Storage is the part of a decommissioned server most likely to be separated from it, and the part where the value gap between "enterprise" and "consumer" is widest. A rack of nearline drives is worth having; a box of desktop SATA disks is not. Below is what we actually buy.
What we buy
| Class | Interfaces | Form factors | Typical capacities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise SSD | SAS 12G / 24G, SATA 6G, NVMe (U.2, U.3) | 2.5" SFF, add-in card | 480 GB – 15.36 TB |
| NVMe / EDSFF | PCIe 3.0 / 4.0 / 5.0 | U.2, U.3, M.2, E1.S, E3.S | 1.92 – 30.72 TB |
| Nearline HDD | SAS 12G, SATA 6G | 3.5" LFF | 1 – 24 TB, 7.2k rpm |
| Performance HDD | SAS 12G | 2.5" SFF | 300 GB – 2.4 TB, 10k / 15k rpm |
Brands are not usually a barrier: Samsung PM-series, Micron, Solidigm, Kioxia, Seagate and Western Digital / HGST, plus OEM-labelled drives from Dell, HPE, NetApp and Lenovo. OEM-keyed drives are fine — in some chassis they are worth more than the generic equivalent, because they are the only thing that will seat cleanly.
What moves the price on drives
- Interface. NVMe above SAS, SAS above SATA, broadly. A 12G SAS SSD and a SATA SSD of the same capacity are not close.
- Endurance class. Mixed-use and write-intensive drives carry more than read-intensive ones at the same capacity. It is in the part number if you have it.
- Capacity. As with memory, not linear — the larger the drive, the better the value per terabyte, up to a point.
- Power-on hours and wear. We do not need SMART reports to quote, but if you have them for a large batch they will sharpen the figure rather than reduce it.
- Caddies. Genuinely worth money on their own. Dell and HPE carriers are hard to source separately, so keep them on the drives if you can.
- Batch consistency. Twenty-four matched drives out of one shelf beat twenty-four assorted ones.
Drives in or out? It is a commercial question and it is entirely your call — tell us which when you send the list, because it changes the figure either way. If they are staying with you, take them out before collection and say so.
Send your listWhat we do not buy
We buy drives that were working when they came out of service, because we sell them on to be used again. We do not buy drives that are faulty, failing SMART, or untested. Consumer desktop and laptop drives are outside what we do — this is enterprise storage only.
How the sale runs
- Send the list. Capacity, interface and quantity is enough. Model or part numbers are better.
- We price it per drive, in writing, usually within one working day.
- We collect. Free and insured. For smaller quantities we will usually send a labelled courier pack rather than a pallet.
- You get paid in euro by SEPA transfer once the delivery is checked in against the agreed list.
Selling whole machines? See Dell PowerEdge servers and HPE ProLiant servers, or Server memory for memory.