I wish the new iMacs had 3 thunderbolt ports.

[iCaleb]

Here's what I would like to do........Have 2 1080p 21.5'' monitors to go with the iMac screen one to the left and one to the right.

But at the same time I would also like to have an external drive set as the main boot drive running mountain lion.

But with the two TB ports already taken up by the two hdmi monitors the only option would be to use a usb 3.0 drive as the main boot drive instead of a TB ssd drive.

How much faster would the usb 3.0 ssd/hdd drive be compared to the internal standard hdd?

[dlbmacfan]

You can daisy chain Thunderbolt peripherals, so I think you can put an external TB drive in between the computer and one of your monitors.

[iCaleb]

Originally Posted by dlbmacfan

You can daisy chain Thunderbolt peripherals, so I think you can put an external TB drive in between the computer and one of your monitors.

I can only afford the lacie rugged TB ssd drive but it only has one TB port making it non daisy chain able.

Your idea would only work with the pricey Little big disk ssd which has two TB ports.

[SnowLeopard2008]

Originally Posted by iCaleb

I can only afford the lacie rugged TB ssd drive but it only has one TB port making it non daisy chain able.

Your idea would only work with the pricey Little big disk ssd which has two TB ports.

Can you put the SSD/boot drive at the end of the chain? iMac->TBD->SSD/boot.

[iCaleb]

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard2008

Can you put the SSD/boot drive at the end of the chain? iMac->TBD->SSD/boot.

I would be using two dell 21.5 inch displays via hdmi to DP not the TB display.

If I could only find a hard drive with two TB ports for under 300.

[kaelell]

right there with you. Even thunderbolt hubs seem to be starting at £250ish

[deconstruct60]

Originally Posted by iCaleb

If I could only find a hard drive with two TB ports for under 300.

Don't need the drive to have the TB ports.

eSATA adapter $199

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10574

If already have a quad interface drive ( eSATA , FW800/400, usb 2.0 ) then done for a $100 less than $300.

Otherwise just need a drive with an eSATA port for about $100.

If already have a drive then $99 enclosure

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3QHKIT0GB/

and done. $300 (before taxes/shipping )

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Originally Posted by xgman

This is a big problem right now. I had to spend a fortune on dual TB enclosures to be able to get extra ports. I needed to be able to house 5 drives via TB.

Likewise, somewhat wrongheaded constrictions. What really looking for is a 5+ enclosure with SATA connections.

If find box and that worry about how to connect the SATA box to TB there are more options.

What is missing is empty, multibay enclosures that don't weave an relatively expensive RAID controller ( and functionality) into the system. Basically something that is just a JBOD box. Those boxes exist though. They just typically have SAS or eSATA connectors on them.