P26961-001 HPE 15.36TB NVMe Read Intensive SFF Gen4 High Performance SC U.3 Solid State Drive

HPE P26961-001 15.36TB NVMe SFF SSD

The HPE P26961-001 15.36TB NVMe Read Intensive Solid State Drive is engineered for modern enterprise platforms that demand exceptional throughput, reduced latency, and dependable endurance. Built around a PCIe Gen4 NVMe interface and a compact Small Form Factor design, this drive supports advanced workloads where speed consistency and efficiency are critical.

Product Identification

• Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• Part Number: P26961-001
• Product Type: Enterprise solid state device

 Technical Specifications

• Form Factor: SFF
• Drive Height: 15 mm
• Optimized for front-access enterprise drive bays
• Supports hot-swap capable server configurations

Exceptional Sequential Transfer Rates

• Sequential read speeds up to 7000 MiB/s
• Sequential write speeds up to 3800 MiB/s
• Optimized for fast data ingestion and retrieval
• Random read performance up to 175,000 IOPS
• Random write performance up to 145,000 IOPS
• Supports parallel access patterns

TLC Flash Memory Architecture

• Optimized for large-capacity enterprise storage
• Enhanced wear-leveling algorithms
• Consistent read performance over time

Optimized for HPE Server Platforms

• Firmware alignment with HPE server BIOS
• Supported by HPE management tools
• Designed for enterprise operating systems

Ideal Use Cases

• Virtual desktop infrastructure and virtualization platforms
• Large-scale analytics and reporting systems
• Content delivery and digital libraries
• Cloud-native and containerized workloads

HPE P26961-001 15.36TB Read Intensive SSD

The HPE P26961-001 15.36TB NVMe Read-Intensive SSD is not merely a storage component; it is a strategic asset for data-intensive environments. Its very specification tells a story of targeted engineering. The massive 15.36TB capacity in a compact Small Form Factor (SFF) 2.5-inch chassis addresses the critical need for storage density, allowing enterprises to consolidate workloads and maximize every rack unit. The U.3 (SFF-TA-1001) interface is a key differentiator, offering forward and backward compatibility with U.2 backplanes while signaling over the efficient NVMe protocol. This triple-mode interface (supporting SATA, SAS, and NVMe) provides unparalleled flexibility for hybrid infrastructure and future-proofs investments. As a PCIe Gen4 device, it doubles the bandwidth of the previous Gen3 standard, enabling sequential read speeds that can exceed several gigabytes per second and dramatically reducing latency to well under 100 microseconds. This combination of immense capacity, interface agility, and Gen4 throughput makes this drive a cornerstone for building responsive, scalable, and efficient storage arrays and servers.

NAND Flash Technology and Management

At its core, the drive utilizes 3D TLC (Triple-Level Cell) NAND flash memory. TLC NAND stores three bits per cell, offering an excellent balance of cost, density, and endurance—a perfect match for read-centric workloads. Advanced wear-leveling algorithms, bad block management, and over-provisioning (reserving a portion of NAND for maintenance tasks) work in concert to extend the drive's operational life far beyond its specified endurance rating. The controller employs sophisticated error correction code (ECC) and data scrambling to ensure data integrity at astonishing speeds.

The Power of the PCIe Gen4 x4 Interface

The move from P26961-001 PCIe Gen3 to Gen4 is transformative. With a per-lane data rate of 16 GT/s (Giga Transfers per second) compared to Gen3's 8 GT/s, the x4 lane interface offers a theoretical bidirectional bandwidth of nearly 8 GB/s. This raw pipe allows the drive's controller to fully saturate the link with both sequential and random I/O operations, ensuring that latency—the true enemy of application performance—is minimized. For applications running thousands of simultaneous queries, this reduction in wait time for data retrieval is what translates to real-world user satisfaction and operational throughput.

Virtualized and Cloud Infrastructure

In virtual server (VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V) and VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) environments, storage performance directly dictates VM density and user experience. Boot storms, application launches, and concurrent OS operations generate a predominantly random read workload. The high random read IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) of a Gen4 NVMe RI drive can support a significantly higher number of virtual machines per host compared to SATA SSDs or hard drives, leading to better hardware consolidation and lower licensing costs. For cloud service providers and private clouds, it offers a performance-differentiated tier for customer instances.

Scalable Database Applications

While transactional databases (OLTP) can be write-intensive, many operational reporting databases, read replicas, and specialized NoSQL databases are optimized for read scalability. For instance, a read replica in a MySQL or PostgreSQL deployment offloads query traffic from the primary write instance. Populating this replica on high-performance read-intensive NVMe storage ensures synchronization lag is minimized and query performance on the replica is excellent, enabling effective workload separation and scaling.

HPE ProLiant and Apollo Server Platforms

This drive is rigorously tested and certified for seamless operation in a wide range of HPE P26961-001 ProLiant Gen10 Plus and Gen11 servers, as well as HPE Apollo high-density systems. It is designed to work with HPE Smart Array and HPE Software Defined Storage solutions. When installed in an HPE server, it can be managed and monitored through the integrated iLO (Integrated Lights-Out) management interface, providing health status, temperature data, and predictive failure analysis alongside other server components.

Firmware

Purchasing this drive as an HPE branded component ensures full compatibility and support. It comes with a standard HPE warranty and is eligible for HPE P26961-001 Point next services. Crucially, firmware updates are delivered through standard HPE channels (e.g., HPE One View, HPE iLO Amplifier Pack) and are coordinated with server firmware stacks, eliminating the compatibility risks associated with third-party drives. This integrated support model simplifies lifecycle management and ensures problem resolution through a single point of contact: HPE Technical Support.

The Significance of the U.3 Interface

The U.3 interface is a strategic choice for data center agility. It uses the same SFF-8639 connector as U.2 but incorporates a tri-mode controller that can communicate via NVMe, SAS, or SATA protocols based on what the host system requests. This allows data center operators to deploy a single drive model across different server platforms (some older servers may only have SAS/SATA backplanes) and future-proof their investments. When used in an NVMe-enabled backplane, it operates at full PCIe Gen4 potential, but it can also be utilized in older infrastructure, providing a seamless upgrade path.

Power Efficiency and Thermal Design

High-performance storage must be managed for power and heat. NVMe SSDs are inherently more power-efficient than spinning disks per gigabyte transferred. The HPE P26961-001 is engineered with advanced power state management, scaling power consumption during idle or low-activity periods. Its thermal design ensures stable operation within the constrained airflow of a high-density server chassis. HPE's system firmware often includes optimized thermal policies that leverage drive temperature sensors to proactively manage cooling, preventing performance throttling.

Availability Implications

When deploying drives of this capacity, RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) configuration is critical. The rebuild time for a 15.36TB drive in a RAID 5 or RAID 6 array can be substantial, even on a high-speed interface. This influences design choices:

Future-Proofing and Scalability Planning

Investing in P26961-001 PCIe Gen4 technology today provides headroom for tomorrow. As applications and operating systems become more optimized for NVMe (e.g., with features like NVMe-over-Fabrics), the performance gap between Gen4 and earlier interfaces will become more pronounced. Deploying a U.3 drive ensures compatibility with both current Gen4 servers and future platforms, protecting the capital investment. Furthermore, the high density per drive allows for scaling capacity without proportionally increasing rack space, power, and cooling consumption—a key consideration for growing data centers.

Compatibility

The HPE P26961-001 NVMe SSD is built for seamless compatibility with supported HPE servers and storage controllers. This ensures smooth deployment, simplified maintenance, and optimized performance within validated configurations. The U.3 interface enhances compatibility by supporting multiple protocols over a single connector. This flexibility simplifies deployment across diverse enterprise platforms and supports future storage upgrades without requiring major hardware changes.