HGST 1.6TB SAS3 - $140 - HUSMM1616ASS204

[itronin]

I guess today is the day for HGST SAS SSD deals - here's another one.

HGST 1.6TB 12 GBPS SAS HUSMM1616ASS204 2.5"

$140 - Next nearest price is about $225 with SM tray included (205 variant).

Edit - Seller states 93% health remaining
Edit - EMC P/N on drive - could be 528 byte blocks and may have issues formatting, F/W update may not be possible or challening.

Seller had this priced at $170 USD for at least a couple of months without selling any. Price change occurred today. They also have two different single-drive auctions for a very similar variant starting at basically the same price. I have to wonder if they aren't trying to gauge the market price at this point.

I am not letting myself buy more drives. LOL. I won't I refuse. no more drives!!!!

My guess is that if a few small quantity purchases happen then the seller will raise their prices.

I've purchased from this seller before and have kept them in my watch list as they do periodically have very good deals (clearing out inventory I think). I did not have problems with the seller, items were as advertised and arrived within a reasonable amount of time.

I have no affiliation with the seller.

 

[dontwanna]

That is a great price indeed, but worth mentioning it's 93% "health".

 

[itronin]

That is a great price indeed, but worth mentioning it's 93% "health".

Updated.

IMO 93% is still a lot for these drives. IIRC MM = medium endurance MLC. If these are at all similar to the 400GB SAS2/SAS3.

@semidetached had specs in the 400gb thread for the 1600 series.

 

[Dev_Mgr]

The image of the drive has an EMC partnumber. This could mean the drive is "528" formatted and you'd have to use the proper tools/software to format them 512 bytes again.

 

[PithyChats]

Updated.

IMO 93% is still a lot for these drives. IIRC MM = medium endurance MLC. If these are at all similar to the 400GB SAS2/SAS3.

@semidetached had specs in the 400gb thread for the 1600 series.

MM > "Mainstream Endurance" or 10 DWPD. Most manufacturers call this write intensive. I wouldn't worry about the 93%. These are fantastic drives. I'd take the whole lot if the seller shipped to Canada

 

[itronin]

The image of the drive has an EMC partnumber. This could mean the drive is "528" formatted and you'd have to use the proper tools/software to format them 512 bytes again.

Updated. - I'm surprised I didn't see that. Might be why they've sold none to date.

Updated - am asking seller if they noted the block size when they prepped the drives and/or reformatted them.

 

[josh]

This is a much better deal than the 400GBs

 

[itronin]

This is a much better deal than the 400GBs

Perhaps. I've reformatted emc and netapp drives before but not SSD's from those two. Question is whether there's an issue and/or the EMC firmware is some kind of locked/special settings firmware that will render the drives unusable under normal circumstances.

 

[josh]

Perhaps. I've reformatted emc and netapp drives before but not SSD's. Question is whether there's an issue and/or the EMC firmware is some kind of locked/special settings firmware that will render the drives unusable under normal circumstances.

Do update us on the seller's reply. Tempted to grab a bunch but not interested in expensive paperweight

 

[itronin]

I'm thinking the seller will not reply. someone just purchased 8 so there are 8 left. Seller does have free returns.
I keep telling myself - its an impulse buy - you don't need these. you don't need these. no no no no....

 

[nephri]

I bought some times ago 800Gb version 8080 instead 1616 and was EMC branded. The seller reformatted them to 512 bytes before the sell. So it was possible. i use them whithout any issue. I think a sg_format should do the trick no ?

 

[josh]

I'm thinking the seller will not reply. someone just purchased 8 so there are 8 left. Seller does have free returns.
I keep telling myself - its an impulse buy - you don't need these. you don't need these. no no no no....

I'm importing these so returns are expensive for me. I wish I wasn't that invested in the 400GBs. Will need 6 + 1 spare to replace my ceph cluster but that's expensive a.f.

 

[itronin]

I bought some times ago 800Gb version 8080 instead 1616 and was EMC branded. The seller reformatted them to 512 bytes before the sell. So it was possible. i use them whithout any issue. I think a sg_format should do the trick no ?

Yeah the standard process should work if they have more or less standard firmware.

I'm reminded of my adventure with HGST 10K 600GB spinners (COBRA drives) that came out of a Vantara, and recently reading about someone with some 3PAR SSD's (can't remember what forum). There's some special magic firmware in those devices specific to those SAN platforms and they just don't work even after an apparently successful reformat to 512b. There's also a lack of a known process for updating the devices with those SAN firmware to something that works with standard HBA's.

 

[posternutbag]

New message from: buybest26 (6,051)
They are EMC Branded with part number: 118033292-01 as seen in the photos.
Our erasure software reported them with a sector size of 520, and a firmware of C350. The controller reports it as HUSMM141CLAR1600 vs the HUSMM1616ASS204 printed on the label.

 

[josh]

New message from: buybest26 (6,051)
They are EMC Branded with part number: 118033292-01 as seen in the photos.
Our erasure software reported them with a sector size of 520, and a firmware of C350. The controller reports it as HUSMM141CLAR1600 vs the HUSMM1616ASS204 printed on the label.

So they'll still be 520 when sold?

 

[itronin]

that would be my guess...

I could be wrong but the CLAR in the model number makes me think EMC Clariion so that might be a clue to what type of EMC SAN device these were designed to/ customized for.

 

[josh]

that would be my guess...

I could be wrong but the CLAR in the model number makes me think EMC Clariion so that might be a clue to what type of EMC SAN device these were designed to/ customized for.

Damn. I suppose we can't flash the stock firmware either.

 

[posternutbag]

So they'll still be 520 when sold?

I do not know.

 

[josh]

I do not know.

I've found another listing where the seller states they can format it to 512 for Windows/Linux use if desired. So it's a possibility.

 

[Lambdariver]

Perhaps. I've reformatted emc and netapp drives before but not SSD's. Question is whether there's an issue and/or the EMC firmware is some kind of locked/special settings firmware that will render the drives unusable under normal circumstances.

I’ve done the format to a couple of cache drives from an EMC array and it worked out okay. Just take off the board and hook directly to SAS.

This was a couple years ago so maybe it has changed but I doubt it. Worth a try!

ugh. I couldn’t help myself and pulled the trigger. FWIW the drives I formatted were HGST as well with the CLAR although they were from a different array.