EDSFF SSDs (E1.S & E3.S)

EDSFF (Enterprise and Data Center Standard Form Factor) is the drive shape that replaced the 2.5-inch bay in modern flash servers. Instead of reusing a hard-disk footprint, EDSFF drives are long, thin cards designed around NVMe and PCIe: better airflow, more drives per rack unit, and thermal headroom for sustained writes that a U.2 chassis cannot match. Every EDSFF drive here is sold by exact manufacturer part number, from Samsung, Micron, Solidigm/Intel and KIOXIA plus the OEM-branded parts that ship in Dell, HPE and Supermicro flash nodes. E1.S is the short 'ruler' used in dense 1U compute and storage servers; E3.S is the wider, taller format aimed at general-purpose 2U servers and the one most new platforms are standardising on. They are not interchangeable — the connector is common but the physical bay is not — so match the exact format your chassis accepts. We list New, Refurbished and Recertified stock together with real price-per-terabyte. In stock, fast US shipping, warranty-backed, and purchase orders welcome; send your server model via the bulk-quote link and we'll confirm the right format before you buy.

What is EDSFF?

EDSFF (Enterprise and Data Center Standard Form Factor) is the family of NVMe drive shapes designed for flash rather than inherited from 2.5-inch hard drives. The drives are thin rulers or cards with a native PCIe edge connector, which lets a chassis pack more drives per rack unit, cool them front-to-back and feed each one PCIe 4.0/5.0 lanes without the U.2 backplane compromise.

The standard defines several sizes - E1.S, E1.L, E3.S and E3.L - and current server generations have settled on E1.S for dense compute nodes and E3.S as the general-purpose successor to U.2. All of them are hot-swappable and use the same NVMe protocol, so software sees an ordinary NVMe drive.

E1.S vs E3.S vs E1.L

Form factor	Size	Typical capacities	Power	Where it is used
E1.S	111.5mm x 31.5mm; 5.9 / 9.5 / 15 / 25mm thick	1.92TB - 15.36TB	Up to 20-25W	1U compute and storage nodes, 24-32 drives per 1U (Supermicro, Dell, Lenovo)
E3.S	112.75mm x 76mm; 7.5mm (E3.S) or 16.8mm (E3.S 2T)	1.92TB - 30.72TB	Up to 25W (40W for 2T)	The U.2 replacement in Gen11 / 16G / V3 servers: Dell PowerEdge R760/R660, HPE ProLiant Gen11, Lenovo ThinkSystem V3
E1.L	318.75mm x 38.4mm ("long ruler")	15.36TB - 61.44TB	Up to 25W	1U all-flash storage arrays, 32 drives per 1U (QLC capacity tiers)

An E1.S drive needs an E1.S slot and an E3.S drive an E3.S bay; adapters to U.2 exist for E1.S but not the other way round.

Which servers take EDSFF drives?

Dell PowerEdge 16G: R660, R760, R6615, R7615, R6625, R7625 with the E3.S backplane option (configured at order or as a backplane kit).
HPE ProLiant Gen11: DL360 / DL380 Gen11 and DL320 / DL325 / DL345 / DL365 Gen11 with the E3.S drive cage; Alletra and Cray storage use E3.S and E1.L.
Lenovo ThinkSystem V3 (SR630 / SR650 V3 with the E3.S option), Supermicro X13 / H13 storage and cloud DC nodes (E1.S and E3.S), Cisco UCS X-Series compute nodes (E3.S).
Storage arrays: NetApp, Pure and Dell PowerStore ship EDSFF in newer generations; the drive must match the array's firmware list - send us the array model and we confirm.

New vs Recertified vs Refurbished

Every part is sold by exact manufacturer part number and ships warranty-backed. Here's what each condition means so you can weigh price against your workload.

New: Factory-sealed and unused, with the full manufacturer warranty. The safest choice for a fresh build or a warranty-sensitive deployment.
Recertified: OEM-recertified and restored to original specification, typically with low power-on hours. Health-tested and backed by our own replacement warranty — the same usable capacity for a lower price.
Refurbished: Professionally tested working pulls, wiped and inspected. A cost-effective option for labs, cold storage and non-critical tiers, warranty-backed.

Not sure which to pick? Read our New vs Recertified vs Refurbished guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between E1.S and E3.S?+

E1.S is the short, narrow 'ruler' drive built for dense 1U servers — you fit many across the front of the chassis. E3.S is wider and taller, sized for mainstream 2U servers, allows higher power and capacity per drive, and is where most new platforms are heading. Both are NVMe over PCIe, but the physical bays are different and not interchangeable.

Can I put an EDSFF drive in a 2.5-inch (U.2) bay?+

No. EDSFF and U.2 share NVMe as a protocol but not the physical form factor, and no passive adapter makes an E1.S or E3.S drive fit a standard 2.5-inch backplane. Your chassis has to be built for EDSFF.

Which servers take EDSFF drives?+

Current-generation flash-optimised platforms — Dell PowerEdge with EDSFF backplanes, HPE ProLiant Gen11 and later on selected configurations, Supermicro Petascale, and most hyperscale storage nodes. Older ProLiant and PowerEdge generations are U.2 only. Send your exact model through the bulk-quote link and we'll confirm.

Are EDSFF SSDs worth it over U.2?+

If your chassis supports them, yes — more drives per rack unit, better cooling and more power headroom, which means higher sustained write performance. If you are buying for an existing U.2 server, stay on U.2; the form factor is decided by the chassis, not the workload.

20TB+ SSDs (High-Capacity)NVMe Enterprise & Data Center SSDs Enterprise SSDs

EDSFF SSDs (E1.S & E3.S)

What is EDSFF?

E1.S vs E3.S vs E1.L

Which servers take EDSFF drives?

New vs Recertified vs Refurbished

Frequently asked questions

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EDSFF SSDs (E1.S & E3.S)

What is EDSFF?

E1.S vs E3.S vs E1.L

Which servers take EDSFF drives?

New vs Recertified vs Refurbished

Frequently asked questions

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