3.2TB SSD for $240

installed my card and had to use one generation older drivers in window 7 for some reason. also seem to have lost my 4TB drive and a 250GB older SSD from bios and windows, may have bumped a power wire or perhaps my mobo disables certain sata connectors when i connect card to pci-e slot, my have to try a different sata controller for those 2 drives, i just have to figure which cables are which for the drives, i thought i had made a mapping of them when building this PC, but that was a few years ago.

weird benchmarks as well IMO..................
discmark01.JPGstatus -a.JPG0.jpg
 
They're still accepting $400 offers on the 6.4TB in this newer listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SanDisk-64...00GB-PCIE-SSD-SDFACCMOS-6T40-SF1/124092464848

Got mine accepted this morning. After briefly using the 3.2TB, I think the 6.4 is a better size for my needs. Great price for something where you only have so many PCIe slots to begin with - there's only so much room for PCIe/NVMe drives in a system. I wish SATA kept moving forward with SAS...

Thank you. I bought some 6.4 TB for my workstation and server. I agree that 6.4 is better long term and is faster too.
 
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Hey I recently bought one of these cards as a game drive, I am currently having an issue with getting the system to recognize the card. I have downloaded and installed every available driver version for IO-Scale on Sandisk's website but as well as every version on Dell's website as well. I am currently on Windows 10 ver 1903. The card when plugged in has its led's on so don't think it is a faulty card. Help would be very much appreciated.
 
Hey I recently bought one of these cards as a game drive, I am currently having an issue with getting the system to recognize the card. I have downloaded and installed every available driver version for IO-Scale on Sandisk's website but as well as every version on Dell's website as well. I am currently on Windows 10 ver 1903. The card when plugged in has its led's on so don't think it is a faulty card. Help would be very much appreciated.
what mobo/cpu, OS etc.
 
I'm also having issues getting the 6.4TB one to work on Windows 10. I removed the drivers for the ioScale, rebooted, installed Fusion_ioMemory_VSL_4.3.7.1205_x64_storport.exe, rebooted, nothing there. If I hard poweroff the system, I get an ioMemory consistency check on bootup, so the system sees the card. It's just not showing up in the Device Manager, Disk Manager, or in fio-status.

I've tried the x16 and x8 pcie slots. I also tried removing the drivers and going with Dell_IO_Management_4.3.6.1173_x64_storport.exe. Nada there.

Z390 Auros Pro motherboard, latest BIOS that I applied today.

The 3.2TB ioScale works fine if I pop it in and reinstall its driver.


Edit:
Powercycled again and the 6.4TB is showing up now. Worrying that it didn't just work the first time like my ioScale did, but off to testing!

I'm using Fusion_ioMemory_VSL_4.3.7.1205_x64_storport.exe from WD/Sandisk right now, from https://support.fusionio.com/ajax/downloads/downloadFile/


Edit 2:
It seems the drive is only appearing occasionally on restarts. More often after a full power off and back on. Whenever I simply "reboot", the driver often never configures the drive on Windows boot, and the LEDs on the card never flash. Sometimes on full power cycles the drive won't appear either.

It's also interesting that in my x8 or x16 slot, without a videocard or anything in the other slot (hd graphics testing), it's complaining about bandwidth. In my x8 slot I get 900MB/sec reads. In my x16 slot, I get 2800MB/sec reads. Neither one should be complaining about bandwidth of the slot.

My stats - Only 575TB written:

Code:
        Rated PBW: 22.00 PB, 97.13% remaining
        Lifetime data volumes:
           Physical bytes written: 631,283,904,630,696
           Physical bytes read   : 2,164,392,522,002,592
        RAM usage:
           Current: 1,980,755,264 bytes
           Peak   : 1,980,755,264 bytes
        Contained Virtual Partitions:
          fct1: ID:0, UUID:994f7ad5-1534-ee42-b587-385586752a46

        ACTIVE WARNINGS:
            The bandwidth of the PCI slot is not optimal for the ioMemory.

ioMemory.png



It won't take a firmware update.

Code:
C:\Windows\system32>fio-update-iodrive "D:\fusion\fusion_4.3.7-20200113.fff"
WARNING: DO NOT TURN OFF POWER OR RUN ANY IODRIVE UTILITIES WHILE THE FIRMWARE UPDATE IS IN PROGRESS
  Please wait...this could take a while

Updating: [                    ] (  0%) /
fct0 - already up to date 8.9.9 rev 20170222


Yet the drive is running 2017 firmware:

Code:
fct0    Attached
    ioMemory Adapter Controller, Product Number:F13-005-6400-CS-0001, SN:1519D0192
!! --->    There are active errors or warnings on this device!  Read below for details.
    ioMemory Adapter Controller, PN:PA006012114
    Microcode Versions: App:0.0.30.0
    Powerloss protection: protected
    PCI:01:00.0
    Vendor:1aed, Device:3001, Sub vendor:1aed, Sub device:3001
    Firmware v8.9.9, rev 20170222 Public
    6400.00 GBytes device size
    Format: v501, 12500000000 sectors of 512 bytes
    PCIe slot available power: 75.00W
    PCIe negotiated link: 2 lanes at 5.0 Gt/sec each, 1000.00 MBytes/sec total
    Internal temperature: 46.26 degC, max 51.68 degC
    Internal voltage: avg 1.01V, max 1.02V
    Aux voltage: avg 1.80V, max 1.83V
    Reserve space status: Healthy; Reserves: 100.00%, warn at 10.00%
    Active media: 100.00%
    Rated PBW: 22.00 PB, 97.13% remaining
    Lifetime data volumes:
       Physical bytes written: 631,295,161,776,312
       Physical bytes read   : 2,164,466,489,663,520
    RAM usage:
       Current: 1,980,447,424 bytes
       Peak   : 1,980,447,424 bytes
    Contained Virtual Partitions:
      fct0:    ID:0, UUID:994f7ad5-1534-ee42-b587-385586752a46

    ACTIVE WARNINGS:
        The bandwidth of the PCI slot is not optimal for the ioMemory.


I'm thinking the firmware file is for more Fusion-IO devices, and this specific older drive is already updated to the latest, from 2017.




Edit 3:
Putting the ioMemory in my x4 slot is giving me 3GB/sec read speed, and it seems to be sticking through many reboots. Strange behavior for sure. Every motherboard has its faults...

Add in my LSI 9211-8i to the x8 slot, and my ioMemory drops to 1800MB/sec reads, 4k read figures both get cut in half.

If I can do a lot of testing and find this pcie port as reliable, I may just live with it.





Let me know if you have any ideas of what else I can try, to get this card running reliably in the x8 slot.
 
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Hey I recently bought one of these cards as a game drive, I am currently having an issue with getting the system to recognize the card. I have downloaded and installed every available driver version for IO-Scale on Sandisk's website but as well as every version on Dell's website as well. I am currently on Windows 10 ver 1903. The card when plugged in has its led's on so don't think it is a faulty card. Help would be very much appreciated.
Uninstall everything you've done so far and follow the great instructions in post 86. That got me going.
 
what mobo/cpu, OS etc.
I have Windows 10 64 bit ver 1903. CPU is 8700k. On a MSI z370 Gaming M5 motherboard. The issue I am running into is that no matter what version I download for the driver for the card. Whenever I reboot and type fio-status -a into a elevated command/powershell prompt I get this message :" fio-status requires the driver to be loaded on this platform. Exiting. ". Doesn't matter if I use the oldest or newest driver it will not work. I'm literally stuck on step one.
 
I have Windows 10 64 bit ver 1903. CPU is 8700k. On a MSI z370 Gaming M5 motherboard. The issue I am running into is that no matter what version I download for the driver for the card. Whenever I reboot and type fio-status -a into a elevated command/powershell prompt I get this message :" fio-status requires the driver to be loaded on this platform. Exiting. ". Doesn't matter if I use the oldest or newest driver it will not work. I'm literally stuck on step one.

You bought the 3.2TB version, correct?

The drivers are different for the ioScale vs ioMemory, and you must remove the driver for the other model if you swap, or installed the wrong one.

See my troubleshooting above. You could also try every pcie port in your system.
 
You bought the 3.2TB version, correct?

The drivers are different for the ioScale vs ioMemory, and you must remove the driver for the other model if you swap, or installed the wrong one.

See my troubleshooting above. You could also try every pcie port in your system.
Screenshot_16.png

So I'm downloading the drivers off of Sandisk's website and I am making sure I'm downloading the ioScale drivers. However the issue arises after installing the drivers and going to the utilities path like it says to do in post #86. Once I'm in the directory and run fio-status -a I get that message mentioned before. It doesn't matter what driver version I use from the site it will always give me that message. I have tried popping it into other slots with no luck.
 
So I'm downloading the drivers off of Sandisk's website and I am making sure I'm downloading the ioScale drivers. However the issue arises after installing the drivers and going to the utilities path like it says to do in post #86. Once I'm in the directory and run fio-status -a I get that message mentioned before. It doesn't matter what driver version I use from the site it will always give me that message. I have tried popping it into other slots with no luck.


If you get to the point where fio-status is seeing the drive, it is also available for use in Windows. The rest of the steps are just to get everything up to date.

Remove the drivers, reboot, install Fusion_ioMemory_VSL_3.2.15.1699_x64.exe, reboot. If it still isn't visible, try a different pci-e slot.

I believe some boards will also disable certain pci-e slots if you fill a nvme slot.
 
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If you get to the point where fio-status is seeing the drive, it is also available for use in Windows. The rest of the steps are just to get everything up to date.

Remove the drivers, reboot, install Fusion_ioMemory_VSL_3.2.15.1699_x64.exe, reboot. If it still isn't visible, try a different pci-e slot.

I believe some boards will also disable certain pci-e slots if you fill a nvme slot.
The issue is that none of the drivers that I can select will make my card visible. Even 3.2.2 doesn't work. I don't have any nvme drives connected. Only one sata ssd and two sata harddrives. So none of my slots are disabled. The card itself seems to be recieveing power cause it does warm up. The card on the back has a slow blinking white led with a constant blue led. As well the leds on the pci slot cover only the third led is orange which means "Power is on. Problem with device, or driver not loaded (and device unattached)." I am confsued on where to go from here if none of the drivers will work for me.
 
The issue is that none of the drivers that I can select will make my card visible. Even 3.2.2 doesn't work. I don't have any nvme drives connected. Only one sata ssd and two sata harddrives. So none of my slots are disabled. The card itself seems to be recieveing power cause it does warm up. The card on the back has a slow blinking white led with a constant blue led. As well the leds on the pci slot cover only the third led is orange which means "Power is on. Problem with device, or driver not loaded (and device unattached)." I am confsued on where to go from here if none of the drivers will work for me.

Still try a different slot, since only one of mine are consistently working with the ioMemory. I had no problems in any of my board's slots with the ioScale though. And make sure you haven't tried to run two different driver installers - these devices don't like conflicting drivers, notably a driver for a different model being install on the same system. I think I got lucky with my ioScale by getting the correct driver the first time. Supposedly some of these SSDs can run with drivers from a few manufacturers.

Try it in a different system?
 
Still try a different slot, since only one of mine are consistently working with the ioMemory. I had no problems in any of my board's slots with the ioScale though. And make sure you haven't tried to run two different driver installers - these devices don't like conflicting drivers, notably a driver for a different model being install on the same system. I think I got lucky with my ioScale by getting the correct driver the first time. Supposedly some of these SSDs can run with drivers from a few manufacturers.

Try it in a different system?
Have tried different slots already and no luck with that. I made sure to only install one driver at a time and I tried all versions of the drivers on Sandisk's and Dell's website with no luck either. I am currently working on installing windows 7 and trying to see if I can make it work their. Might also try it out in Linux. But other then that I don't know how to make it work on windows 10.
Also here is the link to my card: https://www.ebay.com/itm/114125430601
 
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Have tried different slots already and no luck with that. I made sure to only install one driver at a time and I tried all versions of the drivers on Sandisk's and Dell's website with no luck either. I am currently working on installing windows 7 and trying to see if I can make it work their. Might also try it out in Linux. But other then that I don't know how to make it work on windows 10.
Also here is the link to my card: https://www.ebay.com/itm/114125430601

Yep, I have one of those here and it worked flawlessly in this same machine. Windows 10 in the same GIgabyte Z390 Auros Pro.

ioScale.png

I'm actually surprised by my compatibility issue in the same system with the 6.4TB ioMemory card. ZERO issues here with the 3.2TB ioScale.

I haven't seen my ioMemory fail to load in the x4 slot yet. Switching the pcie generation in the UEFI hasn't helped for the other slots either. It really makes me wonder if my x8 and x16 slots have a power delivery issue. People normally use videocards with external power, so a weak board may not show in most situations.


Here is where my card is stable - down there in the slow x4, which acts like an x8 when the LSI card isn't installed...but the manual says it's only x4. Not the best of cooling in that corner either.

iomemory-rack.jpg
 
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Nice to see some enterprise gear being spotlighted here. These things have some incredible durability too and will be still working when the best of consumer drives have already failed long ago. (y)
THat really depends, it depends on what environment they were used in, heavy reads or writes.....
 
Have tried different slots already and no luck with that. I made sure to only install one driver at a time and I tried all versions of the drivers on Sandisk's and Dell's website with no luck either. I am currently working on installing windows 7 and trying to see if I can make it work their. Might also try it out in Linux. But other then that I don't know how to make it work on windows 10.
Also here is the link to my card: https://www.ebay.com/itm/114125430601
Try this:
1) (turn off computer and) physically remove 3.2TB SSD from system.
2) Power on computer and uninstall any driver you installed for the drive.
3) Reboot.
4) Enter Windows, make sure everything is good. Delete the driver install .exe files.
5) Go to http://dell-support.sandisk.com/ and select the settings in the image in the SPOILER and download the underlined file.
1582864450453.png

6) Turn off computer, put the 3.2 TB drive back in.
7) Turn on computer, run the .exe you downloaded from step 5.
8) RESTART computer.
9) Enter partition manager and create partitions etc. Make sure to use GPT as file system type.
10) Restart again (if you wish), then open cmd.exe (i.e. command prompt) as Administrator and type fio-status -a
11) Drive should show up. Begin benchmarking, transferring files, whatever.
 
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Anyone have one of these running with in ESXi 6.7?

Found it, well WD branded says compatible:

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/pdf/vi_vfrc_guide.pdf
ioScale F11-002-3T20-CS-0001 7.1.17 ESXi 6.0 U2 (vSAN 6.2),ESXi 6.0 U1 (vSAN 6.1),ESXi 6.0 (vSAN 6.0),ESXi 6.5 (vSAN 6.5),ESXi 6.0 U3 (vSAN 6.2 Update 3),vSAN 6.6 (ESXi 6.5.0d),ESXi 6.5 U1 (vSAN 6.6.1),ESXi 6.7 (vSAN
 
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Try this:
1) (turn off computer and) physically remove 3.2TB SSD from system.
2) Power on computer and uninstall any driver you installed for the drive.
3) Reboot.
4) Enter Windows, make sure everything is good. Delete the driver install .exe files.
5) Go to http://dell-support.sandisk.com/ and select the settings in the image in the SPOILER and download the underlined file.

6) Turn off computer, put the 3.2 TB drive back in.
7) Turn on computer, run the .exe you downloaded from step 5.
8) RESTART computer.
9) Enter partition manager and create partitions etc. Make sure to use GPT as file system type.
10) Restart again (if you wish), then open cmd.exe (i.e. command prompt) as Administrator and type fio-status -a
11) Drive should show up. Begin benchmarking, transferring files, whatever.
Just did it and no luck. Still not showing up.
 
Which step is it not showing up on?
After installing the driver to go to disk management to partition the drive it is not there. To double check I entered fio-status -a and it spat this message at me : fio-status requires the driver to be loaded on this platform. Exiting.
 
Which step is it not showing up on?

Very likely it isn't showing up in the device manager or anything - just not appearing in Windows. This is what I was seeing on my 6.4TB unit in 2 of my 3 slots. There's some system compatibility issues with these for sure, and it's possible he just got a dud (needs to test in a second system), or did something to kill the board.

Mine appears in my UEFI/BIOS as a device attached to the pcie slot. He could check there too.
 
After installing the driver to go to disk management to partition the drive it is not there. To double check I entered fio-status -a and it spat this message at me : fio-status requires the driver to be loaded on this platform. Exiting.
Okay, try running fio-attach /dev/fct0 after installing the driver and see what happens. That will attach the drive for Windows to use (assuming the driver install worked properly).

This might not work though, so you could have a dud or just an incompatible system (as Masejoer explained). Definitely check the BIOS as Masejoer proposed as well.
 
After installing the driver to go to disk management to partition the drive it is not there. To double check I entered fio-status -a and it spat this message at me : fio-status requires the driver to be loaded on this platform. Exiting.

Even without the driver loaded, your device manager should look like the below with the 3.2TB ioScale being a generic mass storage device:

ioScale-MassStore.png

The drivers turn this into a storage drive that you can partition. If you don't have the generic Mass Storage Controller driver warning, either the drivers are actually installed and the device is somewhere else in the manager, or the device isn't being recognized at all.


And for thread reference, this is what you get if you try to install the driver for the 3.2TB ioScale alongside the driver for the 6.4TB ioMemory - both in one system is not allowed/supported:

ioScale-ioMemory-conflict.png

The other driver must be removed before installing the different driver.
 
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Man now I feel like a dummy. Have not really messed with pcie devices much so clearing the cmos to get my motherboard to recognize it was not the first thing that crossed my mind. After clearing cmos it was found immediately. Currently installing games. Thanks for the help!
 
Man now I feel like a dummy. Have not really messed with pcie devices much so clearing the cmos to get my motherboard to recognize it was not the first thing that crossed my mind. After clearing cmos it was found immediately. Currently installing games. Thanks for the help!
It happens to the best of us... glad you got it working! :)
 
turns out i did dis-lodge those 2 power connectors on the missing drives, all is well now.
i wonder if my scores are low because of my older CPU and running at 4.1Ghz instead of a faster overclock.
I noticed the cpu difference more on the low QD in sequential speeds.
 
FWIW when I installed in my first X16 slot and my GPU in my 2nd X16 slot (because of my side mount card riser cable only reached the 2nd slot) the 3.2TB worked great but my video card was only showing @ x4, when I put my video card in the first x16 slot and the 3.2TB in the 2nd slot everything worked as intended. Not sure why when they are both x16 slots.... MSI X570 pro carbon wifi mobo.
 
FWIW when I installed in my first X16 slot and my GPU in my 2nd X16 slot (because of my side mount card riser cable only reached the 2nd slot) the 3.2TB worked great but my video card was only showing @ x4, when I put my video card in the first x16 slot and the 3.2TB in the 2nd slot everything worked as intended. Not sure why when they are both x16 slots.... MSI X570 pro carbon wifi mobo.

Because your second X16 slot is wired for X4 only. Just because a slot is X16 physically doesn't mean it is X16 electrically.
 
And for thread reference, this is what you get if you try to install the driver for the 3.2TB ioScale alongside the driver for the 6.4TB ioMemory - both in one system is not allowed/supported:

View attachment 226563

The other driver must be removed before installing the different driver.

You have to install the 3.2TB ioScale first then the 6.4TB ioMemory
3.2TB and 6.4TB CDM @ 4.6GHZ.JPG
 
The fact that you have an enforced 10 minute error scan after a unsafe shutdown (etc, BSOD) is a deal breaker for me. I'd rather spend my money, not being as rich as all of you guys here, on something less aggravating. But if you can handle such a thing, sure, good bargain for lots of storage.

Now if someone finds a way to disable that error check from a BSOD/unsafe shutdown, let me know and then maybe I will consider biting.
Yeah, this would be something I would put in my home server. The only time it doesn't shut down safely is during a power outage. And if I know there is bad weather I will shut till it down (reminds me I need to replace my UPS batteries one of these days). I haven't had it drop due to power maybe 2 times in a year... I could deal with 10 minutes every 6 months on a box that I don't even watch load anyways (headless). If you put this in a desktop that isn't stable I could see it being annoying.
 
And if I know there is bad weather I will shut till it down (reminds me I need to replace my UPS batteries one of these days). I haven't had it drop due to power maybe 2 times in a year...
Just a bit OT, but I recommend you replace the UPS batteries sooner rather than later once they can't hold a charge because they can make power offs more often than being plugged into the wall outlet directly. I put off replacement for a while once and when summer came along the PC powered off more often having it plugged into the UPS than directly to the wall. For example when my AC clicked on the PC went down due to the UPS sensing the momentary voltage drop and switching to a nearly dead battery. Till the new batteries arrived, I plugged the PC direct to the wall to stop it from powering down every other time the AC compressor turned on.
 
You have to install the 3.2TB ioScale first then the 6.4TB ioMemoryView attachment 226781

Wow, so it IS possible? I thought it should be, but others said otherwise. When I tried adding the 6.4TB to my system, its software wouldn't install. I removed the 3.2TB and its software, which worked. Trying to add the 3.2TB back in later didn't work.

I'll need to give it another shot it seems!
 
so i am not sure on what that means on my benchmark, i don't know which score is low QD, can you explain ?
Sorry was in a rush for work when I posted, on my 7980XE going from stock to 4.6GHZ show significant improvements on the SEQ1M Q1T1. Everything else was negligible. This goes for both the 3.2TB and 6.4TB

stocks vs 4.6.jpg

Wow, so it IS possible? I thought it should be, but others said otherwise. When I tried adding the 6.4TB to my system, its software wouldn't install. I removed the 3.2TB and its software, which worked. Trying to add the 3.2TB back in later didn't work.

I'll need to give it another shot it seems!
I'm using the Dell IO management drivers, wonder if the WD ones are different. I remember another trick once was to install the 3.2TB then shut down, take it out and place the the 6.4TB and then install the drivers for 6.4TB then shut down and put the 3.2TB back.
 

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  • 3.2TB @ 4.6GHZ.jpg
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Sprung for a 6.4TB SX300 with some bonus money, got it for $400. Put the 3.2TB in my back up system. Stats are great! I did have an issue where it decided to detach itself after install, so i had to figure out how to re-attach it and then it formatted and I copied everything from my 3.2TB over the network. I was pushing my gigabit ethernet ports hard! lol

iomemory stats.JPG


diskmark iomemory.JPG
 
Just a bit OT, but I recommend you replace the UPS batteries sooner rather than later once they can't hold a charge because they can make power offs more often than being plugged into the wall outlet directly. I put off replacement for a while once and when summer came along the PC powered off more often having it plugged into the UPS than directly to the wall. For example when my AC clicked on the PC went down due to the UPS sensing the momentary voltage drop and switching to a nearly dead battery. Till the new batteries arrived, I plugged the PC direct to the wall to stop it from powering down every other time the AC compressor turned on.
Thanks for the tip, but I have ready removed it from service until I can replace them. They don't do any good if they don't hold a charge and as you mentioned can be detrimental. So ATM I have my redundant PSU plugged into normal outlets.
 
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