Mac Mini 2014 Running on External SSD - HELP NEEDED

[DookSucks]

I'm an attorney in a law firm. My paralegal works on a 2014 mini. IT will will not allow replacement of the HDD with SSD because of warranty/AppleCare+ issues. Law firms are bureaucracies and there is no need in challenging this or arguing about this.

However, I have been told they will allow me to set the mini up to run on an external SSD. IT refuses to do it for bureaucratic reasons.

So, I'm stuck doing it. She desperately needs this for speed, and this is the only way that's happening in the short term. Can someone give me advice on what I need to buy and what I need to do.

I have noticed you can find Thunderbolt and TB3 SSD's but no SSD's for TB2. What should I buy? I want to be able to run TRIM for obvious reasons. I just need tips from someone who has done this.

 

[Fishrrman]

We haven't had full disclosure here, so a deposition is required.
1. What size is the internal HDD?
2. What version of the OS is in use?

a. If the internal drive is 1tb, the fastest, easiest way is to buy a 1tb external USB3 SSD
b. Connect to Mac and use Disk Utility to erase to one of the following:
- If using High Sierra or earlier, use Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format
- If Mojave or later, use APFS with GUID partition format.
c. Download CarbonCopyCloner from here:
http://www.bombich.com/download.html
CCC is FREE to download and use for 30 days
d. Open CCC and make the internal drive your "source" and the external SSD your "destination". Accept all the other defaults for now
e. Click the clone button and follow through.
f. If CCC wants to clone the recovery partition as well, YES, you want to do this
g. When done, open "Startup Disk" in system preferences and designate the SSD to become the new boot drive.
h. Reboot. If you're booting from the SSD, things should now go much faster.
i. When you get to the finder, look around and make sure everything looks ok.
Done.

You will note I never mentioned "thunderbolt" or "TRIM".
Don't bother with either.
You'll do more than fine with USB3.

 

[iluvmacs99]

I'm an attorney in a law firm. My paralegal works on a 2014 mini. IT will will not allow replacement of the HDD with SSD because of warranty/AppleCare+ issues. Law firms are bureaucracies and there is no need in challenging this or arguing about this.

However, I have been told they will allow me to set the mini up to run on an external SSD. IT refuses to do it for bureaucratic reasons.

So, I'm stuck doing it. She desperately needs this for speed, and this is the only way that's happening in the short term. Can someone give me advice on what I need to buy and what I need to do.

I have noticed you can find Thunderbolt and TB3 SSD's but no SSD's for TB2. What should I buy? I want to be able to run TRIM for obvious reasons. I just need tips from someone who has done this.

It is really not a bureaucracy, but rather it is a big security concern, because what Apple does with the 2014 Mini is that the firmware can not be updated if you install a non-Apple stock drive. That's a SSD drive made by someone else other than Apple branded. If the firmware inside the Mini can not be updated, then your law firm IT will become solely responsible for any security lapses that Mini suffered because it can't be updated to the latest firmware. Also, external drives can be a security compromise as well because anyone can replace the drive with their own or steal it from the firm, boot the Mini up and download whatever client information without bypassing security. Which is also why your IT people refused to do that too. Basically, they are transferring their responsibility to the secretary, so in any event of a security breach, the secretary will be solely liable and responsible for that breach, even IF the IT people is responsible for that. Basically, IT will shift all the blame to the secretary because she is using an external drive to boot the Mini up to speed up her work. I highly not recommend that, even if it helps speed up her Mini. Having said that, if you insist in helping her out, I would highly suggest getting an external USB 3 with a 256bit AES encryption capability and register that with IT and making sure IT knows she is using an encrypted drive to boot it off. The best drive for this job would be the Samsung T5 series with both TRIM and 256bit AES hardware encryption support and is APFS bootable. Not ALL USB 3 drives are bootable, especially with the latest firmware in the 2014 Mini that runs High Sierra, Mojave and Catalina. Hope this helps.

 

[QuietGamer]

This internal SSD may be an option if you are willing to install it. Watch the install video for the blade style.It does not appear to be overly complicated.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/mac-mini/2014

 

[DookSucks]

Thanks for your help.

Security isn’t a problem on this machine or area. It’s segregated and doesn’t handle financials or sensitive info. She does faxes (Vonage app), emails, phone calls (also Vonage app) lit doc prep and calendaring. Thank you for your concerns though. Plus, there is a camera there.

I am going to go with a T5.

does anyone have any advice about what type of backup storage to order for a route for backups for 3-4 Macs?

I really appreciate the time and patience extended to me. I wish I could buy you guys a drink as thanks.

 

[iluvmacs99]

There are two types of backup process; cloud or local area network to serve 3-4 macs. iCloud costs money to hold the backups, but it is in the cloud. You can also ask IT to setup a local area network backup server; I think it's their job as we have our IT department where I work who are responsible for this. Unless of course, it is another bureaucratic hurdle for you to jump over? Anyhow, any network backup should be consulted with your IT department before being deployed, unless you want to buy 4 external hard drives and back each Mac up locally and independently.

 

[DookSucks]

The network storage is for the house. Apologies for not clarifying.

I wanted something more local than iCloud.