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Rear storage for iMac?

K

KaraH

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 12, 2012
452
5
DC
Does anyone know about rear storage solutions for the iMac? The two I know of are the twelve south backpack and the Just Mobile AluRack. What I want to do is afix an external SSD to my iMac. Since it will be my boot drive I am concerned that it would be basically 'one' with the iMac. Of course this would be resolved if we could add two 3.5 drives internally but since that option was taken away from us, well ...

The Backpack seems not as solid as I want. Plus the drive would get detached the times I need to move my system to work elsewhere (and when that happens I do not have time to grab multiple things).

The alurack is more promising as it screws directly into the hole on the back. All the pics show it holding laptops though so I am a bit dubious if it would hold whatever drive I buy.

Any options I am missing?
 
KaraH said:
Does anyone know about rear storage solutions for the iMac? The two I know of are the twelve south backpack and the Just Mobile AluRack. What I want to do is afix an external SSD to my iMac. Since it will be my boot drive I am concerned that it would be basically 'one' with the iMac. Of course this would be resolved if we could add two 3.5 drives internally but since that option was taken away from us, well ...

The Backpack seems not as solid as I want. Plus the drive would get detached the times I need to move my system to work elsewhere (and when that happens I do not have time to grab multiple things).

The alurack is more promising as it screws directly into the hole on the back. All the pics show it holding laptops though so I am a bit dubious if it would hold whatever drive I buy.

Any options I am missing?
Click to expand...

I have the backpack on my 27" iMac, I'm less than impressed. The instructions weren't very good and it took an hour or so to figure out. As long as the iMac is left perfectly still (which is normal) it does the job however if you need to move the machine the backpack is unstable and needs to be handled with kit gloves. I have no experience with the other product.
 
That is what I thought about the backpack. When I need to move it (like when a storm is about to hit) I am usually in too much of a rush to be careful with things I am grabbing. Having ports on the back also means more frequent moving (unless you use extension cables for everything).
 
My suggestion:

Just use an external enclosure for your external drive "out back".

Since all SSD's are 2.5" format, I would suggest a USB3 enclosure like this:
http://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/U32-M.html
or this:
http://www.firmtek.com/seritek/miniswap-u3/
(Note: the Firmtek costs more, but has been tested to yield speeds quicker than thunderbolt!)

And also important:
Learn to be careful when you pick things up to move them around.

Another suggestion:
Use a couple of pieces of Velcro to secure the drive to the iMac stand.
 
Fishrrman said:
My suggestion:

Just use an external enclosure for your external drive "out back".

Since all SSD's are 2.5" format, I would suggest a USB3 enclosure like this:
http://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/U32-M.html
or this:
http://www.firmtek.com/seritek/miniswap-u3/
(Note: the Firmtek costs more, but has been tested to yield speeds quicker than thunderbolt!)

And also important:
Learn to be careful when you pick things up to move them around.

Another suggestion:
Use a couple of pieces of Velcro to secure the drive to the iMac stand.
Click to expand...

If you do it this way just remember TRIM will not be supported or S.M.A.R.T
 
I have a 1TB 2.5 inch external mounted on the stand behind both my iMacs as Time Machine drives. I just use Velcro Tape. The drives can be removed for cleaning, the tape cushions from them from vibrations and they cannot possibly fall off.

IMG_0692.jpg
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Last edited:
SpeedFleX said:
Unless it is integrated on the hardware firmware, but otherwise via USB 3.0 no.
Click to expand...

Ah, I did some checking, the problem is a third party drive not whether it is external or an internal. Trim enabler should do the trick.

----------
Slow Programmer said:
I have a 1TB 2.5 inch external mounted on the stand behind both my iMacs as Time Machine drives. I just use Velcro Tape. The drives can be removed for cleaning, the tape cushions from them from vibrations and they cannot possibly fall off.
Click to expand...

That is my backup solution but it is not perfect. I use velcro tape to hold my apple remote (which is much lighter) to my mac and the tape gives way now and then.
 
I absolutely hated the backpack.

I sold mine back over ebay for exactly what I payed for (hung on to it for too long to return)
 
Weaselboy said:
Nope. Won't work in an external USB drive.
Click to expand...

What about firewire since firewire now is an adapter from thunderbolt? Currently there are not a lot of TB enclosures out there so I can see FW being the main way to use the TB interface for awhile.

Of course, it might be academic anyway. I am planning to go with one of the OWC solid state drives and they recommend not to use trim on them.
 
KaraH said:
What about firewire since firewire now is an adapter from thunderbolt? Currently there are not a lot of TB enclosures out there so I can see FW being the main way to use the TB interface for awhile.

Of course, it might be academic anyway. I am planning to go with one of the OWC solid state drives and they recommend not to use trim on them.
Click to expand...

Won't work with Firewire either.
 
KaraH said:
It was my understanding trim enabler works on any interface?
Click to expand...

TRIM only works on a drive that the OS "sees" as an internal drive. FireWire and USB 2.0/3.0 are both seen as external drives. Because Thunderbolt is basically an extension of the PCI bus, it is seen by the OS as an internal drive.

As far as your original question goes, I put an 840 Pro into a Buffalo Thunderbolt enclosure and simply stuck it on the iMac stand using HD double-side tape... similar to what Slow Programmer did using Velcro. The Buffalo enclosure is aluminum and white, so it matches very well with the Apple aesthetics.
 
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