Genuine HP ProLiant High-Density 24-Bay Internal SAS Expander Card

HP Option P/N: 468406-B21 | HP Spare P/N: 487738-001 | PCB P/N: 468405-001 / 468405-002

The HP 24-Bay 3G SAS Expander Card (468406-B21 / 487738-001) is a specialized storage expansion module designed to scale up drive capacities inside HP ProLiant Gen6 and Gen7 servers, as well as custom high-density storage enclosures. By acting as a multiplier for internal SAS lanes, this card allows a compatible Smart Array controller (such as the P410 or P410i) to support up to 24 internal physical hard drives from a single controller source. Operating over a stable 3Gb/s SAS / 3Gb/s SATA architecture, this card is a classic, highly sought-after component for budget-conscious enterprise setups, legacy server maintenance, and expansive custom homelab storage arrays (JBODs).

• Device Type: ⚙️ Internal SAS Expander Card

• Interface Speeds: ⚡ 3Gb/s SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) / 3Gb/s SATA

• Total Drive Support: 📈 Up to 24 Physical Drive Bays (Internal)

• Port Configuration: 🔌 9x Internal Mini-SAS (SFF-8087) Ports

  • Includes link ports to connect directly to the primary host RAID controller and multiple drive backplanes.

• Physical Form Factor: 📐 Low-Profile PCIe Plug-in Card (Uses PCIe slot or alternative chassis mounting points for power)

• Host Compatibility: Connects seamlessly with HP Smart Array P410, P410i, P411, P800, and standard SAS Host Bus Adapters (HBAs).

• Massive Storage Scaling: Solves the physical port limitations of standard raid cards. Instead of being limited to 8 drives, this expander links multiple drive cages together, giving you the architecture to manage up to 24 drives simultaneously.

• Versatile Power Architecture: While built in a standard PCI Express form factor, the card only draws power from the slot, not data. This unique hardware trait means it can be slotted into a PCIe riser, or powered via a mining riser cable inside a custom JBOD disk shelf enclosure without needing a motherboard data connection.

• HP Certified Enterprise Resilience: Engineered for continuous 24/7/365 data environments. It maintains optimal signal integrity across all attached SAS/SATA lanes, ensuring consistent read/write routing and array stability.

• Homelab & Unraid Legend: Highly popular in the open-source storage community. Because it simply multiplies SAS lanes, it is widely utilized for massive budget storage builds running TrueNAS, unRAID, or Linux-based ZFS pools.

• Target Infrastructures:

  • HP ProLiant G6 & G7 Servers: Native design integration for matching server generations, most notably the flagship HP ProLiant DL380 G6 and DL380 G7 8-bay setups upgraded to 16-bay or 24-bay configurations.

  • Custom Data Cages & JBODs: Perfect for DIY builders looking to link multiple multi-drive hot-swap backplanes back to a single external or internal controller card.

• Ideal Workloads:

  • Massive Capacity Media Servers: Excellent for building high-density Plex or local archiving storage tiers where raw drive bay count is prioritized over maximum SSD speeds.

  • Legacy Enterprise Replacements: Direct drop-in spare for maintaining corporate server fleets running validated Gen6/Gen7 Installation & Seller Listing Note

    ⚠️ Cable Requirements: To successfully deploy this expander, the buyer will need internal Mini-SAS SFF-8087 cables to link their controller to the expander, and the expander to the drive backplanes. Cables are typically not included unless you choose to bundle them with this listing.

    💡 Understanding the Part Numbers: This hardware features a complete set of tracking tags. 468406-B21 is the retail Option P/N, 487738-001 is the technical Spare P/N, and 468405-001 / 468405-002 are the physical numbers stamped onto the green PCB fabric.

    The HP 24-Bay 3G SAS Expander Card delivers robust lane multiplying power, making it a reliable and cost-effective foundation for high-capacity enterprise or homelab storage configurations.