I have an EMC Claarion AX4-5.  It has 4 enclosures of 146 GB 10k SAS drives (AX-2SS10-146) and 1 enclosure of 300 GB 15k SAS drives (AX-SS15-300).

We've had 5 failed drives since January (4 of them were 146 GB; 1 was 300 GB).  When I pulled out the 146 GB drive, I opened the casing and found that it was actually a Seagate Savvio ST9300603SS, which is a 300 GB drive.

My contract on support is ending soon, and I am weighing the benefits of re-upping or replacing drives myself.  We're buying a new EMC and we'll have a contract on that, so this will just be a legacy system.  So, I've asked EMC and CDWG on pricing for these drives.

Now, they are saying that the 146 GB drives are unavailable for purchase.  I see that they have AX-SS15-146 drives, however (15k RPM instead of 10k RPM).  Can I mix RPM's in the same array?  Better yet, could I purchase some Seagate Savvio ST9300603SS drives and replace them?  Does the array only use 146 GB out of the 300 GB on the drive?  Or do I have to use EMC drives vs the actual Seagate drive??

Thanks!!