HPE capacity economics

HPE 26TB vs 24TB Business Critical HDDs

Verified spec guide ·

HPE's current Business Critical LFF table places the 26TB options beside 24TB options: P80577-B21/P80578-B21 at 26TB, and P68583-B21/P68585-B21 at 24TB.

Do not assume 26TB is automatically better. It adds 2TB per drive, but the right answer depends on price premium, stock depth, support qualification and spare strategy.

Left
P68583-B21
Right
P80577-B21
Decision
Price and workload fit
Availability
Live rows below
Quick answer

26TB adds 8TB raw over 24TB in a 4-drive set, 16TB in 8 drives, 24TB in 12 drives and 48TB in 24 drives. Buy it only when that added raw capacity is worth the price, qualification and spare-inventory impact.

26TB is worth it when
OEM procurement check

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.

Raw capacity impact by drive count

This is raw decimal capacity only. It is not formatted capacity and it is not RAID usable capacity.

Drive count4 drives
24TB option96TB raw
26TB option104TB raw
Raw difference8TB raw
Drive count8 drives
24TB option192TB raw
26TB option208TB raw
Raw difference16TB raw
Drive count12 drives
24TB option288TB raw
26TB option312TB raw
Raw difference24TB raw
Drive count24 drives
24TB option576TB raw
26TB option624TB raw
Raw difference48TB raw

P68583-B21 24TB SAS vs P80577-B21 26TB SAS

The interface headline is only one line item. Qualification, carrier, controller and firmware path decide whether the drive is actually buyable for your system.

FeatureSAS option
P68583-B21 24TB SASP68583-B21
P80577-B21 26TB SASP80577-B21
FeatureSATA option
P68583-B21 24TB SASP68585-B21
P80577-B21 26TB SASP80578-B21
FeatureRaw capacity per drive
P68583-B21 24TB SAS24TB
P80577-B21 26TB SAS26TB
FeatureIncrement
P68583-B21 24TB SASBaseline
P80577-B21 26TB SAS+2TB per drive
FeatureSector format
P68583-B21 24TB SAS512e
P80577-B21 26TB SAS512e
FeatureWarranty class
P68583-B21 24TB SASHPE Midline 1-year
P80577-B21 26TB SASHPE Midline 1-year
FeatureBest reason to buy
P68583-B21 24TB SASLower cost, deeper stock or existing spares
P80577-B21 26TB SASMore capacity per qualified LFF bay
Current market status

No exact in-stock live row is currently matched for P68583-B21 / P80577-B21. Relevant live alternatives are shown for pricing context; verify qualification before treating any row as a substitute.

Exact rows plus compatible alternatives to verify

Live prices · updated every 4-5 hours · last checked 31 min ago · one side may be unavailable; alternatives are not exact OEM replacements

Best $/TB in this tier
1TB ST31000640SS CMR at $14.99/TB — $15 for 1TB
1TB ST31000640SS
CMR
1TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · yr
$14.99/TB · $15Buy
4TB 695842-001
CMR
4TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · yr
$15.00/TB · $60Buy
1TB 508011-001
CMR
1TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · yr
$26.99/TB · $27Buy
24TB WUH722424ALE604
CMR
24TB · 7200rpm · 550TB/yr · 5yr
$28.71/TB · $689Buy
24TB ST24000NM002H
CMR
24TB · 7200rpm · 550TB/yr · 5yr
$29.17/TB · $700Buy
12TB MB012000GWWFE
CMR
12TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · 5yr
$30.00/TB · $360Buy
4TB 846523-004
CMR
4TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · yr
$30.00/TB · $120Buy
8TB 834031-B21
CMR
8TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · yr
$32.75/TB · $262Buy
2TB AP072B321
CMR
2TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · yr
$34.49/TB · $69Buy
12TB MB012000GWWFE
CMR
12TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · 5yr
$34.50/TB · $414Buy
24TB ST24000DM001
CMR
24TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · yr
$35.83/TB · $860Buy
26TB WD260KFGX
CMR
26TB · 7200rpm · TB/yr · yr
$43.25/TB · $1124Buy
24TB WD241KFGX
CMR
24TB · 7200rpm · 550TB/yr · 5yr
$44.17/TB · $1060Buy
24TB ST24000NM000H
CMR
24TB · 7200rpm · 550TB/yr · 5yr
$58.37/TB · $1401Buy

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.

Live acquisition math for exact comparison rows

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.

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.

Procurement math

At four drives, 26TB adds only 8TB raw. At 24 drives, it adds 48TB raw. The larger the chassis, the more the extra 2TB per bay can matter, but the financial answer must come from current exact stock and condition.

Spare strategy

If the installed fleet already carries 24TB spares, moving to 26TB creates a second spare pool. That can be fine in a new build and expensive in a replacement-heavy fleet.

Deployment timing

Newer options can have sparse stock and higher prices. A cheaper, verified 24TB HPE option may be the better buy when procurement needs immediate fulfillment or multiple identical spares.

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P80577-B21
26TB SAS page
P80578-B21
26TB SATA page
HPE storage hub
HPE drives and ProLiant parts
SAS HDDs
12Gb SAS enterprise drives
SATA HDDs
6Gb SATA capacity drives
SAS vs SATA
Interface tradeoffs
Server parts
Controllers, carriers and upgrades

Frequently asked questions

How much more capacity is 26TB than 24TB?

26TB is 2TB more per drive. That is 8TB extra raw capacity across 4 drives and 48TB extra raw capacity across 24 drives.

Which HPE 24TB options were verified?

The HPE QuickSpecs table used here lists P68583-B21 for 24TB SAS and P68585-B21 for 24TB SATA.

Should I upgrade a 24TB array to 26TB replacements?

Only if the controller, RAID policy and support matrix allow mixed or replacement behavior. Many arrays should stay homogeneous.

Sources

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.

  1. Hewlett Packard Enterprise - HPE Server Enterprise and Midline Hard Drives QuickSpecs (HPE.com, 2026-09-01)
    Used for: P80577-B21 and P80578-B21 option identities; 26TB capacity; 12G SAS and 6G SATA variants; 7.2K LFF low-profile Business Critical class; 512e ISE status; 24TB P68583-B21 and P68585-B21 comparators; HPE drive qualification, digitally signed firmware and one-year Midline warranty treatment
  2. DatacenterDisk - Live enterprise drive catalogue (DatacenterDisk.com, Live)
    Used for: current stock, seller condition, price per drive and price per terabyte values rendered in the live tables