Seeing up iMac with multiple external HDs

[right mind]

Setting Up iMac with multiple External Drives.
Sorry for the typo in the title. I can't figure out how to correct the title.

Im starting to assemble a new set-up for photo and video editing along with storage on an iMac. I figure that using multiple external HDs is the only to way work with as much content as I have.
To start off with I will be working with a 2TB SSD iMac that has two thunderbolt 3, and four USB 3.1 ports.

My files currently amount to 1.3TB. That breaks down as follows; an aperture library, photo's library, all non-aperture/photo's image library, videos and iTunes libraries.

These are the items I would like to keep on an external drive and be able to access them whenever they're needed.

With that, I would also like to have plenty of room to grow. It could all be on the same external hd or not.

In addition to that external HD, I need to consider time machine and possibly add 2 external HDs for that. The second for redundancy.

Has anyone built or used anything similar to what I'm describing?

If so, would you mind giving a description of your set-up and how you use it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Fishrrman]

I don't have an amount of files anywhere near what you have.
But what I've done for years is to segregate my data to different partitions and drives.

For example, I have:
1. A "boot" partition -- OS and apps only
2. A "main" partition -- my personal files (excluding movies, music, and pics)
3. A "music" partition -- for music related files, of course
4. A "media" partition -- for photos, ebooks, etc.
5. I keep saved movies and videos on a drive dedicated for that purpose.

Now it becomes easy (and fast) to back up individual partitions when required.
And I know where things are supposed to go.

I use partitions.
But there's no reason why you couldn't dedicate specific DRIVES for each storage mission.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Setting Up iMac with multiple External Drives.
Sorry for the typo in the title. I can't figure out how to correct the title.

Im starting to assemble a new set-up for photo and video editing along with storage on an iMac. I figure that using multiple external HDs is the only to way work with as much content as I have.
To start off with I will be working with a 2TB SSD iMac that has two thunderbolt 3, and four USB 3.1 ports.

My files currently amount to 1.3TB. That breaks down as follows; an aperture library, photo's library, all non-aperture/photo's image library, videos and iTunes libraries.

These are the items I would like to keep on an external drive and be able to access them whenever they're needed.

With that, I would also like to have plenty of room to grow. It could all be on the same external hd or not.

In addition to that external HD, I need to consider time machine and possibly add 2 external HDs for that. The second for redundancy.

Has anyone built or used anything similar to what I'm describing?

If so, would you mind giving a description of your set-up and how you use it?

Thanks for any help.

I have a 2011 iMac (USB-2 ports) with several external hard drives to save my photos to, and this is what I did: I purchased a "Pluggable" USB-3 docking station for SATA drives that is backwards compatible with USB-1 and 2, and several 2TB hard drives from Amazon. The dock is self-powered, and cooled. The SATA drives don't have enclosures . I just plug the drives into the SATA connector of the dock, and then unplug when done moving photos to it. I don't need to keep the hard drives energized when not being used.

This iMac has an internal 1TB SSD, but I never partition drives that are up to 2TB in size (internal or external). What I do is to name the photo folders to reflect the event, and date.

 

[right mind]

AlaskaMoose
Thats a really cool way to use internal HDs. I've never seen the SATA docking stations used like that before. It's really cool that the one I looked at could clone the drive in the other slot without being connected to the computer.
I'll have to explore the cost vs conventional external HDs.
Thanks

 

[AlaskaMoose]

AlaskaMoose
Thats a really cool way to use internal HDs. I've never seen the SATA docking stations used like that before. It's really cool that the one I looked at could clone the drive in the other slot without being connected to the computer.
I'll have to explore the cost vs conventional external HDs.
Thanks

I apologize, the dock is used for external hard drives. My old iMac has an internal 1TB SSD, but I save all my photos to external 2TB hard drives. The dock costs around $20.00 at Amazon, and the hard drives less of $100.00. I just connect the dock to the USB port of the iMac, place the hard drive on the dock, and push it forward to connect it to the SATA socket in the dock, and then power the dock.

I have the one below because my iMac is old, but there are other dock stations, including with Thunderbolt connectivity you can use. Having external hard drives or SSDs within individual enclosures is unnecessarily expensive and take a lot of room. SATA drives are quite cheap and you can stack them ton top of each other:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFFN/dp/B013WODZH0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1548120976&sr=8-2&keywords=Sabrent+USB-3/SATA+dock+station+with+cooling+fan

The reason why I prefer not to partition drives is as follows: by naming the photo folders with the specific event and date, I can easily return to it. For example, a folder that contains photos of a sled dog race that takes place each year in Alaska, I name it "Yukon Quest" 2012. In this case I can clearly see that the folder named this way contains the photos I took of that specific event, plus the year.

 

[niteflyr]

These are on sale now. Massive storage, great price. Get 2 of them. Make 2 partitions 1 for file storage 1 for Time machine. Lots of room to grow. Use the 2nd drive to clone the first drive for backup.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-eas...-3-0-hard-drive-black/5792401.p?skuId=5792401

 

[dwig]

...
In addition to that external HD, I need to consider time machine and possibly add 2 external HDs for that. The second for redundancy.
...

Poor plan. The redundant TM you plan should be a pair of drives with periodic (I do it monthly) backups of all files. The two should be used alternately and stored off-site.

Don't rely on TM for backup. It is good for quick recovery of damaged (deleted, overwritten with wrong data, ...) files, but not the best approach for true backup, which should NEVER be left connected all the time and should be stored off-site.

At work, I use an iMac for photo and publishing work (Ps, Lr, Id, Ai, ...) with the following drive setup:
1 internal 1Tb - system and application files plus a modest number of files saved temporarily. Nothing critical ever exists on only the internal.
2 external drives (8Tb & 5Tb) - primary file storage
2 external drives (5Tb & 5Tb) joined into a 10Tb "set" for TM, which is used to backup the internal and most of the external "primary storage" drives.
1 external 4Tb - connected only temporarily. It has 4 1Tb partitions and I clone the internal to a partition every month to get a bootable backup for quick recovery.
2 external 8Tb drives - used alternately to do monthly backups of the main external "primary storage" drives. The are the real backups and are stored off-site.