Best storage solution for a mac mini?

[phonitron]

Howdy folks, quick question if i may... Which would be the best solution for a current gen base mac mini? I've upgraded the RAM to 8GB but still have the stock 500GB drive where OS X is installed. I have my photo libraries, music and video collection on a LaCie Quadra which I've just upgraded from 500GB to 2TB and its connected to the mini via FireWire 800. I'm looking for performance gains mainly. Anyway, here's a few options I'm playing with.

Option 1: Crucial M4 128GB SSD (£100ish) + LaCie Thunderbolt eSATA Hub (£150ish) to accompany my existing LaCie Quadra which I've just upgraded to 2TB.

Option 2: Remove 500GB internal drive from mini but use a Lacie 4TB Thunderbolt 2Big drive as the boot drive and storage area

Option 3: Buy an iMac! Actually I returned one a while back because I couldn't cope with the glass display. I developed a twitch in my eye which disappeared when I went back to my old 20" Aluminium ACD. If the new one has an anti reflective coating I may consider selling my existing configuration? Dunno...

 

[phonitron]

Wow. 500 views and no comments... Thought someone might have weighed in with some offers of expertise/experience.

Well FWIW I think I'm swayed towards the lacie thunderbolt drive and removing the HD inside the mini. Think it's going to offer better performance and ease of expandibility in the future.

 

[nuckinfutz]

I'd go with internal SSD mated up with Thunderbolt or some other fast external storage.

 

[RIS]

My gut feeling would be the internal SSD, although that means opening up the mini.

I think this will give you the best performance "feel" because the OS will be quick.

I have a crucial M4 512GB on order to fit into a dell precision laptop, I will let you know how that goes. I have a 2012 i7 MBA with 256GB SSD and it feels great, that spurred on my decision to update my work windows dell.

I would be very interested in what you decide and how it performs.

 

[phonitron]

Cheers guys. I am tempted by the SSD and ideally would like both SSD and the LaCie 2big thunderbolt drive but I will get one then the other in a few months. On the specs page the LaCie lists transfer speeds as fast as 327MB/s whilst the SSD is 500MB/s for read and 175MB/s... Hmmm.

 

[RIS]

The speeds for the TB external LaCie look very tempting, I believe (but have never tried it) you can boot from an external TB drive, so that might be a low hassle option?