Drive caddies (trays/carriers) are essential for hot-swap drive installation. Using the wrong caddy can damage your drive or server. This guide covers form factors and brand differences.
Form Factor Guide
| Type | Drive Size | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| SFF (Small Form Factor) | 2.5-inch | SSDs, 10K/15K SAS HDDs |
| LFF (Large Form Factor) | 3.5-inch | 7.2K NL-SAS, high-capacity HDDs |
| NVMe U.2/U.3 | 2.5-inch | NVMe SSDs (direct PCIe) |
Brand Compatibility
Caddies are NOT interchangeable between brands. A Dell caddy will not fit an HPE server.