Sourced for enterprise IT teams, the Dell 342-2096 (342-2096 - Dell 500GB 7200RPM SAS 6GB/s 16MB Cache 3.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive) is a Server Hard Drive component appropriate for new-build, expansion, or warranty-replacement procurement. Technical specifications include spindle speed of 7,200 RPM, form factor of 3.5-inch, interface of SAS, data rate of 6 Gb/s, cache of 16MB. Appropriate for OS boot tier (Windows Server, RHEL, Ubuntu Server, ESXi), application data tier, database log volumes, and tier-2 capacity in mixed-storage clusters. Pro Disk Network maintains the 342-2096 in our enterprise inventory and verifies each unit against manufacturer datasheet specifications prior to listing. New stock ships factory-sealed where available; refurbished units are tested under load before dispatch and ship with a 90-day Pro Disk Network functional warranty. Same-day dispatch on in-stock orders placed before 3pm ET; free standard ground shipping on US orders over $150.
The 342-2096 is a Dell server hard drive component with spindle speed 7,200 RPM, form factor 3.5-inch, interface SAS. Pro Disk Network sells the 342-2096 for $170.93 with same-day US shipping and a 30-day return guarantee.
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Reviewed by:Pro Disk Network Engineering Team — . Specifications, compatibility, and pricing for the 342-2096 are shown on this page.
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Quick Answer: Will the 342-2096 work with my RAID controller?
The 342-2096 operates with any standard SAS/SATA/NVMe-compatible RAID controller (Dell PERC, HPE Smart Array, LSI/Broadcom MegaRAID, Adaptec, IBM ServeRAID, Lenovo ThinkSystem RAID). Mixing this drive in the same RAID volume with drives of different speed/capacity is supported but never recommended.
How fast does the 342-2096 ship?
342-2096 orders placed before 3 pm ET ship the same business day from US warehouses. Delivery is next business day to most metro ZIPs via FedEx/UPS overnight; ground delivery covers remaining US in 1-4 business days.
The 342-2096 is deployed by US enterprises, MSPs, government, and education customers across multiple infrastructure scenarios. Below are the most common deployment patterns Pro Disk Network sees in real-world orders.
Veeam Backup Repository — Cost-optimised backup target for Veeam B&R, Rubrik, or Cohesity primary backup tier. RAID 6 over 8–24 drives delivers 100+ TB usable per server.
Splunk Warm/Cold Tier — Appropriate for Splunk warm/cold/frozen indexes where ingest write rates are below 200 MB/s per node. Avoid for hot-tier indexes — use NVMe instead.
File Server / SMB Shares — General-purpose Windows Server / Samba shares for departmental file storage. RAID 5 for capacity, RAID 10 for IOPS-sensitive workloads.
Object Storage (Ceph / MinIO) — JBOD presentation behind Ceph OSDs or MinIO erasure-coded pools. Mix with NVMe metadata drives for production object stores.
What is the 342-2096?
The 342-2096 is a Dell enterprise-grade hard drive with spindle speed 7,200 RPM and form factor 3.5-inch, manufactured by Dell. Pro Disk Network ships this part new and certified-refurbished from our US warehouse with same-day dispatch on orders placed before 3 PM ET, backed by a 30-day return guarantee.
Pros & Cons of 342-2096
Pros
Direct-to-rack shipping on multi-pack orders
Sequential serial-number bundling for cluster builds
Cons
Refurbished tier reseals — original retail box not included
Single-drive purchases ship in static-shield bags, not retail packaging
Lead time on 24+ drive orders may extend 2–4 business days
Frequently Asked Questions about 342-2096
Is the 342-2096 a genuine Dell part?
Yes. Pro Disk Network sources every 342-2096 as factory-original Dell inventory. New units arrive sealed in OEM packaging; refurbished units are pulled from decommissioned Dell servers, surface-tested, and re-warranted by Pro Disk Network for 90 days.
Will the 342-2096 work with my RAID controller?
The 342-2096 operates with any standard SAS/SATA/NVMe-compatible RAID controller (Dell PERC, HPE Smart Array, LSI/Broadcom MegaRAID, Adaptec, IBM ServeRAID, Lenovo ThinkSystem RAID). Mixing this drive in the same RAID volume with drives of different speed/capacity is supported but never recommended.
How fast does the 342-2096 ship?
342-2096 orders placed before 3 pm ET ship the same business day from US warehouses. Delivery is next business day to most metro ZIPs via FedEx/UPS overnight; ground delivery covers remaining US in 1-4 business days.
What is the warranty on the 342-2096?
New 342-2096 units carry the full Dell manufacturer warranty (typically 1 to 5 years depending on product line). Refurbished and bulk-OEM units include a Pro Disk Network advance-replacement warranty (90 days refurbished). DOA replacement is free within 30 days of receipt.
Do you offer bulk pricing for the 342-2096?
Email sales@prodisknetwork.com with the quantity and target ship date for a quote within one business day.
Other parts that share the 342 series prefix — useful when sourcing matched lots, hot-spare pools, or capacity-tier expansions.
342-2000 — 342-2000 - Dell 1TB 7200RPM SAS 6Gb/s 2.5-inch Hard Drive — $128.42
342-2001 — 342-2001 - Dell 1TB 7200RPM SAS 6GB/s 2.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive — $128.42
342-2002 — 342-2002 - Dell 1TB 7200RPM SAS 6GB/s 2.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive — $147.37
342-2003 — 342-2003 - Dell 1TB 7200RPM SAS 6GB/s 2.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive — $259.50
342-2004 — 342-2004 - Dell 1TB 7200RPM SAS 2.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive with Tray — $259.50
342-2006 — 342-2006 - Dell 1TB 7200RPM SAS 6Gbps 2.5-inch Internal Hard Drive — $128.42
342-2010 — 342-2010 - Dell 300GB 10000RPM SAS 6GB/s 2.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive — $442.11
342-2011 — 342-2011 - Dell 300GB 10000RPM SAS 6GB/s 2.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive — $438.16
342-2012 — 342-2012 - Dell 300GB 10000RPM SAS 6GB/s 2.5-inch Hard Drive — $155.79
342-2013 — 342-2013 - Dell 146GB 10000RPM SAS 6GB/s 2.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive — $397.01
342-2014 — 342-2014 - Dell 146GB 10000RPM SAS 6GB/s 2.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive — $170.61
342-2015 — 342-2015 - Dell 146GB 10000RPM SAS 6GB/s 2.5-inch Internal Hard Disk Drive — $317.26
Pro Disk Network Buyer’s Guide: Server Hard Drive
How to Pick the Right Drive Capacity for Your Use Case
For VMware vSAN deployments, the 342-2096 is best deployed in the capacity tier with NVMe cache drives in front. Size the cache layer at 10% of usable capacity for write-intensive workloads and 5% for read-leaning workloads. For Veeam backup repositories, plan around 1.5× the size of your protected estate to allow for incremental forever chains plus synthetic fulls. Splunk warm tier sizing should follow the daily ingest rate × retention days × 1.6 compression overhead.
Drive Health Monitoring: SMART, Workload Rating, and Predictive Failure
For VMware ESXi 8 hosts, enable vSphere's predictive-failure analysis on the 342-2096 via the host's storage device list. The host queries SMART on a regular cadence and surfaces yellow/red warnings in vCenter before the drive fails outright. On Linux, use smartctl piped to your monitoring system; on Windows Server, Storage Spaces exposes health state directly in Server Manager.