# Recommendations for using external hard drives on the NextSeq 1000/2000 platforms

The NextSeq 1000/2000 allows for the use of an external hard drive as the default output location. Illumina recommends the following criteria for external hard drives that are intended for use with the NextSeq 1000/2000 system.

* The external drive must use the Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3.0+ connections.
  * USB 2.0 does not have sufficient data transfer bandwidth to handle the data flow.
* The external drive must be self-powered, i.e., it should plug into an outlet in the wall and not derive power from the USB connection.
* Drives must be formatted using the NT File System (NTFS) format.
  * Drives formatted using versions of File Allocation Table (FAT) such as FAT32 or exFAT are not compatible with the Linux OS.
  * For guidance on reformatting the External Hard drive, see Illumina Knowledge Article [Troubleshooting Filesystem type exFAT not configured in kernel message on the NextSeq 1000/2000](https://knowledge.illumina.com/instrumentation/nextseq-1000-2000/instrumentation-nextseq-1000-2000-troubleshooting-list/000007105/?utm_source=agent\&utm_medium=email\&utm_campaign=kb)
* Drives are recommended to have at least 4 Terabytes (TB) of space available.

The Linux OS mounts the external hard drive automatically when it is plugged into one of the blue USB 3.0 ports on the instrument. Once done, there is a new icon on the instrument Desktop, and the external hard drive is now accessible through the Files application.

If the external hard drive does not mount automatically when connecting to the instrument USB port, contact [Illumina Technical Support](https://www.illumina.com/company/contact-us.html#/united-states/technical-support).

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| *For any feedback or questions regarding this article (Illumina Knowledge Article #6528), contact Illumina Technical Support* [*techsupport@illumina.com*](mailto:techsupport@illumina.com?subject=Question%2FFeedback%20Regarding%20Illumina%20Knowledge%20Article%20#000006528%20-%20Instrumentation%20\&body=Dear%20Illumina%20Technical%20Support,%0D%0A%0D%0A)*.* |


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