Seagate Backup Plus 4TB Drive - Cheap 2.5" 4TB drives

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timeshock6

New Member
Jun 30, 2016
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Got one, ZFSed it. So far so good.

Can't device whether I want to use it for offsite backup, or to have a laptop with a full backup.

Hopefully they don't have some wierdass software in the USB controller that fixes something about them.
Actually they do. When you format them while they're still in the USB enclosure, the controller encrypts data on the drive so you can't access them when you plug the drive directly into your SATA port.
 

whitey

Moderator
Jun 30, 2014
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Lookin at 12 of those ctrls now thinking I will NEVER use them since I just did the great shuck-fest and they are all in my chassis on REAL SAS HBA controllers/hot-swap backplanes. :-D

Anyone want them they are yours for free. May keep one or two around for kicks.
 

TType85

Active Member
Dec 22, 2014
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Garden Grove, CA
Lookin at 12 of those ctrls now thinking I will NEVER use them since I just did the great shuck-fest and they are all in my chassis on REAL SAS HBA controllers/hot-swap backplanes. :-D

Anyone want them they are yours for free. May keep one or two around for kicks.
I hooked one of them up to a 960GB SSD and it diskpart showed it being 4TB. All mine went in the trash.
 

EffrafaxOfWug

Radioactive Member
Feb 12, 2015
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Couldn't believe what you said, so tried it myself. Took one of the USB bridges, plugged it into an old 256GB C300 Crucial SSD, plugged into my linux box and, from dmesg:
Code:
[1291532.151759] usb 2-6: new SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[1291532.168481] usb 2-6: New USB device found, idVendor=0bc2, idProduct=2322
[1291532.168483] usb 2-6: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=1
[1291532.168485] usb 2-6: Product: Expansion
[1291532.168486] usb 2-6: Manufacturer: Seagate
[1291532.168487] usb 2-6: SerialNumber: NA83JRMV
[1291532.251596] usb-storage 2-6:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[1291532.251695] scsi7 : usb-storage 2-6:1.0
[1291532.251979] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[1291533.252566] scsi 7:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Seagate  Expansion        9300 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[1291533.252859] sd 7:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg8 type 0
[1291533.253747] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdi] Spinning up disk...
[1291534.255676] .ready
[1291534.256667] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdi] Very big device. Trying to use READ CAPACITY(16).
[1291534.256905] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdi] 7814037167 512-byte logical blocks: (4.00 TB/3.63 TiB)
[1291537.161585] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdi] Write Protect is off
[1291537.161598] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdi] Mode Sense: 4f 00 00 00
[1291542.163601] usb 2-6: Disable of device-initiated U1 failed.
Patrick, think you might need to revoke your recommendation of using these USB dingleberries... or maybe of using these unshucked at all :S

Edit: P.S. Existing partitions and whatnot from the crucial were still perfectly accessible and usable but given what the OS is reporting (esp. re: comments above regarding auto-encryption) I'm not sure I would trust these things as far as I could spit them...
 

unwind-protect

Active Member
Mar 7, 2016
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Boston
Actually they do. When you format them while they're still in the USB enclosure, the controller encrypts data on the drive so you can't access them when you plug the drive directly into your SATA port.
LOL

Seagate doing security software. Right. And do I guess correctly that if the USB part breaks you can't read the actual disk on a different USB part?

Did somebody post instructions on the lest destructive way to open these? Sorry didn't see it so far.
 

JSchuricht

Active Member
Apr 4, 2011
198
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It's easy to get them open, use a plastic pry tool so you don't mar the surface. Just run it around the edge while gently pressing the plastic inwards and the lid pops off. Don't forget to put a sticky note on what SN HDD went in each case.
 

whitey

Moderator
Jun 30, 2014
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Used a knife on all 12 of mine so far (build for me and a build for a buddy). I started at the end AWAY from the data connect, worked one corner, got it to pop, worked down towards middle, went to other corner and popped it, worked toward middle again...POP/pry back (don't be shy but hold firmly). Gently turn over and pry outward on plastic enclosure (bottom piece that is left) and it will slide out (be careful not to drop of course, put a hand/finger/table w/ padding/etc. under it).

Thought for SURE I was gonna slice/gouge a finger/hand at some point...must be my 'lucky assembly roll of the dice'...this time :-D
 
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TType85

Active Member
Dec 22, 2014
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Garden Grove, CA
Have a parity rebuild going on my drives (8 total, 2 parity). Airflow with the 2 4-bay hot swaps is not great but temps are still ok for all the drives running flat out for 5 hours so far. (Parity rebuild is going at 90MB/s) Idle they stay about 28-30c.

 
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Larson

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Nov 10, 2015
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Seagate 4TB Backup Plus Portable Hard Drive USB 3.0 Model STDR4000100 Black and 200GB OneDrive storage space on NewEggBusiness.com for $114.99 and free shipping using Promo Code BEMCEMFE23.
 

danws6

New Member
Apr 22, 2016
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Has anyone tried these with a dell raid controller? I'm tempted to get a few but I know how dell's controllers don't always play nice with non dell branded hardware.
 

Deslok

Well-Known Member
Jul 15, 2015
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Has anyone tried these with a dell raid controller? I'm tempted to get a few but I know how dell's controllers don't always play nice with non dell branded hardware.
what model dell controller? I've been holding off since my PERC6 wont take 4tb drives but it handles the non dell drives attached to it(2 spinners 2 ssd) just fine
 

Deslok

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Jul 15, 2015
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I have the H710. I may just buy a couple of these and see how well they work.
If memory serves that was the H700 that had the firmware locks and they removed it with the A02 revisions, I would update it to the latest firmware and try it personally.
 

marteng

New Member
Jul 9, 2013
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I just installed four Seagate Expansion Portable 4TB (STEA4000400) in my Server (IBM X3650 M4 with 16 bay 2.5" SAS/SATA 15mm HotSwap). The Seagate drive is the well known ST4000LM016. But the USB 3.0 adapter circuits look a little bit different to the Seagate Backup Plus 4TB ones. They work without any problem with other 2.5" S-ATA disks (tested with a spare Hitachi 500GB, HTS727550A9E364), not using any encryption, even SMART values can be read (tested with CrystalDiskInfo).
 
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pgh5278

Active Member
Oct 25, 2012
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Hello, about to load some of these drives into a machine using ZFS Z2, was planning using HBA direct to each backplane,
Out of curiosity has any one run these on an expander backplane or behind a lsi based intel expader like res2cv240..
Thanks
 

PigLover

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Jan 26, 2011
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...Out of curiosity has any one run these on an expander backplane or behind a lsi based intel expader like res2cv240..
Thanks
Yes. Have 12 of them running Raid Z3 + spare (8+3+1) in FreeNAS. LSI 9201-8i with a SM SAS2-216EL1 backplane (LSI based). Running perfectly except for when I pulled a live drive by mistake.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
 
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pgh5278

Active Member
Oct 25, 2012
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Australia
Yes. Have 12 of them running Raid Z3 + spare (8+3+1) in FreeNAS. LSI 9201-8i with a SM SAS2-216EL1 backplane (LSI based). Running perfectly except for when I pulled a live drive by mistake.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
Thank YOU PigLover, will give it a try
 

CyberSkulls

Active Member
Apr 14, 2016
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I came upon this thread by searching for the SM 216 chassis and started reading about these drives. Now that this thread is getting some age, those of you who bought a bunch of these to load up your SM 216 chassis, what are your thoughts on the drives? Anyone have any major failures?

I only ask as I'm debating on changing out some of my 846 chassis to SAS2 backplanes to start increasing my drive size above the 2TB limit I'm currently under. For the cost of a used 846 SAS2 backplane, I can buy a complete 216 chassis not to mention these 4TB drives frequently dropping to the $100 mark makes this appealing to me.

Would love to hear any feedback from those of you who purchased a few of them if they are working out for you, or have you moved back to the 3.5" drives in other chassis?

Edit: I'm running unRAID 6.2 in my 846 chassis on 2TB WD Reds.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk