HPE's current 26TB Business Critical LFF pair is P80577-B21 for SAS and P80578-B21 for SATA. Both are 26TB, 7.2K, 512e, ISE and low-profile LFF HPE options.
The decision is not simply 12Gb/s versus 6Gb/s. A single 7.2K nearline HDD does not need either headline speed for normal sequential throughput. SAS earns its place through architecture and qualification.
Choose SAS when the platform, controller, multipath design or support standard requires SAS. Choose SATA when the server qualifies P80578-B21 and the workload is capacity-first nearline storage.
Verify the part number, carrier, firmware, sector format and server or storage-array qualification before ordering. A bare mechanism or third-party compatible listing can be useful, but it is an alternative unless it is sold as the qualified OEM kit or spare you need.
The interface headline is only one line item. Qualification, carrier, controller and firmware path decide whether the drive is actually buyable for your system.
| Feature | P80577-B21 26TB SAS | P80578-B21 26TB SATA |
|---|---|---|
| HPE option number | P80577-B21 | P80578-B21 |
| Capacity | 26TB | 26TB |
| Interface | 12Gb/s SAS | 6Gb/s SATA |
| Dual-port capability | SAS architecture supports dual-port designs where the system uses them | Single-port SATA |
| Multipath | Appropriate where controller/backplane design supports SAS multipath | Not a multipath drive interface |
| Controller requirements | SAS-capable Smart Array/HBA path | SATA-capable Smart Array/HBA path |
| Sector format | 512e | 512e |
| Hot-plug | Supported LFF hot-plug configurations | Supported LFF hot-plug configurations |
| Throughput | Mechanical HDD throughput; SAS value is architecture | 277 MiB/s listed in HPE SATA table |
| Workload | Enterprise nearline where SAS support matters | Capacity-first nearline storage |
| Availability | Check exact OEM stock | Check exact OEM stock |
| Price | Use live exact row if present | Use live exact row if present |
| Best use | Controller and redundancy-driven deployments | Qualified cost-sensitive capacity |
Raw decimal capacity is shown before filesystem formatting, RAID, hot spares, snapshots or vendor overhead.
| Drive count | Raw capacity | Single-parity example | Dual-parity example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 drives | 104TB raw | 78TB before formatting | 52TB before formatting |
| 8 drives | 208TB raw | 182TB before formatting | 156TB before formatting |
| 12 drives | 312TB raw | 286TB before formatting | 260TB before formatting |
No exact in-stock live row is currently matched for P80577-B21 / P80578-B21. Relevant live alternatives are shown for pricing context; verify qualification before treating any row as a substitute.
Live prices · updated every 4-5 hours · last checked 31 min ago · one side may be unavailable; alternatives are not exact OEM replacements
| Model | Capacity | Recording | RPM | Workload TB/yr | Warranty | $/TB | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1TB ST31000640SSREFURB | 1TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $14.99 | $15 | Buy |
| 4TB 695842-001 | 4TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $15.00 | $60 | Buy |
| 1TB 508011-001REFURB | 1TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $26.99 | $27 | Buy |
| 24TB WUH722424ALE604REFURB | 24TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $28.71 | $689 | Buy |
| 24TB ST24000NM002HREFURB | 24TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $29.17 | $700 | Buy |
| 12TB MB012000GWWFEREFURB | 12TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | 5 yr | $30.00 | $360 | Buy |
| 4TB 846523-004REFURB | 4TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $30.00 | $120 | Buy |
| 8TB 834031-B21 | 8TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $32.75 | $262 | Buy |
| 2TB AP072B321REFURB | 2TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $34.49 | $69 | Buy |
| 12TB MB012000GWWFEREFURB | 12TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | 5 yr | $34.50 | $414 | Buy |
| 24TB ST24000DM001 | 24TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $35.83 | $860 | Buy |
| 26TB WD260KFGX | 26TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $43.25 | $1124 | Buy |
| 24TB WD241KFGX | 24TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $44.17 | $1060 | Buy |
| 24TB ST24000NM000H | 24TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $58.37 | $1401 | Buy |
Workload rating is recorded per part number from the manufacturer's published data for that exact model where available, not blanketed across the line — two drives of the same capacity can differ because they are different generations. A dash means the figure is not stated for that listing. Recording technology comes from the manufacturer's published CMR/SMR list; a model absent from that list is shown as UNVERIFIED rather than guessed. Rows priced above 3× this line's in-stock median are flagged and excluded from the winner callout and from every median we compute.
This table is computed from live DatacenterDisk rows when an exact in-stock match exists. It is intentionally blank for unavailable models rather than filled with stale prices.
| Live model | Drive price | $/TB | 1 drive | 4 drives | 8 drives | 12 drives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No exact in-stock row is available right now. Use the availability table for nearby live alternatives, then re-check the exact model before ordering. | ||||||
SAS is often bought for dual-port architecture, multipath-capable storage design and controller ecosystem support. Those are real enterprise features, but they are not automatically valuable in a single-controller backup server.
For large sequential nearline workloads, a 7.2K HDD's mechanics are the practical throughput limit. If HPE qualifies P80578-B21 for the exact server and redundancy design, SATA can be the efficient choice.
Put the exact HPE option number, interface, sector format, carrier expectation and server model on the quote. Do not accept a quote that collapses the line item to generic 26TB HDD unless generic alternatives are explicitly acceptable.
Not in the simplistic way the interface numbers suggest. SAS may be architecturally better, but a single nearline HDD will not saturate either interface in normal sequential use.
Often yes on SAS paths that support SATA devices, but the exact HPE controller/backplane qualification still decides the support answer.
Buy SAS for SAS-required or multipath-aware designs. Buy SATA for qualified nearline capacity where single-port drive behavior is acceptable.
Specification claims on this page were checked against the pages below on 1 September 2026. Where a widely-repeated figure did not survive that check, we report what the source says now and say so in the text rather than repeating the familiar number.