P18436-B21 HPE 1.92TB SATA 6GBPS SSD Mixed Use SFF SC Hot Plug

The HPE P18436-B21 is a high-performance 1.92TB SATA SSD engineered specifically for mixed-use applications in enterprise environments. As a critical component of HPE's storage solutions, this drive delivers an optimal balance of read and write performance, endurance, and reliability. Designed for deployment in HPE ProLiant and Apollo Gen10 servers, this SFF SC Hot-Plug drive is the ideal choice for data centers requiring consistent, low-latency storage for a diverse range of workloads, from virtualization and database operations to content delivery and collaborative hosting environments.

Capacity and Form Factor

1.92TB Usable Capacity

The 1.92TB capacity point is strategically chosen for the mixed-use tier. It offers substantial storage space while maintaining a favorable cost-per-gigabyte ratio. This capacity is ample for hosting multiple virtual machines, substantial database tables, or a large number of application files, making it a versatile choice for many mid-range enterprise applications.

SFF (Small Form Factor) SC (Smart Carrier) Hot-Plug

The 2.5-inch SFF form factor allows for high storage density within HPE server chassis, enabling more drives per server and maximizing storage capacity in a limited rack space. The integrated Smart Carrier provides ease of handling, tool-less installation, and secure extraction. The hot-plug capability is indispensable for maintaining 24/7 uptime, allowing for drive replacement or addition without powering down the server or interrupting critical services.

Interface and Performance Class

SATA 6Gbps Interface

Utilizing the ubiquitous SATA 6Gbps interface, this SSD ensures broad compatibility with a vast array of HPE server platforms. While not offering the peak sequential speeds of NVMe drives, the SATA interface provides more than enough bandwidth for many mixed workloads, eliminating the I/O bottlenecks associated with traditional hard disk drives (HDDs). It represents a perfect performance-to-cost upgrade path for servers with available SATA ports.

Mixed Use (MU) Endurance Classification

This is a defining characteristic of the P18436-B21. Unlike Read-Intensive (RI) or Write-Intensive (WI) drives, Mixed-Use SSDs are engineered to handle a balanced blend of read and write operations. They feature a higher endurance rating, typically measured in Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD), which for this model allows a significant amount of data to be written to the drive over its warranty period, making it suitable for write-caching, logging, and other write-heavy tasks that would prematurely wear out a Read-Intensive drive.

NAND Flash Technology and Over-Provisioning

This drive leverages high-quality, multi-level cell (MLC) or enterprise-grade 3D TLC NAND flash memory, which provides the foundation for its endurance and performance. A key aspect of its design is significant over-provisioning (OP)—reserving a portion of the NAND flash that is inaccessible to the user. This extra space is used by the SSD controller for wear leveling, garbage collection, and bad block management, which are critical processes for maintaining performance consistency and extending the drive's operational life under sustained write pressures.

Firmware

HPE drives are renowned for their deep integration with HPE ProLiant and Apollo servers. The firmware on the P18436-B21 is custom-developed and rigorously tested by HPE to ensure seamless compatibility and optimal performance. This integration enables features like HPE Smart SSD Wear Gauge, which provides proactive health monitoring and alerts through the HPE iLO (Integrated Lights-Out) management interface, allowing administrators to plan for drive replacements before a failure occurs.

Mixed-Use vs. Read-Intensive vs. Write-Intensive

Understanding the workload is key to selecting the appropriate SSD category.

Read-Intensive (RI) SSDs

RI drives, such as the HPE P18402-B21, are optimized for workloads with a high percentage of read operations (e.g., 80/20 read/write). They offer excellent read performance and capacity at a lower cost but have a lower endurance (DWPD). They are ideal for boot drives, web serving, and streaming media.

Write-Intensive (WI) SSDs

WI drives are built for the most demanding write workloads, such as big data analytics, high-frequency trading, or large-scale logging. They offer the highest endurance (often 10+ DWPD) but come at a significant price premium.

Compatibility

The P18436-B21 is a Gen10 drive, designed to deliver peak performance and compatibility with the HPE ProLiant Gen10 and Gen10 Plus server families. It is engineered to work with the HPE iLO 5 management suite, providing advanced health monitoring and predictive analytics. Always verify compatibility for your specific server model using the HPE Quick Specs or the HPE Product Compatibility Tool. When paired with an HPE Smart Array controller, the P18436-B21 can be part of a larger, protected storage pool. The controller can configure multiple of these SSDs in a RAID array (e.g., RAID 1, 5, 6, 10), providing redundancy and data protection. The consistent performance of these SSDs ensures that RAID rebuild times are minimized, reducing the window of vulnerability.