HPE Broadcom MegaRAID 12G controller

This HPE Broadcom MegaRAID 12G Controller stands apart from typical RAID cards by combining Broadcom's SAS3916 Tri-Mode silicon with 8GB of flash-backed DDR4 cache, delivering both 12Gb/s SAS and 6Gb/s SATA throughput plus NVMe readiness in a single PCIe 4.0 x16 slot. It is built for HPE ProLiant Gen10 Plus servers where data integrity and mixed-drive flexibility are non-negotiable.

Highlights

• Tri-Mode support: SAS, SATA, and NVMe drives on the same controller.
• 16 internal ports via four SFF-8643 connectors, expandable with SAS expanders.
• Hardware RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60 with up to 64 logical drives.
• CacheVault flash backup protects the 8GB DDR4 write cache without a battery.
• PCIe 4.0 x16 host interface eliminates bottlenecks for high-speed storage.
• Secure Boot and self-encrypting drive (SED) support for hardened deployments.
• Managed through MegaRAID Storage Manager, StorCLI, or HII.

In daily use

Administrators can mix SAS and SATA drives for tiered storage, then add NVMe devices later without swapping controllers. The CacheVault supercapacitor flushes cached writes to flash on power loss, so performance stays high without the maintenance of a traditional battery. Broad OS support covers Windows Server, Linux, and VMware ESXi, making it a drop-in upgrade for many ProLiant Gen10 Plus workloads.

Full specifications

• Controller processor: Broadcom SAS3916
• Host interface: PCIe 4.0 x16
• Data transfer rate: 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA
• Internal ports: 16 (4x SFF-8643)
• Supported drive types: SAS, SATA, NVMe (Tri-Mode)
• RAID levels: 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60
• Cache memory: 8GB DDR4 with flash-backed write cache (FBWC)
• Max logical drives: 64
• Max physical drives: 16 direct-attached, expandable with expanders
• Form factor: Type-p (PCIe plug-in card)
• Management: MegaRAID Storage Manager, StorCLI, HII
• Operating systems: Windows Server, Linux, VMware ESXi
• Compatibility: HPE ProLiant Gen10 Plus servers
• Battery backup: CacheVault supercapacitor

Final note

For ProLiant Gen10 Plus environments that demand tri-mode flexibility and resilient write caching, this MegaRAID controller delivers enterprise-grade performance without vendor lock-in.