Finding the Right Hard-drive for UDMPro : Seagate – SkyHawk AI – ST16000VE000

Recently I have upgraded from Cloud Key Gne 2 Plus to UDM Pro (Unifi Dream Machine Pro) because of storage capacity limitations with Cloud Key Gen 2 Plus, with 15 G3 Flex Cameras.

The Cloud Key Gen 2 Plus is great investment for small environment with limited cameras. It’s got a 1TB hard drive built in with Unifi Protect controller built in. It’s easy to setup and administer. The only downside is that the limitation of hard drive. In my case of 15 G3 Flex cameras, if I configure them to recording at all time, the maximum storage is good for 3.5 days and then it starts to rolling removal of old videos. Less than a few days is definitely not ideal.

I have two options. One is to upgrade the 1TB to 5TB but still using Cloud Key Gen2. This option will give 5x storage without too much hassle to change any network controller etc. Should be a easy and safe upgrade. But still leaves me with less than 30 days of storage.

The other option is to upgrade the entire network to the new Unifi Dream Machine Pro, with advanced gateway functionality like Access and Phone, in addition to the built in gateway, controller, and protect. For the MSRP $379.00 price tag, it does not have any hard disk built in. You can purchase any compatible disks the Unifi listed on their website. The maximum capacity is 16TB. That should be good for 40-60 days of recording in my scenario.

Here is the link to the Unifi site for the compatible disk page. You can check back for any latest updates there.

https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037340954-UniFi-Protect-Hard-drive-compatibility

I am copying their list here for quick reference, as of today:

UniFi Dream Machine Pro and UniFi Protect Network Video Recorder

The UDM-Pro and UNVR require the HDD to have one partition of ext4 filesystem format. If the HDD isn’t pre-formatted when inserted, the device will format it to be one partition of ext4 filesystem.

Compatible Hard Drives

VendorSeriesModelCapacitySpindle SpeedNotes
SeagateSkyHawk AIST16000VEZ0016TB7200RPM 
SeagateSkyHawk ST14000VX000414TB7200RPM 
SeagateSkyHawkST8000VX00048TB7200RPMNo middle screw, but drive fits tray.
Western DigitalRed PRO WD101KFBX10TB7200RPM 
Western DigitalRed WD10EFRX1TB5400RPM 
Western DigitalRed EnterpriseWD2004FBYZ2TB7200RPMOnly non-SMR drives are compatible
Western DigitalWD GoldWD2005FBYZ2TB7200RPM 
Western DigitalRedWD80EFAX8TB5400RPM 
Western DigitalPurpleWD81PURZ8TB5400RPM 
Western DigitalPurpleWD82PURZ8TB7200RPM 

Incompatible Hard Drives

VendorSeriesModelCapacitySpindle SpeedNotes
SeagateSkyHawkST10000VX000410TB7200RPMDoes not fit drive tray.
SeagateUltrathinST500LT032500GB5400RPMDoes not have bottom screws.
Western DigitalUltraSlimWD5000MPCK500GB5400RPMDoes not have bottom screws and connector not fit tray.
AnyAnySMR DrivesAnyAnyDrives fit tray but cause issues.

Cloud Key Gen2 Plus

Compatible Hard Drives

VendorSeriesModelCapacitySpindle SpeedNotes
SeagateBarraCudaST5000LM0005TB5400RPM 

Incompatible Hard Drives

VendorSeriesModelCapacitySpindle SpeedNotes
SeagateIronwolfZA960NM10001960GBN/ADoes not meet Power Requirements*
SeagateIronwolfZA1920NM100011.92TBN/ADoes not meet Power Requirements*
SeagateIronwolfZA3840NM10001 3.84TBN/A Does not meet Power Requirements*

The Cloud Key Gen2 Plus does not support hard drives that require a 12V supply in addition to the default 5V supply.

One of the challenge was that I can’t find the exact 16TB drive listed: Seagate – SkyHawk AI – ST16000VEZ00

Out of urgency, I purchased a slightly different version of the drive: Seagate – SkyHawk AI – ST16000VE000 To my delight, I had that drive dropped in and worked like a charm! No issues or complains and I could see all 16 TB capacity once Protect was setup!

Here is the link to the Amazon listing in case you need. It’s still available for sale at this time, at bout $377.00 with free shipping.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XBTS8S1

Best of luck getting your Unifi Protect upgraded!

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2 Responses

  1. sam.L says:

    Great info. was looking for the info myself and landed on your blog. I was able to upgrade two of my network with the hard disk “Seagate Skyhawk AI 14TB Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD–3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache for DVR NVR Security Camera System with Drive Health Management (ST14000VE0008)”

    See amazon link here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089FPJHJ1/

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