Question : Problem: Can I use third party hard drives with Dell Powervault MD3000i?

We are thinking about purchasing a Dell Powervault MD3000i as a SAN solution. The price is affordable unless we have to purchase the hard drives through Dell (their hard drives at more than 3X the cost of third party sources. In the manual it says "Only Dell-provided physical dists are supported. Physical disks not purchased from Dell will be marked as uncertified and will not be usable". Has anyone used physical disks not purchased through Dell on their Powervault MD3000i? If so, what drive did you use?

Answer : Problem: Can I use third party hard drives with Dell Powervault MD3000i?

It is very likely the manufacturer modifies the firmware, this is common for disks intended for arrays. However, if you read the manual I send and look around at Dell support questions, some of the disks shipped by Dell apparently have out of date firmware and will be rejected unless the firmware update is applied. This is just my best guess from prior Dell experiences and from reading between the lines of Dell's site/manuals. I hope you do find someone who has tried it though!