The HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 is a two-socket 1U rack server offered in three front-end chassis, with 32 DIMM slots on all of them. Density is what this platform buys and what it costs: three PCIe slots at most, two of them dependent on the second processor, and a hard cap on accelerator power. Every option on a 1U server contends with another, and the contention is documented rather than hidden.
The three front ends are not variations on a theme. An 8SFF chassis ships with no drive backplane at all and needs one selected; a 4LFF chassis ships with its backplane included; a 20EDSFF chassis ships with an NVMe backplane and requires two processors before it will build. Networking is a required selection on all three, because there is no LAN-on-motherboard on any DL360 Gen11 base model.
DL360 Gen11 chassis options: three front ends that are not field-convertible
Three CTO base chassis exist for the DL360 Gen11, and the differences between them are structural rather than cosmetic - backplane type, drive carrier type and OCP lane width all change. HPE documents no field upgrade path between them, so the three behave as separate machines that happen to share a model number. The 8 SFF model is P52499-B21, the 4 LFF model is P52498-B21 and the 20 EDSFF model is P52500-B21.
| Chassis | Front bays | Backplane included | OCP lane width | Maximum internal storage | Processors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 SFF (P52499-B21) | 8 SFF Basic Carrier, plus an optional 2 SFF kit | No - one must be selected | Two slots at x16 | 153.6 TB with SFF SAS SSD | 1 or 2 |
| 4 LFF (P52498-B21) | 4 LFF Low Profile carrier | Yes - 12G x1 SAS | Two slots at x16 | 104.0 TB with LFF SAS HDD | 1 or 2 |
| 20 EDSFF (P52500-B21) | 20 EDSFF E3.S 1T carriers | Yes - 32G x4 NVMe, PCIe 5.0 | Two slots at x8 only | 1228.8 TB with EDSFF NVMe | 2 required |
The EDSFF chassis is the reason this server belongs in a storage conversation at all. Twenty E3.S carriers at 61.44 TB each reach 1228.8 TB of NVMe in a single rack unit, which is roughly eight times what the 8 SFF chassis reaches with SAS SSDs and twelve times what the 4 LFF chassis reaches with nearline drives. The trade is that the EDSFF model gives up half its OCP bandwidth - each OCP slot is designed with up to x8 electrical PCIe 5.0 lanes rather than x16 - and that it will not build with a single processor.
Processors and memory on the DL360 Gen11, and why a 1U parts list contains liquid cooling
Processor choice on the DL360 Gen11 decides the cooling parts, and above 270 W it decides whether the server can be air-cooled at all. HPE bands it explicitly: 125 W to 185 W takes the Standard Heatsink P48904-B21 with the Standard Fan Kit P48907-B21; 186 W to 270 W takes the High-Performance Heatsink P48905-B21 with the seven-fan High-Performance Fan Kit P48908-B21; and 271 W to 350 W takes the Closed-Loop Liquid Cooling heatsink and fan bundle P48906-B21, which brings its own fans and cannot be combined with either air-cooled fan kit. The same board break applies as on the rest of the Gen11 line: firmware for 5th generation processors is not compatible with a system board shipped with 4th generation processors, and field upgrade between the two is not supported.
| Processor thermal design power | Heatsink | Fans | Maximum memory configuration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 W to 185 W | Standard, P48904-B21 | Standard, P48907-B21 | 32 x 128 GB |
| 186 W to 270 W | High-Performance, P48905-B21 | High-Performance seven-fan, P48908-B21 | 32 x 128 GB or 16 x 256 GB |
| 271 W to 350 W | Closed-loop liquid cooling bundle, P48906-B21 | Included in the bundle | 16 x 256 GB |
| 350 W liquid-cooled part | Direct liquid cooling module | High-Performance, P48908-B21 | 16 x 256 GB |
Memory itself is simpler here than on the 2U sibling. The DL360 Gen11 has 32 DIMM slots - sixteen per processor, eight channels per processor, two DIMMs per channel - to a stated maximum of 8.0 TB, and unlike the DL380 Gen11 there is no chassis-dependent reduction: all 32 slots are available on all three front ends. DIMM blanks are embedded and shipped as default in every CTO server for thermal reasons. What HPE does constrain is the quantity: DIMMs per socket must be 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 or 16, which is a stricter rule than simply installing in pairs.
The 256 GB DIMM is the heaviest constraint cluster on this platform
Selecting 256 GB DIMMs on a DL360 Gen11 changes five other things. The part is limited to one DIMM per channel, so the maximum is eight per processor; reaching sixteen per processor requires either direct liquid cooling or an air-cooled build that meets every one of a list of conditions - processor power at or below 250 W, front storage limited to eight SAS or SATA drives, performance fan kits, inlet air at or below 25 degrees C and networking below 100 Gb. Without a direct liquid cooling module, 256 GB DIMMs exclude any networking or InfiniBand adapter at 100 Gb or above entirely. With closed-loop liquid cooling and a rear-mounted boot device, the NVMe drive limit falls from ten to four, and the EDSFF drive limit falls from twenty to ten. High-density memory on a 1U server is not a free upgrade, and this is the platform where that is most obviously true.
Storage on the DL360 Gen11: the 8 SFF chassis ships with no backplane
An 8 SFF DL360 Gen11 arrives with no front drive backplane, and which one is selected determines what the front bays can hold. The x1 U.3 Tri-Mode backplane P48895-B21 supports SATA, SAS and NVMe drives but has no NVMe direct-attach support and is not supported with the SR932i-p controller; direct-attached without a controller it carries SATA only. The x4 U.3 Tri-Mode backplane P48896-B21 supports NVMe direct access and slotted tri-mode controllers, and direct-attached without a controller it carries NVMe only. The additional 2 SFF enablement kit P48899-B21 requires an 8 SFF cage to be present first. The 4 LFF chassis has no optional backplanes because its four-bay 12G x1 SAS backplane is already included.
| Storage controller | Part | Form | Cache | Placement rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel VROC SATA | embedded | on-board | none | 14 SATA ports, 10 accessible; bays 1-4 and 5-8 are separate RAID groups |
| Intel VROC NVMe | licence only | CPU direct attach | none | SFF models only, up to 8 direct-attach x4 NVMe bays |
| MR216i-p Gen11 x16 | P47785-B21 | PCIe | none | 8 SFF only |
| MR216i-o Gen11 x16 | P47789-B21 | OCP | none | 8 SFF only |
| MR408i-o Gen11 x8 | P58335-B21 | OCP | 4 GB | The only internal controller not restricted to 8 SFF |
| MR416i-p Gen11 x16 | P47777-B21 | PCIe | 8 GB | 8 SFF only |
| MR416i-o Gen11 x16 | P47781-B21 | OCP | 8 GB | 8 SFF only |
| SR932i-p Gen11 x32 | P47184-B21 | PCIe | 8 GB wide cache | PCIe slot 1 only - the cable length is fixed |
Three controller rules bind every build. A maximum of one PCIe internal controller can be selected per server, and a maximum of two counting OCP-form controllers. MR-series and SR-series internal controllers cannot be mixed. And any cached controller requires either the 96 W lithium-ion battery or a hybrid capacitor, which in turn makes the storage controller enablement cable kit P48918-B21 mandatory. Direct attach carries only SATA or NVMe drives; a SAS drive requires an internal controller and an 8 SFF cage.
Boot devices, and the slot the rear kit takes away
The NS204i-u boot device P48183-B21 presents two NVMe modules in preconfigured hardware RAID 1, with a 960 GB v2 at P81160-B21 and a self-encrypting version at P81162-B21. How it is cabled decides where it lives. The internal cable kit P48920-B21 mounts it internally and it is not hot-pluggable. The rear cable kit P54702-B21 mounts it in PCIe slot 2 and it is hot-pluggable, at the cost of that slot. The two cable kits cannot both be selected, and the rear kit cannot be selected alongside the full-height secondary riser. On a 1U server with two or three slots in total, giving one up for boot is a decision worth making deliberately.
PCIe and accelerators in 1U: how many cards fit, and the ceiling on GPU power
A DL360 Gen11 holds at most three PCIe cards and frequently fewer, because the boot device and the riser choice both consume slots. The primary butterfly riser is embedded in every CTO server and provides slot 1 at PCIe 5.0 x16 full-height and slot 2 at PCIe 5.0 x16 half-height, plus four x8 front NVMe connectors. Slot 3 exists only if a secondary riser is ordered, and both secondary risers require the second processor. The full-height riser P48901-B21 gives a full-height slot 3 but makes slot 2 unavailable; the low-profile riser P48903-B21 gives a low-profile slot 3 and leaves slot 2 in place.
| Configuration | Maximum PCIe cards |
|---|---|
| No secondary riser, no rear boot cable kit | 2 - slots 1 and 2 |
| No secondary riser, rear boot cable kit fitted | 1 - slot 1 only |
| Full-height secondary riser P48901-B21 | 2 full-height cards, slots 1 and 3; slot 2 unusable |
| Low-profile secondary riser P48903-B21, rear boot cable kit fitted | 2 |
| Low-profile secondary riser P48903-B21, no rear boot cable kit | 3 |
No slot on this platform takes a card longer than 9.5 inches, so full-length adapters are not supported at all. Two accelerators are listed: the NVIDIA A2 (R9H23C) to a maximum of two, in slots 1 and 3, and the NVIDIA L4 (S0K89C) to a maximum of three across slots 1, 2 and 3. Both require the high-performance fan kit - standard heatsinks and standard fan kits are not supported with any graphics option - and both require Increased Cooling to be set in the BIOS, where the default is Optimal Cooling. The census records the platform ceiling in plain terms: two accelerators at a maximum of 75 W. This is not a GPU server, and the honest use of the slots is networking, storage control and boot rather than acceleration.
Two further constraints land on real builds. In the 8 SFF model, an accelerator combined with a processor above 270 W caps the server at eight drives of any type. In the EDSFF model, an accelerator with a processor above 270 W requires a direct liquid cooling module, and an accelerator combined with closed-loop liquid cooling means EDSFF drives cannot be selected at all. HPE also states that none of the CTO servers carry ENERGY STAR 4.0 certification once a graphics card is fitted.
Networking and power: the 500 W supply that forbids a second processor
There is no embedded network controller on any DL360 Gen11, and HPE's configurator pre-selects a Broadcom BCM5719 1 Gb four-port BASE-T OCP3 adapter in OCP slot 2 as the default networking choice. OCP slot 2 is the slot with shared-NIC and Wake-on-LAN support, which is why a single OCP NIC lands there. Lane width is set by enablement kit: P51911-B21 connects CPU1 to OCP2 at x8, P48827-B21 gives OCP1 x16, P48828-B21 gives OCP2 x16, and P48830-B21 connects CPU2 to OCP2 at x8. On the 20 EDSFF model the choice narrows to either no enablement kit or the CPU2 to OCP2 x8 kit, because the electrical lanes are not there for anything wider. Two stand-up four-port BASE-T adapters, P51178-B21 and P21106-B21, cannot go in slot 2 at all for mechanical reasons.
| Power supply | Part | Efficiency grade | Constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 W Flex Slot | 865408-B21 | Platinum | 4 LFF model only; processor at or below 125 W; a second processor cannot be selected; maximum 8 DIMMs; maximum 2 network adapters and none at x16 |
| 800 W Flex Slot | P38995-B21 | Platinum | C-14 inlet |
| 800 W Flex Slot | 865438-B21 | Titanium | 200 to 240 VAC only |
| 1000 W Flex Slot | P03178-B21 | Titanium | C-14 inlet |
| 1600 W Flex Slot | P38997-B21 | Platinum | 200 to 240 VAC only |
| 1600 W Flex Slot DC | P17023-B21 | -48 VDC | Requires the DC power cable kit or power lug kit P36877-B21 |
| 1800 W to 2200 W Flex Slot | P44712-B21 | Titanium | 200 to 240 VAC only; output varies with input voltage |
The 500 W supply deserves the emphasis it gets in that table. It is the cheapest way to buy a DL360 Gen11 into a low-power role and it forecloses almost every upgrade path at once: single processor, eight DIMMs, no wide networking and 4 LFF only. Mixing two different power supplies is not supported on this platform, so a redundant pair must be two identical parts. Rails are chassis-specific too - P52341-B21 for the 8 SFF model, P52343-B21 for the 4 LFF and 20 EDSFF models - and HPE states the server does not support shelf-mounted L-bracket rail kits.
Managing a DL360 Gen11: iLO 6, the included subscription, and what does not transfer
Every DL360 Gen11 CTO server ships with iLO 6, Intelligent Provisioning and a three-year HPE Compute Ops Management subscription included, which is a genuine difference from the rest of the Gen11 rack line and worth checking on any used unit. Management hardware is a dedicated 1 GbE rear port plus a front iLO Service Port, standard on all models. Security standard features include UEFI Secure Boot and Secure Start, an immutable Silicon Root of Trust, iLO Security Modes, smart card two-factor authentication using PIV or CAC credentials, Kerberos authentication, tamper-free signed updates, Secure Recovery and firmware rollback, with FIPS 140-3 validation recorded as in progress for iLO 6.
TPM 2.0 is embedded. HPE's dedicated Trusted Platform Module section states that enabling TPM 2.0 no longer requires a TPM module option kit on Gen11 because it is an embedded feature, and that it can be disabled from the BIOS. A used DL360 Gen11 advertised with an add-on TPM module is being described from a Gen10-era part list.
What does not travel with second-hand hardware is entitlement. The three-year Compute Ops Management subscription is issued against the original order and is dated from it, and iLO Advanced is a licensed tier purchased separately. Neither can be verified by looking at a chassis, and neither is restored by a firmware reset. Treat both as line items to be bought rather than assets that came in the box, and be sceptical of any listing that promises an Advanced entitlement transfers with the server.
Where the DL360 Gen11 sits in the ProLiant lifecycle, and where to find the QuickSpecs
The DL360 Gen11 is a CURRENT HPE product. Its QuickSpecs document identifier is a50004306enw, and HPE last revised it at version 47 on 3 August 2026. That identifier is the fastest route to the authoritative specification: asking a supplier for a50004306enw by name gets the primary document rather than a mirrored copy of an older revision, and every figure on this page can be checked against it.
We do not host, mirror or reproduce HPE QuickSpecs documents, and we would treat any reseller that does as a warning sign rather than a convenience. HPE publishes no support-end date for the DL360 Gen11 on any public surface, so no such date appears here. The two lifecycle facts available from a primary HPE source are the current status and the document revision, and those are stated above.
HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 vs Dell PowerEdge R660
The DL360 Gen11 and the Dell PowerEdge R660 are the two vendors' mainstream dual-socket 1U servers on the same processor generation, and the choice between them is rarely about compute. Both take two 4th or 5th generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and both use DDR5 registered memory at 4800 or 5600 MT/s depending on processor generation. Where they separate is front-end storage architecture, embedded networking and the management stack.
| Attribute | HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 | Dell PowerEdge R660 |
|---|---|---|
| Chassis height | 1U | 1U |
| Processors | Up to 2 Intel Xeon Scalable, 4th or 5th Gen | Up to 2 Intel Xeon Scalable, 4th or 5th Gen |
| Memory | 32 DDR5 RDIMM slots, all three chassis | DDR5 RDIMM at 4800B and 5600B, 128 GB parts offered at both speeds |
| Front bay options | 8 SFF, 4 LFF or 20 EDSFF E3.S | 8-bay and 10-bay 2.5-inch front configurations in our catalogue |
| Maximum NVMe density | 1228.8 TB with 20 EDSFF carriers | Up to 12 rear and front 2.5-inch NVMe positions in our catalogue |
| Embedded networking | None; OCP 3.0 or PCIe adapter is mandatory | LOM plus OCP 3.0 |
| Storage controllers | HPE MR and SR series, plus embedded Intel VROC | Dell PERC |
| Management | iLO 6 with a three-year Compute Ops Management subscription included | iDRAC9 in Express, Enterprise or Datacenter licence tiers |
Choose the DL360 Gen11 when EDSFF density is the point of the build, when the estate is already managed through iLO or Compute Ops Management, or when a 4 LFF nearline front end in 1U is needed. Choose the R660 when the estate runs on iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller, or when embedded LOM ports matter because a 1U build has no slot to spare for basic networking. The rest of that comparison lives in the Dell PowerEdge range.
Choosing within the Gen11 ProLiant line
The DL360 Gen11 is the density member of the Gen11 line, and the decision against its siblings is a decision about expansion rather than compute, because all three share the same processor generations and the same 32-slot memory architecture.
| Model | Form-Factor | Front bay options | PCIe capacity | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL360 Gen11 | 1U rack, 2 sockets | 8SFF, 4LFF, 20EDSFF | Up to 3 slots, 9.5 inches maximum | Density per rack unit, no accelerator plan |
| DL380 Gen11 | 2U rack, 2 sockets | 8SFF, 24SFF, 8LFF, 12LFF, 12EDSFF | Up to 8 slots | Expansion, accelerators, mixed workloads |
| ML350 Gen11 | 4U tower, 2 sockets | SFF and LFF cage kits, up to three cages | Up to 10 slots | Office and edge sites with no rack |
| DL360 Gen10 Plus | 1U rack, 2 sockets | 8SFF, 4LFF | Primary and secondary risers | The DDR4 generation below this one |
| DL360 Gen10 | 1U rack, 2 sockets | 8SFF, 10SFF, 4LFF | Up to 3 slots | The value platform, two generations back |
For builds that need expansion rather than density, the 2U DL380 Gen10 is the value equivalent of the DL380 line, and the tower ML350 Gen10 covers sites with no rack at all.
Buying a refurbished DL360 Gen11
Two things separate a good used DL360 Gen11 from a bad one, and neither is visible in a photograph. The first is the front-end backplane: an 8 SFF chassis that arrives without one has no usable front bays, and an x1 backplane in a build that was quoted as NVMe-capable is the wrong part rather than a downgrade. The second is cooling provenance. HPE states that the closed-loop liquid cooling heatsink is subject to a maximum usage limitation of five years of operation and is required to be replaced when that limit is reached, that it is factory-installation only, and that it is not a Customer Self-Repair part. A liquid-cooled DL360 Gen11 on the secondary market therefore carries a service clock that an air-cooled one does not.
Enterasource builds each DL360 Gen11 to the specification ordered. Every unit is tested on receipt, then disassembled, cleaned, inventoried, picked, assembled, configured and tested again on the bench before it leaves the building. Whole systems including this server carry the 2-year Enterasource warranty, and shipping is free to the lower 48 states. Specify the chassis, the backplane, the riser and the network adapter at quote time - on a 1U platform those four decisions determine what else the server can ever hold. Browse the full HPE ProLiant server range for the rest of the line.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 specifications?
Two sockets for 4th or 5th generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, 32 DDR5 registered DIMM slots to a stated maximum of 8.0 TB on all three chassis, three front-end options covering 8 SFF, 4 LFF and 20 EDSFF, up to three PCIe 5.0 slots with a 9.5-inch card length limit, two OCP 3.0 slots, no embedded network controller, iLO 6 management with a three-year Compute Ops Management subscription included, and one or two Flex Slot power supplies from 500 W to 2200 W.
Where do I find the DL360 Gen11 QuickSpecs?
The QuickSpecs document identifier for the DL360 Gen11 is a50004306enw, and the revision this page is written against is version 47, dated 3 August 2026. HPE publishes the document directly, and quoting that identifier is the reliable way to obtain the correct revision rather than a mirrored copy of an older one. Enterasource does not host or reproduce HPE QuickSpecs documents; every specification on this page is drawn from that identifier and can be checked against it.
Which chassis options does the DL360 Gen11 come in?
Three: 8 SFF as P52499-B21, 4 LFF as P52498-B21 and 20 EDSFF as P52500-B21. The 8 SFF model ships with no drive backplane and one must be selected; the 4 LFF and 20 EDSFF models include theirs. The 20 EDSFF model requires two processors and provides x8 rather than x16 OCP lanes. HPE documents no field upgrade path between the three, so the front end is chosen once at order time.
Can a DL360 Gen11 take a GPU?
Two accelerators are supported, the NVIDIA A2 to a maximum of two and the NVIDIA L4 to a maximum of three, and no card longer than 9.5 inches fits any slot. The high-performance fan kit is mandatory with any graphics option and the BIOS must be set to Increased Cooling. The platform ceiling recorded in our lineup census is two accelerators at a maximum of 75 W, so this is a server that tolerates a low-power inference card rather than one built for acceleration.
How many PCIe cards fit in a DL360 Gen11?
Between one and three, depending on two choices. With no secondary riser and no rear boot cable kit the answer is two, in slots 1 and 2; adding the rear boot cable kit takes slot 2 and leaves one. A low-profile secondary riser with no rear boot kit gives the maximum of three. A full-height secondary riser gives two full-height cards but makes slot 2 unusable. Both secondary risers require the second processor.
How does the DL360 Gen11 compare to the Dell PowerEdge R660?
Both are dual-socket 1U servers on the same Intel Xeon Scalable generations with DDR5 registered memory, so compute is close to identical. The DL360 Gen11 has no embedded LAN-on-motherboard and needs an OCP or PCIe adapter selected, and it offers a 20-bay EDSFF front end that reaches far higher NVMe capacity in 1U. Management is iLO 6 with an included Compute Ops Management subscription against iDRAC9 with separately licensed Enterprise and Datacenter tiers.
