Is this P3700 legit or is it a 'es' or something else? In what way are the ES P-series drives limited ?

[BVade]

Hi,

I am doing some research on buying a few intel nvme ssd's. I am being offered a (used) P3700 nvme SSD that is decently priced, and I'm considering to buy it because this would allow me to get to know the product, do some testing in my environment to make me feel comfortable before ordering multiple pieces. This seems a good way to test without spending so much $$$ buying a new one. The thing is it has some strange numbers on the label that look a bit odd, and i would like to know what you guys think about the product? Is it legit? Or is it some kind of sample?/dummy/Fake? Would buying an engineering sample be legal?

Is there any way to find out if the SSD is a ES?

Would an engineering sample even be usable? because I read this at the Intel® Solid-State Drive Data Center Tool;

• The tool does not update firmware on Engineering Sample (ES) drives

Does this mean the drive is pretty much useless? / lacks allot of features compared to the retail version?

I bought an ES Xeon a few years ago, as a cheap way to do some testing with the product before spending my money on it, and I have to say that it performs exactly the same as the retail processor. I never had any problems with it what so ever. Was this dumb luck, or would an ES P-series ssd also be a good way to do some testing in my environment before buying a real one?

I certainly hope so, because the P series ssd's are so expensive, buying one and later finding out that it does not really fit my use-case/environment would make me pretty sick...

I hope I can get some clarification on this subject. Especially about how to recognize ES SSD's from the label.

Thanks for the help

Cloudbuilder

[jbenavides]

Hello cloudbuilder33,

I checked the information you provided and would like to provide some information about your concerns regarding the type of SSD shown in the picture, as well as Engineering Sample SSD's.

The drive in the picture you provided is not an engineering sample of the Intel® SSD DC P3700 (800GB, 2.5in PCIe 3.0), but it is not a retail version either. This seems to be an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) drive, manufactured by Intel for Fujitsu. OEM drives are final products, however, they may be customized as required by Fujitsu, as you can see, the firmware is "FJP2". Here are a few facts regarding your specific situation:

- Firmware updates for OEM drives are provided by the OEM, in this case, you would have to contact Fujitsu (http://www.intel.com/support/oems.htm Computer Manufacturer Support) to obtain Firmware updates for this drive. ISDCT and other Intel tools are not able to update firmware on OEM drives.

- The drive may be very similar to a retail version, however, we would recommend you to contact Fujitsu in order to determine any special feature , limitation, or compatibility with 3rd party systems, since the drive may have been customized to operate with Fujitsu systems.

- OEM SSD's are covered with the http://www.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/CS-034927.htm Intel® High Performance Solid-State Drive — Warranty for Intel® SSD DC P3500, DC P3600, DC P3608, and DC P3700 Series, that is only valid to the purchaser of the Product in its original sealed packaging (Original Purchaser) and to the Purchaser of a computer system built by an Original Purchaser containing the product (Original System Customer). Hence, used drives are not covered by warranty.

If your testing/case scenario requires full feature support, compatibility with Intel® Tools and warranty coverage, then we strongly advise you to get a new retail drive, in stead of a used OEM version.

Regarding your questions about Engineering Samples, they normally have markings that differentiate them from regular drives. Intel Engineering Samples are not for sale or re-sale, so we would recommend to avoid buying ES devices. Engineering Samples often lack some of features that would be available in the final product, for example: Firmware updates are not supported on ES SSD's, also ES are not covered under warranty.

[BVade]

Hey Jonathan, thanks for the very clear answer you gave me !

There is one thing I dont really get however;

When i search the Fujitsu website for intel P3700 I get loads of articles that advice me to use the real intel firmware, and i even get send here to download it; http://support.ts.fujitsu.com/Download/ShowDescription.asp?SoftwareGUID=6C54A1CE-F24B-4FBE-9AF2-22B4... http://support.ts.fujitsu.com/Download/ShowDescription.asp?SoftwareGUID=6C54A1CE-F24B-4FBE-9AF2-22B4...

Would this mean that I can probably buy this card safely, since it seems fujitsu is still allowing intel to modify the drivers?

I asked them, but response will probably take a few days atleast.... then my deal is gone

[BVade]

Is there maybe someone who can share some relevant first hand experience ??

Maybe people who have other OEM P3700's that can also use all Intel tools no problem?

I would really like to know for sure before I buy.....

[jbenavides]

Hello cloudbuilder33,

The Fujitsu link you have is to download the driver for Windows*, the version in the Fujitsu site is 1.1.0.1004, the one currently available from https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/23929/Intel-Solid-State-Drive-Data-Center-Family-for-NVMe-... Intel® Download Center is 1.3.0.1007. From experience with other OEM devices, the drivers from the OEM are the first option, however, the generic drivers from Intel normally work well and may be recommended if the OEM does not provide an updated driver.

In regards to upgrades using Intel firmware and support for advanced features with https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/23931/Intel-Solid-State-Drive-Data-Center-Tool Intel® Data Center Tool and https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/18455/Intel-Solid-State-Drive-Toolbox Intel® SSD Toolbox, we would advise you to wait for the response from Fujitsu, or maybe another member of the community that could share their experience with this type of SSD.