873840-001 HPE SATA 6GBPS 10TB 7.2K 512e DS 3.5inch Hot-Plug HDD

HPE 873840-001 10TB SATA 6Gbps 7.2K Hot-Plug LFF HDD

The HPE 873840-001 is a 10TB enterprise-grade SATA 6Gbps large form factor (LFF) drive engineered for demanding storage infrastructures. Featuring a 7.2K RPM spindle speed and 512e advanced format, this hot-plug HDD delivers a reliable combination of capacity, efficiency, and consistent data performance for modern datacenters. Designed for HP ProLiant Gen10, Gen10 Plus, Gen11, and Gen12 servers, this drive ensures seamless integration with genuine HP-certified hardware and digitally signed firmware for maximum compatibility.

General Specifications

Main Features of the HPE 873840-001 Hard Disk Drive

• Massive 10TB capacity for scalable enterprise storage requirements
• 7200 RPM rotational speed ensuring steady and dependable throughput
• 6Gb/s SATA interface delivering enhanced data transfer rates
• Hot-plug functionality enabling quick swap or replacement without downtime
• 512e sector formatting offering improved storage efficiency
• Low profile carrier (LPc) compatible with HP ProLiant servers
• Digitally signed HP firmware ensuring authenticity and reliability

Performance and Interface

• Interface: Serial ATA (SATA) 6Gb/s
• Spindle Speed: 7200 RPM
• Average Seek Time: 8.5ms
• Data Transfer Rate: Up to 6Gb/sec
• Enclosure Type: Internal drive for ProLiant servers

Form Factor and Dimensions

• Form Factor: 3.5-inch Large Form Factor (LFF)
• Drive Height: Low Profile Carrier (1/3H)
• Hot-Plug Capability: Supported for easy maintenance

Choose the HPE 873840-001 10TB SATA HDD

• Designed for mission-critical enterprise workloads
• Balances capacity with reliable rotational performance
• Certified and genuine HP firmware guarantees security and reliability
• Suitable for both expansion and replacement within ProLiant servers
• Supports continuous data growth for businesses of all sizes

Key Highlights at a Glance

• 10TB high-capacity storage for data-driven enterprises
• Optimized for HP ProLiant server ecosystems
• Hot-swap enabled for uninterrupted system uptime
• Reliable 7200 RPM speed for balanced performance
• Internal SATA 6Gb/s connectivity
• Certified HP firmware ensures authenticity

Overview of the 10TB SATA 6Gb/s 7,200 RPM 3.5" Hot-Plug HDD

The HPE 873840-001 is an enterprise-class 3.5-inch (LFF) hard disk drive purpose-built for large-capacity, cost-effective primary and secondary storage in servers, direct-attached storage (DAS), and scale-out storage arrays. With a 10TB nominal capacity, SATA 6Gb/s interface, 7,200 RPM spindle speed and 512e advanced format sectoring, this drive balances high density, energy-aware operation and broad compatibility with HPE ProLiant servers and many storage enclosures.

Why this category matters for enterprise and SMB storage

Drives in this category—10TB LFF SATA 7.2K enterprise HDDs—are the workhorses of capacity-oriented tiers. They are chosen where raw capacity per bay is a higher priority than single-drive random IOPS (which are better served by 10K/15K SAS drives or HDDs). Common roles include backup and archive volumes, cold/nearline data layers, bulk virtualization datastore spindles for less I/O-intensive virtual machines, archival content repositories, and high-density object or file storage nodes within scale-out systems.

Detailed specifications and industry context

Interface and data transfer

The 873840-001 SATA 6Gb/s (SATA III) interface provides up to 6 gigabits per second of raw link speed; in practice, effective throughput is constrained by platter density and internal drive caching. SATA remains widespread for capacity drives due to cost advantages and plentiful host-side support. When planning deployments, remember that enterprise SATA drives when used in RAID arrays still require careful controller configuration and monitoring to achieve predictable performance and rebuild times.

Sector size: 512e explained

The 512e (512-byte emulation) designation means the drive physically uses 4K native sectors but emulates 512-byte sector semantics to maintain legacy compatibility with operating systems and controllers that expect 512-byte sectors. This preserves broad OS and firmware compatibility while allowing the drive manufacturer to gain the efficiency benefits of 4K sector packing. For large volume deployments, confirm alignment settings on your file systems or RAID sets to avoid write amplification and performance degradation on 512e drives.

Spindle speed and performance characteristics

Spinning at 7,200 RPM, these drives are optimized for sequential throughput and moderate random I/O. Typical enterprise 7.2K HDDs offer good sustained read/write bandwidth for large files and streaming workloads. However, random IOPS per drive are limited by mechanical seek latency; for latency-sensitive tiers (databases, heavy virtualization, high-transaction workloads), supplement with HDD caching or use higher-RPM SAS drives or NVMe HDDs.

Compatibility and use-cases

Common HPE platforms and enclosures

HPE labels like 873840-001 are typically sold to be compatible with ProLiant servers and HPE storage enclosures that accept LFF SATA drives and LP caddies. Many third-party resellers also provide the drive as a compatible/replacement part for HPE systems. When purchasing, verify the bay type (LFF 3.5"), caddy requirements (low profile tray included or not), and firmware expectations for your target server generation.

Scenarios to avoid (or augment)

Avoid using only 7.2K SATA drives as the sole tier for latency-sensitive databases, heavy OLTP workloads, or any application that requires sustained high random IOPS — those are better served by HDDs or higher RPM SAS devices. If budget constraints require HDDs, add HDD caching and tune the file system and RAID stripe sizes to better align with the 512e sector format.

Reliability, firmware and enterprise features

Enterprise reliability considerations

HPE-branded drives intended for server use are typically selected for enterprise reliability characteristics such as higher MTBF ratings, extended burn-in/validation and firmware optimized for RAID environments. When buying used or refurbished units, consider seller warranties and whether drives are OEM-sourced or aftermarket equivalents. Vendor listings and marketplace entries often indicate condition (new, refurbished, used) — check descriptions carefully before purchase.

Firmware and digital signing (DS)

HPE sometimes marks certain drive SKUs with suffixes such as "DS" (digitally signed) or other annotations to indicate digitally signed firmware or an HPE-verified firmware image tailored for HPE servers and controllers. Digitally signed firmware can help ensure compatibility and authenticity of the drive image in validated HPE storage stacks. When mixing vendor drives and vendor-labeled drives in a single storage pool, verify firmware compatibility to avoid unexpected behavior.

Lifecycle expectations and replacement planning

Plan for replacement cycles: enterprise HDDs are commonly cycled on a 3–5 year schedule depending on workload intensity and reliability data. Keep records of hours powered on, SMART reallocated sectors, and other indicators so that you can proactively replace drives before imminent failure.

Comparisons and alternatives

SATA 10TB 7.2K vs SAS 10TB 7.2K

Mechanically and in capacity these drives can appear similar, but SAS models often include higher endurance ratings, dual-port connectivity and enterprise firmware optimized for multi-initiator environments. If your environment requires dual-path access, higher sustained IOPS or direct SAS backplane support, consider SAS counterparts. If cost per TB and broad host interface compatibility are the main drivers, SATA 6Gb/s remains attractive.

HDD vs HDD choices for tiered storage

HDDs dramatically outperform HDDs for random I/O and latency-sensitive applications, but the cost per TB remains significantly higher. A widely adopted approach is tiered storage: HDDs (NVMe or SATA/SAS HDDs) for hot data, and 10TB HDDs for cold and nearline data. For many archive and backup jobs the economics favor high-capacity SATA HDDs like the HPE 873840-001.

When to choose higher RPM or enterprise-class SAS

If your workload is predominantly read/write intensive with many small random operations (for example, databases, heavy virtualization with many active VMs), opt for 10K/15K RPM SAS drives or a full HDD deployment. For object storage or large sequential workloads, 7.2K SATA delivers better dollar-per-GB efficiency.

Purchase guidance and market considerations

New vs refurbished vs used

HPE-new drives typically come with manufacturer or reseller warranties and the assurance of factory-shipped firmware and burn-in testing. Refurbished units can be attractive on cost but review the seller’s testing, warranty period and return policy. Marketplace listings often show HPE part numbers (873840-001) on both new and refurbished stock — confirm condition in the product listing before ordering.

Pricing and total cost of ownership

When calculating TCO, include not only the purchase price per drive but also power consumption, cooling, rack space, controller licensing, expected replacement intervals and administrative overhead. Replacing several smaller drives with fewer 10TB units can reduce enclosure and power overhead, but increases the impact of a single drive failure on rebuild time — plan redundancy accordingly.

Where to buy and what to verify

Buy from reputable HPE channel partners, authorized resellers or established marketplace sellers with transparent condition grading and return policies. Verify part numbers and compatibility notes against HPE Part Surfer or official HPE data pages when in doubt.

Secure erase and drive sanitization

The 873840-001 drives that are repurposed, resold or decommissioned, make sure to follow NIST or your organization’s data sanitization standards. Drives should undergo secure erase or physical destruction when handling sensitive data to ensure compliance and prevent data leakage.

SMART and monitoring best practices

Monitor SMART attributes (reallocated sectors, pending sectors, UDMA CRC errors, temperature) and implement automated alerting. HPE system management tools (iLO, SSM, SSA) can centralize hardware health data and provide actionable alerts for drive degradation or imminent failure. Early detection shortens replacement windows and reduces data-loss risk.

Optimizing your storage design with HPE 10TB SATA drives

RAID and erasure coding recommendations

For large-capacity HDDs, RAID6 or erasure coding are commonly recommended to balance capacity efficiency and durability. If using RAID, select stripe and chunk sizes aligned with typical workload I/O patterns—large sequential workloads may benefit from larger stripe sizes, while small random I/O may favor smaller stripes combined with caching layers.

Tiered and hybrid storage strategies

Use HPE 10TB drives as the bulk capacity tier, fronted by a tier of HDDs (NVMe/SATA/SAS) for metadata and hot data. Many software-defined storage platforms allow automated data movement between tiers based on access patterns, enabling both performance and cost objectives to be met.

Practical configuration example

A common architecture: multiple 10TB SATA drives in RAID6 form the capacity pool for large file storage; a small group of NVMe HDDs provide metadata and caching; monitoring and snapshotting are used for data protection; scheduled backups move data to offsite object storage for long-term retention.

Value proposition integrated

The HPE 873840-001 10TB SATA 6Gbps 7.2K 512e 3.5-inch hot-plug HDD provides high Capcity, cost-efficient storage for HPE ProLiant servers and enterprise storage arrays. It’s ideal for capacity tiers, backup/archival roles, file/object storage nodes, and any deployment where dollar-per-TB and rack density are important. Confirm caddy compatibility, firmware expectations and plan redundancy to mitigate longer rebuild windows typical of high-capacity HDDs.

Further reading and validation

For authoritative part lookup and to validate replacement compatibility, use HPE Part Surfer and official HPE product pages. Marketplaces and reseller sites often list the HPE part number (873840-001) along with condition and caddy status; verify the details before purchase.