HPE Q2R42A 2.4TB SAS 10K MSA HDD: Specs and Array Tiering
An MSA storage array does not have one drive requirement, it has two. The capacity tier and the performance tier take different drives, and putting the wrong one in the wrong tier is a slower, more expensive mistake than simply buying the wrong part.
The HPE Q2R42A is a 2.4TB SAS 12Gb/s 10K 2.5-inch drive, and it sits in the performance tier of an MSA rather than the capacity tier.
2.4TB at 10K: an unusually large performance drive
Performance-tier drives are traditionally small. 300GB and 600GB at 10K or 15K were the norm for years, because IOPS scale with spindle count and capacity was not the point.
2.4TB changes that arithmetic. It is a 10K drive with capacity approaching what nearline drives offered not long ago, and it exists because storage arrays increasingly need volumes that are both reasonably fast and reasonably large — virtual machine datastores, mid-sized databases, active file shares that are too busy for nearline but too big for a tray of 600GB drives.
The trade-off remains real. A 15K drive still seeks faster for the most latency-critical work, and a nearline drive still costs far less per terabyte. 2.4TB at 10K is the middle path, and the middle path is what most mixed workloads actually need.
Q2R42A specifications
| Part Number | Q2R42A |
| Manufacturer | HPE |
| Platform | MSA Storage Array |
| Capacity | 2.4TB |
| Interface | SAS 12Gb/s |
| Rotational Speed | 10,000 RPM |
| Form Factor | 2.5 inch SFF |
| Drive Class | Enterprise Performance |
| Condition | Refurbished, function-tested |
| Warranty | 30-day TechSellerUSA warranty |
MSA drives are not ProLiant drives
This catches people often enough that it is worth stating plainly: HPE maintains two separate drive catalogues, and they do not cross over.
ProLiant server drives ship in Smart Carrier trays with firmware validated by Smart Array controllers, and populate the internal bays of a rack or tower server.
MSA array drives carry firmware written for the MSA storage controller, which manages the array as shared storage rather than as internal server storage. The controller checks that firmware and rejects drives that do not carry it.
A ProLiant drive of identical capacity, interface and speed will be reported as unsupported by an MSA. The part numbers differ, and buying by specification alone without checking which catalogue the part comes from is how an expensive drive ends up unusable.
The N9X07A guide covers the MSA capacity tier, and the P20077-001 guide covers ProLiant server drives.
SKU: Q2R42A | Refurbished & function-tested | 30-day warranty
View Details & Request a Quote →Tiering an MSA properly
The whole point of a tiered array is putting frequently accessed data on fast media and everything else on capacity media. Two mistakes undermine that.
Filling the array with one tier. Populating entirely with capacity drives to save money means transactional volumes run on 7200 RPM spindles, and performance complaints follow. Populating entirely with performance drives means paying enterprise prices for archive data.
Building disk groups from mixed drives. A disk group expects uniform drive characteristics. Mixing capacities wastes the excess on larger drives, and mixing spindle speeds degrades the group to the slowest member. Each group should be one drive type; the tiering happens between groups, not within them.
Practically: build performance disk groups from drives like this one, capacity disk groups from midline drives, and let the array move data between them.
SFF bays and expansion planning
Small-form-factor MSA enclosures take 2.5-inch drives only. LFF enclosures take 3.5-inch. The two are not interchangeable, and this constrains what you can add later.
If your controller is attached to SFF enclosures and you need bulk capacity, you cannot simply order 3.5-inch nearline drives — you need SFF drives, which carry a premium per terabyte. Adding an LFF expansion enclosure is the alternative, and the number of enclosures a controller generation supports is fixed.
Check both before planning an expansion around a drive count. Getting this wrong means buying drives that physically cannot go where you intended.
Spares on shared storage
An MSA typically serves several hosts, which raises the stakes on a failure. A failed drive in a server affects that server; a failed drive in a shared array affects everything attached to it.
Configure a global spare within the array so a rebuild starts automatically rather than waiting for someone to notice. Then hold a physical spare of each drive type, so full protection is restored quickly once the global spare is consumed.
Ordering
We supply the Q2R42A refurbished and function-tested with a 30-day warranty, single spares or in volume. If you are unsure whether you need an MSA drive or a ProLiant server drive, send us the array or server model and we will confirm first. Browse the full HPE range or our complete enterprise hard drives catalogue.
Common questions
Can I use a ProLiant server drive in an MSA?
No. MSA controllers expect array-specific firmware and will report a standard ProLiant server disk as unsupported, even at identical capacity, interface and speed. HPE maintains two separate drive catalogues with different part numbers.
Why is 2.4TB unusual for a 10K drive?
Performance-tier drives were traditionally small — 300GB and 600GB — because IOPS scale with spindle count rather than capacity. 2.4TB at 10K exists because arrays increasingly need volumes that are both reasonably fast and reasonably large, such as VM datastores and active file shares.
Can I mix this with capacity drives in one disk group?
No. A disk group expects uniform drive characteristics: mixing capacities wastes the excess on larger drives, and mixing spindle speeds degrades the group to the slowest member. Tiering happens between disk groups, not within them.
Can I add 3.5-inch drives to an SFF MSA enclosure?
No. SFF enclosures take 2.5-inch drives only. Adding bulk capacity means either SFF drives at a premium per terabyte, or an LFF expansion enclosure — and the number of enclosures a controller generation supports is fixed, so check before planning.
How many spares should a shared array have?
Both a configured global spare and a physical one. The global spare lets a rebuild start automatically rather than waiting for someone to notice; the physical spare restores full protection once the global spare is consumed. Shared storage affects every attached host, so the stakes are higher than on a single server.
Send us your MSA model and disk group layout and we will confirm the correct part and tier before quoting.
