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Third party hard drives and HP's server warranties

Tags:
  • Hardware
  • Hewlett Packard
  • Hard Drives
  • Servers
  • Business Computing
Last response: in Business Computing
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March 22, 2013 9:06:34 AM

I'm looking into buying a Proliant ML310 G8 server. I was previously set on a Fujitsu TX100, but the lack of hot plug eventually stopped me.

Thing is, brand specific hot plug hard drives seem like a rip-off, and I'm therefore considering buying third party hot plug caddies and using hard drives from WD or Seagate's enterprise lines. Before I do anything of the sort, however, I want to be clear on what that means for the server warranty.

HP has this to say on the matter:

Quote:
Q17. Will my warranty be affected if I install a non-HP upgrade/option in my HP product ?

HP warranty extends only to HP products and options. If you install a non-HP option into your HP product and this option then fails, you must contact the supplier for warranty cover on that item.

The warranty on your HP product will not be affected by the installation of a non-HP upgrade/option unless your HP product is damaged as a result of installation and/or operation of a third party option, such damage will not be covered by HP warranty.

If your HP product is not operating correctly, you may be asked to verify that any non-HP option is not responsible for the problem be uninstalling any such items.

(source: http://h40059.www4.hp.com/warranty/information/faq.php#... )

This makes it seem like it wouldn't be an issue -- since the warranty on the third party drives is longer than HP's anyway. But I can't help but wonder what HP thinks constitutes a cause, especially considering how much they must dislike third party caddies. I also wonder whether this applies for the three year HP Carepack (product no. U6F61E) as well, as that doesn't necessarily constitute a warranty. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Also, IF a third party drive and/or caddy voids the warranty/carepack, does the machine log any such usage so HP technicians will be able to tell?

More about : party hard drives server warranties

March 22, 2013 8:38:27 PM

I think you should ask HP.

Basically, they want you to pay for their upgrades. To discourage you from using cheaper third party options, they say it will void your warranty if you use Seagate/WD/etc.

However, there is good reason for this. HP will guarantee their products will work with their systems and will cover them under the warranty.

Often it comes down to two options: do it cheaper with third party stuff, or spend the money and be covered under the HP service plan.

You may think if the third party drive fails, you will just get it replaced from that manufacturer. But what if your system fails, and you were using a third party drive? That could be an issue on your warranty claims. Something to think about...
March 23, 2013 6:11:18 AM

tigerg said:
I think you should ask HP.

Haven't been able to find a phone number for asking them about these things. Would appreciate if anyone could point me there.


tigerg said:
However, there is good reason for this. HP will guarantee their products will work with their systems and will cover them under the warranty.

Often it comes down to two options: do it cheaper with third party stuff, or spend the money and be covered under the HP service plan.

See, that's the thing. The HP service plan doesn't cover the hard drives. Just the basic one year warranty, which is a pretty terrible deal, I think. The cheaper third party drives have much better coverage at five years.

tigerg said:
You may think if the third party drive fails, you will just get it replaced from that manufacturer. But what if your system fails, and you were using a third party drive? That could be an issue on your warranty claims. Something to think about...

I am thinking about it. It's why I started this thread, after all :p 
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March 23, 2013 7:02:05 AM

With the Gen8 servers, this is all moot really, as there are no third party vendors for the hard drive caddies currently. Gen8 servers require the new smartdrive caddy which has a built-in firmware component that also works with a modified firmware on the HP hard drives. This means that non-HP hard drives can technically fit in the smartdrive caddy, but they are not recognized as HP drives and you will get a warning message about it in your BIOS boot up screen. However, a third party hard drive will still continue to work on your server.

From my discussions with HP, they don't really have a problem warranty-wise with using a third-party hard drive. In fact, their hard drives are all third party and just re-branded to HP with a slightly customized controller firmware. The difference is 1) you have a hard drive that is guaranteed to work in your HP server by going with their hard drives, and 2) they no longer have options out there to buy just the smartdrive caddy alone and add your own hard drive. And if anyone out there can find me a place to order just the smartdrive caddy for Gen8 servers please let me know!!!
March 23, 2013 6:01:06 PM

choucove said:
With the Gen8 servers, this is all moot really, as there are no third party vendors for the hard drive caddies currently. Gen8 servers require the new smartdrive caddy which has a built-in firmware component that also works with a modified firmware on the HP hard drives. This means that non-HP hard drives can technically fit in the smartdrive caddy, but they are not recognized as HP drives and you will get a warning message about it in your BIOS boot up screen. However, a third party hard drive will still continue to work on your server.

From my discussions with HP, they don't really have a problem warranty-wise with using a third-party hard drive. In fact, their hard drives are all third party and just re-branded to HP with a slightly customized controller firmware. The difference is 1) you have a hard drive that is guaranteed to work in your HP server by going with their hard drives, and 2) they no longer have options out there to buy just the smartdrive caddy alone and add your own hard drive. And if anyone out there can find me a place to order just the smartdrive caddy for Gen8 servers please let me know!!!


http://www.servercaddies.co.uk/hp-hard-drive-caddies/HP... :) 

Struggling to find 3.5" ones, however, so I too would appreciate some pointers on this.

Update: I contacted the site linked above and they told me they expected to have 3.5" G8 caddies in stock late next week. I will wait for those before I make my decision, but I'm leaning towards going with the third party components.
March 25, 2013 6:51:36 AM

Explodingpens, THANK YOU very much for finding this information for me! I have not even been able to find part numbers listed anywhere, but it looks like finally these caddies are starting to appear at a couple different places. We have been looking into some servers for some customers, and previously the cheapest option was using two 300 GB 10k SAS drives in RAID1 for the host OS. But all these systems need is about 30-40 GB, and they're going to be running VMs off of another server, so there's no critical need for the storage capacity, so I can instead now suggest as an alternative a couple Intel SSDs in the 60 - 80 GB capacity at much less cost.
May 7, 2013 4:25:40 PM

Explodingpens, what did you end doing in this situation? I have hard drives I want to use that aren't HP branded, and I just want to make sure that when I order a non-hot plug server I'll have the parts I need. Seeing as you did this recently, I thought I would see if you had any feed back.

Thanks
August 9, 2013 10:37:41 AM

hoserking said:
Explodingpens, what did you end doing in this situation? I have hard drives I want to use that aren't HP branded, and I just want to make sure that when I order a non-hot plug server I'll have the parts I need. Seeing as you did this recently, I thought I would see if you had any feed back.

Thanks


August 9, 2013 10:39:43 AM

Hoserking. Just read your inquiry from March. Check out Axiom for those OEM Alternative/3rd Party drives for HP Gen8. The Gen8 storage solutions are available. in 2.5" and believe 3.5" is being released soon.
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