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user1424739
Asked: 2013-12-27 12:35:33 +0800 CST

Can disk be purchased by user from vender other than Dell and add to Dell PowerEdge R720xd server after the server is purchased?

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The following is the price of the 4TB NL-SAS drive offered by Dell for PowerEdge 720xd.

4TB 7.2K RPM Near-Line SAS 6Gbps 3.5in Hot-plug Hard Drive [$663.38]

It seems to be too expensive. A similar drive is much cheaper (only ~ $300) on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Enterprise-Capacity-Constellation-ST4000NM0023/dp/B00A45JFJS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388088489&sr=8-1&keywords=4tb+sas

Does anybody know whether the Seagate Drive from amaozon is considered as NL-SAS drive? If so, why there is such a huge difference in terms of price.

Also, if so, is it common to only purchase the minimal number of disks from Dell and purchase HDD from other venders and add these disks to the RAID later?

I'm considering the following RAID controllers. Do all of them allow me to add HDD later (or rebuild the RAID from scratch)? Thanks.

PERC H310 Integrated RAID Controller
PERC H710 Integrated RAID Controller, 512MB NV Cache
PERC H710P Integrated RAID Controller, 1GB NV Cache

raid

1 Answers

  1. You can buy the Seagate, but you probably shouldn't...

    • If you want to stay within vendor support guidelines, you should buy the Dell part.
    • If you want consistency or predictability, you should buy the Dell part.
    • If you are willing to self-support your configuration and understand the risks of doing so, buy the cheaper drive.

    And yes, the Seagate disk you listed is a nearline SAS drive.

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