Lenovo Thinksystem 430-16E Sas/sata 12GB HBA - 7Y37A01091

Lenovo 7Y37A01091 ThinkSystem 430-16E 16-Port 12Gb SAS/SATA HBA

Overview

The Lenovo ThinkSystem 430-16E (part number 7Y37A01091) is a 16-port, 12Gb SAS/SATA host bus adapter built for direct-attached storage expansion in ThinkSystem servers. Powered by the LSI SAS3416 controller and connecting via PCIe 3.0 x8, it addresses the bandwidth and port-count demands of dense storage configurations — disk enclosures packed with HDDs, SSDs, or SEDs behind a single adapter without the overhead of a RAID controller. Because it carries no RAID levels and no cache, the storage stack stays simple: JBOD mode passes drives directly to the OS or software-defined storage layer, avoiding the complexity and failure modes of hardware RAID. With support for up to 1,024 attached devices, a single 7Y37A01091 can fan out through SAS expanders to cover large enclosure deployments without daisy-chaining multiple HBAs.

Compatibility

The 430-16E is designed for Lenovo ThinkSystem servers, specifically confirmed for the SR250. Compatible storage expansion enclosures include the Lenovo Storage D1212 (4587HC1, 2U/12x LFF), D1224 (4587HC2, 2U/24x SFF), D3284 (6413HC1, 5U/84x LFF), and the ThinkSystem D4390 Direct Attached Storage (7DAHCTO1WW, 4U/90x LFF). On the tape side, it supports IBM TS2260/2270/2280/2290 tape drives, TS2900 Tape Autloaders (LTO6 through LTO9), and TS4300 Tape Library base and expansion units via SAS. Drive types supported include HDD, SSD, and SED (self-encrypting drives, noted with OS-level support dependency). OS compatibility is confirmed for Microsoft Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022; Windows Server 2012 R2 is not supported on this adapter. The four Mini-SAS HD SFF-8644 external connectors are the physical interface to all downstream enclosures — verify your target enclosure's cable type before ordering.

Installation Notes

This is a PCIe 3.0 x8 add-in card; install it in a compatible x8 or x16 mechanical slot in the target ThinkSystem server. All four SFF-8644 ports are external-facing, making this card exclusively suited for direct-attached external enclosure expansion rather than internal backplane connection. SED support requires OS-level management — the adapter itself does not enforce encryption, so factor this into your security architecture if deploying self-encrypting drives.