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Hi Gang.....
I have a couple 500gB LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 2 external SSDs I use for sample drives with my 2013-vintage Mac Pro. They look kinda like this one. They get pretty warm. I've tried attaching felt furniture pads to the bottoms to create a little air clearance, but that's not working. Does anyone have a suggestion for how I could mount these to allow for a little more air circulation around them? Extra points for something inexpensive.

Thanks.

The issue is the drives inside the housing. Add to that the fact that 8 yr old HDDs are on borrowed time and you have a data problem waiting to happen.

Inexpensive SSDs inside solve all sorts of problems. Besides running cooler, they will be a lot faster. TB2 housings are getting hard to find. Normally, you can open such housings and replace the drives. Inexpensive 2.5” SSDs are available up to 8TB. You only have to replace one.

I’m not a fan of QVC NAND for System drives but they’re good for sample drives — not a big fan of 3 year warranties but these have solid reputations.
https://smile.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-870-Q ... ref=sr_1_2

For the smaller sizes, the 5 year warranty makes either of these the better buy.

https://smile.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-1TB ... 917&sr=8-3
or
https://smile.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500 ... r_1_2_sspa

If you do replace the HDDs, run sudo trimforce enable in Terminal to enable TRIM.

Thanks, Mike! I know I can always count on you for good ideas.

Does it make any difference that these are SSDs? (You mentioned HDDs in your reply, but the ones I have are solid state drives.) I would think these should last a long time... no?

I realize an internal drive is the way to go these days, but since I have some dough invested in these SSDs, I’d like to avoid replacing them right now. Also, other than some loading time (which I’m sure is normal), I have had zero issues with playing back multiple instances of multiple instruments from them in DP.

Your thoughts?


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ALSO.....

After doing a little research on internal drives, my 2013 Mac Pro (“trashcan”) won’t accommodate any of the drives you suggested internally. With only one internal drive slot, I could upgrade my original Apple Flash Memory (1tB) to 2tB for about $600 at OWC, which doesn’t seem worth it.

External drives need to be Thunderbolt *2*... which is getting increasingly hard to find. Seems like I should stay where I am and just find a way for my LaCie drives to run a little cooler.

I would drill some ventilation holes in the enclosure, provided you can easily remove the drive for safety.

(You mentioned HDDs in your reply, but the ones I have are solid state drives.)

I didn't know there was an SSD version.

If you're not subjecting these to the elements, take one apart and see of there's a way to ventilate. If one side makes solid contact with the side of the case, I'h apply a thin coat of heat sink compound—this will make the case warmer but let the drive run cooler.

Texturized drink coasters are designed to insulate furniture from hot drinks. You want to go "bumps up". Type in

heat insulating coaster silicone

to get 355 results on Amazon.



I buy stick on silicone feet for this exact use. Time Machine drives and other heat sources sit on these.
https://smile.amazon.com/ONUEMP-Rubber- ... ef=sr_1_21

mikehalloran wrote:I buy stick on silicone feet for this exact use. Time Machine drives and other heat sources sit on these.
https://smile.amazon.com/ONUEMP-Rubber- ... ef=sr_1_21

Brilliant! I’ll try this. Looks like I could even stack some of them for more spacing. Nervous about ripping these apart, so this seems like a reasonable solution. Thanks, again.


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In a studio I helped build some years back, we put all the drives on a length of Closet Maid wire shelving, mounted on the wall behind the console.

Back then we used Firewire to raw drive adapters. You could do the same with USB. Drive mechanisms sat in the open on the plastic coated wire shelf. Lots of cooling air, no fans, very quiet.

FrankD wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:28 pm In a studio I helped build some years back, we put all the drives on a length of Closet Maid wire shelving, mounted on the wall behind the console.

Back then we used Firewire to raw drive adapters. You could do the same with USB. Drive mechanisms sat in the open on the plastic coated wire shelf. Lots of cooling air, no fans, very quiet.

Good suggestion, thanks. I’ll look around for some little wire shelves that might fit next to my Mac Pro.