HPE 240GB SATA RI SFF SC MV SSD - P18420-B21

HPE P18420-B21 240GB SATA Read-Intensive SFF Solid State Drive

The HPE P18420-B21 is a 240GB SATA 6G read-intensive solid state drive in a 2.5-inch small form factor (SFF) designed for workloads that push far more reads than writes — think NVR replay, video archive retrieval, database reads, and OS/boot volumes in rack servers. At 0.8 DWPD endurance and 62,500 random read IOPS sustained, it lands in the practical middle ground between a pure caching SSD (higher endurance, higher cost) and a bulk capacity HDD (higher GB per dollar, lower IOPS). If your workload fits that profile, the P18420-B21 is the right tier of drive to spec.

Overview

Built to HPE's Mixed Volume (MV) specification and badged as a Smart Carrier (SC) drive, this SSD integrates into HPE ProLiant and Apollo server platforms that use the standard SFF hot-plug backplane. The SATA 6Gb/s interface keeps it broadly compatible without requiring NVMe-capable backplanes, making it a straightforward drop-in for existing SATA-generation server refreshes. At 4 watts max draw and a 7mm profile, it fits single or dual-backplane configurations without power budget surprises. The P18420-B21 (often searched as P18420 B21) ships factory-new, genuine HPE hardware sourced through the commercial supply chain.

Key Features

• 240GB SATA 6G Interface: The 6Gb/s SATA link saturates comfortably within the drive's own IOPS ceiling — no bandwidth bottleneck at the interface layer. This also means compatibility with any HPE SFF hot-plug backplane designed for SATA, keeping your upgrade path clean without a controller swap.
• 62,500 Sustained Random Read IOPS: At queue depth typical of server workloads, this translates to responsive read performance for NVR index lookups, video segment retrieval, and concurrent read streams from multiple clients. The drive peaks at 69,500 IOPS at Q32 — useful headroom when burst read demand spikes during simultaneous playback sessions.
• 14,000 Random Write IOPS: Write performance is intentionally constrained at this endurance tier — 14,000 IOPS at Q1 matches the write floor for logging and metadata operations without over-engineering for write-heavy workloads this drive was never intended to handle. If your ratio is above 30% writes sustained, step up to a mixed-use SSD.
• 0.8 DWPD Endurance: Rated at 0.8 drive writes per day over the warranty period, this drive handles light-to-moderate write exposure without burning through NAND prematurely. For a 240GB drive, 0.8 DWPD equates to writing roughly 192GB per day — enough for surveillance metadata, OS page files, and periodic log flushes, but not continuous sequential write streams from high-channel NVR recording.
• Hot-Plug Capable: The Smart Carrier form factor supports hot-plug insertion and removal on compatible HPE backplanes. In production environments where uptime is non-negotiable, this means drive replacement or expansion without a scheduled maintenance window or server power-down — a real operational advantage in 24/7 security infrastructure deployments.
• 4-Watt Max Power Draw: At peak, this drive pulls 4 watts — modest even in dense multi-drive configurations. In a 24-bay chassis, the SSD complement adds well under 100W to the power budget, leaving thermal and electrical headroom for CPUs, memory, and network cards.
• 7mm Height Profile: The 7mm z-height fits standard SFF bays without spacers or adapters, including slim configurations in blade-adjacent chassis. No mechanical fitment surprises during installation.

Integration & Compatibility

The P18420-B21 is designed for HPE ProLiant Gen10 and compatible server platforms that use SATA SFF hot-plug backplanes. It operates under HPE's Smart Storage Administrator (SSA) and integrates with HPE iLO for health monitoring and predictive failure alerting — visibility you lose with third-party drives that lack HPE firmware. Verify backplane compatibility against the HPE QuickSpecs for your specific server model before ordering; HPE's platform-specific compatibility matrices are the authoritative reference. For HPE server storage planning, pair with an HPE-compatible Smart Array controller or review your platform's storage solutions support matrix.

If you are building or expanding NVR-adjacent storage in an HPE rack, this drive pairs naturally with HPE's network video recorders and archive tiers. For broader HPE storage and server options, the HPE catalog covers the full platform range. When planning multi-drive configurations, consult a storage buying guide to match drive tier, endurance rating, and capacity to your actual write workload — mismatching endurance to workload is the most common SSD selection mistake in surveillance infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the endurance rating of the HPE P18420-B21 and what workloads does it suit?

A: The P18420-B21 is rated at 0.8 DWPD (drive writes per day). It is designed for read-intensive workloads — workloads where reads significantly outnumber writes, such as video retrieval, OS boot volumes, database reads, and NVR index lookups. Continuous high-write workloads (e.g., primary NVR recording on all channels simultaneously) require a higher-endurance mixed-use or write-intensive SSD.

Q: Is the P18420-B21 hot-plug capable?

A: Yes. The Smart Carrier (SC) designation means it supports hot-plug insertion and removal on compatible HPE SFF hot-plug backplanes. You can swap or add this drive without powering down the server, provided the backplane and controller support hot-plug operation.

Q: What is the warranty on the HPE P18420-B21?

A: HPE rates this drive with a 3/0/0 warranty (3 years parts, no on-site, no call-to-repair commitment included by default). Extended service options may be available separately through HPE Care Pack agreements.

Q: What interface does the P18420-B21 use, and is it compatible with NVMe backplanes?

A: The P18420-B21 uses SATA 6Gb/s. It is NOT compatible with NVMe-only (U.2/M.2) backplanes. It requires a SATA SFF hot-plug backplane. Verify your server's backplane type before ordering if you are unsure.

Q: What is the maximum random read IOPS performance of the P18420-B21?

A: Sustained random read IOPS is 62,500. The drive peaks at 69,500 IOPS at queue depth 32 (Q32). Sustained write IOPS is 14,000 at Q1.

Q: What is the power consumption of the P18420-B21?

A: Maximum power draw is 4 watts. This makes it practical in high-density multi-drive configurations without significant thermal or power budget impact.

Eden Phillips

The P18420-B21's 0.8 DWPD endurance rating is the number I lead with when a customer asks if this drive fits their NVR or archive server build — because that single figure tells you whether the workload match is right before you ever touch the performance specs. At 240GB and 0.8 DWPD, you are looking at a drive sized for read-dominant duty cycles, not a recording workhorse that takes sustained write streams all day.

Technical Highlights:

• 62,500 / 69,500 Read IOPS: The 62,500 sustained figure holds under real queue depths; the 69,500 peak at Q32 is the burst headroom you draw on during simultaneous multi-user video retrieval — relevant when several operators pull archive footage concurrently from the same storage node.
• Hot-Plug Smart Carrier: The SC form factor means field replacement without a maintenance window on compatible HPE backplanes. In 24/7 security operations centers, that operational continuity is worth the slight premium over non-hot-plug drive options.
• 4W Max Power: In a fully populated 24-drive HPE chassis, the SSD bank stays under 100W total — leaving real headroom for compute and networking components without bumping into PDU or UPS capacity limits.

Deployment Considerations:

• Confirm SATA SFF hot-plug backplane compatibility against HPE's QuickSpecs for your specific ProLiant model before ordering — this drive will not physically or electrically function in NVMe U.2 bays even if the form factor looks similar.
• At 0.8 DWPD, do not assign this drive as the primary write target for high-channel continuous NVR recording; use it for the read/replay tier, OS volume, or metadata index — and place your write-heavy recording streams on a higher-endurance drive.

This drive is the right spec for an HPE ProLiant-based NVR or video archive node where the dominant operation is retrieving and serving recorded footage rather than ingesting it — a read-heavy surveillance replay server with 8–16 cameras writing to a separate higher-endurance tier is exactly the deployment scenario this SSD was engineered for.