Just Added An SSD to My 2011 iMac

[Rottweiler01]

So i took the plunge and added a Samsung 840 Evo 500gb to my imac 2011 27" using the OWC kit and keeping the stock 1TB Drive in Situ

So i used migration/time machine to restore the ssd once a fresh copy of Mavericks was intalled, but didnt restore everything as i wouldnt have had enough space on the ssd so i installed applications and something else but didnt include pictures/music left that on the stack 1TB drive

my question is that all my iphone/ipad back ups have gone from itunes, can i retreive these from the 1Tb drive and move accross ?
Is there anything else i might need in the future that i can find on the 1TB drive that i might need ?

 

[AtomicGrog]

Imo you would have been better to perform a fresh time machine based backup to a backup drive and restored from it to the SSD. To reduce the space used you could have excluded certain directories from the backup. I've used this technique 3 or 4 times now with great effect.

What else is missing? I'd imagine your biggest risk is around apps and any keys/ids installed in software which could be a pain to replace.

Atomic.

 

[jetlife2]

Go Fusion

If you now have both installed, and both are active, why not create a Fusion drive?

This will give you a single logical drive of 1.5GB that 99% of the time acts at the speed of SSD, but yet has the capacity you want.

To do this you need everything backed up to an external that you can boot from, that contains 10.8.2 or higher. Creating the fusion drive takes about 3 minutes. Then bring everything back.

I have done this and it is fantastic. I used to keep the OS on the SSD and manage the data on the HD but this is way more convenient. The system reacts at SSD speed, I benchmarked both ways and it is nearly identical.

If you want to know how, I can give you a reference.

 

[toddzrx]

Welcome to the SSD club!

You didn't mention it, but hopefully you have an external drive that you use exclusively for backing up with Time Machine. If you don't, do that ASAP. You don't have to go all out; I bought a $70 1TB portable drive that powers off the USB, and it works great.

If I were you, I'd do a TM backup to the new external drive, then do a clean install of OS X, all the apps, and all data other than media onto the SSD, and even wipe the internal HD clean and then install of the media onto the HD. Or, create the Fusion drive and just do a clean install of everything onto it.

 

[Rottweiler01]

I'm interested in the fusion drive idea, tell me more

 

[jetlife2]

Fusion, how to

I'm interested in the fusion drive idea, tell me more

You can google many descriptions. Here is one:
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/co...t-it-is-and-how-it-speeds-up-your-mac-1154051

It is very convenient because you see only one drive volume, so no manual splitting of OS and data. I found that inconvenient. OS X manages the SSD-HD for you. It keeps the OS on the SSD for you as well as frequently use files. Less used files are pushed the HD.

Pre-requisites: 1. Internally you must have both the SSD and HD connected and active. I think you have this if I understood right. 2. All your apps and data backed up externally. 3. An external bootable copy of 10.8.2 or higher (could be the same as item 2 if you cloned your OS, but validate you can boot first if you are not sure).

You then boot from the external and format the SSD and HD together as one fusion drive with a few terminal commands. ****All data on both the SSD and HD is erased at this step.****. You now have one "new" empty drive combining the speed of the SSD and capacity of the HD. Then you can transfer your OS apps and data back to the new fusion drive, or install the OS and apps from scratch, your choice.

If you would like to do this here is one reference to the process. There are others out there. Standard disclaimer: Proceed at your own risk. If you are not comfortable with terminal commands do not attempt, or get a friend to do it for you.

http://blog.macsales.com/15617-creating-your-own-fusion-drive

Cheers

 

[jetlife2]

One more thing

I'm interested in the fusion drive idea, tell me more

By the way

The guide I linked to above was written in 2012 at a time when 10.8.2 was only available with a 2012 mac mini. Which is why it states that this can only be done with that specific mac. That of course is no longer true. I have done this with a mid-2010 imac 11,3 for example, and any OS 10.8.2 or higher is able to do this.

 

[Rottweiler01]

Imo you would have been better to perform a fresh time machine based backup to a backup drive and restored from it to the SSD. To reduce the space used you could have excluded certain directories from the backup. I've used this technique 3 or 4 times now with great effect.

This is what i have done.i excluded pictures and music

So if i set it up as a fusion drive can i then just boot from my external HD/Time Machine back up ? or reinstall OSX then restore from the back up ?

What is the best method

 

[jetlife2]

This is what i have done.i excluded pictures and music

So if i set it up as a fusion drive can i then just boot from my external HD/Time Machine back up ? or reinstall OSX then restore from the back up ?

What is the best method

You boot from external. Then you set up the fusion drive. Then reinstall OS X to the fusion drive (either from scratch or from backup). Then reboot using the fusion drive. Then finish bringing back everything else. The fusion drive is so fast that you want to boot from that, before starting the rest of the migration/restore.

 

[Rottweiler01]

All Fusioned up

Flying now

Lovin it

I think i will do the same with my 2012 Mac mini, but only pop a 128gb SSD in that with the 500Gb stock drive