HPE Apollo 4200 Gen10 vs Gen10 Plus, and the Alletra Storage Server 4120 That Follows Them

There is no Apollo 4200 Gen11. HPE’s 2U storage-dense line went from the Apollo 4200 Gen10 to the Apollo 4200 Gen10 Plus, and the next system in that role is the HPE Alletra Storage Server 4120, which runs 4th and 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors and uses HPE Gen11 storage controllers. HPE’s own QuickSpecs for the Alletra 4120 measure it against the Apollo 4200 Gen10 Plus. This page compares the three systems using HPE QuickSpecs only, so you can decide whether to keep an Apollo 4200 running or plan the move.

At-a-glance specification table

Sources: HPE QuickSpecs a00056091enw (Apollo 4200 Gen10), a50002573enw (Apollo 4200 Gen10 Plus) and a50006973enw (Alletra Storage Server 4120). Maximum memory depends on the processor model; HPE notes the Alletra 4120 maximum is also limited by thermal configuration.

Processor platform

Apollo 4200 Gen10 runs 1st and 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors on six memory channels per socket. Apollo 4200 Gen10 Plus moves to 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable with eight channels of DDR4-3200 and PCIe Gen4. Alletra Storage Server 4120 moves again to 4th and 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable with DDR5 and PCIe 5.0.

Processor kits are specific to each chassis. The ICD catalog carries kits made for each Apollo, for example P07903-B21 (Xeon Silver 4208) and P07913-B21 (Xeon Gold 6240) for the Gen10, and P42908-B21 (Xeon Silver 4309Y), P42910-B21 (Xeon Silver 4314) and P42912-B21 (Xeon Gold 5318Y) for the Gen10 Plus. Processors do not move between the three systems, because each uses a different processor generation.

Memory

The Gen10 has 16 DIMM slots and reaches 2.0 TB with 128 GB LRDIMMs. The Gen10 Plus has 24 slots and reaches 3.072 TB with 128 GB LRDIMMs, or 1.536 TB with 64 GB RDIMMs. Both use HPE DDR4 Smart Memory, but the Gen10 Plus runs eight channels at 3200 MT/s. The Alletra 4120 uses HPE DDR5 Smart Memory RDIMMs across 24 slots: 4 TB with 256 GB modules or 3 TB with 128 GB modules. DDR4 modules do not fit DDR5 slots, so a move to the Alletra 4120 means new memory.

Storage layout and controllers

All three are built for capacity. The Gen10 holds up to 28 LFF or 54 SFF drives. The Gen10 Plus holds 24 LFF or 48 SFF drives at the front, plus a rear cage of 4 LFF, 8 SFF Tri-Mode or 2+2 SFF; HPE QuickSpecs list 576 TB raw with 24 x 24 TB LFF drives. The Alletra 4120 holds 24 LFF at the front, with rear options of 2 or 2+2 LFF, 6 SFF Tri-Mode or 12 EDSFF E3.S drives.

The Gen10 and Gen10 Plus both use the HPE Smart Array Gen10 family (E208, P408, P816). The Gen10 Plus adds the SR932i-p Gen10 Plus Tri-Mode controller for SAS, SATA and NVMe U.3 drives. The Alletra 4120 uses its own 41X0 SR 32-port and MR 16-port FIO controllers, or SR932i-p, MR416i-p and MR216i-p Gen11 plug-in controllers. An array built on a Smart Array controller does not import into an MR controller, so plan a data migration, not a disk move.

Power and cooling

All three use hot-plug HPE Flex Slot power supplies; the Gen10 takes up to two for redundant power. HPE QuickSpecs list 800W and 1600W units for the Gen10, and 800W, 1000W, 1600W and 1800-2200W units for the Gen10 Plus and the Alletra 4120. Order the supplies HPE QuickSpecs list for the exact system, and size rack power with HPE Power Advisor for the real configuration.

Management

The Gen10 and Gen10 Plus ship with iLO 5. The Alletra 4120 ships with iLO 6. Scripted tooling built for iLO 5 (Redfish, iLOrest, Ansible) should be re-tested against iLO 6 before a mixed fleet goes into production.

Reference part numbers carried in the ICD catalog

• Apollo 4200 Gen10 chassis: P07244-B21 (24LFF configure-to-order), P07246-B21 (48SFF configure-to-order)
• Apollo 4200 Gen10 processor kits: P07903-B21 (Xeon Silver 4208), P07913-B21 (Xeon Gold 6240)
• Apollo 4200 Gen10 Plus chassis: P28700-B21 (24LFF configure-to-order), P28701-B21 (48SFF configure-to-order)
• Apollo 4200 Gen10 Plus processor kits: P42908-B21 (Xeon Silver 4309Y), P42910-B21 (Xeon Silver 4314), P42912-B21 (Xeon Gold 5318Y)
• Apollo 4200 Gen10 Plus rear cage: P28703-B21 (8SFF x4 Tri-Mode U.3 Drive Cage 3 upgrade kit)

When to keep, when to move

Keep an Apollo 4200 Gen10 or Gen10 Plus when: the workload is steady backup, archive or object storage, the drive count already covers the capacity plan, and DDR4 memory bandwidth is not the bottleneck. ICD supplies tested spares for both, and ICD Care+ third-party maintenance covers them with SLA levels set per contract.

Plan the move to the Alletra Storage Server 4120 when: you need DDR5 memory bandwidth, PCIe 5.0, EDSFF E3.S drives in the rear cage, or iLO 6 for your security program.