HPE MSA 2060 SFF 2X16GB FC 4-PORT Controller Storage Array - P89060-B25

HPE P89060-B25 MSA 2060 SFF Dual 16Gb Fibre Channel Controller Storage Array

Overview

The HPE MSA 2060 SFF is a 2U rack-mount storage array engineered for SAN environments where Fibre Channel connectivity, dense SFF drive capacity, and straightforward scalability are the primary requirements. The P89060-B25 ships with two 16 Gb Fibre Channel controllers — four ports each, eight FC ports total — making it a practical anchor for mid-range block storage in virtualized data centers, enterprise branch deployments, and workloads running on Windows Server, VMware, or Red Hat Linux. If you are evaluating SAN arrays in the MSA family and need FC (rather than iSCSI), this is the controller configuration to start with.

The base array supports up to 24 SFF drives — HDDs, SSDs, or a mix — and the 2U chassis keeps rack density manageable. Where the platform earns its keep is in the expansion story: add up to nine additional enclosures (24-drive SFF or 12-drive LFF, in any combination) and the usable capacity scales to 7.37 PB. That ceiling is high enough to grow with most mid-market storage plans without a forklift upgrade, which is the practical case for choosing a modular platform over a fixed-capacity appliance.

Key Features

• Dual 16 Gb FC Controllers, 4 Ports Each (8 Total): Both controllers are active simultaneously, so you get redundancy without sacrificing throughput. Eight FC ports total means you can connect multiple hosts or divide fabric paths without an external FC switch bottleneck at smaller site counts. Dual-controller architecture also means a single controller failure does not take the array offline — critical for any storage tier running production workloads.
• Up to 24 SFF Drives Per Base Array: The base 2U chassis houses up to 24 Small Form Factor drives, letting you maximize spindle count or flash density in a minimal footprint. Mixed HDD/SSD configurations allow tiered storage within a single chassis — frequently accessed data on flash, archive or bulk data on HDDs — without adding shelves until you genuinely need the capacity.
• Scale to 7.37 PB with Up to 9 Expansion Enclosures: The MSA 2060 supports up to nine additional drive enclosures in any combination of 24-drive SFF (2060 SFF) or 12-drive LFF (2060 LFF) shelves. Starting small and expanding incrementally means capital is spent as capacity is actually consumed, not pre-provisioned against a theoretical future peak. A 7.37 PB ceiling (all-SFF drive mix) covers most mid-range storage growth roadmaps over a 3–5 year planning horizon.
• Broad OS and Hypervisor Compatibility: The P89060-B25 is validated for Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022, VMware vSphere 6.7, Red Hat Linux 8, and SUSE SLES 15. This covers the dominant enterprise hypervisor and OS combinations in production today. For edge cases or later OS versions, HPE SPOCK is the authoritative compatibility matrix — always check it before adding a new host to an existing MSA fabric.
• 2U Rack Form Factor: At 3.5 × 17.5 × 20.0 inches, the base array fits a standard 2U rack slot. Depth at 20 inches is typical for mid-range SAN arrays and compatible with most enterprise rack enclosures, though you should verify rear-clearance requirements before finalizing rack layout in space-constrained deployments.
• SFF Drive Flexibility — HDD and SSD Mix Supported: Supporting both spinning HDDs and solid-state SSDs in the same chassis, the MSA 2060 does not force a storage-tier decision at purchase time. Capacity drives can be added as HDDs for cost-per-TB efficiency; performance-critical LUNs can be served from SSD. This flexibility makes the platform practical across a wider range of workload profiles than a flash-only or spinning-only array.

Integration & Compatibility

The HPE MSA storage line integrates with leading enterprise operating environments. Confirmed OS compatibility for the P89060-B25 (often searched as P89060 B25) includes Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022; VMware vSphere 6.7; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; and SUSE SLES 15. HPE SPOCK should be consulted for firmware-specific host compatibility, additional OS versions, and HBA qualification details before deploying new hosts against an existing MSA fabric.

As a SAN storage array, the MSA 2060 connects to hosts over Fibre Channel fabric — plan for a compatible FC switch and qualified HBAs on the host side. The eight available FC ports across both controllers can be zoned and allocated across hosts or host groups depending on your fabric topology. For environments mixing SFF and LFF expansion, the 2060 enclosure line supports both shelf types, so a single array can serve both high-density SSD tiers and large-capacity spinning drives from the same controller pair.

If your environment is iSCSI-first rather than FC-first, the MSA 2060 family includes iSCSI controller variants — the FC controller in this SKU is not field-convertible. Confirm the connectivity requirement before purchasing. For storage networking accessories including FC switches and SFP transceivers, verify HPE-qualified part numbers against the SPOCK database to avoid interoperability issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many Fibre Channel ports does the P89060-B25 provide in total?

A: The P89060-B25 includes two 16 Gb FC controllers, each with 4 ports, for 8 FC ports total across the array. Both controllers operate simultaneously for redundancy and combined throughput.

Q: What is the maximum usable capacity of the MSA 2060 SFF array?

A: With the base chassis and up to 9 expansion enclosures (24-drive SFF or 12-drive LFF in any combination), the MSA 2060 scales to approximately 7.37 PB depending on the drive mix selected.

Q: Can I mix SFF and LFF expansion enclosures on the MSA 2060?

A: Yes. The MSA 2060 supports up to 9 additional enclosures in any combination of the 24-drive 2060 SFF enclosure and the 12-drive 2060 LFF enclosure, giving you flexibility to optimize for density or capacity per shelf.

Q: Which operating systems are validated for the P89060-B25?

A: Confirmed validated OS and hypervisor support includes Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022; VMware vSphere 6.7; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; and SUSE SLES 15. Consult HPE SPOCK for the full and up-to-date compatibility list, including later OS versions and specific HBA qualifications.

Q: Is the FC controller in this SKU convertible to iSCSI?

A: No. The P89060-B25 ships with 16 Gb Fibre Channel controllers. If your environment requires iSCSI connectivity, a separate MSA 2060 iSCSI controller SKU is the appropriate choice — the FC and iSCSI controller types are not interchangeable in the field.

Q: What are the physical dimensions of the MSA 2060 base array?

A: The base array measures 3.5 × 17.5 × 20.0 inches (H × W × D) and occupies a standard 2U rack slot.

Eden Phillips

The P89060-B25 is the FC-connected variant of the MSA 2060 SFF, and the dual-controller, 8-port-total configuration is what separates it from single-controller or iSCSI options in this price band. When I evaluate mid-range SAN deployments, the controller redundancy here — two active 16 Gb FC controllers — is the spec I point to first: it means a controller failure does not produce a storage outage, which matters on any tier running production VMs or databases.

Technical Highlights:

• 16 Gb FC, 8 Ports Total: Twice the FC bandwidth and port count of 8 Gb predecessor arrays. In a VMware environment with multiple hosts zoned across both controllers, you have enough paths to distribute I/O without over-subscribing the fabric at the array side.
• 7.37 PB Maximum Capacity: Nine expansion enclosures at full SFF density gets you to 7.37 PB — this is not a number most mid-market deployments hit on day one, but it means the array scales without a platform replacement through most 3–5 year growth cycles.
• 24 SFF Drives Per Base Chassis: The 2U base chassis packs 24 SFF bays, so you can deploy a meaningful initial capacity in a single shelf before the first expansion is added. Mixed HDD/SSD in the same chassis enables tiered storage without separate shelves.

Deployment Considerations:

• Plan your FC fabric before ordering: the eight FC ports across two controllers need qualified HBAs on each host and compatible FC switch ports. Verify HBA and switch combinations in HPE SPOCK before the array arrives on-site — post-delivery qualification issues are the most common delay on MSA FC deployments.
• The P89060-B25 is FC-only — there is no field upgrade path to iSCSI. If there is any chance your connectivity requirements will shift to Ethernet-based storage, choose the iSCSI SKU from the start or plan for a controller swap at procurement time.

This array is a strong fit for mid-size virtualization clusters — VMware vSphere 6.7 environments with 4–12 hosts — where FC is already in place and the team needs a dual-controller SAN that can grow from a starter capacity to petabyte scale without a rip-and-replace cycle.