2017 iMac not reliable with USB Dock, regardless of price

[mikehalloran]

I'm still a major fan of the WD MyCloud. Ethernet doesn't have sleep issues and is fast enough for Time Machine. WD has made Time Machine one of the default modes—they're easier to set up out of the box than Apple Time Capsules (there's no direct wireless access but you can access them through a wireless network router).

Since you first posted, I found a used 4T Mirror and popped a pair of 6T WD Red drives into it making it a 12. These have a lid that you just open to replace the drives in a minute or so.

https://www.wdc.com/products/personal-c ... -gen2.html

I've set it up for Time Machine only as I have no need for NAS. Including a firmware update, this took a couple of minutes through the web based app (I did not need WD Phone Support). At first I had them set up as mirrored drives, then I reconfigured them as JBOD. It also supports Spanning (giving me a 12G backup) but I don't need the capacity. It supports RAID 0 (fast) and 1 for mirroring.


The MyCloud Home also has USB for connecting additional drives — connecting to a host or network is still via ethernet only. Like the Mirror, the drives are easy to replace in the dual unit. It supports RAID 1 and JBOD only, however.
https://www.wdc.com/products/personal-c ... 40JWT-NESN

WD doesn't make the single drive MyCloud housings easy to to replace drives like they do the multi drive units. They are still large capacity ethernet drives very easy to set up for Time Machine.
https://www.wdc.com/products/personal-c ... cloud.html

[mhschmieder]

Hmm, I had already invested heavily in the two G-Tech 10 TB drives when you first mentioned the WD solution, but it's good to know that you don't HAVE to use it in NAS Mode, as that was something that concerned me when I looked into it later.

I may at some point be forced to go that route -- especially the next time I have to increase storage space, which happens frequently due to how many orchestral libraries I own, drum libraries, pianos, and others that tend to be on the large size.

I've now had four mysterious interruptions of the USB-C connection that required unplugging and plugging the dock. At least that consistently does the trick, then I can continue the backups, but it had to first refigure the amount of space each time, and doesn't always catch what it needs to replace, add, or merge so I have to constantly babysit.

It does seem that a sudden "heavy" internet request is one thing that causes this problem, just as MANY have mentioned at numerous sites. I wonder if this general unreliability of USB-C is why dedicated USB-C drives are pretty slow right now, vs. faster speeds when using other drives in docks.

The WD solution is definitely something I will consider longer-term. The main reason I went with G-Tech was that my 2010 macPro died during a long holiday weekend (4 July) when nothing much was open and when I couldn't use my office or friends to help do the research, so I was stuck with what Fry's had and going that route seemed to minimize the number of drives/slots I'd need.

[mhschmieder]

The worst was last night, when I tried to partition a 5 TB backup drive to use for sample library overflow that didn't fit on my library backup drive, and my audio projects.

The Thunderbolt connection was lost right before the lengthy partitioning process was done, so I gave up and just forgot about having two levels of hierarchy for unrelated backup sources.

My new strategy is going to be to unplug the Time Machine drive while doing direct backups, as I wouldn't want Time Machine running then anyway. I expect full reliability of the dock used for the backup drive, if plugged directly into the back of the iMac, where the TM drive normally plugs in.

That means the $300 OWC dock will just be used for the printer, the CD/DVD drive, the eLicenser and iLok dongles, and the front port for charging mouse, keyboard, etc. A rather expensive solution, but as I said earlier, I desperately needed that fourth USB slot on the back of the iMac as a dedicated slot vs. a dock hookup, and there are no other Thunderbolt docks available than this one.

If I go to an NAS-oriented solution later (not bothering with NAS Mode), so that all drives are seen as "one" inside a host chassis, there is also a new one from OWC this month, similar to the one Mike linked for use with WD Red drives.

I'll compare them when the time comes, but prefer no fan, or a quiet fan, to avoid S/N issues during mic recording of overdubs in the studio room (only drums and vocals get done in the dedicated recording room, where I'm only the engineer vs. the player and engineer at the same time ).