What’s the sd card storage limit a raspberry pi can hold?

[Ramdomuser]

So just wondering what’s the limit of sd card storage a raspberry pi can hold. like 256 gb 400 gb you know if you find out let me know.

[Imperf3kt]

Theoretical limit is 2TB as according to the format used for current media.
Note that 2TB is not yet available in microSD cards (or even fill size SD cards) and any '1TB' cards or even '512GB' cards you find online should cost several hundred dollars or they're fake. (there is a rampant market of fake SD cards, don't get caught by it)

[HawaiianPi]

The Raspberry Pi computers support the SDXC standard, which tops out at 2TB.

• SD standard - Up to 2GB SD memory card using FAT 12 and 16 file systems
• SDHC standard - over 2GB-32GB SDHC memory card using FAT32 file system
• SDXC standard - over 32GB-2TB SDXC memory card using exFAT file system
• SDUC standard - over 2TB-128TB SDUC memory card using exFAT file system (* future spec *)

Note that there are no 2TB cards available yet. There were prototypes of 1TB full-size SD cards demonstrated by SanDisk and Toshiba awhile ago, but I'm not sure if they've made it to market yet (I think Lexar has one you can actually buy). In micro-SD form-factor the largest cards are 512GB, and there are only a few companies making those (they're also quite expensive).

If your storage needs exceed 128GB you would be better off with an SSD or HDD (depending on budget and desired performance). Booting from micro SD card and using an SSD or hard drive for storage is pretty simple. The Raspberry Pi 3B and 3B+ (as well as the Pi 2Bv1.2) can boot directly from a USB drive (other models can also boot from USB with the early stage boot-loader on SD card).

I have a Pi3B that boots from a SATA SSD with a USB3-SATA3 adapter cable.

USB booting is slower than SD card boot, but once up and running the SSD is faster. The raw throughput of SSD is bottlenecked by the USB 2.0 interface of the Pi computer, but superior random I/O performance is where SSD shines. Normal Class-10 SD cards are optimized for sequential I/O and really terrible at random I/O. This makes them a poor choice for a boot drive, because operating systems do a LOT of random I/O.

There are newer "A1" rated micro SD cards that are much faster at random I/O, and those are ideal for Pi computers. I use the SanDisk Ultra A1 32GB micro SD cards because they are affordable and great performers. The Ultra A1 series tops out at 400GB, but that card costs more than a 500GB SSD (today's price on Amazon is $83.96 for the 400GB SanDisk Ultra A1 card, and only $57.99 for a 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD).

I have tested my system with micro SD cards up to 128GB without any trouble. I've also booted from 500GB hard drives and SSD using USB-SATA adapters or enclosures. Unfortunately USB booting from SSD or HDD can get tricky, because the Pi's boot-loader is not compatible with all USB drives, and finding one that works reliably can take some trial and error.

[wes1977]

400gb sandisk works for me. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074R ... UTF8&psc=1

I formatted to a FAT32 with 32 clusters with rufus.

[W. H. Heydt]

The size of SD cards has been addressed, and that's one way to read the OP's question...

To answer the other way to read it... The Pi uses an EXT4 file system. EXT4 can be up to 1EiB (Exbibyte) per volume. That's 2**60 bytes, or about 1.15 Exabyte, where 1 Exabyte is 10**18 bytes.

So don't worry about find an SD card that is "too big" for a Pi.

[Ramdomuser]

Thanks to everyone for helping me out on what sd card I should buy for my pi.