Trying to Put Together a Thunderbolt Drive

[alexk403]

So currently I have a 2TB Western Digital MyBook Studio over USB3/USB2. I am getting about 115-120 MB/s over USB 3.0. I want to migrate to thunderbolt (I have rMBP but not the newest with thunderbolt 2, but that doesn't matter). I want to remain as cheap as possible, but certainly want something faster than what I currently have, so that pretty much takes things like the buffalo thunderbolt station out. I also certainly want at least 1TB, preferably 2 but 1 would be fine. I was thinking I could build my own but there doesn't seem to be any empty thunderbolt enclosures that are simply one drive (most have like 4 or 5, even 2 is too many). I know this is a hard question and if my search skills are worth anything than there is nothing on the market like this. Just wanted to see if anyone else had any opinions. I was also reading about the WD with the thunderbolt adapter but that doesn't seem very fast either. Thanks

 

[a.coward]

Unless you are planning to switch to SSDs or use a RAID enclosure,
I don't think you will see much, if any speed improvements. And
both these options won't be cheap. As it is, most, if not all, magnetic
drives will not full utilize the bandwidth available from USB 3.0.

 

[alexk403]

Alright then lets say I would be willing to go to a 2-bay, so then I could put it in the RAID that makes it act like one big drive (don't know which one it is) and lets also say I am willing to go to SSDs, but I would still need 1TB. Does that open any doors for me? Thanks

 

[alexk403]

OK after researching some more I stumbled upon the Buffalo Drivestation DDR. The one professional review I read said it is that absolute fastest one drive hdd you can get, boasting read/write speeds of I think over 200MB/s. This seems like the best bet currently, especially since it is still 2 TB and only $120 ($20 less than my current drive, but almost twice as fast!). It seems that for my current situation and price range thunderbolt really isn't an option for me, but with those speeds I am very happy to stick with USB 3. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/BUFFALO-DriveStation-Ultra-Drive-Cache/dp/B00C0NWAUS/ref=cm_cd_al_qh_dp_i

The reviews say it is great when it works, but on amazon a lot of them are saying that the drive fails a lot so I will look into it. Anyone know of a USB3 drive 1TB/2TB that can beat these speeds? Thanks

 

[Bear]

It's going to cost you, but get a Samsung 840 EVO SSD 1TB and put it in a USB 3 enclosure.