Should I get a Fusion drive?

I am using a Fusion Drive on three systems now and I would say that Fusion Drive is definitely worth it - the speed increase over a standard 2.5" 500GB drive in a 2011 MacMini say is fourfold. However there is one issue that you must all realise - and that is, if you order a Fusion Drive with Apple, if you want to set the drives up back to normal use only ie. separate SSD and HD - it WILL NOT WORK (from what I have been told by fellow Mac users here).

This is because the OSX build that comes from a factory-set Fusion Drive Mac is different to one you normally download from the App Store (12C2034 vs 12C60). Not only is the build different, but the speed increase is apparent with this build I believe (400MB/s on official installed system vs 200MB/s on non-factory-set setups).

However what could work is that you order a factory-installed SSD Mac with 10.8.2, and then optionally install a separate HD yourself. THAT would work (to be used as Fusion or separate - I have tested it) - and on a proper 2012 Mac, it still registers decent speeds (over 400MBps under Blackmagic Disk Test).

Fusion is definitely worth it. In any case if you are scared about running it in case of reliability issues - if you backup regularly, you still have Thunderbolt to use when using the new machines in most cases. And recovery is fast with TB. If you use a Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt Adapter (3.5" version) to backup your Fusion to say a SATAIII 1TB or 2TB standard HD - it can be done in a shorter time than ever before. So you effectively have a very fast and cost-effective system...

Tanax said:

Ergo, the logical conclusion is that you can use your own hardware and combine it with the software magic.

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That's more of an assumption rather than a logical conclusion.

Middleman-77 said:

This is because the OSX build that comes from a factory-set Fusion Drive Mac is different to one you normally download from the App Store (12C2034 vs 12C60).

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... and this is a prime example of why setting up a Fusion drive with any SSD and HD is not necessarily a substitute. Sure, it would work but the software maybe talking to the hardware differently with the Apple Fusion build. There could be safeguards in case of drive failure or other speed increase optimizing we don't see.

Buying an actual Fusion drive with the so called Apple Tax guarantees a fully functioning system and will be fixed by Apple in case of problems.

torana355 said:

Ive got my fusion drive setup really well, i partitioned the main HDD into 3 partitions, one 500GB one for Windows, One 500gb one to fuse with the 128gb ssd and a 2TB partition for all my media. So i have a 612gb fusion drive for all Apps and the OS. This way my Video files never get wasted on the ssd yet i still have over 600GB of space to work with on the fusion drive. My fusion drive has over 200GB on it and it still runs at full ssd speed for everyday tasks. Happy as can be

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Wow, this sounds sublime! One of the reasons I was going to stay away from fusion is because of music and all that jazz (along with large video files) filling up the SSD portion in a matter of a week. I do have a few questions though about your setup.

1. I thought you can't run windows on the 3TB drive...or can you do it because you partitioned it? Did you have to do anything more special than that?

2. You mentioned you used another partition to fuse with the SSD, did you have to do anything special so it fused with that partition and not the 2TB partition (for instance)? Is it just a matter of a few clicks?

3. Doesn't 500GB + SSD for 612GB seem like a little overkill? You must have a lot of apps!

+1 to get the fusion. Works great. I love how fast it boots up / opens applications

palmerc2 said:

1. I thought you can't run windows on the 3TB drive...or can you do it because you partitioned it? Did you have to do anything more special than that?

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You cant officially but there are a few different ways you can do it, there are a few guides on the net. Basically i just created the partition for Windows within the first 2.2TB on the 3TB HDD.

palmerc2 said:

2. You mentioned you used another partition to fuse with the SSD, did you have to do anything special so it fused with that partition and not the 2TB partition (for instance)? Is it just a matter of a few clicks?

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Yeah it was part of the guide i followed, i actually learned a bit about using terminal along the way.

palmerc2 said:

3. Doesn't 500GB + SSD for 612GB seem like a little overkill? You must have a lot of apps!

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Well i was not sure how i wanted to divide the 3TB drive, i guess i could have made my media partition a little larger and made the fusion drive smaller.

I didnt bother with the fusion as they Apple store had stock of the 3.2 with 1tb non fusion. It doesnt load applications lightning quick but seems to be excellent in everything else. If you don't keep your machine in sleep mode and keep apps open all the time, go with the fusion. Otherwise, non fusion is just fine and a bit cheaper.

torana355 said:

You cant officially but there are a few different ways you can do it, there are a few guides on the net. Basically i just created the partition for Windows within the first 2.2TB on the 3TB HDD.



Yeah it was part of the guide i followed, i actually learned a bit about using terminal along the way.



Well i was not sure how i wanted to divide the 3TB drive, i guess i could have made my media partition a little larger and made the fusion drive smaller.

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Great info thanks. My last question is: have you done a software update since doing this? I read in a thread about splitting the HDD and SSD, and after doing a software update it might undo the changes done in terminal. I think it may have only been speculation though, and even though its not the same topic it's close enough for me to ask. It would be pretty bad if it did happen though!

palmerc2 said:

Great info thanks. My last question is: have you done a software update since doing this? I read in a thread about splitting the HDD and SSD, and after doing a software update it might undo the changes done in terminal. I think it may have only been speculation though, and even though its not the same topic it's close enough for me to ask. It would be pretty bad if it did happen though!

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Updates work as normal.

Yes, get a fusion drive.

torana355 said:

Updates work as normal.

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Great to hear! So DIY Fusion Drives work with OS X updates.
So awesome. Have you ran any tests on your system, e.g. speed tests and compared it with the Apple Fusion Drive?

Are you using an external USB3 or TB enclosure for your SSD? What SSD are you using? Have you tried disconnecting your SSD from the iMac and see what happens? Etc.

Tanax said:

Great to hear! So DIY Fusion Drives work with OS X updates.
So awesome. Have you ran any tests on your system, e.g. speed tests and compared it with the Apple Fusion Drive?

Are you using an external USB3 or TB enclosure for your SSD? What SSD are you using? Have you tried disconnecting your SSD from the iMac and see what happens? Etc.

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The SSD is the one accompanying the Fusion Drive, if I've understood OP correctly.

sergiobaschi said:

The SSD is the one accompanying the Fusion Drive, if I've understood OP correctly.

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As far as I understood it, the OP has a 3TB HDD(no Fusion Drive) in his iMac and got an external SSD. With those two drives he created a single custom Fusion Drive(e.g. non-Apple Fusion Drive) to get the functionality the Apple Fusion Drive provides but at a much lower cost(and greater customizability).

What I was asking was what kind of SSD he was using, what external chassi connection port he was using and if he had run some tests on it.

6 days into 3Tb fusion on my 27" iMac 3.4GHz i7 and it seems excellent. Programs open on a mouse click - as quick as being resized from the dock.

You wouldn't know the fusion bit was there, except it's soooo fast...

Tanax said:

Writing 6 or so commands to create a fused drive out of two drives is hardly considered hacking nor "hacking".

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To be pedantic, hacking would be finding a way of condensing six commands to four.

Unfortunately through misuse, hacker and hacking are nowadays used as pejoratives rather than to acclaim excellence in coding.

Tanax said:

As far as I understood it, the OP has a 3TB HDD(no Fusion Drive) in his iMac and got an external SSD. With those two drives he created a single custom Fusion Drive(e.g. non-Apple Fusion Drive) to get the functionality the Apple Fusion Drive provides but at a much lower cost(and greater customizability).

What I was asking was what kind of SSD he was using, what external chassi connection port he was using and if he had run some tests on it.

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I'm pretty certain he has a 3TB + Fusion drive, and no external (unless he has one for backing up - but that's unrelated). Read his comment on the first page (or where I quoted him on this page) where he explains how he setup his HDD + Fusion. I personally love it! When the time comes to upgrade to a new iMac I'll definitely be researching how he set his up.

palmerc2 said:

I'm pretty certain he has a 3TB + Fusion drive, and no external (unless he has one for backing up - but that's unrelated). Read his comment on the first page (or where I quoted him on this page) where he explains how he setup his HDD + Fusion. I personally love it! When the time comes to upgrade to a new iMac I'll definitely be researching how he set his up.

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Right. Seems he got the 3TB Fusion Drive, only that he partitioned it differently than how Apple originally intends it to be. I stand corrected.

Tanax said:

Right. Seems he got the 3TB Fusion Drive, only that he partitioned it differently than how Apple originally intends it to be. I stand corrected.

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This is correct, i got the 2012 iMac with the 3tb fusion and configured it to my needs. I now have a 612GB fusion drive partition (500GB of the HDD and the 128GB ssd fused together), a 500GB windows partition and a 2TB media partition. It works perfectly and solves any issues some people may have with the standard fusion drive setup as i have a place where i can make sure the files are on the hdd only.

torana355 said:

This is correct, i got the 2012 iMac with the 3tb fusion and configured it to my needs. I now have a 612GB fusion drive partition (500GB of the HDD and the 128GB ssd fused together), a 500GB windows partition and a 2TB media partition. It works perfectly and solves any issues some people may have with the standard fusion drive setup as i have a place where i can make sure the files are on the hdd only.

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Do you have a link to the article / guide you used to perform what you did? I've googled a few different things with no luck.

Definitely get it. SSD is the future and it's something you'll regret if you don't have it.

palmerc2 said:

Do you have a link to the article / guide you used to perform what you did? I've googled a few different things with no luck.

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This is a link to my thread

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1511887/