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al404

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 24, 2011
550
35
Novara, Italy
I boot my Mac mini from external SSD and have TM backup and a backup on NAS of my system
Initially I used to clone with CCC my SSD on internal HDD but I don't do it anymore, and some applications like 1password get disappointed when they find a copy on internal storage.

I was thinking that I can remove internal OS X partition and use my internal HDD for other staff
Note sure if that could cause some issue like on system update

I also try to do it but disk utility wan't let my format the internal disk I guess that I can do it booting from recovery
 
There's no reason to keep the OS on the internal drive, if you will never use it. I don't think you'll run into any issues by removing it.
 
As maflynn wrote above, you CAN remove the OS from the internal drive, if you're using an external booter. The Mac doesn't particularly care -where- the OS is, as long as it can find it, and so long as it's bootable.

HOWEVER (personal experience follows):
I've been booting and running a late-2012 Mac Mini from an SSD in a USB3/SATA dock since January 2013 -- going on 4 years now.

I partitioned my -internal- (1tb) drive, and I use CarbonCopyCloner to maintain a bootable backup of my SSD's boot partition on the internal drive.

It's been running this way since I got the Mini and set it up, no problems at all.

I don't use "1password", however, so I can't comment on that.

Something to keep in mind:
As nifty as SSD's are, be aware that when they fail, they just "stop dead". That is to say, no warning in advance, as you might get from a platter-based hard drive that is having problems.
For this reason, I consider it ESSENTIAL to keep a fully-bootable clone of the SSD boot drive "close at hand". If something goes wrong, you're just "a restart away" from being back up-and-running as you were before.
 
HOWEVER (personal experience follows):
I've been booting and running a late-2012 Mac Mini from an SSD in a USB3/SATA dock since January 2013 -- going on 4 years now.

I partitioned my -internal- (1tb) drive, and I use CarbonCopyCloner to maintain a bootable backup of my SSD's boot partition on the internal drive.

mac mini i7 2012 and USB3 ssd
i used to do a CCC copy of my eternal drive but some app seems to get confused when they see 2 systems even if the interna HDD was excluded from spotlight

I did boot from recovery and wiped my internal storage
 
If you boot up with a Windows install USB, OS X Bootable USB or Internet recovery, you can format the internal drive completely.

I have over 30 Mac with no trace of OS X installed on them. I'll boot them up fresh out of the plastic wrap to a USB and wipe the drives clean.
 
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