External SSD Recommendation

[miller325]

I’m going to upgrade to Komplete 11 Ultimate during NI’s summer sale. I need advice on a 1TB external SSD to store the 500+ GB of sample libraries. I have a 27” late 2015 iMac, 4 GHz Intel Core i7, 1 TB internal SSD, 32 GB RAM. It has USB 3.0 (now called USB Type 3.1 Gen 1 I guess) and thunderbolt 2.0. I’m using DP 9.52 on Sierra 10.12.6. Eventually I will update to High Sierra.

I’m considering the Samsung T5 SSD external drive, 1 TB, $347.00. It has a USB Type 3.1 Gen 2 interface but is compatible with USB 3.0 and comes with a Type-C to A cable. The other consideration is the Samsung EVO 860 1TB 2.5 inch SATA III SSD internal drive, $237.00, which I would install in something like a Transcend StoreJet USB 3.0 external drive enclosure, $17.00. Recommendations about other external drive enclosures will be appreciated.

Which one of these options would give me the best performance for working with NI's sample libraries?

The third option would be to stop using my second display and use a thunderbolt SSD. One of these that I’ve seen is the StoreJet 500 for Mac, 1 TB thunderbolt for $631.00. I really don’t want to spend that much money and I also don’t want to lose my second display. I know the performance will be better with thunderbolt.

I was going to ask about Trim and external SSDs but I just now saw the 2015 discussion titled “Yosemite, Trim Enabler”. I think I’ll worry about that later.

Anyway, advise on what external SSD to get will be appreciated.

[mikehalloran]

I recommend none of the above.

Forget Thunderbolt. USB 3 is fine for streaming VIs. Really. It’s nearly as fast as the 6G limit of an SSD (the same speed limit of that drive in a TB bus).

For streaming libraries, there is no difference between a Crucial MX300 and an 860 PRO. Is this going to be the last library set you will buy? (Yea, right!) You can get a 2T Micron 1100, the OEM/VAR branding of the MX300 for under $300.
https://www.amazon.com/Micron-MTFDDAK2T ... micron+ssd

Use a USB dock
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Do ... USB+3+dock

When your iMac is no longer under AppleCare, you can have that drive mounted inside your iMac. If that’s an Apple supplied 1T SSD, there’s an empty SATA bus waiting... It’s not a difficult install as the screen is held on with a custom double-stick tape kit. OWC has the tools and bracket you need or you can have it done.

[miller325]

Thanks Mike. That's the information I was looking for. I like the idea of the 2 TB drive. I already have Mach Five 3 and a number of VIs. Is there an advantage to using the USB dock instead of an enclosure like the OWC Express portable USB 3.0 enclosure?

Looking to the future, would installing the SSD inside my iMac increase its performance over using it in the USB dock?

Philip

[mikehalloran]

Thanks Mike. That's the information I was looking for. I like the idea of the 2 TB drive. I already have Mach Five 3 and a number of VIs. Is there an advantage to using the USB dock instead of an enclosure like the OWC Express portable USB 3.0 enclosure?

Looking to the future, would installing the SSD inside my iMac increase its performance over using it in the USB dock?

Philip

Advantages of the dock: Price and the ability to easily swap drives if needed. The enclosed box is designed for portability, say, with a laptop.

Installing internally puts the SSD on the SATA bus. There is a performance advantage but I’m not sure you’d notice it all that much.

[miller325]

Thanks again Mike.

[buzzsmith]

Following.


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[dix]

My rig is much different, but I'm a happy USB3/SATA Dock user. I have two Newertech Voyager's with Evo 850 1TBs. I just bought a second one after an external sata enclosure went south. These run solid and have the flexibility to hot swap drives if there's ever a need.

https://www.amazon.com/Newer-Tech-Voyag ... +voyager+q

[miller325]

My new SSD arrives tomorrow. I just happened to think: should I quickly (as in tonight) upgrade to High Sierra so that I can format my new SSD in APFS instead of Max OS Extended?

I sometimes transfer AIFF or Wave files back and forth form my iMac to my old G4 using a flash drive. Will I still be able to do this if the iMac is APFS and the G4 is in OS Extended?

[mikehalloran]

My new SSD arrives tomorrow. I just happened to think: should I quickly (as in tonight) upgrade to High Sierra so that I can format my new SSD in APFS instead of Max OS Extended?

You can do that at any time you’re ready. At the moment, APFS benefits the boot SSD more than an external. Unlike some schemes where you would have to wipe the drive, changing to APFS is easy and takes a few seconds if the boot drive is on High Sierra. Changing back is time consuming and does involve wiping the drive. If that drive is to be read or accessed by a Mac not running High Sierra, do not format it APFS.

I sometimes transfer AIFF or Wave files back and forth form my iMac to my old G4 using a flash drive. Will I still be able to do this if the iMac is APFS and the G4 is in OS Extended?

No reason why not. If you have any problems, zip the files before copying to the flash drive. Because of potential permission/privilege issues, zipping before copying over is never a bad idea but audio files rarely give a problem.

I don’t know if it’s possible to format a flash drive APFS—never occurred to me to try. In any case, don’t if you want other Macs to see it. I sneakernet between my G4 and iMac, too—they both see the internet but can’t see each other anymore.

[miller325]

Mike, that’s good news that I can upgrade to High Sierra whenever I’m ready because I don’t feel ready tonight. Good to know that I can “convert” my SSD to APFS when I upgrade to High Sierra even though it will have Komplete libraries on it. That’s what I wasn’t sure about.

I just realized that the two 128 GB Samsung flash drives I use to go back and forth between my iMac and my G4 are formatted with fat32. They’ve aways worked. I think I may format them with exFAT before I switch to High Sierra since they are over 32 GB. I don’t use Windows or Bootcamp on my iMac but the Apple site says it’s OK to format disks 32 GB and under with fat32 but if they’re over 32 GB use exFAT for use with Windows if you’re in High Sierra. I just now read that High Sierra can read/write to exFAT. Do you agree?