HPE MSA 2050 end of life

HPE MSA 2050 support dates

Where the HPE MSA 2050 stands today

HPE began the EOL process for the MSA Gen5 portfolio (MSA 1050, 2050 and 2052) on 1 February 2021. All Gen5 arrays and drive enclosures were obsolete as of 31 July 2023, and the remaining options, including drive upgrades and software, as of 31 December 2023. HPE defines EOES as typically five years after obsolescence for hardware. Beyond Q1J00B, Q1J01B and Q1J28B, the notice sets EOES at 15 July 2027 for Q1J29B, 14 October 2027 for the TAA models R4Y07A and R4Y08A, 29 June 2027 for the NEBS-certified DC-power Q1J04A, and 28 February 2027 for Q1J32A, Q1J79A and Q2P39A. Q1J00A, Q1J01A and Q1J28A passed EOES on 14 December 2025, and Q1J29A on 30 September 2025.

The notice's revision history says version 6 (13 September 2024) 'removed EOSL date in all tables and replaced with TBD'. A third-party tracker, eosl.date, nonetheless lists 'MSA 2050 SAN Storage' as supported until 31 July 2028. That date matches HPE's EOES for Q1J00B, Q1J01B and Q1J28B only: it is not an HPE EOSL, and it does not apply to Q1J29B, the TAA, NEBS or DC-power models, or the original 'A' SKUs. To find your own date, identify the array's HPE product number and look it up in the tables of PCN a00127631. HPE's copy needs a Support Center sign-in; the dates here come from a publicly hosted third-party copy of version 7, and no later revision has been checked.

What still works after HPE support ends

Once the Gen5 arrays reached Discontinuance, HPE put their firmware development into a 'sustain only' phase, where the only issues it considers are critical security or data-integrity ones, and it stopped adding host operating systems, HDD/SSD hardware, drive firmware, HBAs or network components to SPOCK. For MSA 2050/2052 controller firmware, HPE's Online ROM Flash Component for Windows shows VL270P008, released on 2 November 2022, as its latest version. Viewed without signing in on 8 October 2026, its page showed a 'Download Software' button and no support-level prompt, though the download itself was not attempted. The MSA 1040/2040 page did show that prompt, so HPE's gating differs between products and can change.

Owners of Q1J00A, Q1J01A, Q1J28A and Q1J29A arrays are past EOES while EOSL is 'TBD' in version 7 of the notice, so confirm with HPE what remains available for each unit, and use HPE Support Center's Warranty Check, which works by serial number, for contract or warranty status. 'B' arrays still inside engineering support can stay with HPE or move to independent cover; HPE third-party maintenance explains the third-party route.

• From the DISC date, MSA Gen5 firmware development moved to a 'sustain only' phase in which HPE considers only critical security or data-integrity issues. No new host OSes, HDD/SSD hardware, drive firmware, HBAs or network components are added to SPOCK. (istoragenetworks.com)
• The latest version HPE lists for its 'Online ROM Flash Component for Windows - HPE MSA 2050/2052 Storage Arrays' (controller firmware) is VL270P008, released 2 Nov 2022. When checked on 2026-10-08 without signing in, the page showed a 'Download Software' button with no support-level verification prompt (the download itself was not attempted). The MSA 1040/2040 firmware page did show that prompt, so HPE's gating differs by product and can change. (support.hpe.com)

What a maintenance contract needs to cover on the HPE MSA 2050

The MSA 2050 runs only as a dual-controller array, since HPE does not support single-controller configurations, so maintenance has to cover both controllers, each with four host ports. A SAN pair offers 8/16Gb Fibre Channel or 1/10GbE iSCSI, with FC and iSCSI SFPs allowed on the same controller, while a SAS pair offers 6/12Gb SAS. Cache is 8 GB per controller, or 16 GB of read/write data cache plus system memory per array, and each array can take up to 8 TB of SSD read cache; those SSDs belong on the drive schedule. Because the product number decides HPE's date, put each array's SKU on the contract as well as its serial.

The 2U chassis holds 24 SFF or 12 LFF drives, and up to seven expansion enclosures attach over a 6Gb SAS interface, with LFF and SFF mixing allowed, for a maximum of 192 SFF or 96 LFF drives. Controllers, fans and power supplies are redundant and hot-plug. AC base systems include two AC power supplies, while the DC-power LFF models (Q1J79A, Q2P39A; -40 to -75 VDC, not NEBS certified) and the NEBS-certified DC-power SFF models (Q1J04A, Q1J32A) need DC spares. Hardware break-fix support outlines how parts and engineer cover works.

Extend or refresh the HPE MSA 2050?

For Q1J00B, Q1J01B and Q1J28B, the nearest HPE milestone is the end of engineering support on 31 July 2028, and EOSL has not been dated. Extending such an array is a reasonable plan where its attached hosts run operating systems already in the SPOCK matrix and the workload is not outgrowing it. Q1J00A, Q1J01A, Q1J28A and Q1J29A, past EOES since 2025, need earlier planning, as do Q1J29B and the TAA, NEBS and DC-power models, whose EOES dates fall between February and October 2027. Two MSA 2050s on one site can sit at different points in HPE's timeline, so audit each array separately.

For a refresh, HPE names the MSA 2060 (MSA Gen6) as the successor, but it also states that none of the MSA Gen5 options are compatible with Gen6 systems, so drives, enclosures and spares bought for a 2050 cannot be carried forward to a 2060. HPE also notes that the 2060 does not support SAN combo (converged FC/iSCSI) controllers, so an owner replacing a 2050 that mixes Fibre Channel and iSCSI on one controller must choose a dedicated 16Gb FC or 10GbE iSCSI controller. Moving to a 2060 is therefore a full replacement. Any spares bought now, including refurbished HPE MSA arrays, should be costed as hardware that stays with the Gen5 estate.

• The SKU suffix decides the engineering-support date. Original 'A' models (e.g. Q1J00A) passed EOES in Sept/Dec 2025, while 'B' models Q1J00B/Q1J01B/Q1J28B run to 31 Jul 2028 (Q1J29B to 15 Jul 2027). Two MSA 2050s on the same site can therefore have different HPE engineering-support status. (istoragenetworks.com)
• HPE states that none of the MSA Gen5 options are compatible with MSA Gen6 systems, and that MSA 2050 drive enclosures are supported only on Gen5 arrays. Spares, drives and enclosures cannot be carried forward to an MSA 2060 refresh. (istoragenetworks.com)
• HPE notes that MSA Gen6 2060 arrays do not support SAN combo (converged FC/iSCSI) controllers. A buyer replacing an MSA 2050 that mixes FC and iSCSI on one controller must choose a dedicated 16Gb FC or 10GbE iSCSI controller. (istoragenetworks.com)
• HPE has retired the MSA 2050 QuickSpecs (last version V23, 13 Nov 2023). It is marked RETIRED and states the base products are obsolete and no longer available for sale. (support.hpe.com)

Keep your HPE MSA 2050 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 2050 sits between the MSA 2040 and the MSA 2060. HPE's MSA 1040/2040/2042 notice names the 1050/2050/2052 as their logical replacements and maps each MSA 2040 SKU to an MSA 2050 SKU; HPE MSA 2040 end of life covers that older array. HPE's two documents disagree by a month on the introduction date: the PCN says the Gen5 array was initially introduced in June 2017, while the earlier 2040 notice puts the fifth generation's introduction in May 2017. The MSA 1050 and 2052 share this PCN, and the 2052 carries its own SKUs and dates, so its owners should not read the 2050 dates as theirs.

• HPE MSA 2040 end of lifePast the vendor’s last date of support
• 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 2050

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.

1. HPE Product Change Notification a00127631 v7: HPE MSA 1050, 2050, 2052 SAN Storage - End of Life Announcement (third-party-hosted copy) — istoragenetworks.com
2. eosl.date: HPE MSA End of Life (EOL) Dates and EOSL Dates — eosl.date
3. support.hpe.com — support.hpe.com
4. support.hpe.com — support.hpe.com

Last reviewed 7 October 2026. Lifecycle dates for the HPE MSA 2050 are re-verified against HPE's own notices at each review; a date a vendor has not published is never filled in.