R0Q75B HPE MSA 2060 10GBE ISCSI LFF Storage

Essential Product Details

• Brand: HPE
• Part Number: R0Q75B
• Model Series: MSA 2060
• Chassis Height: 2U rack-mountable
• Device Category: Drive enclosure for data storage

Storage Architecture

Enclosure Design

• Robust cabinet crafted for high-density drive deployment
• Supports enterprise-grade reliability in compact form factors

Drive Compatibility

• Optimized for 3.5" and 2.5" SAS/SATA hard disks
• Hot-swappable bays simplify maintenance and upgrades

Controllers & Connectivity

Primary Storage Controllers

• Two redundant HPE MSA 2060 controllers
• Each controller equipped with four ports for unrivaled throughput

Network Interfaces

• 8-lane 10/25GbE iSCSI fabric
• 4 ports per controller ensure balanced load distribution

Performance Highlights

• Delivers up to 395,000 IOPS for accelerated database and virtualization workloads
• Cost-effective performance boost tailored for growing enterprises
• Scalable throughput adapts to evolving data demands

Energy Efficiency & Sustainability

Green Compliance

• Meets ENERGY STAR requirements for reduced power consumption
• Eco-friendly design minimizes environmental footprint

Ideal Deployment Scenarios

Small-to-Medium Business Acceleration

• Perfect fit for SMBs seeking high performance on a budget
• Supports multiprotocol storage environments with ease

Hybrid Cloud Integration

• Seamlessly extends on-premises storage into cloud tiers
• Facilitates tiered data management and backup strategies

R0Q75B HPE MSA 2060 Overview

The R0Q75B HPE MSA 2060 is a purpose-built midrange storage array designed to deliver balanced performance, predictable latency, and simplified management for small-to-medium businesses, branch offices and departmental deployments. Marketed as an affordable, high-efficiency iSCSI SAN, this model typically appears in configurations described as 10GbE iSCSI LFF (Large Form Factor) storage with 12 x total 3.5" bays, supporting either 12 x HDD, 12 x SSD or mixed drive populations depending on the SKU and customer preference. The R0Q75B identifier helps buyers and IT teams track exact factory configurations, warranty options and compatibility when comparing blade or rack options across HPE's MSA family.

Key specifications

Form factor and bay layout

The array is specified as 12 x 3.5" LFF bays, giving administrators space to use high-capacity spinning disks or high-density LFF SSDs. The 3.5" bay layout is often an advantage where cost-per-GB is prioritized (with large-capacity HDDs) or where organizations want to run dense LFF SSDs for capacity-oriented flash deployments while keeping the simplicity of a single enclosure.

Interface and networking

Native networking for the R0Q75B MSA 2060 centers on 10GbE iSCSI connectivity. iSCSI over 10GbE is commonly used to deliver SAN-level block storage over standard Ethernet while providing high throughput for virtualized servers, database workloads and backup/restore operations. The 10GbE option is a key selling point for shops that want to upgrade from 1GbE without moving to Fibre Channel, enabling lower operational complexity and lower cost of ownership for many mainstream SAN use cases.

Storage features

Logical unit management and provisioning

The MSA family supports LUN-based block provisioning with thin provisioning and volume management features that let administrators create right-sized LUNs, reclaim unused capacity and reduce provisioning sprawl. Thin provisioning helps improve capacity efficiency, allowing multiple hosts to share a pool of physical storage without pre-allocating all space up front.

RAID levels and resiliency

Supported RAID levels typically include RAID 0, RAID 1/1+0 and RAID 5/6 variants, enabling trade-offs between performance and protection. For environments prioritizing capacity efficiency with protection, RAID 6 provides double-parity safeguards against simultaneous drive failures. For performance-sensitive workloads, RAID 10 (1+0) can be selected to maximize write and random read performance at the cost of usable capacity.

Hot spares and rebuild behavior

Hot spare support combined with intelligent rebuild algorithms minimizes exposure during drive failures. Administrators can configure global or dedicated hot spares to automatically take over after a drive fault and begin rebuilds. With LFF arrays that contain high-capacity HDDs, rebuild times can be long; judicious use of hot spares and RAID-protected tiers is recommended.

Data reduction and efficiency

While specific deduplication and compression capabilities vary by sub-model and firmware, MSA arrays generally offer data efficiency technologies such as thin provisioning and snapshot capabilities. When evaluating the category, check exact SKU documentation for inline or post-process dedupe/compression support and whether these features are enabled by default or via optional licenses.

Use Cases

Virtualization consolidation

The R0Q75B MSA 2060 excels as shared block storage for medium-density virtualization clusters. Its 10GbE iSCSI connectivity is suitable for consolidating multiple hosts while delivering the IOPS required by many mixed-application environments. Small to medium-sized ESXi or Hyper-V clusters can run VMs for line-of-business applications, testing environments, and dev/test labs on a well-configured MSA 2060.

Database

Databases with moderate I/O demands benefit when the array is configured with SSDs or an SSD tier. The combination of low-latency SSD reads and high-throughput networking improves transactional responsiveness for OLTP and smaller analytics workloads. For very large-scale analytics or high-concurrency OLTP workloads, consider higher-tier flash arrays but the MSA 2060 is frequently a good fit for departmental or edge database workloads.

Connectivity

Network design and multipathing

For resilience and performance, connect the MSA 2060 over multiple 10GbE links and configure host multipathing (MPIO) on servers. Proper redundant switches, separate VLANs for storage traffic and QoS (Quality of Service) rules reduce contention and provide predictable storage performance. Ensure that your Ethernet fabric supports jumbo frames if using them and that end-to-end MTU settings are consistent.

iSCSI tuning and security

Secure iSCSI deployments using CHAP authentication, management network separation, and port-level controls. Tuning options such as queue depth adjustments and appropriate TCP window sizes can yield performance benefits under heavy loads. Always verify best-practice tuning specific to your operating systems and hypervisors.

Compatibility

Supported operating systems and hypervisors

Typical compatibility includes mainstream server OS platforms (Windows Server, various Linux distributions) and hypervisors (VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V). HPE generally provides HBA/driver guidance and multipath plug-ins for these platforms. Confirm the MSA 2060 compatibility matrix and driver versions for your specific OS release.

Backup, replication and secondary storage tools

The array is commonly supported by leading backup and replication suites that can target iSCSI LUNs. When planning disaster recovery or remote replication, verify supported replication topologies (array-based replication, snapshot-based exports or third-party replication) and any optional licensing required for advanced replication features.

Comparison

Choose MSA 2060 over entry-level arrays

The MSA 2060 is attractive when you need a balance of enterprise-grade features (RAID options, snapshot capabilities, robust management) without the cost premiums of top-tier all-flash SAN arrays. It offers a clear upgrade from basic DAS or entry-level NAS appliances by providing SAN features that scale more predictably.

Higher-tier flash arrays are preferable

If ultra-low latency for extremely high IOPS workloads (large VDI farms, high-frequency trading, large-scale database operations) is required, purpose-built all-flash arrays with NVMe backends and advanced inline services may be more appropriate despite higher cost.