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Totally lost getting external storage for the new Mac Pro

A

ApplesAOranges

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 7, 2011
335
3
What external storage systems/solutions are you people getting for the new Mac Pro?

I´m totally lost. I know that…

- I don´t want any HDDs, only SSDs for me!
- I only want Thunderbolt connection, no USB 3.0
- I don´t want any loud fans, so those Lacie Little Big Disks are out of the question
- I need minimum 512 GB SSDs, 1 TB SSDs even better
- I need 3-4 external SSDs
- I want everything to be easily plug&play with the new Mac Pro, no hassles

What should I do?
 
Last edited:
I think I am going to get this, if it comes out around my nMP delivery:

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10621

<snip>
The World’s Fastest Portable Storage.
1,375MB/s* speeds for 4K video editing
Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for daisy chaining
Compact size for field-based creative workflows
Whisper-quiet dual cooling
Design by Neil Poulton
</snip>

Edit: Internally it uses PCI-e SSD just like the nMP does so has an advantage over standard SSD.
 
ApplesAOranges said:
What external storage systems/solutions are you people getting for the new Mac Pro?

I´m totally lost. I know that…

- I don´t want any HDDs, only SSDs for me!
- I only want Thunderbolt connection, no USB 3.0
- I don´t want any loud fans, so those Lacie Little Big Discs are out of the question
- I need minimum 512 GB SSDs, 1 TB SSDs even better
- I need 3-4 external SSDs
- I want everything to be easily plug&play with the new Mac Pro, no hassles

What should I do?
Click to expand...

hey, apples. i went through some similar considerations in my transition.

you have some options. pretty much any HD enclosure you buy can accommodate SSDs. is RAID a consideration for you?

another option beyond a regular drive enclosure is to get a PCI card enclosure (e.g., sonnet echo express series or OWC helios). what i have done -- for the moment -- is use a sonnet TB enclosure. in it, i have a sonnet tempo pro card with 2 SSDs mounted on it. in my particular enclosure (express III-D) you can use 3 full-length cards. in others (express II SE) you can use 2 cards, but they must be half- or 2/3-length.

they are plug-and-play -- in fact, if you simply connect 2 SSDs on a tempo pro card, they will automatically default to RAID0.

with 2x840 Evos (1TB) i see TB1 speeds of 801 MB/s read & 650 write. (note: this was on a 2013 27" i7 iMac--don't have a nMP to test with yet.)

is TB2 important to you?

you may find this thread of interest: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1693676/

this thread also provides some thoughts:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1693676/
 
Anim said:
I think I am going to get this, if it comes out around my nMP delivery:
Click to expand...

That unit will probably be around $1k.

I'm going for a couple solutions. First the new mac pro.

Connected via this

thunderboltprod_1.jpg


30 feet away to my equipment cabinet. In there I'll have one of these

header_banner2.jpg


except the 4 bay diskless, I'll have filled with SSD's or spinners.

It will connect to this

helios_2_hero.jpg


which will be coming out in the next two months. In there I'll have one of these

prod_merc-accelsiore2_gall1.jpg


connected also to some eSATA drives I have (an 8 bay unit) for once a week backup.

Additionally I'll have this card which I took out of my old Mac Pro

CDGFASTA6GU3_hero.jpg


Connected to some legacy USB 3 and eSATA drives I have.

All neatly behind doors.
 
There are basically TB options at a variety of performance and price points... here are a few examples in addition to what's been suggested above... (here, I'm assuming a 1TB SSD costs ~$600):

SSDs:
4x 1TB SSDs in Pegasus2 R4 costs ~$3000 and provides 1500 MB/s
4x 1TB SSDs in Promise J4 costs ~$2700 and provides 750 MB/s

HDs:
2x 2TB WD VR Duos costs ~$1100 and provides 700 MB/s
4x 1TB HD in Pegasus2 R4 costs ~$1000 and provides 400 MB/s
1x 4TB WD TB Duo costs ~$500 and provides 230 MB/s

The Promise Pegasus2 is Thunderbolt2 and will offer the best performance (with SSDs).
The Promise J4 is Thunderbolt1 and is likely the quietest solution.
The WD VR Duo offers similar performance to an SSD at a lower cost/GB.
 
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Cubemmal said:
It will connect to this

Image

which will be coming out in the next two months. In there I'll have one of these

Image
Click to expand...

FWIW...
accelsior is ~$1.2k for 960GB.

tempo pro is $285 + 2x840 EVOs 512GB @ $660 = $945. (1TB in RAID0) 2TB would cost $1385. 2TB of accelsiors would be $2.4k.

tempo pro with 2 SSDs delivers better performance, if that matters.

wouldn't you be hitting the TB bandwidth limit with that setup pretty regularly?
offsetting this is the need for a full-length enclosure
 
analog guy said:
FWIW...
accelsior is ~$1.2k for 960GB.

tempo pro is $285 + 2x840 EVOs 512GB @ $660 = $945. (1TB in RAID0) 2TB would cost $1385. 2TB of accelsiors would be $2.4k.

tempo pro with 2 SSDs delivers better performance, if that matters.

wouldn't you be hitting the TB bandwidth limit with that setup pretty regularly?
offsetting this is the need for a full-length enclosure
Click to expand...

Does it support TRIM?

SSDs without TRIM support can turn into molasses - sweet, but slow.
 
AidenShaw said:
Does it support TRIM?

SSDs without TRIM support can turn into molasses - sweet, but slow.
Click to expand...

i used TRIM enabler to turn on TRIM for the 2 840 Evo SSDs I have in that RAID0 confi on the Tempo Pro card. status is listed as "yes", but i'm not sure of a way to confirm beyond this.

can't speak to the accelsior's TRIM status. i have one sitting here sealed in the box but am not willing to open it up.

it's already a RAID0 of 2x480 GB blades, and i'm not willing to combine it in RAID0 with another accelsior.
 
I originally bought the Pegasus R6 with 6TB, but then two days later I saw that the Pegagus 2 R4 with 8TB was same price and had TB2.
I returned the original and bought the TB2 R4
 
I have the Blackmagic Multidock and it fits all of the OP's parameters! Stuff it with whatever SSD's you like. I have 512 840 pro, 1TB 840 EVO, 500G 840, and a 1TB 7200 rpm for backup... no issues - it shows up and behaves just like having internal drives on an old MP.

The good
4 SSD/2.5" SATA bays in rackmount 1 space box
Silent - no fan
Bootable - Raidable

The Bad
Is only SATA II (~350MB/s R/W)
Only one TB port
TB1
Cost is $550

But it is perfect for me...
 

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I've got this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009HQCARY/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and plug one of SSD I have now.

Looking at Seagate web page http://www.seagate.com/in/en/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/performance/backup-plus-for-mac-thunderbolt/?sku=STAE128#accessories, nothing has been specified about drive interface. It also looks like designed work with their Backup Plus Portable Drives.
However, the connector is actually SATA and you can plug SATA SDD into the socket.

I'm still waiting my nMP.
 
Last edited:
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analog guy said:
wouldn't you be hitting the TB bandwidth limit with that setup pretty regularly?
offsetting this is the need for a full-length enclosure
Click to expand...

All depends on how you use it obviously. I have there Cinema displays, so this would be shared with one of those too. Not sure how much bandwidth that eats up. But these external disks would be for Windows VMWare, Linux, games/applications, data files etc. In other words it wouldn't get hit that much most of the time probably.
 
Why is there no Pegasus2 for SSD drives? Or is there? I mean who uses HDD drives anymore in this day and age? :confused:

The Blackmagic Multidock looks great, but I don´t understand why the reading speeds are only 350MB/s? I mean what is the use to buy fast SSDs for it, if it cannot take advantage of their speeds? :confused: And only one Thunderbolt port? :(

The Pegasus J4 looks like a potential candidate, but I don´t like opening things and installing things. I like straight plug&play like the Blackmagic Multidock.
 
ApplesAOranges said:
Ok, maybe I should have said "who buys HDDs anymore"?
Click to expand...

Those of us who store lots and lots of data. Those of us that need scratch space for our video editing applications; SSDs perform very well but are too costly for that sort of thing and really a waste of money. In fact, video editing tests (over @Adobe) have shown that using SSDs for input, media, scratch, etc rarely increase overall performance over their spinning cousins. But they do cost a bunch more.

For your applications and OS? Absolutely. Use SSDs. Outside of that? Well... it's your money.
 
The new TB2 claims "whisper quiet"

Anim said:
I think I am going to get this, if it comes out around my nMP delivery:

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10621

<snip>
The World’s Fastest Portable Storage.
1,375MB/s* speeds for 4K video editing
Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for daisy chaining
Compact size for field-based creative workflows
Whisper-quiet dual cooling
Design by Neil Poulton
</snip>

Edit: Internally it uses PCI-e SSD just like the nMP does so has an advantage over standard SSD.
Click to expand...

I wish they would list the db in the specs.
Seems like a lot of posts say that the current LaCie fans are noisy.
 
ABCDEF-Hex said:
I wish they would list the db in the specs.
Seems like a lot of posts say that the current LaCie fans are noisy.
Click to expand...

I own one at the moment. It is ridiculously loud! :eek: I don´t know what they were thinking.

That´s why I don´t want to buy Lacie anymore.
 
Hmm.. 4 1TB SSDs for external storage? Would be nice, but way out of my price range. Being limited to 1TB volumes for all your storage seems a bit odd too.
 
ApplesAOranges said:
Why is there no Pegasus2 for SSD drives? Or is there? I mean who uses HDD drives anymore in this day and age? :confused:
Click to expand...

I just specced out 192 TB of RAID storage for a client about to start shooting a feature film in an uncompressed raw format. SSD is still way too expensive for people who need to store quantities of data like this.
 
Drobo Mini - loud, no JBOD and you can't boot from it -
Pegasus J4 - as of today - can't boot from it
BM Multidock - is SATA II internal so 350MB/s is the max - per drive. with RAID0 get 700MB/s - only fanless unit.
Pegasus 2 - fastest and most flexible - be careful what drives you use
OyenDigital - some seem to like it
Caldigit T3 - just started shipping - comes only with drives

That's your world today :)
 
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