HPE ProLiant DL Gen11 (Intel): 1U, 2U and 4U rack servers
ProLiant DL Gen11 is HPE’s Intel-based rack server generation, spanning DL320 and DL360 in 1U, DL380 and DL380a in 2U and DL560 in 4U. The DL360 and DL380 are the two models most data centres standardise on, and most quotes in this family end up comparing those two. The decision is chassis and expansion, not brand.
Technical specification
| Brand | HPE |
|---|---|
| Product group | Servers |
| Capacity / format | 1U/2U/4U rack |
| Model codes | DL320 Gen11, DL360 Gen11, DL380 Gen11, DL380a Gen11, DL560 Gen11 |
Which one should you choose?
DL360 or DL380 is the real question
The DL360 is 1U and buys you density. The DL380 is 2U and buys you expansion slots, drive bays and thermal headroom. If your servers are compute nodes in a virtualisation cluster, the 1U usually wins on rack economics. If they carry local storage or cards, the 2U wins and the extra U pays for itself.
DL380a is a different machine
The a variant is built for accelerators rather than being a slightly different DL380. If your workload is inference, rendering or anything GPU-bound, that is the chassis to price. If it is not, the standard DL380 is the cheaper and simpler answer.
DL320 at the entry, DL560 at the top
The DL320 is a single-socket 1U for edge and light workloads where a two-socket machine would be idle. The DL560 is a four-socket 4U for large in-memory workloads. Both are specific answers to specific problems; neither is a general-purpose default.
Configuration decides the price, not the model
Processor generation, memory population, drive type, network adapters and support level move the price far more than the chassis does. Memory in particular has to be populated in the right pattern to reach the rated bandwidth, and an under-populated server is slower than its specification suggests.
What to send us
The workload, the number of nodes, the storage arrangement, the network speed you need and the support level. If you are extending an existing estate, tell us the current model so the new machines match on management and firmware policy.
Request a Quote
Send the workload, the rack space available and the delivery country. A priced quote comes back within 48 hours against a written configuration, not a model name alone.
