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LaCie d2 External Hard Drives Upgraded With Thunderbolt 2, SSD Option

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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LaCie today updated its d2 desktop storage hard drives, adding an aluminum unibody, dual Thunderbolt 2 ports, and an optional SSD upgrade. Designed to be a companion device to the Mac Pro, the d2 is aimed at audio/video/photography professionals.

The default d2 comes equipped with a 7200 RPM Seagate hard disk (up to 6TB) that's able to reach speeds of 220MB/s, but it can be boosted with an optional LaCie d2 SSD upgrade, which increases speeds up to 1150MB/s and adds 128GB of PCIe storage. The SSD upgrade is an additional purchase, and snaps right into the back of the d2's removable rear panel.

Two separate drives mount on the computer - one for the SSD and one for the hard disk. Use the SSD for bandwidth-intensive tasks, such as fast file transfers, audio mixing, video editing, or OS booting, and the hard disk for file archiving. No other solution offers this level of performance and capacity in such a compact footprint.
Click to expand...
According to LaCie, the d2's new aluminum unibody is designed to draw heat away from the hard disk, and a cushioned base and disk mounts are aimed at reducing vibration. In addition to two Thunderbolt 2 ports, the hard drive also has a USB 3 port and can daisy chain up to six devices.

The LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 2 will be available in September from both Apple and LaCie.com. Prices will start at $299 for 3 TB, going up to $399 and $499 for 4 and 6 TB capacities, respectively. The d2 SSD upgrade will be available in October, and is priced at $299. LaCie is also offering USB 3.0-only versions of the d2, which will also be available in October.

Article Link: LaCie d2 External Hard Drives Upgraded With Thunderbolt 2, SSD Option
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/10/lacie-upgrades-d2-thunderbolt-ssd/
C

cycledance

Suspended
Oct 15, 2010
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crazy amounts of money can be made with people who don't know how to place a harddisk in an enclosure.
 
M

mustgroove

macrumors regular
Aug 14, 2006
203
12
cycledance said:
crazy amounts of money can be made with people who don't know how to place a harddisk in an enclosure.
Click to expand...

Yeah but there's also a market for commodity off the shelf units that don't need you to hunt for each constituent part on newegg or whatever, or take a punt on what drives are compatible with your enclosure...

Fanless is what's interesting here - a 1150mb/sec fanless thunderbolt drive that isn't a 4 bay beast is pretty appealing
 
J

jettredmont

macrumors 68030
Jul 25, 2002
2,731
328
cycledance said:
crazy amounts of money can be made with people who don't know how to place a harddisk in an enclosure.
Click to expand...

Don't Thunderbolt enclosures run around $150-250 by themselves (granted for 2-bay models)? If so $50-150 for the 3TB drive seems reasonable.

Where are you finding Thunderbolt enclosures cheap enough to get that and a 3TB drive for less than $299? I'd love to pick one up myself! (Of course, if the thing is so cheap because it has a loud fan and still heats up so much drives last only six months in it, no deal ... seen those kinds of enclosures before)
 
RightMACatU

RightMACatU

macrumors 65816
Jul 12, 2012
1,423
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192.168.1.1
but it can be boosted with an optional LaCie d2 SSD upgrade, which increases speeds up to 1150MB/s and adds 128GB of PCIe storage
Click to expand...

Whoaaa!
I thought that SSDs maxed out at around 700MB/s.
What am I missing here?
 
P

paulrbeers

macrumors 68040
Dec 17, 2009
3,963
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cycledance said:
crazy amounts of money can be made with people who don't know how to place a harddisk in an enclosure.
Click to expand...

That's actually pretty reasonable, when you consider Seagate's single drive solution requires you to buy the external drive ($100-150) and then spend $150 for the Thunderbolt "dock" for the drive AND it doesn't allow you to use an SSD to add additional speed. Oh yeah and it's a plastic enclosure which is not nearly as good as an aluminum enclosure (or one with active cooling).

Is it cheap? no. But it isn't like early TB drives that cost 500+
 
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paulrbeers

macrumors 68040
Dec 17, 2009
3,963
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RightMACatU said:
Whoaaa!
I thought that SSDs maxed out at around 700MB/s.
What am I missing here?
Click to expand...

Any of Apple's PCIE based SSD's start at about 800MB/s and their Mac Pro's score 1200MB/s. What you are missing is any review of PCIE based SSD's in the last year+....
 
Nightarchaon

Nightarchaon

macrumors 65816
Sep 1, 2010
1,393
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Ill stick with a PC and direct installed PCI-E card SSDs that are rated faster than Sata SSDs stuck in an enclosure only offering Sata speeds.

Thunderbolt is the new Firewire... to expensive to be off use, and no one actually making use of what people want most out of it (External GPUs).
 
D

doctor-don

macrumors 68000
Dec 26, 2008
1,604
336
Georgia USA
Does anyone get much of a life from a Seagate HDD anymore?

They are the only brand that has failed in my experience. The WD Black HDDs have done better out of the 20 or so HDDs I have bought over the years.
 
PocketSand11

PocketSand11

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2014
688
1
~/
cycledance said:
crazy amounts of money can be made with people who don't know how to place a harddisk in an enclosure.
Click to expand...

Well, that's kinda me. Why are there no 3.5" SSDs available form reputable brands? They're so rare. So I'm going to have to figure out how to put a 2.5" SSD in my Mac Pro's 3.5" slot once it arrives in the mail.

Also, I do have 2 enclosures with HDDs I put in. One of the enclosures (not the HDD) randomly broke. It seems to somehow overheat very easily and stops transferring data at that point. I had to cycle ice packs on top of it to keep it working so I could get data off of it.

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doctor-don said:
Does anyone get much of a life from a Seagate HDD anymore?

They are the only brand that has failed in my experience. The WD Black HDDs have done better out of the 20 or so HDDs I have bought over the years.
Click to expand...

Seagate HDDs have been by far the worst in my experience and the experiences of people I know. None of them have lasted. I don't know about SSDs.
 
Analog Kid

Analog Kid

macrumors G3
Mar 4, 2003
8,925
11,508
PocketSand11 said:
Well, that's kinda me. Why are there no 3.5" SSDs available form reputable brands? They're so rare. So I'm going to have to figure out how to put a 2.5" SSD in my Mac Pro's 3.5" slot once it arrives in the mail.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure all SSDs are 2.5" form factors, but the SATA interface is the same for both (the cable fits). You should only need rails to mount the smaller drive in the bigger slot.

https://www.google.com/?#q=ssd+3.5+adapter
 
C

cycledance

Suspended
Oct 15, 2010
399
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Analog Kid said:
I'm pretty sure all SSDs are 2.5" form factors, but the SATA interface is the same for both (the cable fits). You should only need rails to mount the smaller drive in the bigger slot.

https://www.google.com/?#q=ssd+3.5+adapter
Click to expand...

there is no need for 3.5" ssd and actually there is no need at all for 2.5" either anymore. i hope msata will be much more popular soon. and from that even smaller because the ssd chips are tiny.

just 2 examples:

SilverStone TS10, 2.5", USB 3.0 with a 1TB 840 is €13,90+€353,95 for 1TB of about 500MB/s in a 121x76x9mm enclosure.

ZOTAC mSATAbox Thunderbolt, with 2 Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB, mSATA is €74,44+€396,94+€396,94 for 2TB of about 800MB/s in a 120x77x13mm enclosure.
 
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xbjllb

xbjllb

macrumors 65816
Jan 4, 2008
1,373
257
Fanless + Seagate = Bad News

I've never lost a Seagate drive that had a fan on it 24/7. And by fan, I mean real fan.

But they will burn up otherwise. I had two out of 12 go when fans died and I didn't notice overnight.

:apple:
 
P

paulrbeers

macrumors 68040
Dec 17, 2009
3,963
123
PocketSand11 said:
Well, that's kinda me. Why are there no 3.5" SSDs available form reputable brands? They're so rare. So I'm going to have to figure out how to put a 2.5" SSD in my Mac Pro's 3.5" slot once it arrives in the mail.

Also, I do have 2 enclosures with HDDs I put in. One of the enclosures (not the HDD) randomly broke. It seems to somehow overheat very easily and stops transferring data at that point. I had to cycle ice packs on top of it to keep it working so I could get data off of it.

----------



Seagate HDDs have been by far the worst in my experience and the experiences of people I know. None of them have lasted. I don't know about SSDs.
Click to expand...

Because there is absolutely no point to them. SSD controllers can only handle so many flash chips, which means there is no reason to put them into 3.5" enclosures. I actually had a 3.5" SSD a few years ago. I opened it up one day out of curiosity and all it was was a big case with a whole lot of empty PCB. It was basically just a 2.5" drive with extra bare PCB to fill the case. Further, if you make it 3.5" it can only be used in desktops and external enclosures. You make it 2.5" (or even better mSATA) it can work in just about anything with proper adapters.
 
xbjllb

xbjllb

macrumors 65816
Jan 4, 2008
1,373
257
PocketSand11 said:
Seagate HDDs have been by far the worst in my experience and the experiences of people I know. None of them have lasted. I don't know about SSDs.
Click to expand...

I have seagate drives that have lasted more than 15 years. Always kept a fan on them after I lost the first drive. They only died when the fan died and I wasn't around to notice. Keep a drive cool to the touch (talking external drives now) and it will last forever.

:apple:
 
G

g4cube

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2003
760
13
mSATA will always be slower than PCIe M.2 SSDs, since the interface is still SATA with mSATA. All you get with mSATA is smaller form factor than 2.5in drives.

Note well, M.2 SSDs can have either SATA or PCIe interface for SSDs. The M.2 NGFF committees have specified different keying to be sure only compatible devices are plugged in. Apple has a variation of M.2 that is nonstandard.

So...it gets a bit confusing before getting better and faster.
 
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dan333

macrumors newbie
Sep 9, 2014
16
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well said

i wonder when they will collaborate to do that, i don't see it very soon...
 
A

Arthaith

macrumors newbie
Nov 28, 2014
1
0
Saw a really good deal for a refurbished LaCie d2 3TB thunderbolt external harddrive for $170. I'm not inclined to use a refurbished drive... but would it be okay if I buy the unit, then open it up and swap it out for a new HDD?
 
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