HP has recently launched their 8th generation of their ML series servers which are quite attractive to the eye when it comes to price.  However, the cost of their hard disks ( specifically SATA ) are nearly triple that of a similar brand ( ie Western Digital, Seagate, etc )

The HP Long Form Factor 3TB SATA 7200rpm server disks cost over €1,00.00 per drive and HP only offer a warranty of 1 year on each drive.

An over the counter Seagate 3TB 7200rpm SATA drive is available for under €200.00, complete with a THREE YEAR warranty.

So to create a raid 5 array, minimum 3 drives, we are talking an extra TWO THOUSAND EUROS for HP branded drives that are:

a) Identical in size

b) Identical in speed

c) have a 1 year warranty INSTEAD OF A THREE year warranty from Seagate

The long form factor drives from HP are identical in size to the Seagates – there is no difference in size.

This is not speculation as we have used third party disks in a HP ML 350 G8 server with absolutely no issues at all.
From the perspective of our customers – the majority are concerned about cost and warranty.  The new HP drives may cook breakfast and give fancy lighting but that doesn’t matter to the customer, all they want is a working hard disk, with warranty that’s reliable.

Whilst the HP drives cost 3 times more than a 3rd party brand –  a disk drive is a mechanical object with moving parts.  Moving parts wear out.  End of story.  There are no differences between a 7200 SATA drive you buy for your desktop and a 7200rpm SATA server drive for that matter – unless we are talking green drives, which we are not.

While the intro price to these servers is cheap and cheerful, they can add up to be quite expensive if a large amount of storage is required.