ThunderBolt Cable

[Ifti]

All of my external drives are now Thunderbolt. A Drobo5D connected to my Mac Mini Server, and a couple of Buffalo Ministation Thunderbolt drives.

I understand how the Thunderbolt connector itself contains chips etc, but is it normal for the connector to warm up? I've noticed that the connectors get warm, not so hot that you can't touch them, just mildly warm. Is this normal?

I'm considering purchasing a 3m Thunderbolt cable, rather then Apple's 2m cable. Although my Drobo is connected to my MacMini Server 90% of the time, I sometimes connect it directly to my MacBook where I need a little more flexibility in terms of cable length.
I could get away with an Apple 2m cable, but does anyone use the 3m cable? Does it work just the same? Is it reliable? I've heard it heats up more then the Apple cables?

 

[flynz4]

All of my external drives are now Thunderbolt. A Drobo5D connected to my Mac Mini Server, and a couple of Buffalo Ministation Thunderbolt drives.

I understand how the Thunderbolt connector itself contains chips etc, but is it normal for the connector to warm up? I've noticed that the connectors get warm, not so hot that you can't touch them, just mildly warm. Is this normal?

I'm considering purchasing a 3m Thunderbolt cable, rather then Apple's 2m cable. Although my Drobo is connected to my MacMini Server 90% of the time, I sometimes connect it directly to my MacBook where I need a little more flexibility in terms of cable length.
I could get away with an Apple 2m cable, but does anyone use the 3m cable? Does it work just the same? Is it reliable? I've heard it heats up more then the Apple cables?

In my experience... TB cables get warm. I only have the 2m and 0.5m cables currently. I am going to get a 10m or 20m optical cable. They are currently very expensive... and the only place I've seen them is on the japanese version of amazon.com. They are pushing $1000... but they will be coming down in price soon. Still, they will not be cheap. I need one for a work related project.

/Jim