Help me choose a external HD (down to 3)

[peteypab2133]

I have a late 2017 iMac 27" 5k with 4.2ghz and soon to be 32 gigs ram, 1 tb fusion drive

Basically as a second job I photograph weddings, engagements family etc. I also take photos and videos of my own family. I store all client files between 6 months and a year then delete. (just in case they lose them or damaged)

I am looking at 3 drives, but looking to see if anyone uses either here and what they think of it?

I want a thunderbolt 3 drive. SSD's are too much money for 2TB and above, and I need about 6 to start.

Lacie 2big Dock Thunderbolt™ 3 (8 TB)(link)
$599
This one looks ideal simply because it has SD slots built right on the front, making it a simple transfer rather than plugging and dragging.

G-RAID with Thunderbolt 3 (8TB)(link)
$599
This one has a 5 year warranty and capable of 24TB with daisy chaining

OWC Express 4M2 (link)
$329-$1028
This option is a long term option if chosen. If I go this route, I can start with the enclosure, then add either
1.0TB SSD 970 PRO NVMe M.2 ($350 each currently) (link)
or
2.0TB OWC Mercury M.2 NVMe SSD ($699 each currently)(link)

The advantage of going with this third option is I can make it a boot option instead of tearing apart my mac to install an SSD in the blade position on my fusion drive.

 

[matreya]

I would avoid the LaCie drive, as LaCie are owned by Seagate, and they put their less-than-glorious consumer-grade drives inside the enclosures. The G-RAID comes with the best enterprise-grade drives available.

The other thing you haven't accounted for is that you would want to keep a backup of your new 8TB drive, so for time machine backups, you'd need a drive at least 12TB in size...

 

[peteypab2133]

I would avoid the LaCie drive, as LaCie are owned by Seagate, and they put their less-than-glorious consumer-grade drives inside the enclosures. The G-RAID comes with the best enterprise-grade drives available.

The other thing you haven't accounted for is that you would want to keep a backup of your new 8TB drive, so for time machine backups, you'd need a drive at least 12TB in size...

Thanks for the heads up on Lacie drives. As for the backup, that wont be necessary. Every time I get a new computer, I transfer all the contents to external drives and start from scratch. My current computer has like 160-200 gigs worth of stuff currently on it. would almost be a fresh start again with a new drive.

 

[Ploki]

Option 3 imo, but 970 PRO is wasted in the OWC enclosure since each slot is limited to one PCIe lane (around 8gbps). just go with EVO, cheaper.

Likewise, thunderbolt3 is wasted on spinning drives. USB-C 3.1 gen2 will handle around 1400mb/s throughput, which is around 14 HDDs.

 

[matreya]

Likewise, thunderbolt3 is wasted on spinning drives. USB-C 3.1 gen2 will handle around 1400mb/s throughput, which is around 14 HDDs.

Yeah, but just try connecting 14 drives up using USB-C 3.1 gen2. The advantage of thunderbolt is daisy chaining...

 

[Ploki]

Yeah, but just try connecting 14 drives up using USB-C 3.1 gen2. The advantage of thunderbolt is daisy chaining...

i was implying an 8-bay 3.5" drive solution if going the HDD route tho, not 14 enclosures via hub.

 

[peteypab2133]

Option 3 imo, but 970 PRO is wasted in the OWC enclosure since each slot is limited to one PCIe lane (around 8gbps). just go with EVO, cheaper.

Likewise, thunderbolt3 is wasted on spinning drives. USB-C 3.1 gen2 will handle around 1400mb/s throughput, which is around 14 HDDs.

After looking at them the Evo 970 is the better choice I think. Not to mention my work login allows me to get it for $449.00 free shipping on the 2 TB option.

So I have two questions.

1) is there a better enclosure option?

2) can I run different sizes and accomplish the following. Run a 1tb option just to boot my computer and have a 2tb and a 2 tb as external? (All would technically be external, but I don’t need a 2tb option to run the OS and save little files here and there. I often have about 200-300gb max on my computer at any moment. Once I hit the 500-600 mark I transfer off to drives and go back down to 75-150gigs used.
[doublepost=1546148725][/doublepost]Probably sounded confusing. So let me say it differently.

I want one enclosure to act as a boot drive and an external storage. But separated only by configuration, not enclosure.

And if possible , the 4m2 has (4) slots. Could I run 2 (1tb) on one side and 2 (2tb) drives in the other slots and they do different things.

 

[Ploki]

After looking at them the Evo 970 is the better choice I think. Not to mention my work login allows me to get it for $449.00 free shipping on the 2 TB option.

So I have two questions.

1) is there a better enclosure option?

2) can I run different sizes and accomplish the following. Run a 1tb option just to boot my computer and have a 2tb and a 2 tb as external? (All would technically be external, but I don’t need a 2tb option to run the OS and save little files here and there. I often have about 200-300gb max on my computer at any moment. Once I hit the 500-600 mark I transfer off to drives and go back down to 75-150gigs used.
[doublepost=1546148725][/doublepost]Probably sounded confusing. So let me say it differently.

I want one enclosure to act as a boot drive and an external storage. But separated only by configuration, not enclosure.

And if possible , the 4m2 has (4) slots. Could I run 2 (1tb) on one side and 2 (2tb) drives in the other slots and they do different things.

you can do that via software raid in disk utility certainly, not sure if you can do it natively - you'll need to ask OWC that

 

[peteypab2133]

you can do that via software raid in disk utility certainly, not sure if you can do it natively - you'll need to ask OWC that

Awesome, as long as I can do it i am happy. how its done I will worry about it later.

 

[Viking59]

I've been looking at those to,,,for backups