HPE Primera Storage Model Comparison, Specs, Technical Details

HPE Primera was launched as a successor to the HPE 3PAR storage family, bringing improvements in performance, availability, and automation. It was built from the ground up with an NVMe-ready architecture and integrated AI capabilities via HPE InfoSight.

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Since its release, Primera has gained traction among enterprises looking for a scalable and resilient storage system.

HPE Primera high-performance enterprise storage system featuring NVMe-optimized architecture, active-active controller nodes, HPE Primera ASIC for low-latency data processing, and AI-driven predictive analytics with HPE InfoSight. Designed for mission-critical applications, virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V, Kubernetes), large-scale databases (Oracle, SAP HANA, Microsoft SQL), AI and machine learning workloads, and disaster recovery. Supports seamless scalability with HPE Primera 600 expansion shelves, including 2U 24-bay SFF and 2U 12-bay LFF drive enclosures. Multi-protocol compatibility with Fibre Channel (FC), iSCSI, and NVMe over FC, ensuring high availability, reliability, and automated workload balancing for enterprise data centers.

Technical Overview of HPE Primera Storage

HPE Primera Storage Architecture

Active-Active Controllers: Primera features a high-speed, full-mesh passive interconnect that links multiple controller nodes to form an all-active cluster. This architecture eliminates bottlenecks and ensures maximum performance.
HPE Primera ASIC: A custom-designed application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) optimizes NVMe performance and ensures efficient data movement.
Persistent Technologies: Features like Persistent Checksum and Persistent Cache guarantee data integrity and high availability.

HPE Primera Storage AI Integration

HPE InfoSight: Predictive analytics reduce downtime by anticipating and preventing issues before they occur.
Self-Optimizing Operations: Primera continuously tunes performance and workload balancing automatically.
Non-Disruptive Upgrades: Transparent software updates ensure zero downtime.

HPE Primera Storage: Available Models, Specs & Technical Details

HPE Primera 630

Controller Nodes: 2
Cache per Node: 128 GiB
CPUs per Node: 1
On-board SAS Ports: 4 x 12 Gb
On-board Ethernet Ports: 2 x 10 GbE, 1 x 1 GbE
Maximum SAS SSDs: 144
Maximum HDDs: 240
Form Factor: 2U chassis

HPE Primera 650

Controller Nodes: 2 or 4
Cache per Node: 256 GiB
CPUs per Node: 2
On-board SAS Ports: 4 x 12 Gb
On-board Ethernet Ports: 2 x 10 GbE, 1 x 1 GbE
Maximum SAS SSDs: 384
Maximum HDDs: 576
Form Factor: 4U chassis

HPE Primera 670

Controller Nodes: 2 or 4
Cache per Node: 512 GiB or 1 TiB
CPUs per Node: 2
On-board SAS Ports: 4 x 12 Gb
On-board Ethernet Ports: 2 x 10 GbE, 1 x 1 GbE
Maximum SAS SSDs: 576
Maximum HDDs: 960
Form Factor: 4U chassis

Comparison of HPE Primera Models

Feature	Primera 630	Primera 650	Primera 670
Controller Nodes	2	2 or 4	2 or 4
Cache per Node	128 GiB	256 GiB	512 GiB or 1 TiB
CPUs per Node	1	2	2
Maximum Drive Enclosures	Up to 5	Up to 14	Up to 22
Maximum SAS SSDs	144	384	576
Maximum HDDs	240	576	960
Maximum Raw SSD Capacity	800 TiB	800 TiB	800 TiB

HPE Primera Storage: Scalability and Expansion

Seamless Expansion: Allows adding capacity without requiring downtime.
Multi-Protocol Support: Supports Fibre Channel (FC), iSCSI, and NVMe over FC, ensuring flexibility in deployment.
Automated Data Services: Includes built-in deduplication, compression, and thin provisioning for efficient storage utilization.
Expansion Shelves:
- HPE Primera 600 2U 24-disk SFF Drive Enclosure:
  - Form Factor: 2U
  - Drive Bays: 24 Small Form Factor (SFF) slots
  - Compatibility: Supports HPE Primera SFF drives
  - Ideal for: Performance-driven environments requiring high-density storage
- HPE Primera 600 2U 12-disk LFF Drive Enclosure:
  - Form Factor: 2U
  - Drive Bays: 12 Large Form Factor (LFF) slots
  - Compatibility: Supports HPE Primera LFF drives
  - Ideal for: Workloads requiring high-capacity storage per drive
- Key Benefits of Expansion Shelves:
  - Scalability: Easily expand storage without disrupting operations
  - Flexibility: Choose between SFF and LFF enclosures based on performance and capacity needs
  - Seamless Integration: Optimized for HPE Primera systems to ensure reliability

HPE Primera Storage: Use Cases

HPE Primera is an ideal storage solution for organizations that require a balance of high performance, scalability, and reliability. Below are the key use cases where Primera excels:

Virtualized Environments

Supports VMware, Hyper-V, and Kubernetes.
Ensures consistent high IOPS and low latency.
VM-level snapshotting and backup for disaster recovery.

Mission-Critical Databases

Optimized for SQL, Oracle, SAP HANA, and other database platforms.
Low-latency architecture ensures fast transaction processing.
Built-in data replication for high availability.

Enterprise File Storage

Scalable storage pools with automated tiering.
Supports NFS, SMB, and Object Storage.
AI-driven performance tuning for faster data retrieval.

Backup & Disaster Recovery

Synchronous and asynchronous replication.
Snapshots with instant recovery.
HPE Peer Persistence for active-active data center deployments.

AI & Machine Learning Workloads

NVMe-ready infrastructure enables high-speed data processing.
Scales to petabyte-level storage capacity.
Seamless integration with GPU-powered computing clusters.