Lenovo 4XB7A76942 ST50 3.5 S4520 960GB RI SATA NHS

Lenovo 4XB7A76942 960GB 3.5" SATA Read-Intensive SSD for ThinkSystem ST50

Overview

The Lenovo 4XB7A76942 is a 960GB 3.5-inch SATA solid-state drive built specifically for Lenovo ThinkSystem ST50 tower servers running read-heavy workloads — think NVR storage backends, surveillance archive nodes, or light-duty database read replicas where sequential and random read performance matter more than write endurance. At 0.90 lb and drawing a maximum of 3W, it fits the ST50's low-footprint profile without stressing the power budget. This is a No Hot-Swap (NHS) drive, which means planned maintenance windows rather than live pulls — size your deployment and spare strategy accordingly.

Key Features

• 960GB 3D TLC NAND: Three-dimensional TLC NAND stacks more cells vertically, delivering higher capacity in a standard 3.5-inch bay while keeping cost-per-gigabyte manageable for archive and read-intensive applications. For a 24/7 surveillance storage node, 960GB per bay is a practical retention tier without moving to nearline HDDs.
• 90,000 Random Read IOPS (4KB): At 90K read IOPS, this drive handles simultaneous stream retrieval well above what spinning disks can deliver. In a multi-camera NVR scenario with concurrent live-view and archive-retrieval requests, that read headroom prevents the latency spikes you see when HDDs contend for heads.
• 43,000 Random Write IOPS (4KB): Write IOPS are intentionally lower than read — this is a read-intensive (RI) class drive. If your workload is write-heavy (continuous high-bitrate ingest across many channels), look at a mixed-use or write-intensive variant instead. For periodic archive writes with frequent reads, 43K write IOPS is sufficient.
• 36 µs Read and Write Latency: Sub-millisecond latency on both read and write paths means the OS and application layer see near-instantaneous responses. In storage appliances where multiple software processes queue I/O simultaneously, this keeps tail latency low and application responsiveness consistent.
• Hardware Encryption: The drive includes hardware-based encryption, keeping data-at-rest protection off the CPU. For deployments in regulated environments or facilities requiring evidence-grade data security, hardware encryption eliminates the performance penalty of software encryption and simplifies key management at the storage layer.
• S.M.A.R.T. Support: Standard S.M.A.R.T. reporting integrates with Lenovo XClarity and third-party server management tools, giving you predictive health data before a failure occurs — critical for always-on surveillance storage where unplanned downtime means lost footage.
• SATA Interface: SATA connectivity ensures broad compatibility within the ST50 platform and straightforward integration with existing SATA controllers — no HBA or NVMe infrastructure required.
• 3W Maximum Power Draw: At under 3W peak, this drive contributes negligibly to the ST50's thermal and electrical load. In a dense rack or a low-cooling server room environment, that matters — HDDs in the same capacity range can consume 4–6W each under load.
• Operating Temperature 0–70°C: A 0–70°C operating range accommodates typical server room and light industrial environments. This is a standard commercial-grade temperature spec — not extended-range. If your installation space runs hot or cold beyond this envelope, verify ambient conditions before deploying.

Integration and Compatibility

The 4XB7A76942 is qualified for the Lenovo ThinkSystem ST50 server platform. The NHS (No Hot-Swap) designation means the server must be powered down to swap or add this drive — plan bay population at initial deployment to avoid unplanned downtime. The SATA interface pairs with the ST50's onboard SATA controller directly. Hardware encryption support should be validated against your key management and compliance framework before deployment; confirm your server firmware and management stack support the encryption mode you intend to use.

For organizations building out Lenovo server storage configurations or expanding storage in existing network video recorders and surveillance archiving nodes, this drive fits the read-intensive tier. Pairing it with a server storage planning guide helps right-size capacity and IOPS for your channel count and retention window. If you are also specifying the host platform, review servers and workstations to confirm the ST50 bay count and controller specs before ordering drive quantities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is the Lenovo 4XB7A76942 a hot-swap drive?

A: No. The 4XB7A76942 carries an NHS (No Hot-Swap) designation, meaning the ThinkSystem ST50 server must be fully powered down before installing or removing this drive. Plan bay population at initial deployment to avoid forced maintenance windows later.

Q: What workloads is the 4XB7A76942 optimized for?

A: This is a Read-Intensive (RI) class SSD, optimized for workloads where reads significantly outnumber writes — surveillance footage retrieval, archive playback, read-heavy databases, or content delivery nodes. It delivers 90,000 random read IOPS but only 43,000 random write IOPS; write-heavy continuous-ingest applications should use a mixed-use or write-intensive drive class instead.

Q: Does the 4XB7A76942 support hardware encryption?

A: Yes. The drive includes hardware-based encryption, keeping data-at-rest protection at the drive level without taxing the server CPU. Verify that your Lenovo ThinkSystem ST50 firmware and management stack support the encryption mode required by your security policy before relying on this feature.

Q: What is the operating temperature range for this drive?

A: The 4XB7A76942 operates from 0°C to 70°C (32°F to 158°F) with 5–95% relative humidity (non-condensing). This is a standard commercial-grade envelope — confirm your server room ambient temperature stays within this range, particularly in warmer or poorly ventilated installations.

Q: What interface does the 4XB7A76942 use?

A: SATA. No HBA, NVMe controller, or special cabling is required beyond the standard SATA data and power connections already present in the ThinkSystem ST50 drive bays.

Q: How does S.M.A.R.T. support work on this drive?

A: The drive exposes standard S.M.A.R.T. health and diagnostic attributes readable by Lenovo XClarity Administrator, XClarity Controller, and compatible third-party server monitoring tools. This gives administrators predictive failure data — wear indicators, reallocated sector counts, temperature history — before a drive fails, enabling planned replacement rather than emergency response.

Marty Allison

The 4XB7A76942 is a straightforward storage decision when you are already committed to the ThinkSystem ST50 platform — 960GB of 3D TLC NAND at 90,000 read IOPS and 36 µs read latency covers the retrieval performance profile you need for surveillance archive and light read-heavy workloads without overbuying into an NVMe-tier drive you do not need in this chassis.

Technical Highlights:

• 90K Read IOPS / 36 µs Latency: For concurrent multi-stream footage retrieval — say, 8–16 camera channels pulling archived video simultaneously — this read profile keeps playback responsive where an HDD would serialize and stall.
• Hardware Encryption: Offloads data-at-rest protection to the drive controller, leaving ST50 CPU cycles free for application workloads. Relevant for physical security deployments where evidence chain-of-custody or compliance mandates encrypted storage.
• 3W Max Power: Compared to surveillance HDDs drawing 4–6W under seek load, this drive's 3W ceiling reduces thermal output per bay — useful in the ST50's compact tower form factor where airflow is limited relative to rackmount chassis.

Deployment Considerations:

• NHS (No Hot-Swap) means this drive cannot be swapped live — the ST50 must be powered down. For high-availability surveillance storage requirements, either pre-populate all intended bays at commissioning or schedule maintenance windows for any future expansion.
• The RI (Read-Intensive) endurance rating means this drive is not spec'd for continuous high-bitrate write workloads. If you are running dense camera counts with high-bitrate ingest writing constantly to this drive, verify your write workload stays within the RI endurance envelope — otherwise specify a mixed-use SSD class.

Best fit for a ThinkSystem ST50 deployed as a dedicated NVR archive node or a surveillance footage retrieval server — scenarios where read performance and low power draw matter more than write endurance, and where NHS is acceptable because the system is maintained on a planned schedule.