IBM 3rd / Third Party Kit Explained

Fact: IBM doesn't make hard drives. IBM buys hard drives from companies such as Fujitsu, Hitachi, Seagate and Maxtor and then put their logo on the drive label and firmware on the drive.

In our third party compatible kits we utilize the original Fujitsu/Seagate/Maxtor drives and pair them with an original IBM drive tray/caddy. The drive we use will match the specifications of the original IBM kit. For example, in the 40K1025 we use a brand new 300GB 10K U320 80pin drive. They are guaranteed compatible, and will even work as replacements for failed members of existing arrays. We ensure that our drives are at least of the exact capacity or slightly larger to ensure this compatibility.

In some instances the IBM XRaid controller management software will log warnings that a non-IBM drive has been installed and is not supported by IBM. This is merely an alert. It is not error and does not affect the performance of the the drive or system. We do have full instructions on how to disable the alert for those administrators who would like to do that.