HPE BladeSystem c7000 and c7000 Platinum: EOL and EOSL

The official EOL of the HPE BladeSystem c-Class c7000 enclosures was January 1, 2020. The EOSL is November 15, 2026. Both dates apply to the BLC-C7000 ProLiant Blade Centre c-Class c7000 Chassis and to the BLC-C7000P c7000 Platinum Chassis.

The c7000 was launched in 2006 and was the standard enclosure for HPE server blades for many years. In 10 rack units, it holds up to 16 half-height blades or 8 full-height blades, according to the HPE QuickSpecs. HPE stopped selling the blades and enclosures on January 1, 2020. Vendor support ends on November 15, 2026. If you run one or more c7000 enclosures in your data center, you have only a few weeks of vendor support left.

Overview

HPE lists the two enclosure families under the model numbers BLC-C7000 and BLC-C7000P. The same lifecycle dates apply to both.

Table: HPE ProLiant c7000: EOL and EOSL

HPE BLC-C7000 ProLiant Blade Centre c-Class c7000 Chassis

BLC-C7000 covers the first- and second-generation enclosures (G1 and G2). The original enclosure has the part number 412152-B21. The second generation was released in 2009. You can identify it by the suffix “ROHS” in the product name and by a part number starting with 5. HPE offered the G2 as a configure-to-order (CTO) enclosure without power supplies, as well as in several preconfigured versions with power supplies, fans and an Insight Control license.

HPE did not publish a separate end-of-sale date for the G2 models. They no longer appear in the 2016 edition of the QuickSpecs, which lists only Platinum enclosures. The table therefore shows the end-of-sale date of the entire c7000 platform.

Table: HPE ProLiant c7000 Chassis: EOL and EOSL model overview

HPE BLC-C7000P ProLiant Blade Centre c-Class c7000 Platinum Chassis

The Platinum Chassis is the third generation (G3) and was launched in 2013. In operation, the main difference is the midplane. The internal downlink ports run at 16 Gbit/s only in a Platinum enclosure; older enclosures with a part number starting with 5 reach a maximum of 8 Gbit/s. This is stated in the March 2016 edition of the QuickSpecs linked above, which is also the source of the part numbers in the table. If you want to use 20 or 40 Gigabit interconnects, you therefore need a Platinum enclosure.

Another new feature was the Intelligent Power Module. Its blue connectors indicate HPE Power Discovery Services: together with compatible iPDUs, the enclosure reports which power circuit it is connected to.

Table: HPE ProLiant c7000 Platinum Chassis: EOL and EOSL model overview

The Integrity CTO enclosures AD361C and AD361D for HP-UX environments are not included in the tables. We can provide the dates for these models on request.

Maintenance after HPE end of support

From November 16, 2026, HPE will no longer sell Care Packs for the c7000, will no longer replace parts through its vendor service and will not release any new firmware for Onboard Administrator and Virtual Connect. If a power supply or fan fails and you have no maintenance contract, you will have to find a replacement on the used market yourself. That can take days.

Hardwarewartung.com maintains the BLC-C7000 and the BLC-C7000P until at least November 15, 2036, ten years beyond the EOSL. The contract covers the enclosure including midplane, power supplies, Active Cool 200 fans, Onboard Administrator and interconnect modules, and on request also the installed ProLiant blades. Depending on the SLA, our technicians in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are on site within as little as four hours. Spare parts come from our own warehouses.

After the EOSL, new firmware is not available from third-party providers either. You should therefore cleanly separate the management network for Onboard Administrator and iLO from the rest of your network.

FAQ on the HPE c7000 EOL

When was the EOL of the HPE BladeSystem c7000?

HPE stopped selling c7000 enclosures and blades on January 1, 2020. Since then, HPE no longer offers the platform new.

When does vendor support (EOSL) for the c7000 Platinum end?

The EOSL for the BLC-C7000P is November 15, 2026. The same date applies to the standard BLC-C7000.

What is the successor to the c7000?

HPE replaced the c7000 with the Synergy 12000 Frame. A Synergy frame has 12 compute slots instead of 16. The c7000 blades do not fit into Synergy, so migrating means new hardware.

How long can I keep running the c7000?

Technically, for as long as the hardware lasts and spare parts are available. With a maintenance contract from Hardwarewartung.com, operation is secured until at least November 2036.

Here is the latest updated list of end-of-life hardware for HP. As always, we offer our maintenance for at least 7 years beyond the end-of-life period. In practice, however, we can offer maintenance well beyond 7 years after the end-of-life date. If you need an HP maintenance contract for end-of-life hardware or current hardware, simply contact us via our contact form.