Sounds like one Sandforce 2200 series drive will be good enough. Two would be total over kill if you can't get near 1GB/s.
It's a shame that you can't use Thunderbolt bus power with a single drive and no fan. bummer.
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The lacie little big disk arrived today test results
- Thread starter philipma1957
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Sounds like one Sandforce 2200 series drive will be good enough. Two would be total over kill if you can't get near 1GB/s.
It's a shame that you can't use Thunderbolt bus power with a single drive and no fan. bummer.
no don't rule this out. I found out this piece on ebay will fit
http://www.ebay.com/itm/APD-AC-Adap...ltDomain_0&hash=item27c033880e#ht_1394wt_1398
it is not 3 amps it is 2 amps but the wire fits I ordered a few and got a discount.
this will let me use this other part.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MEPMPWR12VF8/
about 15 bucks to make a power cable.
When I refer to bus power, I was referring to Thunderbolt and not needing external power like USB or FireWire. I'm shocked LaCie didn't power via USB and Thunderbolt. I have a USB Bluray drive from them that's combo bus powered with two USB connections.
i thought you may have meant that.
all the 2 bay units i have found the two from owc and the taurus on ebay. can use fw800 and run off that. or can use fw800 power jack cable and run esata . none of these use t-bolt I think the t-bolt chips in the cables needs juice so you can not run power to the case on that part of the cable. thus a second cable. I am pretty confident I can make it run off fw800 with 1 ssd or 2 ssds. May not allow dasiychain to a t-bolt screen. may not allow dasiychain to a second t-bolt. If it works with the cable it becomes portable for a macbook pro that is big. it also allows use with iMacs and finally ends the problem of trapped hdd in an iMac.
Btw I ordered this
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...p?ie=UTF8&qid=1323003325&sr=8-1&condition=new
and I have this on order
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet Technology/ECHOE34/
I have two of these
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEQMH0GBK/
i have two of these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AKiTio-Taur...e_Internal&hash=item2a145fb547#ht_5589wt_1398
I have 4 of these
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-SSDN...ORM4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323003563&sr=8-1
btw the are really bad with the rebates.
I am still fighting for them. of course this is not so clean as the lacie but costs 400 empty and will use 4 drives.
no fans no warranty issues. if I get my refunds for the kingston this would allow a 4 ssd setup for 680. all parts arrive in the next 5 days or so.
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You are ignoring a simple fact: perhaps the 10 watts available from Thunderbolt is not sufficient to power the drives, the cables, and the Thunderbolt controller. That is in all possible configurations.
Sure, perhaps power could be borrowed from the USB ports or even the FireWire port, but perhaps that too, added complexity that simply did not fit.
I haven't seen any other Thunderbolt bus-powered drives or peripherals from anyone else.
Are there any?
----------
And what is the voltage out for your FireWire port you intend to use?
Yes, the AC adapter does look quite similar to the one bundled with the Little Big Disk
I am certain the ac adapter fits as it comes with sea gates free agent for mac fw800 hdd. Since I own a seagate i tested the adapter and it fits.
It is rated the same voltage and 2 amps the lacie is rated 3amps.
I may take apart the lacie and one of the sea gates just to see if lacie is lying about the amps.
This may be why lacie power supplies are prone to die. they are overrated.
As for the fw800 port on the mac mini I have not pulled the multimeter out to measure.
Worst case is I can't run off the mini's fw800 and the lacie power supply is really only 2amps.
if so I have the far superior meanwell psu and will simply put one of the seagate /ebay cords on it. The meanwell can run 2 lacie little big disk's with ease.
so far I have found you can run 1 drive alone on this.
it also gives smart utility info.
if you run two samsung series 470 256gb ssds it never pulls more then 8 watts.
if you run two samsung series 830 64gb ssds it never pulls more then 7 watts. if you daisy chain 2 of them either one can boot.
if you daisy chain them and turn the power off the first one the second one shuts down.
it also gives smart utility info.
if you run two samsung series 470 256gb ssds it never pulls more then 8 watts.
if you run two samsung series 830 64gb ssds it never pulls more then 7 watts. if you daisy chain 2 of them either one can boot.
if you daisy chain them and turn the power off the first one the second one shuts down.
I received a 1TB LaCie Little Big Disk today. Its very loud! I'm definitely going with dual SSDs and removing that noisy fan. I only received one of two 240GB Vertex 3 MAX IOPS. It will be interesting if I can update drive firmware in the enclosure (Vertex 3s need to be on 2.09 or better for stability).
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The second SSD arrived today, but I missed our office. I went ahead and installed just one OCZ Vertex 3. Blackagic Disk Speed test is showing it at 220/200 which is the same for internal. Unfortunately, this benchmark only uses incompressible data. Is there another OSX utility that I can speed test that uses random data? I plan to install the second SSD tomorrow.
I did some limited Windows testing. First, you can not use bootcamp to install Windows to this drive. It may be possible if you temporarily partition the internal drive. Plan to test that tomorrow. If I can manage to get Windows installed, I believe it will boot. I was able to flash the firmware using the OCZ Windows utility which checks to make sure AHCI is enabled and that only applies to internal drives. Therefore Windows is seeing it as internal. The drive is not hot swappable in Windows.
The second SSD arrived today, but I missed our office. I went ahead and installed just one OCZ Vertex 3. Blackagic Disk Speed test is showing it at 220/200 which is the same for internal. Unfortunately, this benchmark only uses incompressible data. Is there another OSX utility that I can speed test that uses random data? I plan to install the second SSD tomorrow.
I did some limited Windows testing. First, you can not use bootcamp to install Windows to this drive. It may be possible if you temporarily partition the internal drive. Plan to test that tomorrow. If I can manage to get Windows installed, I believe it will boot. I was able to flash the firmware using the OCZ Windows utility which checks to make sure AHCI is enabled and that only applies to internal drives. Therefore Windows is seeing it as internal. The drive is not hot swappable in Windows.
samsung series 830 64 gb does 212 read 160 write as a single drive as a raid0 does 424 read 320 write.
I think i will try a different test on it . just bypass the bridge and hook the samsung up in the spot that the bridge attaches.
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Are you also using Blackmagic Disk Speed Test?
Prior to the last update these drives were getting 500+ in Blackmagic. In ATTO and Crystal Mark they are still getting 500+.
Hopefully tomorrow I can install the second OCZ Vertex 3 and test it under Windows with ATTO Diskbench. Unfortunately, there's no way to test RAID 0 in Windows with this drive.
Are you also using Blackmagic Disk Speed Test?
Prior to the last update these drives were getting 500+ in Blackmagic. In ATTO and Crystal Mark they are still getting 500+.
Hopefully tomorrow I can install the second OCZ Vertex 3 and test it under Windows with ATTO Diskbench. Unfortunately, there's no way to test RAID 0 in Windows with this drive.
yes I am using black magic. I think the bridge is 2 sata II connections and I think max speed is twice that. around 480MB/s. means that the samsung series 470 drives are the best match for this. I have 1 samsung 512gb series 830 on hand and a second one coming.
I believe this will max at 480 read and write. Still waiting on parts to try this with bus power. If i am limited to using a pair of series 470 256gb samsungs with 475 read 375 write but can do it with bus power i will be happy. Looks like most of these ssds will go in the pegasus r6.
I'm going to try AJA System test. It's the same tool that Macworld uses for their drive evaluations.
http://www.aja.com/products/software/
http://www.aja.com/products/software/
here are disk whack test results. for the pair of 256gb series 470 samsung in raid0
590 read and 416 write.
btw I had to use snow leopard with the 2011 mini to run this. I have managed to get snow leopard to run at 75 percent speed.
on the server a geekbench score of 7000 or so vs 9200..
i can't bypass the bridge so i can't test the main board speed too bad. still 590 read and 416 write is good. do me a favor and run this test with windows and snow if you can. I can not get it to run with lion.
590 read and 416 write.
btw I had to use snow leopard with the 2011 mini to run this. I have managed to get snow leopard to run at 75 percent speed.
on the server a geekbench score of 7000 or so vs 9200..
i can't bypass the bridge so i can't test the main board speed too bad. still 590 read and 416 write is good. do me a favor and run this test with windows and snow if you can. I can not get it to run with lion.
Attachments
LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk SSD RAID 0 Test Results
LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk - 2 x 240GB OCZ Vertex 3 RAID 0
Operating System: OSX Lion 10.7.2
Test Plaform: 2011 15" MacBook Pro 2.3GHz i7 16GB RAM 480GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G
Results:
LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test: 475/357 read/write
AJA System Test File Sweep: 387/320 read/write
System OSX - 480GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test: 473/360 read/write
LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk - 2 x 240GB OCZ Vertex 3 RAID 0
Operating System: OSX Lion 10.7.2
Test Plaform: 2011 15" MacBook Pro 2.3GHz i7 16GB RAM 480GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G
Results:
LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test: 475/357 read/write
AJA System Test File Sweep: 387/320 read/write
System OSX - 480GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test: 473/360 read/write
looks like 500 read 400 write is going to be a max for these units. On the idea of making them safe with bus power. I have made these purchases:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/16052918651...NX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_500wt_1413
http://www.ebay.com/itm/25093659126...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_3871wt_1398
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MEPMPWR12VF8/
http://www.ebay.com/itm/17072832718...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_1394wt_1398
the idea would be the owc fw800 cable to one of the regulators to the white wire from one of the adapters.
Sounds messy but it would make the unit portable for macbook pro use. the samsung 512gb raid0 has never pulled 10 watts so the lower powered used ebay 15watt dc-dc regulator should work. It has run fan less for days as my osx drive with a server mac mini while not low cost It is an amazing piece of gear.
As a complete aside I have the 6 bay pegasus t-bolt which is blazing fast. I have been really lucky as I got mine for 1320 usd before the hdd flood.
I wanted more trays and promise sold them with hdds really annoying but I bit the bullet and purchased 2 tray 1tb modules 2 days before the flood. you get the tray and a 1tb hitachi new sealed. the price before the flood was 99 bucks the price after the flood was 165. The seller www.provantage.com honored the 99 dollar price. (cool). I ended up selling all 8 1 tb hitachi hdds. for about 1k so 1320 plus 99 plus 99 is 1518 minus 1k is 518 for a drive less promise pegasus 6 bay unit with 2 spare trays. well worth the money at that price.
It is a better piece of gear as it is faster has more raid steps and can store more but of course it is big and can not be fan less.
It definitely appears that the LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk is SATA II internally. Disappointing design.
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Have you had heat issues with only SSDs and no fan? The enclosure seems warm. Not sure what's generating the heat.
philipma1957 said:
Have you had heat issues with only SSDs and no fan? The enclosure seems warm. Not sure what's generating the heat.
your ssds are sandforce they run hotter then the samsung.
do you have a kill-a-watt meter? my pair of 256gb series 470 in raid0 never pull 10 watts. they use 5 to 6 in almost all cases. same with the samsung series 830 64gb. they run 4 to 7 or 4 o 8 watts. the 64gb kingston pulled 11 watts during the zero overwrite test they are the warmest of the 3 pairs i used. I am waiting on the sec on samsung 512gb series 830 to see what they use.
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Here is some research on the wattage of the Vertex 3s:
One interesting fact is how the MAX IOPS measured up against the retail version of the standard Vertex 3. Just comparing the repeating data power figures, the standard Vertex 3 used 1.81 watts of power under write activity compared to 1.70 on the MAX IOPS and idled at a close to double 0.87 watts compared to 0.48 watts. In the read tests the 25nm Vertex 3 came up using less power, measuring 1.59 watts in the constant read and 1.73 watts under random read.
Here is some research on the wattage of the Vertex 3s:
One interesting fact is how the MAX IOPS measured up against the retail version of the standard Vertex 3. Just comparing the repeating data power figures, the standard Vertex 3 used 1.81 watts of power under write activity compared to 1.70 on the MAX IOPS and idled at a close to double 0.87 watts compared to 0.48 watts. In the read tests the 25nm Vertex 3 came up using less power, measuring 1.59 watts in the constant read and 1.73 watts under random read.
I read the data III is not a power hog but the only way to be sure is put a Kill-a-watt meter on the lacie power supply. and look at the readings. I have the two laicies attached to it right now along with the mini and my reading is 26 watts. I will pull the mini off the circuit and come back with a reading.
the two lacies are 13 watts. the one lacie with a pair of series 470 ssds is 5 watts no fan
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Are you LaCie's warm if on 24/7?
I guess I expected the LaCie to be an ice block after idling a while. Similar to the Mac Mini Server.
The LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk is daisy chained to my 27" iMac. If your's are cold, could the daisy chain be the cause of the warmth?
I guess I expected the LaCie to be an ice block after idling a while. Similar to the Mac Mini Server.
The LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk is daisy chained to my 27" iMac. If your's are cold, could the daisy chain be the cause of the warmth?
yes I suspect that is true. If I run the 512gb lacie alone it is 5 watts if I run the 128gb lacie alone it is 4 watts. when I daisy chain they pull 13 watts. 5 plus 4 is 9 so the daisychain is adding 4 watts on. in your case are you
macmini/lacie/imac?
I am macmini/lacie/lacie
2011 Mac Mini Server -> Modified LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk -> 2010 27" iMac
LaCie to iMac required a mini Displayport cable, so its only passing through video. The LaCie is much warmer doing the touch test after a couple hours using the iMac in target display mode. It never cools to ice cold, but does cool down when idle. I guess only time will tell if removing the fan with SSDs shortens the life span. I may search for a lower RPM or quieter fan model.
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I found a couple 20x20x10mm 2-wire fans on eBay. The ADDA is 8000 RPM and supposedly 11db. The Sunnon is a slower variant of the factory fan at 5000 RPM and should be quieter but lists at 23db. They are shipping from China so it will be a while before I can share results. I'm only suggesting this mod for a pure SSD setup.
I found a couple 20x20x10mm 2-wire fans on eBay. The ADDA is 8000 RPM and supposedly 11db. The Sunnon is a slower variant of the factory fan at 5000 RPM and should be quieter but lists at 23db. They are shipping from China so it will be a while before I can share results. I'm only suggesting this mod for a pure SSD setup.