (10K or 15K RPM), a more robust dual-port interface for redundancy, and a significantly higher workload rating. However, they come at a higher cost per gigabyte. The Midline SATA drive sacrifices some performance and the dual-port capability for a much more attractive price point, making it the better choice for capacity-oriented, less I/O-intensive tasks.

Midline vs. Entry SATA Drives

While both may use the SATA interface, HPE Midline drives are a class above entry-level or desktop-class SATA drives. Midline drives feature more robust components, enhanced firmware for error recovery, vibration tolerance, and are tested to withstand the demands of a server environment. They carry a higher MTBF and are certified for use in HPE hardware, which is not the case for consumer-grade drives that are not recommended for server use.

Compatibility

The HPE 628063-B21 is not a generic hard drive; it is purpose-built and rigorously tested for seamless integration with HPE's server and storage portfolio. This ensures reliability, manageability, and firmware compatibility. A key feature of this drive is its broad compatibility with several generations of HPE ProLiant servers, specifically from Generation 4 (G4) through Generation 7 (G7). This includes popular server lines such as the ProLiant DL, ML, and BL series within that generational range. For example, it is a certified and supported component for workhorse models like the ProLiant DL380 G6/G7 and DL360 G6/G7, among many others. This wide compatibility makes it an excellent choice for maintaining, upgrading, or expanding existing HPE server deployments.