Area-51m R1, external disk over 2TB

The answer doesn't involve the system - it all depends on the drive size support your dock or external case has.

The dock accepts at east up to 4TB, I have checked this in the past when I connected to a desktop. Another question that I have is this: From the factory I bought my Area-51m R1 with 2 M.2 of 512GB each one in RAID 0 so that the laptop sees one drive of 1TB for the Windows 10, office etc. I have also installed by myself a Samsung SSD 860EVO of 1TB in the SSD free port. Can I replace the Samsung 1TB with a 2 or 4TB SSD in the internal SATA port of the laptop? Will the BIOS see it as it sees the 1TB that I have 2 years now?

It should see a 2 or 4T SATA SSD just fine.

Ok thanks man!

Hi @makithaca  welcome to this user to user forum. This is not Dell Support. 

Guess that you have Area-51m R1, Storage says your system has one 2.5" bay and two M.2 2230/2280 slots. Dell does not say which PCI Express (PCIe) bus generation this system uses for the M.2 Interface. You will have to undertake more research, before buying the correct fast or ultrafast M.2 storage drives for your Area-51m.

The Samsung SSD 860EVO that you purchased is a slow SATA, so guess that this is installed in the 2.5" bay.

Why anyone would have RAID 0 in their home PC is dubious when a single ultrafast M.2 NVMe provides equal performance. RAID 0 also makes disaster recovery a pain because if one drive fails you have to replace both. Your Disaster recopy plan also makes creation of clones problematic because you require an external adapter with dual M.2 slot capability.

Advocate Area-51m user should install ultrafast NVMe drives in the M.2 slots.

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While larger capacity M.2 SSDs will work, note that anything over 2T (and even some below) will be double-sided.  Be sure there's enough clearance between the SSD and the bottom cover, as double-sided SSDs (particularly those with attached heatsinks) may be higher than can be accommodated with the cover closed.

Hi and thanks for your reply. So, you guessed right, my Area-51m is the first version made on January 2019. From factory it has two M.2 disks made by Intel of 512GB each one and they are set up as RAID 0 so the system sees one disk of 1TB. On this disk I only have Windows 10 and Office. I have also installed a Samsung 860 EVO 1TB on the 2,5" bay and on this disk I keep my precious files and data, so in case that my RAID disks fail I don't care so much because my data are saved on the Samsung SSD. I have RTX 2080 and I use the laptop everyday for gaming always with ultra graphics about 2 years now and it served me great, no issues at all. If I ever have problem with the RAID disks I would like to replace them with greater capacity and also faster disks, so up to how much can I install, 2, 4TB? And as a replacement for the Samsung on bay 2,5" can I use 2 or 4TB? They will all work flawlessly? I wouldn't care to have RAID again, so on M.2 I can install individual disks. The laptop is always updated with the latest BIOS version.

Hi @makithaca  thank you for sharing update. 

It is rare for Dell to update their documentation and these give the impression that the disk capacity is limited to 1TB. However, advances in disk capabilities are outstripping Dell's ability to test new disk compatibility with their computers. Reputable disk providers test their disk compatibility with your system and offer this compatibility service free of charge, just for the asking (2 x 8TB = 16TB). Then you are at liberty to get this disk at discounted bargain from a different supplier. The Dell shop offers expensive Parts and Upgrades, so it is prudent to shop around. Please remember that if you have an extended Dell warranty and the system is sent away for repair, Dell warranty expect it to be provided in the as-ordered configuration without major modification. Changing drives and replacing the battery are not major modifications, and consumable parts are not covered under the standard Dell extended warranty anyway. 

If you go online looking for custom built Area-51m, they are currently offering to install up to 8TB internal drives. Getting a small thunderbolt 3 NAS (Network Attached Storage) device for your external drives can be useful, especially if your laptop suddenly goes missing. The NAS should support 8TB in each bay (4 x 8TB = 32TB) and HDD offer better data retention. Seemingly the Hybrid HDD offers the best data retention and speed performance. 

As a replacement for your 2.5" bay, Area-51m R2 will accept a two M.2 slot tray that offers the fast M.2 NVMe interface. However, not sure if the Area-51m R1 main board has the necessary two cable connections. Dell does not advertise this option, so you have to ask. If supported, the current 2.5" solid-state storage bay capacity would be 2 x 8TB (16TB).

Perhaps another user (or even DELL-Cares) may reveal what the Area-51m R1 system board can support? 

I did ask Dell Support if my 17 R5 supports the two cable tray, but was told that my system board does not have two cable tray connections. 

Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from another user. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.