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Thinking about external SSD. new iMac

S

starscript

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 21, 2012
46
0
Glasgow, Scotland
Hey,

i have just got my new iMac (with no fusion drive). i have been thinking about getting an SSD 200Gb or above and attach it to my system using usb 3.0 or thunderbolt.
my idea is put the OS and my app's on it then keep my HD movies on the 3TB HDD.

Thoughts any one? and what 3rd party software would i need?:)
 
A

Apple Corps

macrumors 68030
Apr 26, 2003
2,575
542
California
200GB is fairly large for OS & Apps IMO.

No 3d party software needed to get that set up running unless you are thinking about carbon cloner (not required per se).

I am running that arrangement now via USB 3.0 until TB has more options and cheaper.
 
Last edited:
S

starscript

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 21, 2012
46
0
Glasgow, Scotland
the large SDD, is mainly for storing VM images, i was hoping that i could rip-down my new imac and put in an woc SSD in it but looking at the tear downs i think it will be unlikely :(.
i might hold off for 3 more months see what the SSD prices look like then and thunderbolt options, but have seen some cheep usb 3.0 to SATA adaptors on amazon :) so could be fun to play with
 
H

HelplessMoose

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2011
9
0
Apple Corps said:
I am running that arrangement now via USB 3.0 until TB has more options and cheaper.
Click to expand...

I'm very interested in upgrading my 2010 iMac (no USB3 or TB ports) to a new 2012 model and using either USB3 or TB for an external SSD as my primary boot drive... have you had any complications with this? Errors, freezes, that kind of thing? Would love to hear how it's working for you, thanks.
 
J

joe-h2o

macrumors 6502a
Jun 24, 2012
997
445
I'm running my primary OS X system from a LaCie Thunderbolt SSD.

Works beautifully and it is crazy fast.
 
S

sukanih

macrumors newbie
Dec 10, 2012
18
0
Hi guys, I'm newbie with Imac (late 2012) recently received first :apple: . How do you set and boot from External SSD ? I know in PC you could set up from BIOS when you boot. But, I have no idea with Imac and iOS.. :confused: Care to share the knowledge please.
 
A

Apple Corps

macrumors 68030
Apr 26, 2003
2,575
542
California
Apple logo - upper left hand corner > System Preferences > Startup Disk

First step is to format your new disk - Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility
 
S

starscript

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 21, 2012
46
0
Glasgow, Scotland
i have an samsung 256Gb SSD on order with the SATA to usb 3.0 adapter.
:D

i'm going to put some VM images on it see how it performs before taking on the decision to
A. put OS X on the drive and run it externally
or
B. tack off the screen and pop in a samsung 840 pro

i need to find some solution that gives me around the 1Tb storage mark with suppers read wright speed's with out re-morgaing the house or skipping a meal a day to save up

-EDIT-
Does any one know if you can RAID extend the blade SSD with the normal drive?
 
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T

Tanax

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2011
1,018
335
Stockholm, Sweden
starscript said:
Hey,

i have just got my new iMac (with no fusion drive). i have been thinking about getting an SSD 200Gb or above and attach it to my system using usb 3.0 or thunderbolt.
my idea is put the OS and my app's on it then keep my HD movies on the 3TB HDD.

Thoughts any one? and what 3rd party software would i need?:)
Click to expand...

With the external SSD you can also create your own Fusion Drive together with your internal HDD and have OS X move those apps and files you use a lot to the SSD automatically and the rest will be stored on the HDD in your iMac :) It's a built-in feature so you won't need to install any third-party tools.
 
M

majkom

macrumors 68000
May 3, 2011
1,854
1,150
booting via TB is safe, booting via usb 3.0 is not 100 percent flawless.. under heavy cpu usage, system may crash...
 
H

HelplessMoose

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2011
9
0
Thanks for all the replies with your experiences booting externally!

majkom said:
booting via TB is safe, booting via usb 3.0 is not 100 percent flawless.. under heavy cpu usage, system may crash...
Click to expand...

This is what I've seen mentioned in other forums/blogs as well, even if it's been mostly anecdotal evidence. I guess it's worth spending a ~$100 premium (extra $50 for the TB cable and ballpark extra $50 to go from a regular USB3 enclosure to a Seagate TB enclosure) to avoid any chance of system crashes. Thanks!
 
T

Tanax

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2011
1,018
335
Stockholm, Sweden
majkom said:
booting via TB is safe, booting via usb 3.0 is not 100 percent flawless.. under heavy cpu usage, system may crash...
Click to expand...

Where have you seen this? I'm looking into USB3 external cases since TB is so expensive and there aren't any really good cases so please link :)
 
M

majkom

macrumors 68000
May 3, 2011
1,854
1,150
Tanax said:
Where have you seen this? I'm looking into USB3 external cases since TB is so expensive and there aren't any really good cases so please link :)
Click to expand...

Just search this forum, mac mini section - user philipma had several posts about his setup and usb/TB booting... USB is dependant on CPU (not much expert about it, but usb needs some cpu power to work) whereas TB is not... search the forum
 
J

Jeantro

macrumors member
Dec 20, 2012
45
0
Tanax said:
With the external SSD you can also create your own Fusion Drive together with your internal HDD and have OS X move those apps and files you use a lot to the SSD automatically and the rest will be stored on the HDD in your iMac :) It's a built-in feature so you won't need to install any third-party tools.
Click to expand...

you can confirm this ?

I did a search but I can not see the experience of the person who had

I just ordered the lacie rugged thunderbolt to install mountain lion, I well test it the next week

If I can make a fusion drive with my lacie disk and my internal disk it will be great
 
T

Tanax

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2011
1,018
335
Stockholm, Sweden
majkom said:
Just search this forum, mac mini section - user philipma had several posts about his setup and usb/TB booting... USB is dependant on CPU (not much expert about it, but usb needs some cpu power to work) whereas TB is not... search the forum
Click to expand...

Will do, cheers!

Jeantro said:
you can confirm this ?

I did a search but I can not see the experience of the person who had

I just ordered the lacie rugged thunderbolt to install mountain lion, I well test it the next week

If I can make a fusion drive with my lacie disk and my internal disk it will be great
Click to expand...

Read this :)
http://jollyjinx.tumblr.com/post/34638496292/fusion-drive-on-older-macs-yes-since-apple-has
 
T

Tanax

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2011
1,018
335
Stockholm, Sweden
Jeantro said:
I read this

but he speaks here of SSD intern and HDD external

I attached the SSD via SATA to be sure that the system could figure out that it’s a SSD via SMART

in the apple website they said no fusion drive with external disk :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Interesting. Will do some more research then, thanks for pointing it out :)

----------
Jeantro said:
I read this

but he speaks here of SSD intern and HDD external

I attached the SSD via SATA to be sure that the system could figure out that it’s a SSD via SMART

in the apple website they said no fusion drive with external disk :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

http://www.macworld.com/article/2013805/fusion-drive-an-overview.html

They claim it's possible to create your own Fusion Drive with BOTH drives being external.

When we had the drives in hand, we found that we could connect one externally to another Mac running OS X 10.8.2. Disk Utility saw the drive but spelled its name out in ominous red letters, asking if we wanted to repair the drive. We clicked No. We then connected the second drive externally—and lo and behold, the Fusion Drive mounted, and we could copy files back and forth.
Click to expand...
 
S

starscript

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 21, 2012
46
0
Glasgow, Scotland
Tanax said:
With the external SSD you can also create your own Fusion Drive together with your internal HDD and have OS X move those apps and files you use a lot to the SSD automatically and the rest will be stored on the HDD in your iMac :) It's a built-in feature so you won't need to install any third-party tools.
Click to expand...

i think creating an fusion drive with a external SDD is a good idea but if your working with large files you will end up with that classic bottleneck.

so it might be a nice party peace but i would not use it day to day
 
T

Tanax

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2011
1,018
335
Stockholm, Sweden
starscript said:
i think creating an fusion drive with a external SDD is a good idea but if your working with large files you will end up with that classic bottleneck.

so it might be a nice party peace but i would not use it day to day
Click to expand...

If it's a computer you need for your work, I would probably not use it either. I'm just getting a computer as my home computer, I'm not dependent on it in that way.
 
S

starscript

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 21, 2012
46
0
Glasgow, Scotland
Tanax said:
If it's a computer you need for your work, I would probably not use it either. I'm just getting a computer as my home computer, I'm not dependent on it in that way.
Click to expand...

well if you do your home DIY fusion drive, would be very interesting to see how it matches up to apples.

if you do do it, do some stain tests and let use know how well it works could save a few people a bit of money and get a bit more flexibility out of the system along with the obvious kudos points :p
 
T

Tanax

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2011
1,018
335
Stockholm, Sweden
starscript said:
well if you do your home DIY fusion drive, would be very interesting to see how it matches up to apples.

if you do do it, do some stain tests and let use know how well it works could save a few people a bit of money and get a bit more flexibility out of the system along with the obvious kudos points :p
Click to expand...

Doubt it XD Apple fanboys will always be fanboys, they will probably not do it even if I have no problems with my DIY Fusion Drive due to the reason I've been hearing today: "It's not warranted by Apple. It can break at any OS X upgrade. Blablabla" :) But sure, I can do some testing when and if I do it! ^^
 
S

starscript

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 21, 2012
46
0
Glasgow, Scotland
Tanax said:
Doubt it XD Apple fanboys will always be fanboys, they will probably not do it even if I have no problems with my DIY Fusion Drive due to the reason I've been hearing today: "It's not warranted by Apple. It can break at any OS X upgrade. Blablabla" :) But sure, I can do some testing when and if I do it! ^^
Click to expand...

apple don't like you picking what you want to do with the parts you want and payed for D: never


meh, i have been using an hackingtosh for the past 4 years it was a tiny bit slower than the parts i put in but i knew os x would not like 2000Mhz ram and graphics support was dropped in os lion.

the mac os and the platform units are so stable and well built as long as you don't do something as stupid as ripping out your EFI no real harm should ever come to that large investment one has made.

if your happy with the apple mentality we will tell you what to use and you will like it, then stay happy don't play
but if you want more the apple police are not just going to take your computer away. i have had more apple products than i can count never had to use "genus" support :) and with every new mac there are less things that can go wrong
 
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