"My understanding is if booting off the drive, Thunderbolt is the way to go. Is this accurate? Suggestions as to an enclosure?"
I think you ought to include the latest, fastest USB3 enclosures in your considerations.
They may not offer the "pressing the edge of the envelope" speed that Thunderbolt provides, but the right ones are still VERY fast. In all likelihood, you probably won't notice the difference in day-to-day usage.
Even recent USB3/SATA docking stations are right up there in speed.
Check these:
http://www.barefeats.com/hard161.html
http://fortysomethinggeek.blogspot.com/2012/10/blacx-5g-usb-30-update-fastest-usb-30.html
I guess I will try the docking station, at this point it seems to be the best thing available. :-\
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I have a Crucial M4 512GB on a Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter. On eBay I found some new GoFLex "disk enclosures" (the plug-on shell) which hold any 2.5" SATA drive and make for a cleaner appearance with my SSD inside.
You could also buy a hard disk GoFlex Thunderbolt, open the shell and replace the hard disk with your SSD, then sell the HD, use it in another laptop, or put it in a cheap USB-3 case and use it for backup (a single hard disk on Thunderbolt is sort of a waste anyway).
My 512GB SSD on the GoFlex seems to be working fine!
NOTE: This arrangement works great for installing/booting Windows externally as well.
-howard
I just don't want to risk it running a boot drive off it without power, everyone has me freaked out