The HPE ProLiant DL560 Gen10 8-Bay 2.5" is HPE's 4-socket flagship in the Gen10 lineup - a dense quad-socket Xeon Scalable platform in a 2U chassis (not 4U; HPE engineered the DL560 as a high-density 2U 4S server, which is one of its primary differentiators against competitors). Up to four 1st or 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, 48 DDR4 DIMM slots, 6 TB maximum memory with LRDIMMs, eight 2.5" SFF hot-swap bays, up to 8 PCIe Gen3 slots with full riser configuration, FlexibleLOM networking, iLO 5 with Silicon Root of Trust, and up to 4 HPE Flex Slot power supplies. Built for scale-up workloads that have genuinely exhausted dual-socket compute and memory headroom.

This is the HPE architectural counterpart to the Dell PowerEdge R840 - 2U 4-socket Purley on the Dell side, same generation, same workload positioning. For SAP HANA scale-up, Oracle Database Enterprise consolidation, mission-critical virtualization at extreme VM density, or Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise at maximum core-license consolidation, the DL560 Gen10 is the right HPE platform. The 8-Bay 2.5" variant is the standard configuration: maximum 4-socket compute paired with 8 SFF bays for OS, application data, and hot dataset staging, expecting primary bulk storage on SAN or distributed file systems.

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. DL560 configurations benefit from a design conversation early - workload architecture, Oracle/SAP licensing implications, power budget at 4-socket TDP, and thermal validation all matter before hardware selection.

Where the DL560 Gen10 Fits in the Family

The DL560 Gen10 is a fundamentally different platform from the DL360 and DL380. Where the DL380 Gen10 tops out at 56 cores dual-socket (28+28) and 3 TB memory, the DL560 Gen10 carries up to 112 cores across four sockets and up to 6 TB memory with LRDIMMs (12 TB with HPE Persistent Memory on L-series Cascade Lake CPUs). It is the HPE Gen10 platform for workloads that don't scale horizontally - the workloads where you need a single OS instance to see all the cores and all the memory.

Honest framing on the 4-socket decision: most enterprise workloads don't require 4-socket servers. Dual-socket platforms (DL380, DL360) handle the vast majority of virtualization, database, and application serving workloads at materially lower cost and complexity. The DL560 makes sense when:

• A specific workload requires scale-up rather than scale-out. SAP HANA on a single certified appliance. Oracle Database Enterprise where licensing economics favor fewer sockets with more cores each. Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise where per-core licensing makes a single high-core-count server cheaper than multiple smaller ones.
• The application is not horizontally scalable. Legacy enterprise applications, in-memory analytics platforms, or single-instance databases that cannot be sharded across nodes.
• Maximum single-chassis memory capacity is a genuine architectural requirement. 6 TB in a 2U chassis is meaningful when the working set has to fit in a single server's RAM.
• Per-socket Oracle/SQL licensing creates the right economics. Oracle Database Enterprise charges per physical core; a 4-socket server with 4x 24-core CPUs licenses 96 cores under one server count. Two 2-socket servers with the same cores license the same 96 cores but count as two servers - a discussion to have with your Oracle licensing team before committing to architecture.

If your workload can run across multiple dual-socket nodes without licensing penalty or architectural friction, the DL380 Gen10 is almost always more cost-efficient. The DL560 is a precision tool for specific scale-up requirements, not a default upgrade from DL380.

Storage - 8 SFF Bays

Eight 2.5" SAS/SATA/NVMe hot-swap bays in the front of the chassis (Drive Box 1). The DL560 Gen10 chassis supports field upgrades to 16 or 24 SFF via additional Drive Box 2 and Box 3 kits - if your build needs more than 8 bays, the 24-Bay variant is the right starting point rather than upgrading later. The 8-Bay configuration is correctly sized for the common 4-socket workload pattern: OS plus application binaries plus hot dataset staging, expecting primary data to live on SAN, NFS, or distributed file system.

Drive options span the full Gen10 SFF portfolio: SAS SSDs in mixed-use and read-intensive endurance tiers (480 GB through 7.68 TB), SATA SSDs for cost-optimized boot/OS roles, SAS HDDs at 10K and 15K for moderate-IOPS data, NVMe SSDs via the 6SFF+2NVMe drive cage option, and self-encrypting drive (SED) variants for compliance-regulated deployments.

Common DL560 8-Bay storage profiles in production:

• SAP HANA appliance. 2x SATA SSDs in RAID 1 for OS, 6x mixed-use SAS SSDs in RAID 10 for HANA log and shared volumes. Primary HANA data volumes mirror to external NetApp or HPE Primera storage; local SSDs handle log persistence and warm-data staging.
• Oracle Database with ASM on SAN. 2x SAS SSDs in RAID 1 for OS plus Oracle Grid Infrastructure binaries, 6 bays available for local Fast Recovery Area or archive log staging. Primary database storage on Fibre Channel or iSCSI SAN via the HPE FC HBA in PCIe expansion.
• Mission-critical VMware cluster node. 2x SSDs in RAID 1 for ESXi boot. Remaining 6 bays unused or populated for vSAN cache tier. Primary VM storage on shared SAN datastore. The DL560's 4-socket compute drives high VM density per host with the storage layer abstracted via vSphere.
• SQL Server Enterprise consolidation host. 2x SSDs in RAID 1 for OS, 2x SSDs in RAID 1 for tempdb, 4x SAS SSDs in RAID 10 for log files. Primary SQL data on SAN. The 8-bay configuration is sufficient for SQL's local-disk patterns when primary data is networked.
• Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware HCI candidate. When 8 SSDs are configured as the storage tier for a 4-socket HCI host, expect to provision high-endurance SAS SSDs and pair with an HBA-mode controller (E208i-a) rather than hardware RAID. The DL560's 4-socket compute justifies the per-node cost when extreme VM density requires fewer, larger HCI nodes.

Boot Drives

The HPE M.2 SSD enablement option mounts boot drives in a PCIe slot or on the CPU mezzanine board, freeing all 8 SFF bays for data. For DL560 production builds, M.2 boot is the recommended pattern - the 8-bay storage budget is already tight against scale-up workload patterns and consuming 2 bays for OS boot mirroring is wasteful. We include the M.2 enablement kit by default on DL560 quotes unless customer specifies otherwise.

Storage Controllers

The DL560 Gen10 supports the full Gen10 Smart Array family plus the MR-series controllers that are specific to higher-drive-count and high-IOPS workloads:

• Smart Array P408i-a SR Gen10 (2 GB FBWC). The mainstream production controller. Full hardware RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50/60, 2 GB flash-backed write cache. Right pick for the 8-bay configuration when traditional hardware RAID is the storage model. FBWC battery is a wear item with roughly 5-year service life - we disclose battery state on every quote.
• Smart Array P816i-a SR Gen10 (4 GB FBWC). Premium controller. Same RAID modes, larger cache, supports tri-mode SAS/SATA/NVMe lanes. Specify when write workload is heavy enough to pressure the 2 GB cache - common for SQL Server log files or Oracle redo logs on local storage.
• Smart Array P824i-p MR Gen10 (4 GB cache, CacheCade). MR-series controller introduced with Gen10 for high-drive-count and CacheCade-accelerated workloads. 24 internal SAS lanes, 12G SAS, CacheCade SSD acceleration for HDD pools. Relevant on the 24-Bay DL560 more than the 8-Bay; available here for builds that anticipate later expansion to 16 or 24 SFF.
• Smart Array E208i-a SR Gen10 (HBA mode). The HBA controller for software-defined storage workloads (vSAN, Ceph, ZFS, Storage Spaces Direct). No hardware RAID; clean SAS pass-through. Right pick when the storage abstraction is the hypervisor or distributed file system, not the controller.
• S100i SR Gen10 (chipset software RAID). Acceptable for OS boot mirroring; not appropriate for production data on a 4-socket platform.

The HPE Smart Storage Battery is required when any P-series performance RAID controller is installed. We include the battery in every quote that specifies a P-series controller. On a DL560 build with the P824i-p MR, confirm CacheCade SSD requirements at quote time - the MR controller's value depends on the CacheCade configuration matching the workload.

Processors and Memory

1, 2, or 4 sockets of Intel Xeon Scalable in the LGA 3647 Purley platform. The 4-socket configuration requires the HPE DL5x0 Gen10 CPU Mezzanine Board Kit (872222-B21 for 1st Gen, P07991-B21 v2 for 2nd Gen support) - this is a separate board carrying sockets 3 and 4 plus 24 additional DIMM slots. Production DL560 deployments are almost always 4-socket; 2-socket DL560 configurations exist but the platform's value proposition is the 4S scale-up. If the design only needs 2 sockets, the DL380 Gen10 is a better fit at significantly lower cost.

Both 1st Generation Intel Xeon Scalable (Skylake-SP) and 2nd Generation (Cascade Lake-SP) are supported. Mixing 1st and 2nd Generation CPUs is not supported - all installed processors must be from the same generation. Cascade Lake brings DDR4-2933 support (vs. DDR4-2666 on Skylake), HPE Persistent Memory support, and the M and L series CPUs with extended memory ceiling capability.

CPU options for production 4-socket builds:

• Gold 6230 (20 cores, 125W, DDR4-2933). Common production sweet spot - 80 cores total at 4S, manageable thermal envelope, balanced single-thread performance. Right pick for general 4-socket virtualization and database consolidation.
• Gold 6248 (20 cores, 150W, DDR4-2933). Higher base frequency than 6230 at the cost of higher TDP. 80 cores total. Good fit for Oracle and SQL Server where single-thread performance matters within the per-core licensing model.
• Gold 6248R (24 cores, 205W, DDR4-2933). 96 cores total at 4S. Higher TDP - 4x 205W in a 2U chassis is thermally aggressive and requires confirmation of inlet temperature spec and PSU sizing. We validate thermal headroom on every 6248R-class quote.
• Platinum 8280 (28 cores, 205W, DDR4-2933). 112 cores total - the maximum core count for DL560 Gen10. Same thermal considerations as 6248R. Right pick when maximum cores in a single server is the requirement, typically driven by Oracle or SQL Server licensing economics.
• Platinum 8276M / 8276L (28 cores, M/L SKUs). Extended memory ceiling - M-series enables 2 TB per socket (8 TB platform), L-series enables 4.5 TB per socket with Persistent Memory. Required for memory configurations beyond the standard 6 TB LRDIMM ceiling.

Memory: 48 DDR4 DIMM slots total - 12 per CPU across 4 sockets. Six memory channels per CPU at 2 DPC. Maximum 3 TB with 64 GB RDIMMs, 6 TB with 128 GB LRDIMMs, up to 12 TB with HPE Persistent Memory on L-series CPUs. HPE DDR4 Smart Memory required for rated speed operation - third-party DDR4 drops to DDR4-2400 regardless of CPU rated speed, same documented HPE behavior as the rest of the Gen10 line. RDIMM and LRDIMM cannot be mixed; balanced symmetric population across all populated sockets required for optimum performance.

Full 48-DIMM population at 2 DPC drops memory speed by one bin under DIMM-population rules (DDR4-2933 capable DIMMs run at DDR4-2666 at 2 DPC on supported CPUs). For maximum memory bandwidth, populate at 1 DPC (24 DIMMs total, 6 per CPU) - this is the configuration HPE recommends for SAP HANA and other bandwidth-sensitive workloads.

Networking and PCIe Expansion

FlexibleLOM mezzanine for primary networking - same architecture as the DL360 and DL380 Gen10. Networking options span 1 GbE quad-port, 10 GbE SFP+ dual or quad-port, 10 GBASE-T dual-port, 25 GbE SFP28 dual-port, and 10 GbE plus 100 GbE converged. The DL560 has FlexibleLOM standard (not via consumable riser like the DL160), and it doesn't consume any PCIe expansion slot - this is one of the platform's value points against alternatives.

PCIe expansion: up to 8 PCIe 3.0 slots maximum with primary + secondary + tertiary risers installed. The slot map depends on CPU count and riser configuration:

• Primary riser - 3 slots, always available. Standard with the chassis.
• Secondary riser - 3 slots, requires 2nd CPU populated. Standard riser kit options include x8/x8/x8 or x8/x16/x8 configurations. Slimline riser variant (873418-B21) provides NVMe slimline connections but no additional PCIe slots.
• Tertiary riser - 2 slots, requires 2nd CPU populated AND only 2 PSUs installed. The tertiary riser physically conflicts with the 3rd and 4th PSU positions - 4-PSU configurations cannot accommodate the tertiary riser. For 4-PSU builds, the maximum is 6 PCIe slots; for 2-PSU builds, the full 8 slots are available.

This PSU-vs-tertiary-riser tradeoff is specific to the DL560 chassis and matters at design time. For workloads that need both 4 PSUs (high-TDP 4-socket configurations) AND 8 PCIe slots (many adapters), the DL560 cannot deliver both - this is one of the few hard architectural limits on the platform. Most production builds prioritize the 4-PSU redundancy and accept 6 slots.

GPU support: the DL560 Gen10 supports 1-2 single-width GPU accelerators in the right riser configurations. It is not a primary GPU compute platform - if AI training or heavy GPU virtualization is the workload, the HPE Apollo or DL380 Gen10 with 2x double-width GPU is a better fit. The DL560's GPU support is for selective acceleration alongside its 4-socket CPU workload, not as a primary GPU host.

Management - iLO 5 with Silicon Root of Trust

Same iLO 5 management architecture as the rest of the Gen10 line. iLO Standard ships with the hardware on refurbished units; iLO Advanced licensing is typically a separate cost when needed for full graphical remote KVM, virtual media mounting, Active Health System telemetry, and Workload Advisor recommendations. On a 4-socket mission-critical platform, iLO Advanced is rarely optional - we'll quote it explicitly with any DL560 build.

Silicon Root of Trust is standard - the same hardware-anchored chain of trust starting from iLO 5 silicon, verifying iLO firmware, BIOS, and OS bootloader against cryptographic measurements. For SAP HANA, Oracle, and SQL Server deployments subject to compliance audit (SOC 2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP), Silicon Root of Trust delivers documented platform-attestation evidence that's required in modern compliance frameworks. This is one of the genuine value points of buying into Gen10 at the 4-socket tier.

NUMA topology visibility through iLO 5 and HPE OneView is meaningful on a 4-socket platform. Workload placement across 4 sockets is consequential - cross-socket memory access (CPU 1 reading CPU 4's memory) incurs latency penalty versus same-socket access. iLO 5 provides the topology data; the workload (hypervisor NUMA scheduling, database affinity settings, OS process binding) does the actual placement. For SAP HANA and Oracle in particular, NUMA tuning is a standard part of production deployment.

Power and Cooling

HPE Flex Slot power supplies, 1 to 4 PSUs depending on configuration. A fully-populated DL560 with 4x Gold 6248 (4x 150W = 600W CPU), 48 DDR4 DIMMs (approximately 150-200W), and 8 SAS SSDs (approximately 80W) plus fans and overhead draws approximately 1,200-1,500W sustained. With 4x Platinum 8280 at 205W each (820W CPU alone), the draw rises to approximately 1,500-1,800W sustained.

PSU sizing recommendations by configuration:

• 2x 800W Flex Slot PSU (low-TDP 4-socket). Adequate for 4x 125W CPU configurations (Gold 6230 class) with modest memory and storage. Marginal headroom; not recommended for production HA.
• 2x 1600W Flex Slot Titanium PSU (typical production). Standard production redundant configuration for most DL560 builds. 1600W PSUs require high-line input (200-240VAC) - confirm rack PDU and circuit capacity. Provides full redundancy at all common CPU configurations including 205W Platinum.
• 4x 1600W Flex Slot Titanium PSU (maximum redundancy). 2+2 redundancy at high TDP. Required when high availability and high TDP combine. Trades off the tertiary PCIe riser as discussed in the Networking section.

Power redundancy at 4-socket scale matters more than at dual-socket scale - the workloads that justify a DL560 (SAP HANA, Oracle, mission-critical SQL) are workloads where unplanned downtime has documented cost. Take the redundant PSU configuration on every production DL560 build.

Inlet temperature spec: 10°C to 35°C standard, with ASHRAE A3 (40°C) and A4 (45°C) support on selected configurations. At 4-socket high-TDP, the thermal envelope is real - confirm rack cooling and inlet temperature for the specific CPU SKU at quote time. We validate thermal configurations as part of every DL560 quote.

Where the DL560 Gen10 Fits in 2026

Same generational positioning as the rest of the Gen10 line. Launched in 2017, Cascade Lake-refreshed in 2019, two generations behind DL560 Gen11 (Sapphire Rapids / Emerald Rapids 4-socket, DDR5, 2023-2024). The platform is widely deployed in production at scale across enterprise SAP HANA, Oracle, and mission-critical virtualization deployments - HPE firmware updates continue under standard lifecycle, broad parts availability for both new and refurbished.

What's specific to the DL560 in 2026: the platform is mature, the workloads it serves haven't fundamentally changed (SAP HANA still scales up, Oracle licensing economics still favor fewer sockets with more cores, SQL Server Enterprise per-core licensing still benefits from consolidation), and the per-core acquisition cost is meaningfully lower than Gen11 for the same workload envelope. For organizations adding 4-socket capacity to existing SAP HANA, Oracle, or SQL Server consolidation deployments where standardization on Gen10 reduces operational complexity, the DL560 Gen10 8-Bay delivers genuine work at significantly reduced cost versus the Gen11 alternative.

The framework is the same as the rest of HPE Gen10: this is mature platform with one generation of headroom in front of it, deployed widely, well-understood. Not the newest, not obsolete, the right tool for specific workload patterns when budget is a meaningful design constraint.

Honest Limitations

• 4-socket configurations require the CPU Mezzanine Board Kit. This is a separate part (872222-B21 for 1st Gen, P07991-B21 for 2nd Gen support). A 2-socket DL560 without the mezzanine board is supported but rarely the right design choice - if 2 sockets are sufficient, use a DL380.
• 4x 1600W PSU and tertiary PCIe riser are mutually exclusive. Maximum 6 PCIe slots with 4 PSUs, maximum 8 PCIe slots with 2 PSUs. Production HA builds typically take 4 PSUs and accept 6 slots.
• 48 DIMM slots at 2 DPC drop memory speed by one bin. Full 48-DIMM population runs DDR4-2933 capable DIMMs at DDR4-2666. For HANA or bandwidth-sensitive workloads, populate at 1 DPC (24 DIMMs) for full speed.
• Mixing 1st and 2nd Gen Xeon Scalable not supported. All four sockets must be same-generation CPUs. This applies across the Gen10 platform and is enforced at boot.
• Same Gen10 generational caveats apply. PCIe Gen3 (not Gen4), DDR4-2933 ceiling, iLO Advanced licensing typically separate, FBWC battery as a wear item, third-party DDR4 limited to DDR4-2400 regardless of CPU. The DL380 Gen10 canonical covers these in detail and they apply identically here.
• 4-socket TDP and thermals require validation. 4x 205W Platinum in a 2U chassis is thermally aggressive. Confirm inlet temperature spec, rack cooling capacity, and rack PDU sizing before deployment. We validate thermal configurations as part of every quote.
• Not a GPU compute platform. The DL560's PCIe slot map and thermal budget are not designed for primary GPU workloads. For GPU compute, the HPE Apollo or DL380 Gen10 with double-width GPU is the right answer.

Workload Fit

Where to Look Instead

• Need 24 SFF bays for high-density local storage alongside 4-socket compute? → DL560 Gen10 24-Bay 2.5" - same 4-socket platform, 3x the SFF bay count
• Dual-socket is sufficient? → DL380 Gen10 16-Bay 2.5" - significantly lower cost and complexity at the dual-socket tier
• Dell shop alternative at the same 4-socket 2U tier? → Dell PowerEdge R840 - 2U 4-socket Purley on the Dell side, same generation, equivalent workload positioning
• Need PCIe Gen4 and DDR5 at 4-socket? → Contact us for DL560 Gen11 availability when budget allows the generational step

Ready to Configure?

DL560 configurations start with a design conversation. Tell us the workload (SAP HANA / Oracle / SQL Server / virtualization / in-memory analytics), licensing context (per-core, per-socket, ULA), CPU and core target, memory target including any Persistent Memory requirement, storage configuration (local SSD pattern plus external SAN/NFS), PSU redundancy preference, PCIe expansion requirements, and quantity. We respond within 24 hours with a validated configuration including thermal and power-budget confirmation. Every refurbished unit ships with the Wholesale Servers 180-day warranty and 12+ hour burn-in testing, and volume pricing starts at 5 units. Call 1-800-778-1545 or use the quote form below.