IBM 4TB 7.2K RPM 6Gb/s 3.5" SATA internal hard drive with caddy

4 TB nearline SATA drive for System x servers

This 4 TB 7.2K RPM SATA drive ships with an IBM System x caddy for direct hot-swap insertion into compatible 3.5 inch bays. It targets administrators who need high-capacity nearline storage in existing System x chassis without sourcing a separate tray. The 6 Gb/s interface matches the backplane speed of supported generations. Buyers who want more storage per bay or a different form factor cannot use this drive.

Upgrade from smaller nearline SATA drives

Replacing a 2 TB or 3 TB 7.2K RPM SATA nearline drive with this 4 TB unit doubles or triples raw capacity while keeping the same rotational speed and interface. The jump is worth it when the array controller and backplane already support 4 TB LUNs and the workload tolerates nearline latency. Systems limited to 2 TB maximum drive size or lacking 6 Gb/s backplane support will not benefit.

Hot-swap caddy simplifies installation

The included IBM System x caddy aligns with the server’s drive bay guides so the drive slides in and locks without tools. Most installation issues arise when the backplane firmware does not recognise 4 TB drives or when the RAID controller requires a firmware update before presenting the new volume. Verifying controller compatibility before insertion avoids a drive that spins up but remains invisible to the operating system.