Is it possible to use an 8TB external hard drive for Windows Server 2022 Backup?

Question

I am able to see the external 8TB hard drive in windows explorer; however, when setting up Windows Server 2022 Backup, receive the message - No external disks or disks attached to USB ports were found. What is the maximum size external hard drive that can be used for Windows Server 2022 Backup?

Thanks in advance for your time and advise,

VB

Answer 1

Hello, I am Henry and I want to share my insight about your issue.

1. Is it possible to use an 8TB external hard drive for Windows Server 2022 Backup? Yes, it is absolutely possible.
2. What is the maximum size external hard drive that can be used for Windows Server 2022 Backup? Windows Server 2022, being a 64-bit OS that uses the GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition style, does not have a small, practical limit like 2TB or 4TB for a backup destination. The theoretical limit for a GPT disk is 18 Exabytes, which is far beyond any consumer drive available today.

The message "No external disks or disks attached to USB ports were found" is the symptom of a specific incompatibility. The issue is not the capacity (8TB) of your drive, but almost certainly its physical sector size.

Before giving any conclusion, please help me run command to verify the problem:

1. Run the following command as an Administrator, replacing E: with your drive's letter: fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo E:
2. Look at the output for these two lines:

• Bytes Per Sector
• Bytes Per Physical Sector

Expected Results:

• If your drive is compatible (512e): You will see Bytes Per Sector: 512 and Bytes Per Physical Sector: 4096. WSB should work with this.
• If your drive is incompatible (4Kn): You will likely see Bytes Per Sector: 4096 and Bytes Per Physical Sector: 4096. This is almost certainly the cause of your problem.

Looking for your response