2.5 SSD install in Mac Pro drive bay

[knobsturner]

We ordered a new 64GB ssd to boot snow leopard from. And some brackets. Brackets turned out to be useless, as they only allowed for 'side mounting'.

But the SSD was so light, that we could _almost_ imagine just plugging it in and letting it hang. But that would not work either.

So we took out the mouting bracket from the Mac Pro, removed the four screws that would normally screw into a 3.5 drive, and then used 'zip ties' to hold up the back of the SSD: Seems simple and strong enough. The SATA socket holds the drive in tight, so a loop of zip ties to hold up the back is all that's needed.

The picture was taken from the bottom of the case looking up at the drives. One zip tie was not long enough, so we chained two together.

 

[irishgrizzly]

Is there no a more elegant solution to this? I'd hate the thought of that plastic getting to hot a melting into your machine . But I imagine that won't be a realistic problem.

What boot time do you now get?

 

[ungraphic]

Icy Dock.

Check it out on http://www.newegg.com it sells for like 25 bucks.

 

[drewsof07]

I'd hate the thought of that plastic getting to hot a melting into your machine . But I imagine that won't be a realistic problem.

They're made from Nylon, it is pretty durable against heat. It's not sitting right on the CPU or anything

OP, I say save your $25. Those zip ties look secure

 

[gugucom]

Another good idea!

 

[wpc33]

This is now how I will do it. Thanks!

 

[jav6454]

Ah the Recession taking a toll!

That aside, the Zip Ties look like they can hold the SSD together. I haven't held an SSD, I just hear how light they are, so if it's as light as you say, then I see those Zip Ties staying there for a loooooooong time.

 

[Tesselator]

They're made from Nylon, it is pretty durable against heat. It's not sitting right on the CPU or anything

OP, I say save your $25. Those zip ties look secure

Another good idea!

This is now how I will do it. Thanks!

Yup! This is better than the velcro idea IMO. And trust me if that plastic gets hot enough to melt you will be replacing your entire machine. I mean there's no way it could melt unless your machine malfunctions and if that happens to the degree that would produce enough heat to melt that plastic your machine is going to be shot anyway!

On another note it may indeed become warm. Nylon shrinks when it gets warm and expands when cold. I know that sounds opposite but that's the way it behaves. Anyway, with that in mind leave a little play and don't over-tighten it during installation. It doesn't shrink much though. Maybe in that length it might shrink up 1mm ~ 3mm or something.

 

[JesterJJZ]

While its a clever solution and I don't knock people for trying to save money...but I say if you can afford a Mac Pro and a SSD...surely you can shell out $20 bucks for a proper hard drive mount. To each his own I guess.

Cheers!

 

[andyOSX]

What is your boot time now?

 

[GroundLoop]

What is your boot time now?

Mine is 28s with the X25-M G2 from when I initially hit the power button. It used to be about 50s. The only reason it is taking that long is because the other 3 HDDs need a few seconds to spin up (home folder is on a rotational drive).

There have been demonstrations of laptops taking ~15s to boot when there is only a SSD involved.

Hickman

 

[barkmonster]

There's a company that makes backplane adapters for 2.5 drives that just slot right in.

http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=Product.display&product_id=180

 

[grue]

There's a company that makes backplane adapters for 2.5 drives that just slot right in.

http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=Product.display&product_id=180

They're also a ridiculous ripoff and lend credence to the theory that Mac users will buy anything

 

[barkmonster]

They're also a ridiculous ripoff and lend credence to the theory that Mac users will buy anything

I think it's because they're specifically designed to place the drive connectors in the exact position of a backplane ready drive. I'm sure they'll be some cheaper alternatives on eBay. Basic "sled" type adapters for converting a 2.5 to 3.5" drive are less than £3 for instance but they're more for older tower systems like G4s and PCs.

 

[grue]

I think it's because they're specifically designed to place the drive connectors in the exact position of a backplane ready drive. I'm sure they'll be some cheaper alternatives on eBay. Basic "sled" type adapters for converting a 2.5 to 3.5" drive are less than £3 for instance but they're more for older tower systems like G4s and PCs.

I'm sure they're a good fit, I just mean it's not exactly the same as the Manhattan Project to measure, design, and fabricate that sort of product. I'm sure the profit margin is nontrivial… and good for them if they're selling.

 

[Infrared]

Is there no a more elegant solution to this?

Yes there is



In action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs&fmt=22

 

[maghemi]

There's a company that makes backplane adapters for 2.5 drives that just slot right in.

http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=Product.display&product_id=180

Geez, if you're going to go to that kind of trouble why not make with the bent down front to match existing drive sleds.

I'd hate to have just one of those in the system. It'd look stupid. And even if no-one ever looked inside the machine I'd still know it was there.

Personally I had a velociraptor drive. I popped it out of it's drive sled and put the ssd in there. The velociraptor then ended up in a work pc that took oversized 2.5" drives.

If I didn't have that I'd definitely go with the icy dock.......... or the cable ties

*Edit* Oh.... and OP cut the ends of those cable ties off.... they look messy (my boss would be laughing at me right now. He hates cable tie ends not cut off.... I leave them around on jobs just to mock him)

 

[jav6454]

Yes there is

... snip ...

In action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs&fmt=22

I had seen that before. The computer they used slowed down as the test progressed because they only popped in 2GB of RAM. It could have gone faster if they would have used at least 4GB.

But still, the read from the SSD RAID Mesh was crazy. 2 GB/s is a crazy speed from a storage unit.

 

[nanofrog]

Yup! This is better than the velcro idea IMO. And trust me if that plastic gets hot enough to melt you will be replacing your entire machine. I mean there's no way it could melt unless your machine malfunctions and if that happens to the degree that would produce enough heat to melt that plastic your machine is going to be shot anyway!

On another note it may indeed become warm. Nylon shrinks when it gets warm and expands when cold. I know that sounds opposite but that's the way it behaves. Anyway, with that in mind leave a little play and don't over-tighten it during installation. It doesn't shrink much though. Maybe in that length it might shrink up 1mm ~ 3mm or something.

Finally! How many times have I mentioned Zip Ties in other threads for SSD mounting?

 

[Digital Fury]

LOL! good idea, which I will apply right away - thanks.

 

[OddThomas]

I had seen that before. The computer they used slowed down as the test progressed because they only popped in 2GB of RAM. It could have gone faster if they would have used at least 4GB.

But still, the read from the SSD RAID Mesh was crazy. 2 GB/s is a crazy speed from a storage unit.

That is some SSD goodness there. Now, off to get a lottery ticket.