16TB USB SSD too good to be true?

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On AliExpress and probably elsewhere there are small USB SSDs available, in neat aluminium enclosures claiming capacities up to 16TB. It sounded too good to be true, but I tried ordering one anyway.

The unit arrived and claimed a formatted 16TB. It was formatted with FAT32 and it was possible to write several GB of data to it. Slowly. But when trying to partition it or formatting it with NTFS or APFS it threw up errors. Which made me suspicious.

With a bit of force it was possible to open the case and remove the contents. It turned out to contain two populated microSD card sockets and a chip or two completed obscured by silicone. The two microSD cards each had a capacity of 62GB. So 2 x 62GB = 16TB? It was too good to be true. So buyer beware!

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Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 16TB External Aluminum SSD – $2,902.22

And then you have this : 10TB/16TB External SSD Hard Drive USB 3.1 Type-C Mobile Solid State Drive – US $31.59

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The term ‘bleeding edge’ was coined, as far as I know, about 25 years ago to the ‘new, improved, super duper gee-whiz’ products of the day.  And like my stint as an IBM-360 systems programmer eons ago, I was taught and lived by the ‘wait until the PTFs (patches) slow down before installing a new release’.  Back then, the x.6 version was typically considered mostly bug-free and usable.  I still live by that rule.

As for new SSDs, I buy only 1 particularly reliable (to me) well known brand and buy a different, very reliable well known brand USB thumb drives and SD cards.  I also stay several size ‘jumps’ behind the curve for much better pricing than originally released prices.

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Where can I purchase high quality reliable 4gb and 8gb thumb drives?  Can anyone recommend a brand and vendor. Thank you

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anonymous wrote:

Where can I purchase high quality reliable 4gb and 8gb thumb drives?  Can anyone recommend a brand and vendor. Thank you

Having dealt with hundreds of USB sticks in the course of work, over the years I have standardised on HP 165w (made by PNY) for nano-size USB2, SanDisk Cruzers for standard-size low-capacity USB2 (1GB to 4GB) and Kingston DataTraveler G4s for 8GB and over USB3 sticks – all sourced from OEMs (not eBay). YMMV.

Hope this helps…

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IT Manager Geek

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I usually buy Adata or Kingston (nice metal case with loop hole big enough for a metal clip) from newegg.

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Since the vendor did not respond to my message I tried complaining to AliExpress. They rejected my claim that it was counterfeit, but accepted that it was defective, and I should get a small refund. However the items are still being sold as if they have a 16TB capacity. Unfortunately.

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It sounds as if you’ll now be going elsewhere to search for computer-related products.

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I purchased a 16TB Drive from a company in the UK.

When trying it out all I could load was a few files and loads of error messages.

I paid with PayPal, when I went back to the company they gave me a full refund and left the drive with me.

I suspect they don’t work full stop.

Nice looking ornament now,

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That sounds good, but I’m not sure if it is going to work. All these “cutting edge” technologies should first undergo the test of time.

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Why are you not sure it’s going to work? Do you have the engineering expertise and read the technical details?

What is the “test of time”? Do you mean wait until millions of people have bought one and it seems OK, or allow the developers to perform rigorous, validated pre production tests before release to the public?

cheers, Paul

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Paul T wrote:

What is the “test of time”?

Just about when it becomes obsolete perhaps?

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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I bought a SSd 16to from Wish and suprise it’s show 16to.

But the problem is I create the file it’s ok and after I transfert someting into, there is no file showing up..

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Sounds like it’s time for you to go get your money back from the seller. It doesn’t sound as if the device works properly if you try transferring files to it but they never show up on it after the transfer.

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Exactly what did you buy? Make and model please.

cheers, Paul

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Take a look at the Western Digital website at  https://www.westerndigital.com/

They probably have what you are looking for.

They have a Thunderbolt 3, 16TB G-RAID SHUTTLE SSD for $3,499.99 US https://www.westerndigital.com/products/external-drives/sandisk-professional-g-raid-shuttle-thunderbolt-3-ssd?sku=SDPS24H-016T-NBAAB

They also have a USB-C, 16TB, G-SPEED Shuttle SSD on clearance for $1,199.99 US   https://www.westerndigital.com/products/external-drives/g-technology-g-speed-shuttle-thunderbolt-3-ssd?sku=0G10193-1 

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I ordered a 2 Tb USB thumb drive from AliExpress and checked it with the Gibson Research ValiDrive app. The app returned its capacity as 7.26 Gb. So a big-time FAIL.

Just received the 16 Tb thumb drive which isn’t even recognized by my XPS 13. My Dell desktop gave a message that the drive needed more power in order to be mounted. So I’ll consider it a failed experiment (not surprised). Cost me less than $5 for both, so I can’t complain too much. But I certainly won’t order anything else from AliExpress, ever again.

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I had a same issue. Not only wasted $40 but the pain have gone through losing the data and spend hours to retrieve some back (not all but) don’t believe except the proper SSD (big in sizes) there are other dodgy product in the market with such capacity. Also no USB drive works well with more than 32 GB capacity. All USB with TB capacities heard are fake. Heard they don’t operate correctly . The Ebay seller I purchased this from, don’t exist anymore. they may sell and run away quick. So better to stay away from big capacity USB and SSD small fancy looking product.

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Jimmy wrote:

Also no USB drive works well with more than 32 GB capacity.

Assuming the USB drive is not a fake, for larger than 4gig files, you just need to format it to NTFS or exFAT. By default, “valid” USB drives come formatted as FAT32. Personally, I try to buy from a well known manufacturer.

File System Options

When formatting your drive, it’s important to understand the different formatting options available for your ideal use. The file systems most commonly used in USB flash drives are:

• FAT32 is a common option you’ll hear because it’s recognised by both Mac and Windows operating systems, but it offers no security and caps files at 4GB in size. Most USB flash drives will have a FAT32 file system out of the box. It is the most compatible file system for older/modern computers (PC and Mac), plus gaming consoles and other devices with a USB port

• exFAT is the ideal file system for USB flash drives. It doesn’t have the 4GB file size limit and it’s compatible with most Windows and Mac operating systems. Older operating systems might require an update to properly read and write to a USB drive with an exFAT file system.

• NTFS format is the file system Windows likes to use by default for internal drives running the operating system or used as a secondary storage drive. It has a much larger max file size but is read-only on Mac OS X (unless you install a third party NTFS read/write utility).

• Mac OS Extended is the native solution for Mac users and has the max file size of any of them. Only use this option if the drive will only be used in Mac OS. Windows will not detect this file system without a third-party utility.

• APFS is a file system developed by Apple for macOS that was introduced with macOS 10.13 in 2017. APFS includes features like cloning and file-level encryption. APFS cannot be read or written by a Windows PC without third-party software, so use ExFAT or FAT32 if you need compatibility across OSes.

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SueW

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Seagate Expansion 16TB External Hard Drive HDD – USB 3.0, with Rescue Data Recovery Services (STKP16000400)

-30% $229.99

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That’s HDD, not SSD

 

Windows 10 Home 22H2, Acer Aspire TC-1660 desktop + LibreOffice, non-techie

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Paul T

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I have tried a number of different manufacturers of USB flash drives and found that Microcenter brand were the fastest and cheapest. I just checked their site and 512GB is the largest they sell so that is the largest I would get.KIS(S)

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Fastest by what measure? Did you use GRC ValiDrive?

cheers, Paul

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Paul T wrote:

Fastest by what measure? Did you use GRC ValiDrive?

cheers, Paul

No, I used to use HDTach and lately use Crystal.

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