LaCie Thunderbolt Little BigDisk Disassembled - Pics SSD XFer Rates Added

[Robster100]

Really Disappointed!!!!!

Hi All

Just my 2 cents.

I had an OWC Extreme Pro 480GB SSD in an OWC USB 3.0 enclosure.

I ran the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test and was getting on the first report 187MB/s Write and 265 MB/s Read.

I replaced one of the 500Gb drives in my Little Big Disk Thunderbolt and the speed I am getting has DROPPED across the board by 10% - 15%.

So Write is 159 MB/s and Read is 243 MB/s.

Not the result I had anticipated or expected!

Really, really disappointing and I guess I am stuck with it now........

Just wanted to let people know, in some circumstances USB 3.0 is better!!!

Robin

 

[mac jones]

Really, really disappointing and I guess I am stuck with it now........

Just wanted to let people know, in some circumstances USB 3.0 is better!!!

Robin

The Lacie is SATA 2 (Little Big Disk. At least the one I have). And the only way to make it fast, is by making it a RAID drive .

example: I put in two Samsung SATA 3 SSDs in non-raid mode and got similar (slow) results as you. I then configured it as a RAID 0 drive and the speed just about doubled.

The Lacies are good RAID drives.
I just wish:

1. they weren't so terribly loud.
2. Used SATA 3.0

 

[sjinsjca]

As Mac Jones replied above, there are other potential bottlenecks, such as the interface to the disk drive itself. Thunderbolt/USB3 are not the bottlenecks in this case.

The industry's slow and (in this case) flawed adoption of Thunderbolt is a big disappointment. I have a serious need for the throughput and latency benefits of Thunderbolt in a portable, bus-powered drive but so far nothing on the market satisfies.

 

[Robster100]

Interesting.

I have been considering getting a couple of the Samsung 820's for this enclosure.

It sounds this might be the way to go?

Robin

 

[rw3]

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

LaCie had updated their SSD versions to support SATA 3 on both internal connectors. With Micron SSDs (Crucial M4s), they are able to achieve 635MB/s reads via RAID0. I'm tempted to get one just to mess around with....$699 is a nice chunk of change.

 

[fcomb]

Can we upgrade for 2 x 1tb ?

samsung 1tb/5400rpm?
model HN-M101MBB?
tks

 

[Gascogne]

Might as ask in this thread about the Lacie Little Big Disk 512Gb ssd version.

It is not problem using it as main drive for os x.
But is it possible to use boot camp (windows 8) as well on the external drive?

 

[hfg]

I just discovered this thread and find it quite interesting.

I purchased 2 of the LaCie "Little Big Disks" refurbished from Mac Mall in the 1TB and later the 2TB sizes. It appears to me that LaCie recently upgraded the internal bus in the LBD from SATA-II to SATA-III, and since the units I received look brand new, I suspect they may be "dumping" the old SATA-II units in stock through refurbished sales (I got the refurb 2TB because it had the same part # as the current production units, but there was no speed difference when I put SSD drives in both of them).

Here are some quick tests I did with BlackMagicDesign "Disk Speed Test" using the stock settings on the ThunderBolt port of a MacBook Pro:

Single Crucial M4 512GB (non RAID): 199 MB/s Write ... 250 MB/s Read (either slot)

Dual Crucial M4 512GB (RAID-0): 375 MB/s Write ... 482 MB/s Read


The same drives produced the same results in both enclosures, so I am assuming that they are both probably SATA-II chipsets. I will compare the chip markings against the photos provided here when I next have them open.

As received, the 2TB hard disk RAID-0: 197 MB/s Write ... 201 MB/s Read
As received, the 1TB hard disk RAID-0: 148 MB/s Write ... 154 MB/s Read

Note, the 2TB unit contained a pair of 1TB 5400rpm drives.
Note, the 1TB unit contained a pair of 500GB 7200rpm drives.


Hope these results are useful to someone...


-howard


I checked the SATA controller chip markings in both of my refurbished LaCie LBD units:
Marvel
88SE9182-NNX2
PAM0610.13 (.12 in other unit)
1112 AID
TW

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

10 chips just to light up a DP display should you choose to connect one... Until someone comes out with a SoC to deal with all this, Thunderbolt is clearly going to command much more of a premium for 2 port devices than just the cost of the TB controller.

The next Thunderbolt SoC controllers should appear in Q1/Q2 2013. They need much less power and have many necessary components, which are now external.

 

[barjammar]

Thanks and an update about the STIFF front blue button

Hi,
Thanks for posting the pictures. My Lacie stopped working and since the transformer was OK I concluded the drive was dead. My manual is lost. I pressed the blue light/button a few times to no effect. When I asked for a RMA I realised that Lacie was probably just going to replace it and lose my data. So that spooked me and I decided to open it to find a fuse maybe. After I opened the case carefully - according to your pictures, I could see that the blue light was also a button. I reconnected the drive and pressed the tiny button and - it worked again.
My lesson is - in future read the manual, and for Lacie, that blue button is very stiff - more than I would expect or have ever seen in such an application.
I am having a very god day!

 

[Zemzil]

It's maybe not the proper thread but I cannot find another one for this.

I just discovered yesterday this 4-bay TB enclosure with adapter for 2.5"" drive.

http://www.onnto.com/product.asp?sys_sysno=101

Looks interesting but I don't read any review of it for the moment.