I recently purchased a HP Proliant ML310e off PCNation.com as it seemed like a great deal. Come to find out, when I go to open up the case and install HDDs, the system is equiped with a hot-plug/hot-swap cage. As a bone head move, I already purchased 2 500GB SATA WD-Blue's (WD5000AAKX) drives not thinking of the workserver having a cage. I called HP and they are telling me I need to purchase their HDDs because the Gen8 uses a shorter HDD than aftermarkets. Does anyone know if I can still use these drives and purchase trays? Or does WD or Seagate make a HDD with a tray that will fit the Porliant ML310e? Any help provided is appreciated.
Sad thing is- I am doing this as favor for my father in law and would hate to tell him I messed up….
I am no IT but a lil tech savy. Thanks again.
Best Answer
HP does not manufacture hard drives. There are no "shorter than aftermarkets" drives. But HP use 2 form factors - LFF ("large" AKA 3.5") and SFF ("small" AKA 2.5"). So if the hot-swap cage in your server is SFF - you will not be able to use the WD5000AAKX (which are 3.5").
If you don't care about hot-swap - the least expensive option would be to remove the optical drive and install something like this into the 5.25" bays.