868830-B21 HPE 3.84TB SSD SATA 6GBPS SC Read Intensive

HPE 868830-B21 3.84TB SATA 6Gbps SC Read Intensive SSD

Product Overview

The HPE 868830-B21 is a high-performance 3.84TB SATA solid-state drive engineered specifically for read-intensive workloads in enterprise environments. This 6Gbps SATA, 2.5-inch small form factor drive delivers exceptional performance, reliability, and endurance for data center applications requiring consistent read performance with moderate write requirements.

Performance Characteristics

Read Performance Optimization

The HPE 868830-B21 SSD is specifically engineered for applications where read operations significantly outnumber write operations. With optimized firmware and controller technology, this drive delivers exceptional sequential and random read performance, making it ideal for database querying, content delivery, and data analytics workloads.

Sequential Performance

This drive achieves up to 560MB/s sequential read speeds, maximizing the SATA 6Gbps interface bandwidth. Sequential write performance reaches up to 520MB/s, providing balanced performance for mixed workloads while maintaining the read-centric design philosophy.

Random I/O Performance

For random operations, the HPE 868830-B21 delivers up to 98,000 IOPS for 4KB random reads and up to 28,000 IOPS for 4KB random writes. This performance profile ensures responsive operation in virtualized environments and database applications where random access patterns predominate.

Latency and Quality of Service

Consistent low latency is a hallmark of the HPE 868830-B21, with typical read latency under 85 microseconds and write latency under 15 microseconds. The drive implements advanced Quality of Service (QoS) features to maintain predictable performance even under heavy workload conditions, ensuring consistent application response times.

Technical Architecture

NAND Flash Technology

Utilizing advanced 3D TLC NAND flash memory, the HPE 868830-B21 achieves an optimal balance of performance, endurance, and cost-effectiveness. The three-dimensional cell structure increases storage density while maintaining reliability, with sophisticated wear-leveling algorithms distributing write operations evenly across all available memory cells.

Write Amplification Control

The drive incorporates sophisticated garbage collection and over-provisioning strategies to minimize write amplification, extending the usable life of the NAND flash and maintaining consistent performance throughout the drive's lifespan.

Controller and Firmware

HPE's custom-developed controller and optimized firmware work in tandem to deliver enterprise-grade reliability and performance. The controller implements advanced error correction codes (ECC), bad block management, and read disturb mitigation to ensure data integrity and maximize drive longevity.

Power Loss Protection

Enterprise-grade power loss protection circuits safeguard data in transit during unexpected power interruptions. This feature ensures that writes in progress are completed and data in the drive's cache is flushed to non-volatile storage, preventing data corruption and maintaining filesystem integrity.

Use Cases and Applications

Data Center Storage

The HPE 868830-B21 is ideally suited for capacity-optimized storage tiers in enterprise data centers. Its high-density 3.84TB capacity in a 2.5-inch form factor provides excellent storage density while delivering the performance benefits of flash storage over traditional hard disk drives.

Storage Tiering

In automated storage tiering systems, the HPE 868830-B21 serves as an excellent capacity tier for warm data - frequently accessed but not performance-critical information. This enables organizations to maximize their storage investment while maintaining acceptable performance for the majority of their data.

Virtualization Environments

Virtualized infrastructure benefits significantly from the consistent performance of the HPE 868830-B21. The drive's read-optimized characteristics are ideal for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) boot images, application virtualization, and hosting virtual machine templates where multiple read operations occur simultaneously.

VDI Implementation

In VDI deployments, the HPE 868830-B21 dramatically improves boot storms and login times compared to traditional hard drives. The drive's high random read performance ensures responsive user experiences during peak usage periods when hundreds or thousands of virtual desktops are accessing storage concurrently.

Big Data and Analytics

Data analytics workloads often involve scanning large datasets with predominantly read operations. The HPE 868830-B21's high sequential read performance accelerates data processing pipelines, reducing the time required for business intelligence queries, machine learning training data access, and reporting operations.

Database Applications

For database systems where read queries significantly outnumber writes, the HPE 868830-B21 provides excellent performance for data warehousing, business intelligence, and reporting databases. The drive's consistent low latency ensures predictable query response times essential for business-critical applications.

Content Delivery and Media Streaming

Media streaming applications and content delivery networks benefit from the HPE 868830-B21's high sequential read performance and capacity. The drive can store large media libraries while delivering the consistent throughput required for high-quality video streaming to multiple concurrent users.

Compatibility and Integration

HPE Server Compatibility

The HPE 868830-B21 is certified for use across HPE's server portfolio, including ProLiant DL, ML, and BL series servers. The drive is specifically validated for HPE Smart Array controllers and HPE NVMe-enabled backplanes, ensuring optimal performance and management integration.

HPE Gen10 and Gen10 Plus Servers

This SSD is fully compatible with HPE Gen10 and Gen10 Plus servers, taking advantage of HPE's iLO management ecosystem for health monitoring, predictive analytics, and firmware management through HPE InfoSight.

Storage System Integration

Beyond standalone servers, the HPE 868830-B21 integrates seamlessly with HPE storage systems including MSA, StoreVirtual, and Nimble Storage arrays. The drive's SED capabilities align with HPE's comprehensive security framework for data-at-rest protection.

Management Integration

Through HPE SSMC (Storage Management Software) and HPE OneView, administrators can monitor drive health, performance metrics, and firmware levels across the infrastructure. The drive reports SMART attributes specific to HPE's predictive failure analysis algorithms.

Reliability and Endurance

TBW Rating and Lifespan

The HPE 868830-B21 is rated for 1.75 petabytes written (PBW) over its 5-year warranty period, translating to approximately 0.96 drive writes per day (DWPD). This endurance rating makes it suitable for read-intensive workloads with moderate write requirements typically found in enterprise environments.

Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)

With an MTBF rating of 2,000,000 hours, the HPE 868830-B21 delivers exceptional reliability for enterprise deployment. This rating reflects the drive's robust construction, quality components, and extensive validation testing performed by HPE engineering.

Error Correction and Data Integrity

Advanced error correction capabilities protect against both random and systematic errors. The drive implements end-to-end data path protection, ensuring data integrity from the host interface through the controller to the NAND flash memory cells.

Unaligned Power Loss Protection

Beyond standard power loss protection, the HPE 868830-B21 includes protection for unaligned power events, safeguarding data during irregular shutdown scenarios that might bypass normal power failure protocols.

Security Features

Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) Technology

The HPE 868830-B21 includes built-in hardware encryption that automatically encrypts all data written to the drive without performance degradation. Encryption keys are generated and managed within the drive's secure cryptographic module, never exposed to the host system.

FIPS 140-2 Compliance

With FIPS 140-2 validation, the drive's encryption implementation meets rigorous government security standards. This certification ensures that the cryptographic module properly implements and executes approved security functions.

Sanitization and Crypto-erase

For secure decommissioning or repurposing, the HPE 868830-B21 supports instant crypto-erase functionality. By simply deleting the encryption key, all data on the drive becomes permanently inaccessible, providing a rapid and secure method for data sanitization that far exceeds traditional data wiping techniques.

TCG Enterprise Compliance

The drive complies with TCG Enterprise storage security specifications, enabling integration with enterprise security management frameworks and supporting standardized protocols for authentication and access control.

Environmental Specifications

Power Efficiency

The HPE 868830-B21 delivers exceptional performance per watt compared to traditional hard drives. With typical active power consumption of 4.5 watts and idle power as low as 1.5 watts, the drive reduces overall data center power consumption while delivering significantly higher performance.

Power Management Features

Advanced power management capabilities allow the drive to transition between active, idle, and sleep states based on workload demands, further optimizing energy efficiency in environments with variable storage access patterns.

Thermal Characteristics

Designed for continuous operation in data center environments, the HPE 868830-B21 operates within a temperature range of 0°C to 70°C. The drive includes thermal monitoring and throttling mechanisms to prevent overheating during sustained heavy workloads.

Shock and Vibration Resistance

With no moving mechanical parts, the HPE 868830-B21 is inherently resistant to shock and vibration, making it suitable for high-density server configurations and environments where mechanical hard drives might be susceptible to performance degradation or failure.

Comparison with Alternative Storage Technologies

Versus HPE Write Intensive SSDs

Compared to HPE's write-intensive SSDs, the 868830-B21 offers higher capacity at a lower cost per gigabyte while maintaining excellent read performance. Write-intensive models provide higher endurance (3-10 DWPD) but at a premium price point, making the read-intensive model the optimal choice for workloads with write patterns below 1 DWPD.

Versus HPE Mixed Use SSDs

Mixed use SSDs balance read and write performance with moderate endurance (1-3 DWPD). The 868830-B21 provides better value for predominantly read-focused applications, while mixed use models serve environments with more balanced read/write ratios.

Versus Traditional Hard Drives

Compared to 10K or 15K SAS hard drives, the HPE 868830-B21 delivers orders of magnitude higher IOPS, significantly lower latency, and better power efficiency. While the cost per gigabyte may be higher, the performance benefits and operational efficiencies often result in a lower total cost of ownership for performance-sensitive applications.

Deployment Considerations

RAID Configuration Recommendations

When deploying the HPE 868830-B21 in RAID configurations, consider RAID 5 or RAID 6 for optimal balance of performance, capacity, and data protection. The drive's high performance minimizes the write penalty associated with parity-based RAID levels, making these configurations more practical than with traditional hard drives.

RAID Stripe Size Optimization

For best performance with the HPE 868830-B21, align RAID stripe sizes with the typical I/O patterns of the application. Larger stripe sizes generally benefit sequential workloads, while smaller stripe sizes may improve performance for random I/O patterns.

Workload Distribution

To maximize the value of the HPE 868830-B21, distribute workloads across multiple drives to avoid hotspots and ensure even wear leveling across the storage pool. HPE's storage management tools can help identify and rebalance uneven workload distribution.