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Thunderbolt Enclosure setup?

I

InquisitiveAmI

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2012
80
0
Hi all ,
You might have seen my recent post on whats the point of thunderbolt for my new macbook pro and I came to the conclusion that what was clear for my new macbook pro( 2.8ghz intel i7 , 16gb RAM , 128gb ) it needed a BIG storage bump for my needs(Xcode,Photoshop,Unity)
I decided that for starters I'd like to make my own thunderbolt enclosure by choosing the samsung 840 pro 512gb SSD for a start.
My idea was to use that and a GoFlex thunderbolt portable adapter but I ran into some problems.
a) 512gb SSD is great for speed but I'd like a 1tb backup aswell.
b) Goflex thunderbolt adapter does not have the correct battery potential for something as serious as a samsung 840 pro to run

This left me thinking that I need a enclosure which plugs into the mains and also maybe a dual enclosure could be better.

Does anyone know for a start where I could find a good sub 300 thunderbolt enclosure (single or dual)

And any ideas if dual for a sort of fusion setup?

Many thanks
 
Peace

Peace

Cancelled
Apr 1, 2005
19,546
4,556
Space The Only Frontier
I've got an old OCZ Vertex2 120GB GB and a newer OCZ Vertex4 260GB. No RAID since these disks are part of my Time Machine back-up.

The Vertex4 gets about 400MB read/write while the older Vertex2 only gets about 125MB read/write.

Good enough for normal storage.

I'm sure the samsung will be faster.
 
I

InquisitiveAmI

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2012
80
0
Sounds good. With the enclosure you suggested + samsung ssd and maybe seagate 1tb 7200rpm would that be a good fusion drive setup?
 
I

InquisitiveAmI

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2012
80
0
Quick update: I don't think I can use the neutrino as can't ship to UK plus the fan sound is unconvincing .
Any other dual enclosures?
 
G

g4cube

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2003
760
13
InquisitiveAmI said:
Quick update: I don't think I can use the neutrino as can't ship to UK plus the fan sound is unconvincing .
Any other dual enclosures?
Click to expand...

Check out Amazon UK. Simple search will yield a source. Your won't like the price though.
 
Barney63

Barney63

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2014
799
1
Bolton, UK.
Why not use USB 3?
USB 3 is 5Gb/s and your SATA 3 SSD will only be 6Gb/s hardly any difference.

Barney

edit:
Here are some tests with TB and USB3 on an SSD
 
I

InquisitiveAmI

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2012
80
0
To be honest I'd much rather make you of my thunderbolt port.
As per trying to find a duel bay .I reckon I could get these for sub 300-200
Startech dual drive
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00IFZN842
Or the other one which was recommended to me above.If anyone has these enclosures or knows anything about them could you please give me as much info as possible.

My other idea was I could go down the single route form a setup with:

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Backu...F8&qid=1396599862&sr=1-1&keywords=thunderbolt
and my samsung SSD

and then add
http://www.amazon.com/G-Technology-...e=UTF8&qid=1396600593&sr=1-1&keywords=7200rpm

which looks like the only other decent 7200rpm portable hard drive
 
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
I have used the dual Thunderbolt enclosures from LaCie "Little Big Disk" Thunderbolt powered drives available as "refurbished" from MacMall. I also have a Akitio and it performs well, but is twice the size.

You can remove one or both of the hard disks (sell or repurpose them) and replace with your 2.5" SSDs. The disks appear as 2 separate disks and can be RAID-0, RAID-1, or Fusion using Disk Utility (and Terminal for Fusion). These refurb units don't seem to be as fast as the expensive new SSD models, possibly due to hard-disk optimized firmware in them (I looked up the SATA controllers in them and they did appear to be SATA-III parts). They perform well enough for my usage and are quite small. I do unplug the fan when only using SSDs in them for less noise.

Here are results with Crucial M4 SSDs installed RAID-0:
 

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hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
Here are the test results for the Akiti dual Thunderbolt enclosure with a RAID-0 pair of Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSDs installed:
 

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hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
InquisitiveAmI said:
That looks like exactly what I want!
Could you tell me where you got it refurb from?
Click to expand...

MacMall sells refurbished LaCie ... items come and go quickly so they may not have stock on the day you check, but check back often.

Currently, LaCie has some for sale:

http://www.lacie.com/products/clearance/products/?id=10007

$180 for a LittleBigDisk with 2 500GB 7200rpm hard disks (1TB RAID-0). They also show a SSD model at a higher price. I have also bought several of the 1TB "Rugged" portable drive and replaced the disk with a SSD (which boots Windows on a Mac easily).

This came up in the Google search:
http://9to5toys.com/2013/03/22/laci...efurb-now-up-to-63-off-1tb-164-99-2tb-219-99/
 
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I

InquisitiveAmI

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2012
80
0
I can get a good deal on ebay for only 179 so I've bought that
And so all I really need to do is buy a pair of drives
I definetly getting the samsung ssd 512
But should I get a pair of those or a 10000 rpm velociraptor still in RAID 0 together

Or maybe even the brand new Intel 730?
 
G

g4cube

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2003
760
13
Based on other threads and comments, probably the Samsung Pro or EVT SSD devices.
 
SaSaSushi

SaSaSushi

macrumors 601
Aug 8, 2007
4,156
553
Takamatsu, Japan
I'm using (and recommend) the Delock 42490 2.5" single drive Thunderbolt enclosure. I posted benchmarks of it up against my Inateck UASP enclosure here. The best news is that the price has dropped considerably. It was $108 on Amazon and now seems to be available for $82.50.

The enclosure is AC-powered. I've got a 512GB Samsung 840 EVO installed and am booting from it. Incidentally, if you're planning on using 500GB+ anything, especially an 840 Pro, I'd highly recommend avoiding any bus-powered options like the Seagate GoFlex adapter.

I mention it only because you also asked about any sub-$300 single drive enclosures. Obviously, if you are looking for RAID or pass-through, the Delock wouldn't be for you.
 
M

MrX8503

macrumors 68020
Sep 19, 2010
2,292
1,614
SaSaSushi said:
I'm using (and recommend) the Delock 42490 2.5" single drive Thunderbolt enclosure. I posted benchmarks of it up against my Inateck UASP enclosure here. The best news is that the price has dropped considerably. It was $108 on Amazon and now seems to be available for $82.50.

The enclosure is AC-powered. I've got a 512GB Samsung 840 EVO installed and am booting from it. Incidentally, if you're planning on using 500GB+ anything, especially an 840 Pro, I'd highly recommend avoiding any bus-powered options like the Seagate GoFlex adapter.

I mention it only because you also asked about any sub-$300 single drive enclosures. Obviously, if you are looking for RAID or pass-through, the Delock wouldn't be for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation. Is there anything out there that can power a 500GB SSD via bus? Why isn't this a problem with mechanical drives?
 
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