external drive options Mac platform later 2017

[DougieFresh]

Trying to figure out an external hard drive solution. My internal MBP drive is only 500 GB SSD. It's about 70% full thanks to iTunes and my Spectrasonics data. I have no other VIs installed yet with approximately 300-400 GB of additional VI data to install. I like the current set-up with Spectra VIs residing on the intern drive (pretty snappy), but I don't have much room to store active DP projects over time. Can't afford 1 to 2 TB SSD external drives at $400-$800, but can't find anything utilizing USB 3.1 at 10mbps in HDD format. Very affordable options at 5 mbps, but the question is: can I record a project onto a USB3/3.1 external hard drive with 5mbps transfer speeds? I'm not a heavy resource user of DP but wonder if my biggest limit would be 16 GB RAM. My legacy drives are all LaCie, various rugged and desktop D2s, mostly USB2 and Firewire 800 (500 GB - 1 TB capacity). Very slow by current standards but have served me well with my older laptop. A 4-5 TB drive could store a lot of data, not sure about real-time performance. Can such a drive be a solution for back-up, VI data storage and recording DP projects of 10-20 audio tracks at a time? Thanks.

[cuttime]

I would start by moving my iTunes library to an external cheapie spinner. Speed is not a factor there. I'd do the same with my Photos library, if that is relevant.

[mikehalloran]

Lets do a reality check:

ut can't find anything utilizing USB 3.1 at 10mbps in HDD format.

You won't find a single drive solution that fast including Thunderbolt. Period. SATA III has a 60% lower speed limit but that's still way fast for sample libraries etc.. The only way to get those speeds is a multi-drive RAID array.

So, the question is this: Are you doing high volume video editing? If not, you don't need what you think you need.

When looking at affordable solutions, the real question: How portable does it need to be?

Seriously, unless a multi-drive NAS array configured as RAID that you say you can't afford... let's skip over that. HHDs are too slow for anything except Time Machine.

If portability is not an issue, get one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0099 ... UTF8&psc=1
and stick an SSD into it. A 1T Crucial MX300 (Micron 1100 is the same thing) or Samsung 850 EVO is less than $300 if you shop around. I picked up a 2T well under $500 on eBay recently.

What are you using for Time Machine? You need something. The Apple Time Capsules are excellent and wireless. Available in the Refurb Store for $120 less than the Apple Store.
https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/ ... ccessories

These are great for Time Machine but require an ethernet connection:
https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Personal-N ... wd+mycloud
They are an absolute PIA to set up for anything except Time Machine (but that's quite easy). Expect to spend a lot of time with WD support and the resulting speeds for anything other than Time Machine are likely to be disappointing. For remote access, you will require a wireless gateway (such as an Apple Time Capsule). I'll be buying an 8T for my network very soon but a 4T is $160.

I would start by moving my iTunes library to an external cheapie spinner. Speed is not a factor there. I'd do the same with my Photos library, if that is relevant.

Yes, that's a good start and it is something that a single drive NAS can be configured to do when speed isn't an issue.

[mikehalloran]

Multiple USB devices will require a USB hub.

Trouble is that finding USB hubs that wake up when the Mac does are very hard to find. I have bought and returned many in my search. The one brand that does not misbehave for me is the Amazon cheap-o house brand.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQ ... UTF8&psc=1

[DougieFresh]

Thanks for all the info. Very helpful. Basic question, but what parts of the recording process depend most upon hard drive speed / transfer rates? Large mixes with multiple audio tracks? Loading and playback of samples (which I thought mostly resided in RAM until rendered to audio). I was able to operate my system reliably on a early 2008 MBP using external FW 800 and USB 2.0 drives with DP 7.2.1 for recording, playback and archiving. Appreciate the expertise!