Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Mac mini 2011/2012 5TB storage + SSD idea
- Thread starter Kaida
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
So i more or less did a heat test on the Mini wenn i transferred 1,85TB of media files from my old Mini to the new one. It was done by Thunderbolt cable. As the HDD sits in the upper slot the heat will move on to the Mini's alu case and it did just that. It got hot but not more then i still could lay my hand on it with out burning it. My old Mini also got hot too and felt much the same on both wenn i touched the top of the case. The fan was not as loud on the 2012 Mini as it can be on my old 2011 i5 Mini wenn playing movies on it.
I would say it passed the test. I for one will not transfer that big of a data load on a regular basics so i am very pleased with it.
I would say it passed the test. I for one will not transfer that big of a data load on a regular basics so i am very pleased with it.
I placed the HDD in the top spot and the SSD in the lower. I wanted the HDD to transfer the heat, if any to the alu case. I had to bend the cables sometimes to get it to the right length and fit. But I managede to get it right.
I will post pic's later
Thank you for this info and photos. Couple of questions, just to be clear, before I order the 5TB drive.
My 2012 is the i7 server model that has the dual drive chassis and came with 2 @ 1TB HDD drives. About 18 months ago I switched those out and put in a 7mm thick 960GB Sandisk SSD in the upper slot and a 9.5mm thick 2TB Samsung HHD in the lower slot and it has worked just great.
Was your Mac Mini the server model and if so, were you able to fit the 15mm 5 TB drive in the upper slot without any modifications to the drive chassis? Is the 5TB drive screwed to the drive chassis or did you use tape to hold it in place? ( I can't quite tell from your photo) You mentioned bending the upper cable to make it fit, but you did reuse the existing cable correct?
Last edited:
My i7 is not the server model. As i understand it the only things that are different between the non server and the server model is that the server model comes with the extra sata cable and HDD. Besiddes the 2.3GHz vs. 2.6GHz.
I did not modifi anything on my i7. Just added the sata cable and the 15mm HDD. I did not screw the HDD in place just placed it in the HDD caddy. It can move if i shake my i7, so no tape either. There is not much room fore the two drives to move around.
Yes i reused the upper cable and got the lower cable from iFixit.
These are fantastic results.
I have a 240GB Intel SSD and the 1TB drive in it that my mid tier Mac Mini came with. Although I'd like to take mine a different route. The current generation of super expensive SAT3 SSD drives are in the 2 to 4TB range right now. I'm hoping in a year or two they will come down to the $250 price point and I can snag a couple 2TB SSD drives to get 4TB of flash storage in my Mini. Then I can put it in our RV without the need for a external drive for our media collection.
It's pretty amazing though that you fit a 5TB drive into your machine though. Thank you for the photos.
I have a 240GB Intel SSD and the 1TB drive in it that my mid tier Mac Mini came with. Although I'd like to take mine a different route. The current generation of super expensive SAT3 SSD drives are in the 2 to 4TB range right now. I'm hoping in a year or two they will come down to the $250 price point and I can snag a couple 2TB SSD drives to get 4TB of flash storage in my Mini. Then I can put it in our RV without the need for a external drive for our media collection.
It's pretty amazing though that you fit a 5TB drive into your machine though.
Thank you for the photos.
As i see it You dont want more space between the drives as You cant screw the drives in, so the more space the drives can move around in the mini.
The combo of a 7mm ssd and 15mm HDD fits snug and can not move that much around in the mini.
Last edited:
I was thinking of doing this on my 2010 server until I learned that the Seagate Baracuda 5 TB is an SMR drive whic has a very bad rep for slow random write.
I would appreciate a feedback on the write performance.
I would appreciate a feedback on the write performance.
I found this thread a week ago. Today I have a 2011 Mini (non-server, i7) I bought from eBay now running with a 5TB hybrid drive
Thanks to everyone on the thread.
I made one modification to the plan above. I found that with my 7mm SSD and 15mm 5TB drives, there was still a bit too much "play." So I used a "Silicon Laptop Hard Drive Protector Sleeve" that I cut in half, sandwiched in between the two drives. This soft/pliable spacer should reduce shock/vibration and it takes up the extraneous space.
I ordered a cable from owc for the 5TB drive in the lower bay, it worked fine.
The machine has been running great for four days.
Very excited that I can stop paying the charges for an external drive in a data center with such a large internal drive!
Thanks to everyone on the thread.
I made one modification to the plan above. I found that with my 7mm SSD and 15mm 5TB drives, there was still a bit too much "play." So I used a "Silicon Laptop Hard Drive Protector Sleeve" that I cut in half, sandwiched in between the two drives. This soft/pliable spacer should reduce shock/vibration and it takes up the extraneous space.
I ordered a cable from owc for the 5TB drive in the lower bay, it worked fine.
The machine has been running great for four days.
Very excited that I can stop paying the charges for an external drive in a data center with such a large internal drive!
I found this thread a week ago. Today I have a 2011 Mini (non-server, i7) I bought from eBay now running with a 5TB hybrid drive
Thanks to everyone on the thread.
I made one modification to the plan above. I found that with my 7mm SSD and 15mm 5TB drives, there was still a bit too much "play." So I used a "Silicon Laptop Hard Drive Protector Sleeve" that I cut in half, sandwiched in between the two drives. This soft/pliable spacer should reduce shock/vibration and it takes up the extraneous space.
I ordered a cable from owc for the 5TB drive in the lower bay, it worked fine.
The machine has been running great for four days.
Very excited that I can stop paying the charges for an external drive in a data center with such a large internal drive!
Hey, sounds great. I like to hear what the heat is in the 5TB drive now that You have it lower Bay?
Thanks
I misspoke - it was the "lower" bay when I had it upside down, but it is actually the "upper" bay according to the official definition. It is in direct contact with the aluminum case, so it has a good heat sink.
I just did it on my 2010 Mac mini server, so it already have all the cables and bracket.
I put about 0.5mm thick 3M double tape to hold the two drives together similar to what mcgurme did.
I did not screw the drives into the chassis, but it snug with almost no play.
I am using this as iTunes and Plex servers.
I put about 0.5mm thick 3M double tape to hold the two drives together similar to what mcgurme did.
I did not screw the drives into the chassis, but it snug with almost no play.
I am using this as iTunes and Plex servers.
Attachments
Hi, Kaida is there a way you can help me step by step on how you installed the 5tb Seagate HD in Mac mini i just bought myself a 4tb Seagate barracuda i want to install it but am afraid i may mess up. Thanks1. Seagate recently released a 5TB Barracuda 2.5" at 15mm.
2. A typical SSD is 7mm.
3.The Mac mini is designed for 2 x 9.5mm hdd with approximately 1mm of space left in between them. So a total of 20mm.
So the idea is to ditch the casing for the SSD and have it in the upper slot insulating the PCB from touching the casing or the lower slot hdd. The 15mm hdd will then take up the extra space that the SSD gave up.
EDIT:
I opened up a 2012, noticed that the hdd/ssd are not perfectly in-line, so I taped 2 x 7mm SSD together and realised that the "lower bay" cable will not work on it due to the thickness. Only the upper cable is suitable as it goes the other way instead of around the hdd to the motherboard.
Squeezing in everything together seems ok. Including the motherboard. I have also added a bumper at the bottom to lift it up by 2mm to allow the "hdd breather hole". With the space very tight without having to secure the hdd/ssd to the "upper" bracket, all seems good now, just waiting for the 5tb to be available locally
Successfully done by Hede
Hi, shadrekkwin go to ifixet.com to see a step by step guide how to ad a extra drive to the Mac mini or see on Youtube. Just don't use the screws to fasten the drives in the bracket, as the 15mm drive can't use those as its to big.
Thanks so much for helping me Hede. So if don’t use the screws what do i use to stabilize my installation? And i also watched the You Tube video but it was about Seagate HDD installation in a Mac Laptop and i want to install my 4TB Seagate barracuda in Mac Mini, should i go ahead and follow those steps, would they work on Mac Mini? Thanks again Hede for kind assistance.
Thanks Hede yes i will use this video when installing. I am currently using a 1TB Toshiba HD and i wanna add the 4TB Seagate and transfer my data. The thread i read from Kaida said it’s possible to add a Seagate HD in Mac Mini but “the idea is to ditch the casing and don’t use screws.” My question is, won’t the HD be moving around or touching other parts inside when i take it let’s say on vacation or something? Oh and he also said he used TAPE i would like to know how he did that so i can do it well. Thanks again Hede
Ok yes i will only have one drive. My question is, if i don’t use screws to install the Seagate HD how do i fasten the HD? Thanks Hede
[doublepost=1515949796][/doublepost]
Sorry i didn’t see your question correctly. Yes i will have two. But i want to transfer all my data from 1TB Toshiba to the 4TB Seagate first after i install. Thanks Hede
Lets take one thing first. You cant have two Hdd in a mac mini. There is only 23-24mm space, two hdd is minium 9,5 + 15mm.
Why dont You move Your data to the new drive before You install it in the mini?
Ok i currently have two 1 TB Toshiba hdd in my Mac Mini one of is empty so i thought i would remove that one and then install the 4TB Seagate and transfer my data using Carbon Copy Cloner. Would that work? Thanks Hede