877764-B21 HPE 3.84TB SATA 6GBPS 2.5inch SFF Intensive Hot Swap SSD

HPE 877764-B21 3.84TB SSD Overview

The HPE 877764-B21 3.84TB SATA-6GBPS Read Intensive SFF Hot Swap SC Solid State Drive represents a class of enterprise-focused storage designed for high-density servers and storage arrays where read-heavy workloads dominate. In this category, the emphasis is on efficient capacity, consistent low-latency reads, platform compatibility and secure firmware delivery. These drives are commonly selected for virtualization boot volumes, content delivery, caches for database read replicas, scale-out file servers and other applications where sustained read throughput and predictable access times deliver the greatest value.

Form Factor

Small Form Factor (SFF) packaging lets datacenter architects maximize drive count within a given chassis; the 2.5-inch footprint reduces space per terabyte compared with larger drives while remaining compatible with standard hot-swap trays. Hot-swap capability is crucial for enterprise operations where uptime is maintained by live replacement and maintenance. Drives in this category are usually packaged with a vendor-specific drive tray or caddy to ensure proper fit, airflow and secure mechanical and electrical connections inside HPE servers and enclosures.

Compatibility

Shipments frequently include a tray so the SSD snaps into the chassis without the need for separate purchases, and the tray design supports consistent drive insertion and removal. Tray compatibility is a practical consideration for procurement teams: a drive that arrives ready-to-install lowers integration friction. The caddy maintains airflow channels designed by server OEMs and may include latch mechanisms, activity LEDs and alignment features to prevent mis-insertion.

Interface

SATA-6GBPS (commonly referred to as SATA III) remains a widely supported interface for enterprise-class value and broad compatibility. This category of drives prioritizes backward-compatibility with legacy controllers while delivering improved data transfer rates over older SATA revisions. SATA drives provide a reliable interface for many HPE server models and are often used alongside NVMe and SAS devices in tiered storage designs where a blend of performance, capacity and cost must be balanced.

SATA

Because SATA uses an industry-standard protocol, these drives are interoperable across many RAID controllers and host bus adapters. When used with HPE firmware and controller ecosystems, compatibility testing and vendor releases often ensure that advanced SMART attributes, power management states and thermal reporting are accurately exposed to management software.

Capacity

The 3.84TB capacity point places this drive squarely in the value-dense tier of enterprise SSDs: large enough to reduce the number of spindles or devices required for a particular dataset, while offering the predictable read performance that applications such as web serving, analytics read pools and large-scale virtualization often require. Category buyers often evaluate capacity per bay as an important metric, and drives like the HPE 877764-B21 enable higher usable capacity densities when combined with efficient filesystem and snapshot strategies.

Workload

Read-intensive classification indicates the internal flash media, firmware tuning and overprovisioning levels are optimized for scenarios with high read-to-write ratios. This makes the drive especially well-suited for cold or warm data repositories, content distribution, archive indexing, media streaming and read cache layers for hybrid storage arrays. For write-heavy transactional databases or heavy mixed I/O workloads, buyers should consider alternative endurance classes or higher endurance SSD families.

Performance

Enterprise read-intensive SSDs deliver fast access times measured in microseconds and provide sustained sequential and random read throughput that improves the responsiveness of read-dominant applications. Consistent latency under load and predictable performance during long run-times are attributes emphasized in this category, helping to stabilize service-level agreements across clustered deployments and virtualized guest workloads.

Latency

Designers of systems using these drives consider three interrelated metrics when modeling application performance: latency for single I/O operations, IOPS for concurrent small I/O demands, and sustained throughput for large sequential transfers. The SATA interface limits peak bandwidth compared with NVMe, but in many real-world read-heavy scenarios the practical advantage of SATA drives is the combination of cost per terabyte and sufficient read performance for the target workload.

Digitally Signed Firmware

A distinguishing characteristic of this family is digitally signed firmware. Signed firmware provides a chain of trust that helps ensure only vendor-approved firmware is installed on the drive. For enterprises with strict security, regulatory and compliance requirements, the presence of digitally signed firmware reduces the risk of unauthorized code modifications that could compromise data integrity or expose systems to supply-chain threats. Administrators appreciate the ability to rely on vendor-supplied firmware packages and updates that include signature verification and tools for secure deployment.

Integrity

Enterprise SSDs include mechanisms for preserving data integrity across the storage stack. This category often supports end-to-end data protection features such as on-drive ECC, power-loss protection strategies, and SMART reporting. Drives designed for read-intensive workloads still implement robust error-correction and integrity checks to ensure that read operations return accurate and validated data over the life of the device.

Hot-Swap

Hot-swap readiness means drives are accessible from the front of many server enclosures, and replacements can occur without powering down the host. The mechanical and electrical interface ensures the server recognizes the replacement drive and initiates rebuilds or resynchronization when used in RAID arrays. The category emphasizes serviceability features such as labeled trays, tool-less retention mechanisms and visual indicators that help technicians quickly identify and resolve drive-level issues.