CoreRex Logo

Backplane Boards

Backplane Boards covers the boards drives and power supplies plug into. Drive backplanes include HPE's 8SFF 12G SAS/SATA and tri-mode 24G U.3 kits for the DL360 and DL380 Gen10 Plus, earlier Gen8 and Gen9 cages, and Dell backplanes for the PowerEdge R620, R640, R740xd, 2950 and T710 and the PowerVault MD1200. There are also Supermicro 4-bay boards, power backplanes for Apollo and BladeSystem servers, and the c7000 enclosure midplane.

Backplane Boards: 348 products

Buying guide

Choosing a backplane

  1. Interface support

    SAS/SATA backplanes take SAS and SATA drives. NVMe drives need an NVMe or tri-mode backplane, and a tri-mode backplane needs a tri-mode controller to run all three.

  2. Bay position

    Servers with several drive boxes, like the DL380's Bay 1, 2 and 3, use a backplane per box, sometimes with a different part number for each position.

  3. Expander or direct-attach

    Some backplanes include a SAS expander so one controller port reaches many drives. Others need a cable from the controller for every four drives.

Backplane Boards

Frequently asked questions

What is a U.3 backplane?

U.3 is a connector standard that lets one bay accept SAS, SATA or NVMe drives, with a tri-mode controller handling each type. U.3 drives also work in U.2 NVMe bays, but U.2 drives aren't supported in U.3 tri-mode bays.

What's a midplane?

In blade enclosures like the HPE c7000 and Dell M1000e, the midplane connects every blade to the power supplies, fans and interconnect modules. It's passive, but replacing it takes the whole enclosure out of service.

Can I add drive bays to my server?

Often, if the chassis has an empty drive box. HPE and Dell sell cage and backplane kits for extra bays, such as the second and third boxes in a DL380 or the flex bay kit for an R740xd. They may need another controller port or an expander.