VO0038400RZWUT HPE 3.84TB SAS 12GBPS Read Intensive SSD.

HPE VO0038400RZWUT 3.84TB SAS 12GBPS SSD

The HPE VO0038400RZWUT represents a pinnacle of enterprise-grade storage technology, specifically engineered for data centers requiring consistent, high-performance, and reliable storage solutions. This 3.84TB SAS SSD belongs to HPE's Value SAS line, designed to deliver optimal performance for read-intensive applications while providing exceptional value and durability. With its 2.5-inch Small Form Factor (SFF) design and 12Gb/s SAS interface, this drive is built to integrate seamlessly into existing HPE server and storage infrastructure, offering a significant performance uplift over traditional hard disk drives and lower-endurance SSDs.

Key Specifications and Form Factor

Understanding the core specifications of the HPE VO0038400RZWUT is crucial for proper integration and performance planning within your IT ecosystem. This drive is meticulously designed to meet the rigorous demands of 24/7 enterprise operations.

Capacity 

With a usable capacity of 3.84 terabytes, this SSD provides ample space for operating systems, applications, and large datasets. The drive conforms to the 2.5-inch Small Form Factor (SFF) specification, which is the industry standard for most modern servers and storage arrays. This compact size allows for high storage density, enabling more terabytes per rack unit, which is a critical consideration for maximizing data center real estate. The unit includes a standardized tray, ensuring a secure and tool-less installation into compatible HPE ProLiant, Synergy, and Apollo servers, as well as HPE Storage systems.

SAS 12Gb/s Interface Protocol

The drive utilizes a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface operating at 12 gigabits per second (12Gb/s). The SAS protocol is a cornerstone of enterprise storage, offering significant advantages over consumer-grade SATA interfaces. Key benefits of the SAS interface include full duplex communication, meaning the drive can read and write data simultaneously at full speed, unlike SATA's half-duplex nature. It also features enhanced error recovery, superior signal integrity, and native support for connectivity to large-scale storage systems through expanders. The 12Gb/s data rate ensures there is minimal interface bottleneck, allowing the native performance of the NAND flash to be fully realized.

Dual-Port Capability for High Availability

A critical feature of the SAS interface is inherent dual-port capability. This means the HPE VO0038400RZWUT has two independent physical paths to the storage controller. In a configured redundant system, if one path fails due to a controller, cable, or HBA issue, the second port automatically takes over, ensuring continuous data availability. This is a non-negotiable requirement for mission-critical applications where downtime is not an option.

Read-Intensive Workloads

The "Read-Intensive" classification is central to this drive's design philosophy. It is engineered to excel in environments where the majority of storage operations are data reads, typically constituting 80% or more of the total I/O workload.

Endurance and Write Cycles

Read-Intensive SSDs are built with NAND flash memory types and controller algorithms optimized for lower write amplification and wear. While they offer slightly lower write endurance compared to Mixed-Use or Write-Intensive drives, they do so at a significantly lower cost per gigabyte. The HPE VO0038400RZWUT is rated for a specific Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD) value over its warranty period, meaning it can endure having its entire 3.84TB capacity written to a certain number of times every day for five years. This makes it perfectly suited for its target workloads without the over-provisioning and cost associated with higher-endurance models.

Ideal Application Scenarios

The performance profile of this drive makes it an excellent choice for a wide range of enterprise applications. These include boot drives for servers, hosting virtual machine hypervisors, supporting large-scale web servers, content delivery networks (CDNs), and data warehousing environments where large datasets are frequently queried but updated less often. It is also ideal for read-caching layers, where frequently accessed data is stored on the SSD for rapid retrieval, while writes are committed to a larger capacity storage tier.

Random and Sequential Performance Metrics

While specific IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) and throughput (MB/s) figures can vary, a drive of this caliber is designed to deliver high hundreds of thousands of random read IOPS and sequential read speeds that saturate a significant portion of the 12Gb/s SAS interface. This ensures that applications are not waiting on storage, leading to lower latency and a more responsive user experience.

Digitally Signed Firmware

Digitally Signed Firmware means that the firmware (the low-level software embedded in the SSD's controller) is cryptographically signed by HPE's private key. When the server or storage controller powers on, it verifies this signature using a corresponding public key before allowing the drive to initialize. This process ensures the firmware is authentic and has not been tampered with, corrupted, or replaced by malicious code. This is a critical defense against firmware-level malware and supply chain attacks, providing peace of mind for security-conscious organizations.

Benefits of the Multi-Vendor 3.84TB SSD

The "Multi-Vendor" aspect indicates that this specific drive and its firmware are qualified and tested to work reliably across a broad range of HPE's server and storage portfolios. This includes ProLiant Gen10, Gen10 Plus, and Gen11 servers, Synergy compute modules, and various HPE storage arrays. It eliminates the guesswork and compatibility risks associated with using third-party or generic SSDs. Using an HPE drive with HPE firmware ensures optimal performance tuning, predictable behavior, and full support from HPE, which can be crucial for maintaining service level agreements (SLAs).

Power Loss Protection

A fundamental feature of any enterprise SSD is protection against data loss during an unexpected power failure. The HPE VO0038400RZWUT incorporates a robust Power Loss Protection circuit. This typically includes a bank of capacitors that, upon detecting a power loss, provide enough temporary energy to the drive. This allows the drive's controller to complete any in-progress writes from its volatile cache to the non-volatile NAND flash memory, ensuring data consistency and preventing corruption.

Integration into HPE Server and Storage Environments

The value of this drive is fully realized when deployed within its intended HPE ecosystem. It is a plug-and-play component designed for seamless integration.

Compatible HPE Systems

The HPE VO0038400RZWUT is a certified component for a vast array of HPE platforms. This includes, but is not limited to, HPE ProLiant DL, ML, and BL series servers, HPE Synergy compute modules, HPE Apollo systems, and HPE 3PAR, Primera, and Nimble Storage arrays. Its inclusion of the tray ensures it can be installed directly into the hot-swap drive bays of these systems without requiring any additional brackets or hardware.

Data Sanitization 

HPE provides secure data sanitization tools, such as the HPE Secure Erase feature, which is designed to quickly and cryptographically erase all data on the SSD, rendering it unrecoverable. This is essential for repurposing drives within the organization or for secure decommissioning at the end of their lifecycle.