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1TB Thunderbolt SSD for Macbook backups
- Thread starter MCAsan
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I hosed two Crucial M4 512 Gb SSD by using them in a Seagate Thunderbolt adapter. Crucial said the power supply was probably the problem....consistent with earlier post about large SSD demanding high power spikes, even though steady state usage is low.
I used a 128Gb SSD in the adapter without problem.
PS Crucial replaced them both with new M500s, even though it was my fault and the M4s were out of warranty.
I used a 128Gb SSD in the adapter without problem.
PS Crucial replaced them both with new M500s, even though it was my fault and the M4s were out of warranty.
Up in post #20 is a DiskSpeedTest result of the EVO in the LaCie Rugged.
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I did exactly the same thing, only with 2 different Seagate Thunderbolt Adapters (bus powered) and 2 different Crucial M4 512GB SSDs. Crucial tried to help me restore them, but we were unsuccessful, and they also suspected the adapter power supply was at fault.
I am finding that most of the bus-powered enclosures on the market seem to have issues with the largest SSDs and exhibit freezing, disconnects, etc. when doing disk intensive tasks. I am starting to rethink my needs, and will probably switch to AC powered enclosures for long term stability with high capacity SSDs (at least for now).
Crucial also replaced my two M4 SSDs with new ones ... great customer service Crucial!
-howard
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I'm using a 1TB 840 EVO in an Oyen Digital USB3 enclosure. I tried the Oyen Thunderbolt enclosure but ended up returning it due to a technical issue.
The USB3 performance is very satisfactory, around 400 MB/s write and 435 MB/s read on my 2013 MBA.
The USB3 performance is very satisfactory, around 400 MB/s write and 435 MB/s read on my 2013 MBA.
Attachments
Up in post #20 is a DiskSpeedTest result of the EVO in the LaCie Rugged.
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I did exactly the same thing, only with 2 different Seagate Thunderbolt Adapters (bus powered) and 2 different Crucial M4 512GB SSDs. Crucial tried to help me restore them, but we were unsuccessful, and they also suspected the adapter power supply was at fault.
I am finding that most of the bus-powered enclosures on the market seem to have issues with the largest SSDs and exhibit freezing, disconnects, etc. when doing disk intensive tasks. I am starting to rethink my needs, and will probably switch to AC powered enclosures for long term stability with high capacity SSDs (at least for now).
Crucial also replaced my two M4 SSDs with new ones ... great customer service Crucial!
-howard
Mine were also were two different Thunderbolt adapters!
Since then I have also completely overhauled my computing world which is now based on rMBP with 1Tb internal, and Seagate 4Tb Fast Backup plus portable....well backed up because its RAID 0.
The Seagate 4Tb is very compact being based on the M9T...much smaller than the WD 4Tb portable. It is bus powered from the rMBPs but the USB3 ports on my Caldigit don't supply enough power for it
My use case is not routine backup of my rMBP. My use case was only backup of my rMBP in the field when I may have the currently empty ~500GB out of 768GB on the internal SSD filled with raw photos during a 2-3 week trip.
I would love to have an external solution that could read/write in the same range as my internal SSD (~400MBs) in the first Disk Speed Test. I got a Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt with a 500GB drive to test the enclosure and maybe consider it as a home for a Samsung EVO 840 1TB SSD.
I tested the Buffalo unit first via USB 3. The read/write speeds were in the 40MBs range in the second Disk Speed Test. No way do I want that speed in the field.
I tested the unit via TB and the read/write speeds were in the 100MBs range in the third Disk Speed Test.
Now I am reading the other thread contributions of folks who have killed larger SSDs putting them into the current generation of enclosures. I don't want a meltdown in the field. So at least for now.....plan B.
I was looking at the WD My Passport Pro 2TB. It seems as if you run the two drives as RAID 0, the read/write range is 200MBs. That may be the fastest portable storage in the 1-2TB range. I know the risk of a HD crash doubles with 2 drives; however, this is my field backup with my SSD as prime. If my prime were a spinning HD, I would be very nervous about the combo.
So what think ye about the Passport Pro as an interim solution until 1TB+ SSDs are available via Thunderbolt?
I think I will return the Buffalo units to Staples.
I would love to have an external solution that could read/write in the same range as my internal SSD (~400MBs) in the first Disk Speed Test. I got a Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt with a 500GB drive to test the enclosure and maybe consider it as a home for a Samsung EVO 840 1TB SSD.
I tested the Buffalo unit first via USB 3. The read/write speeds were in the 40MBs range in the second Disk Speed Test. No way do I want that speed in the field.
I tested the unit via TB and the read/write speeds were in the 100MBs range in the third Disk Speed Test.
Now I am reading the other thread contributions of folks who have killed larger SSDs putting them into the current generation of enclosures. I don't want a meltdown in the field. So at least for now.....plan B.
I was looking at the WD My Passport Pro 2TB. It seems as if you run the two drives as RAID 0, the read/write range is 200MBs. That may be the fastest portable storage in the 1-2TB range. I know the risk of a HD crash doubles with 2 drives; however, this is my field backup with my SSD as prime. If my prime were a spinning HD, I would be very nervous about the combo.
So what think ye about the Passport Pro as an interim solution until 1TB+ SSDs are available via Thunderbolt?
I think I will return the Buffalo units to Staples.
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Here is an interesting new one: 960GB SSD USB 3.0
http://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/U32-SSD-960-SL.html
Amazon sells the smaller versions of this, but don't show the 960GB (too new?)
Wonder when they will have a Thunderbolt version of this?
The Passport Pro Thunderbolt looks interesting, although the 4TB version is a bit chunky ... and there is a 4TB Seagate RAID-0 smaller and for less, but USB 3.0.
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Backu...98457023&sr=1-1&keywords=seagate+4tb+portable
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That link doesn't work for me, but it is the same item I linked in my post #32 above.
Here is a link to cheapest I have seen.
In another thread someone said not available in US yet.
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That's the smartest thing you've written in this thread
- that's what I do with my Buffalo if I could. I'm still considering an SSD update to mine but I'll use a drive that's similar to their SSD Ministation (still sold in the EU but not in the US).These were also released today....no word on 960GB availability though.
http://www.transcend-info.com/apple/jetdrive/
http://www.transcend-info.com/apple/jetdrive/
Of course, you don't have to only use it to update early rMBP and MBAirs ... you don't even have to own one of those.
You can simply put the supplied upgrade SSD in the supplied external enclosure and use it as an external SSD for any computer you wish.
Hope the 960GB ones are available soon ... pretty cool little slimline case.
Let us know how you like the WD Passport Pro ... it looks like a great unit, especially if it proves to be suitable for swapping the drives out for standard SSD 2.5" drives. If it will boot Windows on a Mac (JBOD configuration and BootCamp like), I would get one to replace one of the hard disks with a small 256GB SSD to boot Windows and have a 1TB NTFS data disk all-in-one Windows package to plug into my iMac.
So good news indeed for rMBP owners.
Good news for pre-Haswell models anyway.
I wonder when or if we're ever going to see PCIE SSD upgrades options like these.
In the meantime, there's always eBay.