Lacie Thunderbolt drives daisy-chained for more speed?

[marvguitar]

I don't understand why they say that if you daisy-chain multiple drives you get more speed? Is it just marketing blabber? It's not like you can Raid external drives together...

Sorry if the answer is obvious but I'm confused. If adding a second 1tb drive will make a speed difference I'll buy one right now! It just doesn't make sense to me. The drive is very fast though, little noisy but very nice drive.

 

[GGJstudios]

You don't get more speed by daisy-chaining devices. Where are you reading that?

 

[marvguitar]

You don't get more speed by daisy-chaining devices. Where are you reading that?

Right here:

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10549

Read within the "The New Era for Speed" part. here's an excerpt:

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You can even daisy chain multiple Little Big Disks together to increase overall transfer rates. The more products you chain together, the higher performance you get. Daisy chain four Little Big Disks with SSDs to maximize Thunderbolt interface capabilities and reach transfer rates of around 800MB/s (up to 782MB/s with the 7200rpm disk drives).

 

[admanimal]

These drives use OS X software RAID, so if you had 2 Little Big Disks, OS X would see that as 4 identical drives that you can RAID together with Disk Utility.

 

[GGJstudios]

Right hereaisy chain four Little Big Disks with SSDs to maximize Thunderbolt interface capabilities and reach transfer rates of around 800MB/s (up to 782MB/s with the 7200rpm disk drives).

Daisy-chaining doesn't actually increase transfer rates. You're just using more of the available capacity by transferring data from multiple drives. The maximum bitrate of Thunderbolt connections is the same, whether you're using a little or a lot of it.

 

[marvguitar]

These drives use OS X software RAID, so if you had 2 Little Big Disks, OS X would see that as 4 identical drives that you can RAID together with Disk Utility.

Thanks for the info adanimal.

 

[mac jones]

Well, i'm reading this a different way (my own exclusive, warped way)

Since this uses dual pipes, and has huge bandwidth, wouldn't using multiple drives effectively be like running them in parallel , or a 'raid like' mode?

In other words, if you daisy FW800 you have to share so there's no performance increase. But with TB, your not using the bandwidth, so the more the merrier (so to speak): you just keep multiplying the data throughput.

Now correct me cuz i'm whistlin in the dark....thanks

 

[GGJstudios]

In other words, if you daisy FW800 you have to share so there's no performance increase. But with TB, your not using the bandwidth

You have to share with TB, as well, and you are using bandwidth. There's just more available capacity with TB than with FW.

 

[mac jones]

These drives use OS X software RAID, so if you had 2 Little Big Disks, OS X would see that as 4 identical drives that you can RAID together with Disk Utility.

Yes that's the answer I was looking for. It does increase bandwidth dramatically perhaps . Just a result of the huge headroom TB has. Especially with the rotational drives that don't tap much at all.

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You have to share with TB, as well, and you are using bandwidth. There's just more available capacity with TB than with FW.

Yes, but it's also dual channel. I'm not sure FW800 has this?
(I'm not very technical (thank GOD), so i'm just guessing)

 

[GGJstudios]

Yes, but it's also dual channel. I'm not sure FW800 has this?
(I'm not very technical (thank GOD), so i'm just guessing)

Yes, it is dual channel, but there is still limited bandwidth. It's just that the limits are much higher than FW. You can't increase the available capacity; you can only use more of it.

 

[mac jones]

Yes, it is dual channel, but there is still limited bandwidth. It's just that the limits are much higher than FW. You can't increase the available capacity; you can only use more of it.

thanks!

So how any people in this thread are buying?

Geesh they ARE expensive. $300 would be more sane. My concern is that it could be months before we see similar options at lesser cost.

 

[admanimal]

Yes that's the answer I was looking for. It does increase bandwidth dramatically perhaps . Just a result of the huge headroom TB has. Especially with the rotational drives that don't tap much at all.

Keep in mind that my answer is just based on what I've read from various sources so far (including the online user manual)...I don't have one in hand to try yet.

 

[marvguitar]

I'm going to try to buy another one tomorrow if they receive a new shipment. The two apple store near my house were all sold out today.

 

[Macguy76]

The Lacie Loooks good but...

According to Apples webiste the Little Big Disk will cost you $399 for a 1-TB model running at 200MB/S, roughly. To duplicate the speed to get to 800MB/S,you would need to purchase 4 of these 1-TB units to equal $1600. Plus, you would also need 4-thunderbolt cables ($200)! $1800!!

Buy a Promise Pegasus R6 that doesn't use "Software Raid" and for $1499 you would get a system that would have 6-1TB drives and gets you your 800MB/S, with only 1 Thunderbolt cable!

Or spend $200 more and get the R6 with 12TB of storage, and yes, just one Thunderbolt Cable!

Bottom Line:

If you need just one, it's fine as an external drive, but if you are considering Daisy Chaining, save some money and purchase a better raid system.