If one thing sounds too good to be true, then it is not. That is the very first thing that ought to undergo your thoughts whenever you see a 30TB transportable SSD promoting for $39 (opens in new tab) at Walmart (h/t to Ars Technica). The drive is way from being one of many finest SSDs, however it deserves a spot on everybody’s blocklist.
Twitter person Ray Redacted (opens in new tab) not too long ago bought a 30TB transportable SSD on AliExpress for the giggles. The drive sells for $31.40 however is offered at Walmart for a small premium. Aesthetically, the “Moveable SSD” is a clone of the favored Samsung T5. The Chinese language knockoff even makes use of an analogous textual content because the T5. Though marketed as a USB 3.1 Â drive, Ray later found that it is restricted to USB 2.0 speeds. Internally, the transportable SSD includes a small, inexperienced PCB (HUB-TF2) that carries two microSD playing cards glued to it.
There are completely different variations of the identical rip-off. For instance, one other Twitter person (opens in new tab) revealed that his transportable SSD got here with a USB pen drive inside as a substitute of two microSD playing cards. In different phrases, the transportable SSD is only a USB hub with numerous microSD slots or, within the different case, a USB pen drive.
It isn’t the primary time we have seen storage units with doubtful specs. Pretend USB pen drives, SSDs, and SD playing cards are everywhere in the market, and one should be cautious when buying. Nonetheless, the intricacy of this explicit transportable SSD is fairly fascinating. The swindler makes use of two microSD playing cards and slaps a hacked firmware on them to misreport the capability. The precise dimension of the microSD card is not vital because the firmware fools Home windows into pondering the playing cards are greater than they’re.
Within the case of Ray’s drive, Home windows detects the unit as two 15TB drives. In actuality, the microSD playing cards had been smaller. He famous that the USB-C to USB-C 3.1 cable is a sham and the drive sticks to the USB 2.0 customary, permitting switch speeds as much as 60 MBps. The hacked firmware writes new information on high of the previous information and retains the listing. It seems to be working, however whenever you attempt to entry your information, there’s nothing there.
Customers should be cautious when buying items on-line, whether or not pc {hardware} or not. It is much more vital these days since big-name retailers equivalent to Newegg and Walmart have allowed third-party sellers to make use of their platforms for e-commerce.
