SSD external enclosure (thunderbolt)

I bought two 1TB Crucial M550 SSD for a friend to use with his Mac/Macbook. He will be using them for portable storage so the SSDs need to go in an enclosure. My understanding is that TRIM is not supported on USB/Fireware but if Thunderbolt is used then OSX supports TRIM on it. I don't know how big of a difference in durability is with TRIM off and relying on active garbage collection instead. It's almost impossible to find a 2.5'' Thunderbolt enclosure, apparently there are licensing and certification issues. I found this:

OWC MOTGTBH5T1.0 1.0TB Mercury On-The-Go... in stock at OWC

The hard drive in there can be removed easily and I can stick the 1TB SSD in there. My only concern is compatibility. OWC also sells SSD in that enclosure but only up to 500GB, there is a power concern? The Crucial drive lists 5V 1.7A, which is 8.5W of maximum power draw. Supposedly the Thunderbolt interface can deliver up to 10W, so I don't see an issue there.

The top concerns here are the compatibility and durability. So questions are:

Has anyone tried this with the linked enclosure? On BHphoto user review I found someone using my SSD with the USB3.0 version of the enclosure and it said there was no problem.

Should I really worry about using the SSD in an USB enclosure with no TRIM?

My friend is an pro-photographer so he will be dumping loads of RAW image from shoots unto the SSD until he gets home to his main rig. He wanted SSD because the last time he dropped his hard drive after a shoot and lost everything.

 

In the situation of your friend (and I can't believe he/she had only one copy of those lost files!!!), I would say TRIM is not as important as when the drive is used as an O/S drive (or as a secondary 'scratch' drive...).

Why? Because the very nature of writing sequential data to the drive kicks in the GC routines and will keep the performance high enough.


Good luck.

 

I did not know that sequential writes triggered GC, thanks for that. I believe he dumped everything from the CF cards onto the hard drive then wiped the CF instead of using extras. So the question is really only whether he wants USB3.0 speed or Thunderbolt speed+TRIM.....

 

Even with SSD's as the temporary storage drive I would be copying to at least two if not more (depending on how important the client was to me). I suggest skip the expensive Thunderbolt drives and get two (different) USB3.0 enclosures instead (with a different brand SSD too, of course).

While the CF cards' cost can be substantial, it is the only 'original' file that exists: even with two or more external drives I would still not re-use the CF cards during a single shoot. The cost (to me) is worth the peace of mind of having multiple copies of my shoots.

(Even when I'm back at my main workstations/NASes, I copy the original files from the CF/SD cards and also the files I downloaded to either a notebook or an external HDD to different/multiple NAS units).

 

Well, I already bought the drives so I can't change that. My friend can get extra equipment and gears with ease, he just didn't have that mindset about data protection.

Is the UASP feature for external drive really worthwhile for boosting speed? Also, since the drive can use up to 8.5W of power, would it better to use a Y cable since one USB3.0 port can only provide up to 4.5W of power? Many thanks.

 

For USB3.0 speeds, UASP is essential. Otherwise, expect closer to USB2.0 speeds.

As for the maximum power that the drives/enclosure will use - I don't think it will be used like that (high queue, Random 4K writes on a SATA3 connection) - but even still, a good Y cable (on two true different USB ports 'internally') is what I would recommend.

Remember that once powered on, the drive uses many different power modes and sequential reading/writing is not that demanding (power-wise).

See:
AnandTech | Crucial M550 Review: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB Models Tested

 

Thanks again. How could I discern between Y cable that are different internally vs same? Could you recommend one ? I checked more into UASP and it seems only the newer versions of OSX supports it. I don't know what version my friend has so I gotta ask him.

 

No, it's not the Y cable that determines if truly different USB ports are used (all one of them is doing is simply supplying power, after all); it is the notebook/desktop platform and how the ports are configured and wired up.

For example, a motherboard with 2 distinct USB ports may have 4 ports available on a notebook. If two physical ports on the same side of the notebook are from the same logical port; the power they are capable of is still only 5W (same as a single USB port).

Doesn't matter what version of OS/x he currently has. Only logical purchase decision is to buy the best enclosure you can now (it will be backward compatible either way).


Hope this helps.

 

Understood thank you

 

1. thanks for your recommendation of the Sandisk II extreme I pick up the 480 GB version for <$240 US.
2.Can anyone recommend a specific brand of enclosure to use for it (or other SSD's)? I tested in an older Vantec (USB 3 and eSATA ) and it was very slow even with 2 USB ports hooked up to a USB 3 capable computer (Sager in my signature spoiler)

OP sorry to hijack!

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/solid-state-drives-ssds-flash-storage/753898-need-advice-external-enclosure-old-crucial-c300-ssd.html

SilverStone Raven SST-RVS02 USB3 UASP support. A couple other models in the link above look good. Vantec has the NexStar 6G NST-266S3 with UASP support, review below.
Vantec NexStar 6G USB 3.0 Storage Enclosure Review

USB3 UASP vs USB3 BOT review.
Beyond USB3, with UASP | Myce.com