The HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen10 8-Bay 2.5" is the mainstream 1U SFF configuration in the Gen10 lineup and the most-deployed DL360 variant across HPE customer sites. Eight 2.5" SAS/SATA hot-swap bays, dual-socket Intel Xeon Scalable (Skylake-SP or Cascade Lake-SP), 24 DDR4 DIMM slots, iLO 5 with Silicon Root of Trust, and the same Smart Array storage controller family as the rest of the Gen10 line. For virtualization hosts, application servers, scale-out compute nodes, and most workloads where 8 SFF bays cover the storage design, this is the standard 1U HPE pick - and almost always the right one over the 10-Bay variant.

This is the sibling page to the DL360 Gen10 10-Bay 2.5" canonical. The full platform vocabulary - Purley socket support, memory architecture, controller comparisons, iLO 5 details, FlexibleLOM networking, GPU constraints, generational positioning - lives on that page and applies identically here. This page focuses on what's specific to the 8-Bay configuration: when it's the right pick, how the bay count maps to common workloads, and the cost-versus-flexibility tradeoff against the 10-Bay.

To configure a build, call 1-800-778-1545 or use the quote form below. Every refurbished unit ships under our 180-day warranty with 12+ hour burn-in testing, and volume pricing starts at 5 units.

Why the 8-Bay Is the Right Default

Eight 2.5" SFF bays in 1U is the configuration HPE built the DL360 around. The 10-Bay is a density variant for specific workloads where two extra bays measurably change the cluster math; the 8-Bay is the version that fits the bulk of real-world 1U deployments. If you're not running Ceph at scale, vSAN with two disk groups per host, or a distributed database that genuinely wants 10 drives per node, the 8-Bay covers your storage design with no compromise.

The cost difference is modest but real - the 10-Bay backplane and additional drive cage carry a premium, plus two more drives in your bill of materials if you're filling the bays. For a virtualization host running 4-6 SSDs for local datastore plus an M.2 boot device, the 8-Bay is the right answer. For an application server with 2-4 SSDs and primary data on SAN, the 8-Bay has surplus capacity. The 10-Bay earns its premium when the extra bays land in a specific cluster math problem; the 8-Bay wins everywhere else.

Bay-count map for common 8-Bay deployments:

• vSphere host with local SSD datastore: 2 drives RAID 1 for OS + 4-6 SSDs RAID 10 for datastore, 0-2 bays held back for spares. Comfortable fit.
• Hyper-V cluster node with CSV on iSCSI/FC: 2 drives RAID 1 for OS + 4 SSDs for Hyper-V Replica or Cluster Shared Storage cache, remaining bays unused or M.2 boot frees all 8 bays for data. Plenty of room.
• Kubernetes worker with local PV provisioning: M.2 boot + 4-8 SSDs for CSI-attached persistent volumes. Bays scale with the per-node PV workload.
• vSAN single-disk-group host: 1 cache SSD + 4-7 capacity drives is a single vSAN disk group, perfectly served by 8 bays. Two disk groups per host pushes you toward the 10-Bay, which is exactly why the 10-Bay exists.
• Application server with local SSD storage: 2 drives RAID 1 OS + 2-4 SSDs for application/log volumes. 8 bays is more than enough.
• Veeam proxy or distributed component: 2 drives RAID 1 + 2-4 SSDs for staging or cache. Typical proxy build fits cleanly in 8 bays.

Storage and Controllers

Eight 2.5" SAS/SATA hot-swap bays on the standard backplane. SAS SSDs, SATA SSDs, SAS HDDs at 10K and 15K, and NL-SAS SFF drives are all supported. Controller options are the full Smart Array Gen10 family covered on the 10-Bay canonical page: P408i-a SR (2 GB FBWC, mainstream production controller), P816i-a SR (4 GB FBWC, write-heavy or tri-mode requirements), E208i-a SR (HBA mode for vSAN, Ceph, S2D, ZFS), and S100i SR (software RAID, boot-only).

For 8-Bay deployments specifically, the P408i-a is the right controller in 90%+ of cases. Its 2 GB FBWC is sized appropriately for the I/O patterns 8 SFF drives produce in a 1U chassis. The P816i-a's larger cache earns its place at higher drive counts (16+ bays in the DL380 platform) where cache pressure becomes a real bottleneck; in the 1U 8-Bay envelope, the P408i-a almost always covers the working set. The E208i-a HBA is the right pick for any software-defined storage workload, and S100i should only be used for OS boot mirroring when no Smart Array P-series is in the build.

FBWC battery is a wear item with roughly 5-year service life - same caveat that applies to every P-series Smart Array, documented on the canonical page and disclosed on every build quote.

Boot Drive Options

HPE M.2 enablement kit is the cleanest boot solution on the DL360 Gen10 8-Bay. It mounts in a PCIe slot, takes a SATA M.2 drive (typically 480 GB), and frees all 8 SFF bays for data. Strongly recommended when you're using all 8 bays for the workload's data tier.

Alternative: 2x SFF SAS or SATA SSDs in two of the 8 bays under hardware RAID 1, consuming 2 bays for OS. This is the right approach when the M.2 kit isn't available or when you're not using all 8 bays for data and don't mind giving up two of them for OS mirroring. For a build with 4-6 data drives, the 2-bay OS mirror is perfectly reasonable.

HPE NS204i-p (the dedicated dual-NVMe M.2 boot device) is a Gen10 Plus and Gen11 feature, not a Gen10 option. If you need NVMe boot specifically on Gen10, it's via the M.2 enablement kit (SATA M.2) or via a PCIe-attached NVMe drive routed to a specific bay - not via NS204i-p.

Processors, Memory, and Networking

Same as the canonical: dual-socket LGA 3647 Purley platform, 1st Gen and 2nd Gen Xeon Scalable drop-in compatible, 24 DDR4 DIMM slots, DDR4-2933 on Gold 6200/5222 (DDR4-2666 on the rest), up to 1.5 TB RDIMM or 3 TB LRDIMM dual-socket, HPE Smart Memory required for rated speed operation. The full processor and memory documentation lives on the 10-Bay canonical page.

Networking: HPE FlexibleLOM mezzanine slot (does not consume PCIe) for the primary network interface, 3 PCIe Gen3 slots in the standard riser configuration for HBAs, additional NICs, or up to two single-width T4-class GPUs. The 1U PCIe constraint is the same as the 10-Bay; the bay-count difference doesn't change the PCIe layout.

The 8-Bay vs. 10-Bay Decision

Three questions decide it:

1. Does your storage design fit in 8 bays? If yes - and for most virtualization, application, and compute-primary deployments, yes - the 8-Bay is the right choice. The 10-Bay's premium isn't justified.
2. Are you running vSAN with two disk groups per host, or Ceph at 10 OSDs per 1U? If yes, the 10-Bay's two extra bays land in a specific cluster math problem. Take the 10-Bay.
3. Is the per-node data-drive count in your design 9 or 10? This usually means a distributed database or storage workload with explicit 1U density requirements. Take the 10-Bay.

If the answer to all three is no, the 8-Bay is the cleaner pick. Same processors, same memory, same management, same controllers - just two fewer bays and a slightly lower price.

Workload Fit

Honest Limitations

Same generational caveats as the rest of the DL360 Gen10 family: PCIe Gen3 (modern Gen4 NVMe runs at half rated bandwidth), DDR4-2933 maximum memory speed (Ice Lake-SP and Sapphire Rapids beat it), 1U thermal envelope constrains top-bin Platinum CPUs, FBWC battery is a wear item, iLO Advanced licensing is typically separate on refurbished units, HPE Smart Memory required for rated DIMM speed. The 10-Bay canonical covers each of these in detail. Same platform, same generation, same constraints - the only thing that changes between 8-Bay and 10-Bay is the bay count itself.

Where to Look Instead

• Need 10 SFF bays at 1U density? → DL360 Gen10 10-Bay 2.5" (canonical)
• Need LFF drives in 1U? → DL360 Gen10 4-Bay 3.5"
• Need more PCIe slots, more bays, or GPU compute? → DL380 Gen10 16-Bay 2.5"
• Dell shop alternative? → Dell PowerEdge R640 8-Bay 2.5" - architectural counterpart on the Dell side

Ready to Configure?

Tell us the workload, CPU SKU preference (or per-socket core count and clock target), memory capacity, storage configuration including controller preference, network topology and FlexibleLOM choice, and quantity. We respond within 24 hours, every refurbished unit ships with the 180-day warranty and 12+ hour burn-in, and volume pricing starts at 5 units. Call 1-800-778-1545 or use the quote form below.