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LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Noise! (Video)

So does the drive just use OS X software RAID? If that's the case, is it possible to un-RAID them and use the thing as two separate drives? Ultimately what I'm getting at is I'd like to be able to buy one and swap out one of the drives with an SSD (I don't care about RAID...I just want the Thunderbolt speed).
 
admanimal said:
So does the drive just use OS X software RAID? If that's the case, is it possible to un-RAID them and use the thing as two separate drives? Ultimately what I'm getting at is I'd like to be able to buy one and swap out one of the drives with an SSD (I don't care about RAID...I just want the Thunderbolt speed).
Click to expand...

Yea you can un-raid them no problem. The problem though is you can tell LaCie doesn't want you opening these up by the way they're screwed in. The bottom left hand screw is almost disguised in with the unit. I got one screw out but had tons of trouble with the others and didn't want to strip the screws.
 
Hm ok, thanks for the info. I might have to see if my local Apple Store has any in stock still. Worst case I'll end up with a nice backup drive.
 
MacHead04 said:
Hey guys,

Just curious if anyone else has picked up one of the new LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Drives? I picked up the 1TB HDD version and the noise level on these are ridiculous. Sounds like the fans are going crazy so wondering if it's normal on these or did I get a lemon?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT6UeqxnYsg

Here's the unboxing too if anyone is interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT6UeqxnYsg
Click to expand...

I have a G-tech raid and it's loud. The fans are junk, and loud.

The problem is, all the replacemnet fans i've looked at are loud. I have a replacement fan for it, that I researched a bit. It's loud.

So in a way, i'm not surprised :D

I think it really boils down to the fact that in order to get this kind of data thoroughput, you would have to pony up for a huge SSD, with will cost over a thousand. So looking at it form this perspective, the cost is not to bad
 
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How it stacks up to an SSD depends on what you're going to do with it. As a media server, time machine drive, etc. it will give you SSD-like performance. However, a single SSD will blow away any of the hard drive-based Thunderbolt RAID solutions for use as an OS/applications drive (assuming it is attached so it can run at full speed).
 
admanimal said:
How it stacks up to an SSD depends on what you're going to do with it. As a media server, time machine drive, etc. it will give you SSD-like performance. However, a single SSD will blow away any of the hard drive-based Thunderbolt RAID solutions for use as an OS/applications drive (assuming it is attached so it can run at full speed).
Click to expand...

Oh of course that's right. But you don't really need 1TB for a system drive most of the time, so it sort of works out, I guess (at least for my needs)
 
I have two questions:

1) Where can one get these? Apple online store says 2-3 weeks!

2) Does it make sense to get one with HDD's inside? Don't they seriously diminish the returns of the TB connection? Doesn't an external TB drive only make sense with SSD's inside?
 
macbook123 said:
I have two questions:

1) Where can one get these? Apple online store says 2-3 weeks!

2) Does it make sense to get one with HDD's inside? Don't they seriously diminish the returns of the TB connection? Doesn't an external TB drive only make sense with SSD's inside?
Click to expand...

The Apple store says 1 week for the $399 model in the USA. My delivery date is 9/29
 
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macbook123 said:
2) Does it make sense to get one with HDD's inside? Don't they seriously diminish the returns of the TB connection? Doesn't an external TB drive only make sense with SSD's inside?
Click to expand...

Like I said above, it depends on what you're going to do with it. If you are going to use it for media storage or a backup solution, then it's probably fine since the hard drives in a RAID can reach a sequential read/write speed of somewhere around 400-500MB/s, which is at least as good as (one) SSD.

However, the random read/write of hard drives in RAID is still going to be only 1-2MB/s, which is far below the 30-40MB/s you can get from a single SSD. This type of speed is what makes SSDs good for running the OS and applications.

Of course neither of these options use all of Thunderbolt's bandwidth.


MacHead04 said:
Just a phillips but it seems like they don't want you in there.
Click to expand...

Thinking about this a little more, it would seem that you would have to be able to get into the enclosure without too much of a hassle, otherwise how would you be able to rebuild a RAID 1 array if one drive fails? Surely they don't expect you to send them your data/drive and have them fix it...
 
admanimal said:
Like I said above, it depends on what you're going to do with it. If you are going to use it for media storage or a backup solution, then it's probably fine since the hard drives in a RAID can reach a sequential read/write speed of somewhere around 400-500MB/s, which is at least as good as (one) SSD.

However, the random read/write of hard drives in RAID is still going to be only 1-2MB/s, which is far below the 30-40MB/s you can get from a single SSD. This type of speed is what makes SSDs good for running the OS and applications.

Of course neither of these options use all of Thunderbolt's bandwidth.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Can you explain a bit more? What would be typical "random read/write" applications as opposed to sequential ones? Thanks again.
 
macbook123 said:
Thank you. Can you explain a bit more? What would be typical "random read/write" applications as opposed to sequential ones? Thanks again.
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Well, the best example of a sequential read would be playing back a big HD video, and I guess a sequential write would be exporting said video. Basically you'll see optimal sequential read/write performance when you're working with a few larger files. Backups can also fall into this category, although how much speed you get probably depends on how fragmented the drive is.

Random reads/writes are what you do most of the time, often without even realizing it. The OS and your applications are constantly reading and writing small files (e.g. the applications themselves and their resources, plist files, etc.) that reside on different locations on your drive.
 
admanimal said:
Well, the best example of a sequential read would be playing back a big HD video, and I guess a sequential write would be exporting said video. Basically you'll see optimal sequential read/write performance when you're working with a few larger files. Backups can also fall into this category, although how much speed you get probably depends on how fragmented the drive is.

Random reads/writes are what you do most of the time, often without even realizing it. The OS and your applications are constantly reading and writing small files (e.g. the applications themselves and their resources, plist files, etc.) that reside on different locations on your drive.
Click to expand...

That's sort of what I suspected, but thanks for confirming it. I have a Macbook Air so the random read/write part should be taken care off for applications, etc. What I'd like a fast external drive for is to store my Aperture library and HD movies. Would such a photo library also fall in the "sequential" category?
 
I'm not an expert, but I would guess that you would get a noticeable benefit over using any kind of USB drive, especially if you shoot in RAW.
 
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