PowerVault MD3 Series support dates
| Milestone | Date | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model-wide End of Sale / End of Standard Support / End of Service Life (Dell) | — | Not published by the vendorDell's storage EOL spreadsheet (dated 2 Oct 2026) has no rows for any MD3 model. Its only PowerVault rows are tape libraries. | Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) |
| EOSL Date (Park Place EOSL library): MD3400, MD3420, MD3460, MD3800i, MD3800f, MD3820i, MD3820f, MD3860i, MD3860f | 31 March 2019 | Third-party trackerThis is a third-party tracker date, not Dell's, and Park Place cites no source. Treat it with caution: Dell reissued its MD34xx/38xx Support Matrix as Rev. A25 in January 2020, after this 'EOSL' date. | Park Place Technologies EOSL library: PowerVault family |
| EOSL Date (Park Place EOSL library): MD3200, MD3200i, MD3220, MD3220i | 31 March 2015 | Third-party trackerThird-party tracker date, not Dell's. | Park Place Technologies EOSL library: PowerVault family |
| EOSL Date (Park Place EOSL library): MD3600F, MD3620F | 31 March 2016 | Third-party trackerThird-party tracker date, not Dell's. | Park Place Technologies EOSL library: PowerVault family |
| EOSL Date (Park Place EOSL library): MD3600i, MD3620i | 31 October 2016 | Third-party trackerThird-party tracker date, not Dell's. | Park Place Technologies EOSL library: PowerVault family |
| EOSL Date (Park Place EOSL library): MD3260, MD3260i, MD3660i, MD3660f | 31 August 2017 | Third-party trackerThird-party tracker date, not Dell's. Park Place also gives 08/31/2017 for the MD3060e dense expansion enclosure. | Park Place Technologies EOSL library: PowerVault family |
Where the PowerVault MD3 Series stands today
No MD3 model appears in Dell's storage EOL spreadsheet, the KB 000185734 hardware workbook dated 2 October 2026, whose only PowerVault rows are tape libraries. Park Place's EOSL library supplies dates by model group, all third-party rather than Dell's: 31 March 2015 for the MD3200, MD3200i, MD3220 and MD3220i; 31 March 2016 for the MD3600F and MD3620F; 31 October 2016 for the MD3600i and MD3620i; 31 August 2017 for the MD3260, MD3260i, MD3660i and MD3660f (and for the MD3060e dense expansion enclosure); and 31 March 2019 for the MD3400, MD3420, MD3460, MD3800i, MD3800f, MD3820i, MD3820f, MD3860i and MD3860f, a date for which Park Place cites no source.
Because Dell reissued the MD34xx/MD38xx matrix after the date Park Place labels EOSL, that 2019 figure should not be presented as Dell's end of service life. Your position depends on the unit's own coverage. Dell's MD3800i/MD3820i Owner's Manual puts the Service Tag and Express Service Code on a pull-out information tag at the front of the system and on the Support page of the management GUI, though the passage mentions a 'DR Series system' and looks copied from another Dell manual. Dell KB 000185734 describes what a lookup at dell.com/support/home returns for that tag: a banner, beside the device's figure, listing which support services are attached and when they expire.
Dell publishes no model-wide MD3 date. Dell's MD3800i/MD3820i Owner's Manual (https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/md3800i3820i-om_en-us.pdf) says the Service Tag and Express Service Code are on a pull-out information tag on the front of the system, and can also be found on the Support page in the management GUI. The manual's wording at that point refers to a 'DR Series system', which looks like text copied from another Dell manual. Enter the Service Tag at https://www.dell.com/support/home/. Dell KB 000185734 (https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000185734) says the support services and their expiry date appear in the banner next to a figure of the device.
What still works after Dell support ends
For the 12Gb MD34xx/MD38xx models, Dell's Support Matrix Rev. A25 (January 2020) lists RAID controller firmware 08.25.14.60 and NVSRAM N2701-825890-004 as the latest versions, says that only drivers and firmware released by Dell EMC are supported, and places them in the downloads section at Dell.com/support. We found no Dell statement on whether a contract is needed to download them, and whether Dell still sells any extended support for MD3 is unconfirmed, so check both with Dell against your tag.
Where Dell cover has run out, Dell third-party maintenance is one route, typically supplying fault-finding, replacement components and engineer visits after the vendor's support period. When scoping that cover, record the controller firmware and NVSRAM levels each array runs and compare them with the versions the Rev. A25 matrix lists.
- Dell's MD34xx/38xx Support Matrix (Rev. A25, January 2020) lists RAID controller firmware 08.25.14.60 and NVSRAM N2701-825890-004 as the latest versions. It says that only drivers and firmware released by Dell EMC are supported, and that they are in the downloads section at Dell.com/support. We found no statement on whether a contract is needed to download them. (dl.dell.com)
What a maintenance contract needs to cover on the PowerVault MD3 Series
On the 12Gb generation, the parts list depends on whether the array is 2U or dense 4U. The 2U MD3400, MD3800i and MD3800f hold 12 x 3.5-inch drives and the MD3420, MD3820i and MD3820f hold 24 x 2.5-inch drives; the 4U MD3460, MD3860i and MD3860f need at least 20 drives. Host links follow the suffix: 12 Gbps direct-attached SAS on the MD34x0, 10 Gbps iSCSI on the MD38x0i and 16 Gbps Fibre Channel on the MD38x0f. On the MD3800f and MD3820f, each of the two hot-swappable RAID controller modules has 4 GB or 8 GB of cache, four 16G FC host ports, two SAS OUT expansion ports and a 100/1000 Mbps management port. The MD3400/MD3420 runs one (simplex) or two (duplex) RAID controllers, each with 4 GB of mirrored cache (8 GB optional) and battery-powered cache offload, and has two hot-swappable 600 W power supply/cooling fan modules.
Shelves need listing one by one. 2U arrays take MD1200 (12 x 3.5-inch) and MD1220 (24 x 2.5-inch) enclosures, up to nine by default or, with the premium feature, up to 15 MD1200, seven MD1220 or a mix; dense arrays take up to two MD3060e enclosures, and 2U and 4U enclosures cannot be mixed. Slot limits are 120 as standard, rising to 192 (2U) or 180 (dense) with the optional Premium Feature Key. The Dell hardware detail here covers MD34xx/MD38xx only, so confirm any MD32xx or MD36xx build from the unit itself. Bring that shelf list to any storage and SAN maintenance discussion.
| Specification | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Models and form factor (MD34xx/MD38xx 12Gb generation) | 2U non-dense models: MD3400, MD3800i and MD3800f (12 x 3.5-inch drives), and MD3420, MD3820i and MD3820f (24 x 2.5-inch drives). 4U dense models: MD3460, MD3860i and MD3860f. | dl.dell.com |
| Host interface | MD34x0: 12 Gbps direct-attached SAS. MD38x0i: 10 Gbps iSCSI. MD38x0f: 16 Gbps Fibre Channel. | dl.dell.com |
| RAID controllers (MD3400/MD3420) | Single (simplex) or dual (duplex) RAID controller configurations. Each RAID controller module has 4 GB of mirrored cache (8 GB optional) and battery-powered cache offload. The array connects up to eight non-redundant or four redundant hosts over 12 Gbps SAS. | dl.dell.com |
| Controllers and FC host ports (MD3800f/MD3820f) | Two hot-swappable RAID controller modules with 4 GB or 8 GB of cache each. Each controller has four 16G FC IN host ports, two SAS OUT expansion ports and one 100/1000 Mbps management port. | dl.dell.com |
| Maximum drive slots | 120 drive slots as standard. With the optional Premium Feature Key: 192 on the 2U models and 180 on the dense MD3x60 models. The dense models need at least 20 drives. | dl.dell.com |
| Expansion enclosures | 2U arrays use PowerVault MD1200 (12 x 3.5-inch) and/or MD1220 (24 x 2.5-inch) enclosures: up to nine by default, or with the premium feature up to 15 MD1200, seven MD1220, or a mix. Dense arrays take up to two MD3060e enclosures. 2U and 4U enclosures cannot be mixed. | dl.dell.com |
| Power (MD3400/MD3420) | Two integrated, hot-swappable 600 W power supply/cooling fan modules. | dl.dell.com |
| Management (MD3400/MD3420) | A management port giving a 100/1000 Mbps Ethernet connection for out-of-band management of the enclosure. | dl.dell.com |
Extend or refresh the PowerVault MD3 Series?
An MD3 can sensibly stay on maintenance while its hosts are held at operating systems Dell's matrix lists and the shelves already fitted meet capacity. For the 12Gb models, the MD34xx/MD38xx matrix stops at Windows Server 2016, RHEL 7.4 and VMware vSphere 6.5 U1, lists no newer host OS, and its revision history ends at November 2018. On the dense MD3460, MD3860i and MD3860f, Dell supports only the two-controller (duplex) configuration, so both controllers have to be kept in service.
Host upgrades are the trigger to watch: moving attached servers past those operating systems takes a 12Gb array outside the host lists of the last MD34xx/MD38xx matrix Dell issued. The PowerVault ME4 Series is the next model in the same line, with its position set out on the PowerVault ME4 Series end of life page, and refurbished PowerVault arrays are another option to compare when planning a refresh.
- Dell's MD34xx/38xx Support Matrix is Rev. A25, dated January 2020, and its revision history ends at November 2018. Its host OS lists stop at Windows Server 2016, RHEL 7.4 and VMware vSphere 6.5 U1, and it lists no newer host OS. Check this before upgrading hosts attached to the array. (dl.dell.com)
- Dell supports the dense MD3460, MD3860i and MD3860f only with two RAID controllers (duplex), so both controllers on these models have to be kept in service. (dl.dell.com)
- MD3 is not on Dell's storage EOL list, so there is no Dell model-wide date to quote. The tracker dates (2015–2019) are the only model-wide figures available. The 2019 tracker date for the 12Gb models is earlier than Dell's last support-matrix issue (January 2020), so do not present it as Dell's EOSL. (supportkb.dell.com)
Keep your PowerVault MD3 Series covered
Tell us how many you run and when your current cover ends, and we will come back with a like-for-like maintenance quote for that estate. Your model and its support status are attached to the enquiry automatically, so there is nothing to re-type.
Related models
The ME4 Series covered on the PowerVault ME4 Series end of life page is the next model in this PowerVault line, and because the only PowerVault rows in Dell's storage EOL spreadsheet are tape libraries, it is missing from that list as well. The third Dell storage line in this group, Unity, has its own page: Dell EMC Unity 300–600 end of life.
- PowerVault ME4 Series (ME4012 / ME4024 / ME4084) end of lifeNo model-wide date published — check your unit
- Dell EMC Unity 300 / 400 / 500 / 600 (hybrid and all-flash F) end of lifePast the vendor’s last date of support
Look up another model in the storage end-of-life checker, or read what third-party maintenance covers.
Questions people ask about the PowerVault MD3 Series
Is the Dell PowerVault MD3 end of life?
Dell has not published a series-wide EOL or end-of-support date for the MD3, and no MD3 model appears in Dell's storage EOL spreadsheet. The only model-wide figures available come from Park Place's EOSL library, a third-party tracker, and run from 2015 to 2019 depending on the model. Your service tag shows whether any Dell coverage is left.
What is the MD3400 EOSL date?
Park Place's EOSL library lists 31 March 2019 as the EOSL date for the MD3400, along with the MD3420, MD3460 and the MD38x0i and MD38x0f models, and cites no source. That is a third-party tracker's figure, not Dell's, and it falls before Dell reissued the MD34xx/MD38xx Support Matrix in January 2020. Dell itself publishes no model-wide date.
Where does Dell point MD3 owners for firmware?
The Rev. A25 Support Matrix lists RAID controller firmware 08.25.14.60 and NVSRAM N2701-825890-004 as the latest for the MD34xx/MD38xx models and points to the downloads section at Dell.com/support. We found no Dell statement on whether an active contract is needed to download them.
Which PowerVault line followed the MD3?
The PowerVault ME4 Series (ME4012, ME4024 and ME4084) is the next model in the same line. Before moving hosts, note that Dell's last MD34xx/MD38xx matrix lists host operating systems only up to Windows Server 2016, RHEL 7.4 and VMware vSphere 6.5 U1.
Is third-party maintenance an option for an MD3420 or MD3820i?
Third-party maintenance is one way to keep arrays like these running without vendor cover, usually covering diagnosis, replacement parts and engineers. A useful quote names the model, how many controllers are fitted, the cache size and every MD1200, MD1220 or MD3060e shelf, and you can start one with the maintenance coverage builder.
Sources
Every date, rule and specification above was checked against these on 8 October 2026 by an independent verification pass. Vendors revise lifecycle notices; this page is re-checked by 8 January 2027.
- Dell KB 000185734 attachment: Dell Technologies Hardware Release and Service Dates for All Hardware Products (dated 2026-10-02) — supportkb.dell.com
- Park Place Technologies EOSL library: PowerVault family — parkplacetechnologies.com
- dl.dell.com — dl.dell.com
- dl.dell.com — dl.dell.com
- dl.dell.com — dl.dell.com
- i.dell.com — i.dell.com
Last reviewed 7 October 2026. Lifecycle dates for the PowerVault MD3 Series are re-verified against Dell's own notices at each review; a date a vendor has not published is never filled in.