Transporter Sync supports any single, directly-attached (DAS) USB device containing a single 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard disk drive. 

This article provides a list of requirements for compatible drives, a link to popular compatible drives, and a list of known third-party compatibility issues. 

WARNING: Any drive that is new to Transporter must be formatted (erased).

Drive compatibility information

This table provides the full requirements for a USB hard drive to be considered compatible with Transporter Sync. 

Characteristics of compatible USB hard drives and enclosures

USB compatibility

USB 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 external hard drives

Both pre-assembled "USB hard drives" and user-assembled "USB enclosures"

Direct connection (no hubs) 

Note: Transporter Sync is a USB 2.0 device with one Type A USB port.

Drive type and number

Supported: A single, 2.5" or 3.5" conventional hard disk drive

Not Supported: Solid state drives (SSDs), flash memory, thumb drives, and multi-disk units (RAID, JBOD)

Drobo compatible?

At this time, Transporter Sync is not supported for use with any Drobo storage device. 

Drive size

Minimum: 160GB

Maximum: 4TB (as tested) 

Note: 4TB reflects maximum drive size tested at time of product release. Transporter Sync may work with larger drives as larger options become available. Third-party drive enclosures, especially older ones, may impose their own limits which are less than the capacity of the enclosed disk. If you experience this, check the documentation for your enclosure to determine the maximum capacity it supports.

Bus Power

Standard USB 2.0 bus power (5v up to 500 mA)

Any device which is not designed to operate on bus power will need to use its own power supply.

Cache flush support

USB hard drives and enclosures should be capable of passing industry-standard cache flush commands to the enclosed disk drive. Those which can't will display "Drive Compatibility Issue" on the Transporter management website (learn more).

Popular USB hard drives

We maintain a list of the compatible hard drive models which are most popular with our customers, as based on customer feedback. Please see that list here: Transporter Sync: Popular USB hard drive models

Red status ring (device compatibility error)

The LED status ring on Transporter Sync will flash red if you connect multiple USB storage devices or if Transporter Sync can detect multiple drive devices within your USB enclosure, such as a mini-RAID unit. To learn more about the status ring, please see: Transporter: Status ring and indicator light meanings

Known "Drive Compatibility Issue" models

The drives and enclosures in this list fail to convey cache flush commands to the enclosed hard disk and will produce the "Drive Compatibility Issue" message on the Transporter management website. This is a manufacturing issue with the enclosures themselves. This issue is not caused by your Transporter Sync.

While these enclosures do work, they increase risk of data integrity issues, particularly during a power interruption. Following is a list of devices which we have identified thus far; this list will be updated over time and is not meant to be comprehensive. Please keep in mind that this issue is extremely model specific; similar models and/or later models from the same manufacturers have worked properly in our testing.

Manufacturer Model Name Model Number 

Buffalo DriveStation 2TB USB 3.0 3.5" HD-GDU3

Bytecc   Bytecc Duplicator Dock T-203BK

Bytecc Mobile Drive USB 3.0 to SATA 6G 3.5" HDD Enclosure 

Note: This Bytecc unit has the exact words above printed on it but does not have a model number printed on the unit. It is almost identical in appearance to model HD-35SU3-BK, which has slightly different markings and the addition of the word "SuperSpeed." It is not known if "SuperSpeed" model HD-35SU3-BK is affected. NA 

HGST Touro Desk 4TB USB 3.0 HTOLDX3NB40001ABB 

Touro Mobile 500GB MX3 0S03452 

Hitachi G-Drive portable FireWire drive 0G01994 

Touro Desk 1TB DX3   0S03393 

Kingwin Kingwin Converter Box HDCV-1 

Sabrent Sabrent 3.5" SATA to USB 3.0 enclosure EC-35UK 

Samsung M3 portable hard drive series STSHX-M101TCB 

Seagate Backup Plus 2 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive STCA2000100

Backup Plus Desktop 2TB USB 3.0

Note: This model does not resemble the current Backup Plus design but rather resembles the GoFlex line, with dock. SEGFD2U0

Expansion Desktop 2TB USB 2.0 ST320005EXA101-RK

FreeAgent GoFlex Desktop 1.5TB STAC1500100

FreeAgent GoFlex Desk 1TB USB 3.0 STAC10001000

SIIG SIIG USB 2.0 to SATA 3.5-Inch Enclosure JU-SA0E12-S1 A3L1331X0009

Enclosures with known capacity limitations

This section lists third-party devices which we know have compatibility issues with Transporter Sync. This information is provided as it becomes available and is not meant to be comprehensive. 

Manufacturer Model Name Model Number Notes

Rosewill Rosewill RX-358 V2 3.5" SATA to USB & eSATA External Enclosure NA A customer has reported that this enclosure is limited to 2 TB when used with Transporter Sync and a certain 3 TB hard drive. Rosewill specifies support of up to 3 TB for this unit. We consider this enclosure under investigation. 

SIIG SIIG 3.5" USB 2.0 to SATA enclosure A3L1331X0009 JU-SA0E12-S This enclosure only supports up to 2 TB, as noted in SIIG's documentation. You can use this enclosure with Transporter Sync, but larger drives will be limited to 2 TB. The logic board on this model's drive tray may contain the additional identifier REV 1.2 2010/4/29.

WARNINGS: Drive will be erased; don't swap the drive

Any drive that is new to the Transporter Sync will be erased, and this is by design. Transporter Sync must format the drive to its specific requirements, so you cannot "add" Transporter data to an existing drive. You also cannot "preload" the drive at your computer and then plug it into the Transporter Sync. Initial sync must be done over a network, with local networks being fastest for large initial syncs.

For the duration of time that you intend to use a hard drive with your Transporter Sync, it is important to avoid swapping it to another device, such as temporarily plugging it directly into your computer. In their default configurations or in absence of certain third-party software, Mac and Windows systems cannot read the Linux format (ext4) used by Transporter and thus might report the disk as unreadable. Even if you have a system that can read the disk, it is important to avoid modifying any disk contents while in use by Transporter Sync. 

Note: Information about third-party products is provided for your convenience, should not be regarded as comprehensive, and does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement.