HPE MSA 2040 support dates
| Milestone | Date | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| End of Life (EOL) | 8 December 2017 | Vendor-publishedHPE wording: 'Product enters EOL period'. | HPE Customer Notice a00038415: HPE MSA 1040, 2040, 2042 SAN Storage - End Of Life Announcement |
| Discontinuance (DISC) | 31 January 2018 | Vendor-publishedHPE wording: orders placed after this date will be fulfilled based on inventory availability. | HPE Customer Notice a00038415: HPE MSA 1040, 2040, 2042 SAN Storage - End Of Life Announcement |
| Obsolescence (OBSO) | 30 April 2018 | Vendor-publishedProduct models removed from HPE price lists and ordering systems. HPE says obsolescence dates are fixed, based on material availability. | HPE Customer Notice a00038415: HPE MSA 1040, 2040, 2042 SAN Storage - End Of Life Announcement |
| End of Engineering Support | 30 April 2023 | Vendor-publishedHPE wording: last date of engineering support availability. | HPE Customer Notice a00038415: HPE MSA 1040, 2040, 2042 SAN Storage - End Of Life Announcement |
| End of support (EOSL) | 30 April 2023 | Vendor-publishedHPE wording: HPE support is available for HPE MSA 1040, 2040 and 2042 SAN Storage arrays until this date. In the same notice HPE defines EOSL as typically 5 years past the OBSO date, and says spare parts and product support continue for 5 years after OBSO. | HPE Customer Notice a00038415: HPE MSA 1040, 2040, 2042 SAN Storage - End Of Life Announcement |
| End of Support (third-party tracker) | 30 April 2023 | Third-party trackerThe eosl.date tracker lists 'Modular Smart Array (MSA) 2040' with End of Support 2023-04-30, which matches HPE's own date. The row cites no specific source. | eosl.date: HPE MSA End of Life (EOL) Dates and EOSL Dates |
Where the HPE MSA 2040 stands today
HPE wound the MSA 2040 down in published steps, all set out in notice a00038415. The product entered its EOL period on 8 December 2017 and reached Discontinuance on 31 January 2018, after which HPE fulfilled orders based on inventory availability. It became obsolete on 30 April 2018, when the models were removed from HPE's price lists and ordering systems. End of Engineering Support and EOSL then fell together on 30 April 2023, the date until which HPE's notice says support was available for MSA 1040, 2040 and 2042 SAN Storage arrays. That five-year gap matches HPE's own definition in the same document: EOSL typically comes five years after obsolescence, and spare parts and product support continue for five years after obsolescence.
There is no per-unit end-of-support date to look up on a 2040. HPE applies one family-wide EOSL to every MSA 1040, 2040 and 2042 SKU listed in the notice, and a third-party tracker, eosl.date, shows the same 30 April 2023 for the Modular Smart Array 2040. What does stay tied to the individual array is its warranty or contract coverage, which HPE Support Center's Warranty Check looks up by serial number. HPE has also retired the MSA 2040 QuickSpecs, keeping the final version (V29, 5 March 2018) for reference only. Other arrays in the estate can be checked with the storage end-of-life checker.
No per-unit lookup is needed for the end-of-support date. HPE notice a00038415 (https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00038415en_us&docLocale=en_US) gives one family-wide EOSL of 30 April 2023 for every MSA 1040/2040/2042 SKU listed in it. Warranty or contract coverage for an individual array is still tied to its serial number, checked in HPE Support Center's Warranty Check (https://support.hpe.com/connect/s/warrantycheck).
What still works after HPE support ends
From the Discontinuance date of 31 January 2018, MSA 1040/2040/2042 firmware development moved to a 'sustain only' phase in which HPE considers only critical security or data-integrity issues. The latest version HPE lists for its Online ROM Flash Component for Windows for MSA 1040/2040 arrays, the controller firmware package, is GL225P002-02, released on 31 May 2019. Checked without signing in on 8 October 2026, that page said 'HPE needs to verify your support level to access this download', so the file is entitlement-gated.
The compatibility list stopped growing on the same day. From 31 January 2018 HPE added no further interoperability items to the MSA 2040's SPOCK matrix: no new host operating systems, HDD or SSD hardware, drive firmware, HBAs or other network infrastructure components. Any operating system, hypervisor or drive released after that date is uncertified on this array. HPE's notice gives 30 April 2023 as the last date of HPE support availability, so for fault cover after that date, HPE third-party maintenance is one route to consider.
- From the Discontinuance date (31 Jan 2018), MSA 1040/2040/2042 firmware development moved to a 'sustain only' phase in which HPE considers only critical security or data-integrity issues. (support.hpe.com)
- The latest version HPE lists for its 'Online ROM Flash Component for Windows - HPE MSA 1040/2040 Storage Arrays' (controller firmware) is GL225P002-02, released 31 May 2019. When checked on 2026-10-08 without signing in, the page said 'HPE needs to verify your support level to access this download', so this download is entitlement-gated. (support.hpe.com)
What a maintenance contract needs to cover on the HPE MSA 2040
A maintenance contract for an MSA 2040 has to be written around the controllers it carries. The SAN controller takes 8/16Gb Fibre Channel and/or 1/10GbE iSCSI through SFPs, and the two can be mixed on one controller; the SAS controller uses 6/12Gb SAS over mini-SAS HD. Each controller has four host ports and the chassis has room for one or two controllers, so the schedule should state the count, the controller type and the exact SFP mix. Cache is 6 GB per controller (4 GB read/write data cache plus 2 GB for metadata and the system OS), 12 GB per array, and cache backup is battery-free, relying on super-capacitors and compact flash.
Beyond the controller enclosure, list every expansion shelf and the drives inside it. The 2040 takes up to seven disk enclosures, for a maximum of 96 LFF or 199 SFF drives. Because HPE stopped adding drive hardware and drive firmware to the 2040's SPOCK matrix in January 2018, replacement drives should be models already certified for the array. Power supplies are hot-plug and redundant; sites running the DC-power controller-less chassis (C8R11A SFF, C8R13A LFF) need spares for its 500 W supply rated -40 to -75 VDC. Management is out of band over the Ethernet management port, using the Storage Management Utility web GUI and CLI. Storage and SAN maintenance sets out what such a schedule covers.
| Specification | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | 2U array enclosure with 12 LFF (3.5in) or 24 SFF (2.5in) drive bays and room for one or two controllers | support.hpe.com |
| Controllers and host connectivity | MSA 2040 SAN controller (8/16Gb FC and/or 1/10GbE iSCSI through SFPs, which can be mixed per controller) or MSA 2040 SAS controller (6/12Gb SAS over mini-SAS HD). Four host ports per controller, eight per array. | support.hpe.com |
| Cache | 6 GB per controller (4 GB read/write data cache plus 2 GB metadata/system OS memory), 12 GB per array. Battery-free cache backup using super-capacitors and compact flash. | support.hpe.com |
| Expansion and max drives | Up to 7 disk enclosures (LFF and/or SFF), for a maximum of 96 LFF or 199 SFF drives | support.hpe.com |
| Pool capacity | Up to 562 TB (512 TiB) usable per pool with GL220 firmware and Large Pool Support, two pools per system (virtual storage only) | support.hpe.com |
| Power | Hot-plug redundant power supplies. DC-power controller-less chassis (C8R11A SFF, C8R13A LFF) use a 500 W supply rated -40 to -75 VDC. | support.hpe.com |
| Management | HPE Storage Management Utility (SMU) web GUI and CLI, out of band over the Ethernet management port (SNMP, SMI-S, SSL, SSH, SMTP, FTP, HTTP, Telnet) | support.hpe.com |
Extend or refresh the HPE MSA 2040?
Keeping an MSA 2040 running on third-party cover is a reasonable choice where it serves a stable, contained workload and its attached hosts run operating systems and hypervisors that were already in SPOCK before the January 2018 cut-off. The final MSA 2040 QuickSpecs (V29, 5 March 2018) help the spares position: they name the MSA 2050 SFF and LFF Disk Enclosures as the recommended expansion enclosures for the 2040, provided the controllers run GL225 array controller firmware or newer, and allow LFF and SFF enclosures to be mixed up to seven in total. Keeping a spare enclosure on site also shortens an outage; refurbished HPE MSA arrays are one source to check.
The argument for refresh grows with every change on the host side. Upgrading the attached servers to an operating system or hypervisor released after 31 January 2018 moves the estate onto a combination HPE never certified for this array, and the newest Online ROM Flash Component HPE lists for MSA 1040/2040 controllers dates from May 2019. Where the 2040 holds production data, those two facts weigh heavily against staying put. HPE's notice names the MSA 2050 as the successor; before buying one as a like-for-like swap, read HPE MSA 2050 end of life, because that array has its own lifecycle to weigh.
- From the Discontinuance date (31 Jan 2018) HPE stopped adding interoperability items to the MSA 2040's SPOCK compatibility matrix: no new host operating systems, HDD/SSD hardware, drive firmware, HBAs or other network infrastructure components. Any OS, hypervisor or drive released after that date is uncertified on this array. (support.hpe.com)
- HPE's QuickSpecs name the MSA 2050 SFF and LFF Disk Enclosures as the recommended expansion enclosures for the MSA 2040; they need GL225 array controller firmware or newer. LFF and SFF enclosures can be mixed up to 7 in total, which widens the spare-enclosure pool for keeping an MSA 2040 running. (support.hpe.com)
- HPE has retired the MSA 2040 QuickSpecs. The document is marked RETIRED, says the base products are obsolete, and is kept for reference only (last version V29, 5 March 2018). (support.hpe.com)
Keep your HPE MSA 2040 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 MSA 2040 belongs to HPE's fourth MSA generation alongside the MSA 1040 and MSA 2042, and all three share notice a00038415 and its 30 April 2023 EOSL. Its tie to the next generation is direct: HPE's notice names the MSA 2050 as the successor, and the 2040's final QuickSpecs recommend MSA 2050 disk enclosures for expanding a 2040.
- HPE MSA 2050 end of lifeEnd-of-life announced — vendor support still available
- HPE Nimble Storage CS-Series (hybrid) end of lifePast the vendor’s last date of support
- HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 end of lifeNo model-wide date published — check your unit
Look up another model in the storage end-of-life checker, or read what third-party maintenance covers.
Questions people ask about the HPE MSA 2040
Is the HPE MSA 2040 end of life?
Yes. HPE's notice a00038415 put the MSA 2040 into its EOL period on 8 December 2017, and End of Support Life followed on 30 April 2023. HPE applies that date to every MSA 1040, 2040 and 2042 SKU listed in the notice, so no per-unit lookup is needed for it.
When did HPE stop supporting the MSA 2040?
On 30 April 2023. HPE's notice gives that as the date until which HPE support was available for MSA 1040, 2040 and 2042 SAN Storage arrays, and as the End of Engineering Support date. The same notice describes EOSL as typically five years after obsolescence, and the 2040 went obsolete on 30 April 2018.
Can I still download firmware for the MSA 2040?
The latest version HPE lists for its Online ROM Flash Component for Windows for MSA 1040/2040 arrays (controller firmware) is GL225P002-02, released on 31 May 2019. A signed-out check of that page on 8 October 2026 found the message 'HPE needs to verify your support level to access this download', so the file is entitlement-gated. Firmware development had been in a sustain-only phase since 31 January 2018, in which HPE considers only critical security or data-integrity issues.
What replaced the HPE MSA 2040?
HPE's end-of-life notice names the MSA 2050 as the successor. The 2040's final QuickSpecs also recommend the MSA 2050 SFF and LFF Disk Enclosures as expansion enclosures for a 2040, provided it runs GL225 array controller firmware or newer.
Can I get third-party maintenance for an MSA 2040?
Third-party maintenance generally covers hardware past the vendor's end of support, providing fault diagnosis, replacement parts and engineer visits. Have the controller type (SAN or SAS), SFP mix, enclosure count and drive list to hand, then start a quote 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.
- HPE Customer Notice a00038415: HPE MSA 1040, 2040, 2042 SAN Storage - End Of Life Announcement — support.hpe.com
- eosl.date: HPE MSA End of Life (EOL) Dates and EOSL Dates — eosl.date
- support.hpe.com — support.hpe.com
- support.hpe.com — support.hpe.com
Last reviewed 7 October 2026. Lifecycle dates for the HPE MSA 2040 are re-verified against HPE's own notices at each review; a date a vendor has not published is never filled in.