Data Doubler. Yes or No?

I did this for a friend a few months ago, although in his 2011 Mac mini. I think he had the original 500G drive in it. I moved that to the bottom (top) part of the bracket and then put a 128G SSD in the bracket where the original drive was.

He loves it. Best thing since sliced bread. He's also glad that he did do it, as he didn't want want to use external (USB/TB/etc) drives. He has a NAS on the network for backups.

You could also create your own Fusion drive, maybe? Someone with more knowledge about should chime in. I THINK there might be a limit to the size of the SSD drive.

I bought one for my 2012 MBP thinking I'd get some mileage out of the stock platter drive which I removed from the main bay in favor of an SSD. I returned it for several reasons.

The machine runs really quiet with an SSD. I tried the platter drive in the slot for the superdrive and was surprised at the noise I hadn't really noticed before.

The platter drive also causes the battery to drain much faster.

The Data Doubler is crazy expensive, I'm not sure why.

I decided to leave the superdrive in place and replace it later with an SSD if my boot drive proves to be inadequate. At that point, I'll look at alternatives to this bracket.

tonyt76 said:

Adding the second drive will increase the noise, heat and power useage.

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Minimally, unlikely you would ever notice it

I don't believe a 5400rpm drive would use more power and/or be noisier. I could possibly see that in a 7200rpm drive but, I can't see it with the slower one.

tonyt76 said:

For those of you that are using a data doubler, how did you install the drives?

SSD towards the top and mechanical drive towards the bottom?

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In my friend's 2011, I removed the HDD and put it in the other "bay" and put the SSD in the "bay" where the HDD drive was.

We booted up and it booted to his HDD, we changed the boot drive to the USB flash drive, rebooted, installed on the SSD drive. Now it boots off the SSD drive.

I belive i put the ssd on top and old 5400 rps under it, i don't notice any bigger noise from it.

If you've done any kind of PC repair in the past (beyond putting RAM in), you'll be in good shape.

Watch the various videos multiple times, paying attention to trouble spots like the antenna. Read the several mega threads on how others have done the procedure.


Good luck.

SSD in the TOP SPOT

I added an SSD to the empty spot of my mini
and left the original 5400RPM HD where it was.
In "System Preferences" under "System"
"Startup Drive" just choose your SSD as your
Startup Disc once you've Cloned your OS to it
and your SSD will become your "Default" Startup
Disc.

Couldn't be easier.

iWeekend said:

If you've done any kind of PC repair in the past (beyond putting RAM in), you'll be in good shape.

Watch the various videos multiple times, paying attention to trouble spots like the antenna. Read the several mega threads on how others have done the procedure.


Good luck.

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I did it with one-arm, two-armed people shouldn't have any issues.

Like iWeekend stated, watch the videos and I recommend taking your time. No issues at all.

That's funny, the video looks so easy and now I'm hearing all these issues doing it. My kit should be here today and I'm replacing the apple platters with an SSD and adding a Hybrid second SSD/Data drive, now I am definitely worried about doing it LOL, and I am a full time IT Tech.

braddman said:

That's funny, the video looks so easy and now I'm hearing all these issues doing it. My kit should be here today and I'm replacing the apple platters with an SSD and adding a Hybrid second SSD/Data drive, now I am definitely worried about doing it LOL, and I am a full time IT Tech.

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What issues? I've watched both the iFixIt and OWC vids a couple of times, and I've read over the iFixIt walk through. It all looks pretty straight forward to me.

Did you you have any problems?

I've used the kit twice recently and it is pretty easy. The part I have trouble with sometimes is getting the grill with the wi-fi back in place so it lines up with both screw holes (it can take a while sometimes).

Also I would suggest hooking the wi-fi cable back up before putting the top hard drive back in (this is slightly out of the order they suggest) because it's pretty hard to snap that little thing back in with the hard drive in the way.

Their have been a few moders who have
pried a connector off of the Logic Board
that it was soldered to. You don't want
to pry the soldered on connector off. You
want to pry the wire connector out of the
soldered on connector. This link has a few
"photos" that should help clear it up.

http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=206792#206792

AC Rempt said:

What issues? I've watched both the iFixIt and OWC vids a couple of times, and I've read over the iFixIt walk through. It all looks pretty straight forward to me.

Did you you have any problems?

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Haven't done it yet but from what I understand realigning everything is a pain. I may do a video showing the actual problems I encounter if any.

The first time you do it, it can be a little intimidating. Just take your time and don't rush it and there shouldn't be any trouble. I've installed and uninstalled this kit at least six times and once you've done it once it's really not that big of a deal. I just ordered the kit again for a new base mid-2012 mini.

braddman said:

That's funny, the video looks so easy and now I'm hearing all these issues doing it. My kit should be here today and I'm replacing the apple platters with an SSD and adding a Hybrid second SSD/Data drive, now I am definitely worried about doing it LOL, and I am a full time IT Tech.

Click to expand...

I like the OWC videos. My main takeaway was to be slow and gentle when removing the superdrive b/c of the wires that wrap/tuck around it. The kit that OWC sells has tools and instructions along with the bracket.

I would say yes do it, not had any problems since I have done it

Also you won't get any extra noise if putting in an SSD as they are silent.

Just used the data-doubler in a 2.3GHz I7. Left stock HDD in top position with Samsung 840Pro in bottom position.

Installation of hardware was fairly easy, although I did have to go back in once or twice for perfect fit.

The software issues were my biggest concerns, and that went easier than expected. No fusion, fresh OS install on SSD.

For even someone new to this type of mod, I say "Just Do It".

My write speeds are now 496-497.5 & Read speeds are 520.

I went for it. I'll be installing it with a Samsung 830 next week and keeping the 1tb drive. I'll probably follow the OWC vid to a T.

designs216 said:

I like the OWC videos. My main takeaway was to be slow and gentle when removing the superdrive b/c of the wires that wrap/tuck around it. The kit that OWC sells has tools and instructions along with the bracket.

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No Superdrive here thank goodness.

I added a 240GB SSD using the OWC data-doubler kit to my 2011 Mac Mini and swapped the 5400rpm drive for a 7200rpm in the same spot. The SSD is installed in the data-doubler

I partitioned the SSD for Windows and OS X, and then did a DIY Fusion join of the remaining OS X SSD partition and the hard disk. So I have SSD speed Windows and SSD speed OS X.

It runs fast, quiet, and cool and I am very happy with it.