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HPE ProLiant Servers: How to Identify What You Have
GTR Supply buys and sells used HPE ProLiant servers by the lot, from a few nodes through to a full decommission, and this page is written to help you identify what you have before you send a list. ProLiant identification turns on one thing that almost nobody outside the trade knows about: the product number. A DL380 Gen10 is not one machine, it is dozens of very different builds with different drive cages, controllers and backplanes, and the product number on the pull tab at the front tells a buyer which of them you are holding. The model name does not. Generation is the second trap, because Gen10 and Gen10 Plus are different servers rather than a minor revision. Every product number and model name on this page is identification help for the reader, never a stock listing. Send the product number and a quantity and we will tell you where we stand.
How to identify it
Work out what you have.
Where the identifying number physically sits, how to read each field in it, and what it tells a buyer. Useful whether or not you ever trade anything with us.
The product number, and why it says more than the model name
Every ProLiant carries a product number as well as a model name, and the product number is the precise one. It is a short code with a dash and a suffix, and it identifies the exact configuration the machine was built and sold as: the drive cage layout, the processor, the memory, the controller and the power supplies. The model name identifies only the platform.
That gap is wider than it sounds. One generation of DL380 shipped as an eight bay small form factor machine, a twelve bay large form factor machine, a twenty four bay machine, and several NVMe capable variants, and those are materially different servers wearing the same name.
Where to find it. Pull out the small tab at the front of the chassis, usually on the right hand side near the drive cage. The product number, the serial number and often a quick specification are printed on it. It is repeated on a label on the top cover, and the management processor reports it without you opening anything.
A photograph of that tab is the fastest list a seller can send.
Reading the model line and the number
The letters are the form factor. DL is rack, ML is tower, BL is a c Class blade, XL is an Apollo tray, SY is a Synergy compute module, and MicroServer is the small pedestal line.
The numbers are less of a formula than Dell's and it is worth saying so rather than inventing a rule. What holds reliably is the class. The three hundreds are the mainstream two socket machines and the bulk of what circulates, the five hundreds are the four socket machines, and the one hundreds and the DL20 are the value and entry lines. Within the three hundreds, the DL360 is the 1U machine and the DL380 the 2U.
AMD based ProLiants renumber inside the same three hundreds rather than getting their own letter, which catches people out. A DL325 is a single socket AMD machine, a DL345 is its 2U counterpart, a DL365 is the 1U two socket AMD machine and a DL385 the 2U. If the number is 25, 45, 65 or 85 rather than 60 or 80, you are looking at an AMD platform.
Generations, and the Gen10 Plus trap
The generation is the suffix, and it is the field that decides what the machine actually is. Gen8 arrived in 2012 on Xeon E5 v1 and v2, Gen9 in 2014 on E5 v3 and v4, Gen10 in 2017 on first and second generation Xeon Scalable, Gen10 Plus in 2020 on third generation Scalable and on EPYC, and Gen11 in 2022 on fourth generation Xeon and EPYC.
The trap is Gen10 Plus. The name reads like a refresh of Gen10 and it is not: it is a different board, a different processor socket, different memory and in most cases a different drive backplane and controller family. A DL380 Gen10 and a DL380 Gen10 Plus share almost nothing a buyer can move between them, and listing a mixed pile as DL380 Gen10 when half of it is Plus is the most common way an HPE valuation ends up being revised.
Gen8 and Gen9 also differ in one thing sellers hit constantly: the drive carrier design changed at Gen8, so carriers from before it do not interchange.
iLO tier, Smart Array, carriers and power supply count
Four things move an HPE lot that the model name never shows, and all four are checkable in a few minutes.
The iLO tier. iLO ships as a standard entitlement, with Advanced as the tier that unlocks the graphical remote console and virtual media. iLO 4 sits on Gen8 and Gen9, iLO 5 on Gen10 and Gen10 Plus and iLO 6 on Gen11. What tier a machine reports changes who wants it.
The storage controller. Smart Array and the later MegaRAID based controllers come in very different grades, and the cache module with its backup capacitor is a separate part that goes missing during decommissions. A controller without its cache and capacitor is a materially reduced item, so check whether both are still fitted.
Drive carriers. One per populated bay, blanks for the rest, and carriers changed design at Gen8 and again for the newest generations.
Power supplies. Most rack ProLiants take two and ship with one or two, in several wattages. Say how many are fitted and what they are rated at.
What is in circulation
The families you will meet.
Placing your hardware in the right family does most of the work of describing it. Each note below says what separates that family from the one above it.
DL rack servers
The volume line. The DL360 and DL380 in their various generations are the machines most often seen in a decommission, with the DL560 and DL580 as the four socket options.
ML tower servers
Pedestal machines for offices and branch sites, sharing generations and product numbering with the rack line but nothing about the chassis, rails or shipping.
BL blades and the c Class enclosure
Half height and full height blades in a c7000 or c3000 enclosure with its own interconnect bays, power and management. Blades and enclosures are traded together and separately.
Apollo systems and XL trays
High density chassis holding multiple compute or storage trays, built for HPC and bulk storage. The tray and the chassis are matched, so say which you have.
Synergy
Composable infrastructure. Compute modules in a 12000 frame with its own fabric, storage modules and a composer appliance. A frame is a large item to move and needs planning.
MicroServer
The small pedestal line. Very different market from the rack servers, and normally traded in quantity rather than as single units.
Storage: MSA, StoreEasy and Alletra
The array and shelf lines that sit alongside ProLiant in most rooms. Not servers, but usually in the same decommission, so list them on the same sheet.
The same categories, every manufacturer
The families above are this manufacturer's own lines. The category pages carry the wider list, everything that circulates in each category whoever built it, with the part number prefix or physical marker that identifies each one. They are identification help rather than stock lists.
None of this is a stock list
Every model name and part number on this page is identification help for the reader. None of it is a stock listing, and nothing here says that GTR Supply holds a particular item. Send the part number and the quantity you need and we will tell you where we stand.
What it is worth
What decides the number.
Condition is only part of it. These are the things that genuinely move a valuation in this line, and most of them are still in your hands when you write the list.
- The product number rather than the model name, because it identifies the exact build and the drive cage
- Generation, and specifically whether a Gen10 machine is Gen10 or Gen10 Plus, which are different servers
- The iLO tier the machine reports, since the remote console is what most buyers are buying
- The storage controller grade, with its cache module and backup capacitor still fitted rather than missing
- Drive carriers and blanks present, one per bay, in the carrier design that matches the generation
- Power supply count and wattage, since most rack machines take two and often arrive with one
- The correct rail kit and cable management arm for that generation
- A run of identical machines from one estate rather than a spread of one off models
- For blades and Apollo, whether the enclosure or chassis comes with the nodes or is being kept
Both sides of the desk
We supply it, and we buy it.
If you are buying
On the selling side GTR Supply supplies ProLiant nodes in volume, configured and tested rather than delivered as a shell to rebuild. Send the generation, the processor and memory configuration, the drive cage layout you need and the controller you expect, and systems are built to that and burn in tested before dispatch. If you are extending an estate that already exists, send the product number of a machine you are running and the build is matched to it rather than approximated, which matters more on ProLiant than on most lines because one model name covers so many different cage and controller combinations. Bare and stripped chassis are supplied as well for rebuild programmes. Nothing on this page is a stock list and availability moves constantly, so the useful message is a product number or a specification with a quantity against it. Pricing normally comes back the same business day, against a configuration manifest.
If you are clearing
On the buying side GTR Supply buys used ProLiant by the lot: complete nodes, machines already stripped of processors, memory or drives, bare chassis with nothing left in them, blades with or without their enclosure, and whole racks taken intact. Nothing needs testing, sorting or grading first. Leave the rails, bezels and drive carriers fitted rather than pulling them out on the way to the pallet, because they add to what the lot is worth and rail kits for older generations are genuinely hard to buy. The fastest list you can send is a photograph of the pull tab on one machine with a count of how many identical ones there are, then the same again for each different build. Group the fleet by product number rather than typing a row per asset. Drives are securely wiped and a certificate of destruction is available on request.
Common questions
HPE ProLiant, answered.
Where do I find the product number on an HPE ProLiant?
Look at the front of the chassis for a small tab that pulls out, normally on the right hand side near the drive cage. The product number is printed on it together with the serial number, and on many machines a short specification summary as well. The same information is repeated on a label on the top cover of the chassis.
If the machines are still powered and on the network, the iLO management interface reports the product number, the serial, the processors and the installed memory without anybody opening a rack.
It is worth the trouble because the product number is the precise identifier and the model name is not. One generation of DL380 shipped in eight bay, twelve bay and twenty four bay versions with several different controllers and backplanes, and those are very different machines to a buyer. A photograph of that pull tab tells GTR Supply which one you have, which is why it is the single most useful thing a ProLiant seller can send.
What is the difference between Gen10 and Gen10 Plus?
They are different servers, not a minor revision, and the naming actively hides it. Gen10 arrived in 2017 on first and second generation Xeon Scalable. Gen10 Plus arrived in 2020 on third generation Scalable and on AMD EPYC, with a different processor socket, different memory and in most cases a different drive backplane and storage controller family.
Nothing meaningful crosses between them. Processors, memory and most controllers from a Gen10 machine will not work in a Gen10 Plus, and vice versa.
The practical effect on a valuation is that a mixed pile listed as DL380 Gen10 when part of it is Plus has to be re priced once it is seen, which is a worse outcome for both sides than an accurate list at the start. Check the suffix on the front bezel or the pull tab of each machine rather than assuming a batch is uniform, and if you are unsure, send GTR Supply a photograph and it will be identified for you.
Does the iLO licence transfer when I sell a ProLiant server?
Licensing and entitlement are set by the manufacturer, not by a trader, and GTR Supply does not provide or transfer manufacturer licences, warranty, support or firmware entitlement of any kind. What this page can tell you is why the question matters commercially.
The tier a machine reports changes who wants it. The standard entitlement covers basic management. The Advanced tier is what unlocks the graphical remote console and virtual media, and for most buyers of used hardware that capability is a large part of what they are buying, because it is the difference between managing a fleet remotely and standing in front of it.
So the useful thing to do when you write your list is simply to record what each machine reports, which iLO will tell you in a few seconds. You are not being asked to resolve the licensing position or to guarantee anything about it. Say what the machine says, and let the valuation be built from an accurate picture.
Guides
Identifying it is half the job. These cover what a buyer actually does with your list once you send it, and what the words on a quote mean before you agree to any of them.
Grade A vs Grade B Hardware Explained
What a condition grade covers, what it cannot cover, and why the same letter means two different things at two suppliers.
What Is a Hardware Lot Manifest
The document that lets you price a mixed lot line by line instead of guessing at an average.
How Much Is My Used Server Worth
The four things that set a number, why no price list exists, and what indicative really means.
Hardware we hold
Clearing it rather than buying
Other brands we trade
Trademarks
All product and company names are the trademarks of their respective owners. GTR Supply is an independent trader with no affiliation to, authorization from, or endorsement by any manufacturer named on this page.
Tell us the part number and the quantity.
Buying or selling. Send what you are looking for, or a photograph of what you are holding, and we will tell you where we stand. Pricing and valuations normally come back the same business day.
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