top of page
Is Your Drive Bay or Hard Drive Simply the Wrong Size?
The two most common hard drive sizes are 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch. 1.8-inch hard drives are also available for some server models. That’s the physical size of the drive – how big they are when you hold them in your hands, not their internal capacity. When you pick up a Dell brochure and see “8 x 2.5-inch bay,” that means that server can hold eight 2.5-inch hard drives. So, don’t try to install 3.5-inch hard drives.
The capacity of the hard drives depends on the available server space and how much capacity you actually need. Why are you installing new hard drives to your server in the first place? What are you using them for? That’s one of the main things you should consider when determining hard drive capacity.
Now, it’s important to note that the same server model can be configured in a variety of ways. Take a look at this table. A Dell PowerEdge R730 can have eight 2.5-inch drive bays or 16 2.5-inch drive bays, or, you can order that same server to fit eight 3.5-inch drives. You can use these variations to your advantage to suit your individual size needs.
Understanding Hard Drive Indicator Codes
Help! Why is my hard drive indicator light switching from green to amber?
Each hard drive carrier has an activity indicator and a status indicator to provide information about the current status of the hard drive. The activity LED indicates whether or not the drive is currently in use, while the status LED indicates the condition of the hard drive.
NOTE: The drive status indicator will remain off until all hard drives are initialized after the system is turned on. Drives are not ready for insertion or removal during this time.
bottom of page