2017 iMac - not enough Thunderbolt 3 ports!

[zqbobs]

The problem is I have 3 devices requiring Thunderbolt 3 and only 2 ports on the iMac. One port is dedicated to a 2-disk RAID drive (OyenDigital MiniPro RAID V3) and one to a Satechi Type-C Clamp Hub.

The third device I'd like to attach to Thunderbolt is a Samsung T7 SSD, but it won't mount on the Satechi USB-C port (insufficient power or not Thunderbolt?). I really like the Satechi for convenient temporary drive mounting and SD card reading, but am frustrated by the weak USB-C port.

The only solution seems to me to be a Thunderbolt drive enclosure (like the OWC ThunderBay Mini) which has 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports on the back side, one for chaining another device. I could put the T7 after the OWC Mini in a chain off one of the iMac ports.

Any less expensive suggestions?

 

[hfg]

The Oyen MiniPro and the Samsung T7 are both actually USB devices with a USB C/Thunderbolt connector. You might want to simply swap the cable for a 'USB C-to-USB A' cable and plug them into the iMac USB ports thus freeing up your Thunderbolt ports. If you have hard disks in the Open, there will be no speed difference.

The T7 may operate a bit slower, although it may not be noticeable in your applications. The replacement cables are only about $8 ... much cheaper than a ThunderBay Mini drive enclosure. The ThunderBay enclosures are nice, but they do introduce another fan and the resultant noise into your environment.

 

[velocityg4]

What's really annoying is Thunderbolt allows daisy chaining but most devices have only one port.

At any rate. That RAID enclosure as mentioned by @hfg is only USB. As it is USB 3.1 Gen 2. If you want full throughput. You should consider a USB 3.1 Gen 2 hub as I think the USB Type A ports are only USB 3.1 Gen 1 (3.0).

Juiced Systems VertexHUB High-Speed USB-C & USB-A Hub - 10 Gbps Transfer, USB 3.2 Gen 2, 4X USB-C Ports, 3X USB-A Ports, Fast Charging

Designed for power users to get data transferred quickly and charge up peripherals at blazing fast speeds. The VertexHUB is dedicated to the latest USB-C 3.2 Generation 2 standards. We understand that USB-A ports are not going away any time soon. This is why we added three USB-A 3.2 Generation 2 ...

www.amazon.com

Another option is a Thunderbolt 3 dock. Finding one which does Thunderbolt 3 passthrough and USB 3.1 Gen 2. It'll probably have an SD card reader too. Here's one.

CalDigit TS3 Plus Thunderbolt 3 Dock - 87W Charging, 7X USB 3.1 Ports, USB-C Gen 2, DisplayPort, UHS-II SD Card Slot, Gigabit Ethernet for Mac & PC, Thunderbolt 4 Compatible (0.8m/2.62ft Cable)

CalDigit TS3 Plus Thunderbolt 3 Dock - 87W Charging, 7X USB 3.1 Ports, USB-C Gen 2, DisplayPort, UHS-II SD Card Slot, Gigabit Ethernet for Mac & PC, Thunderbolt 4 Compatible (0.8m/2.62ft Cable)

www.amazon.com

Of course if you are considering the OWC unit. I'm pretty sure they have two and four bay NVMe units for Thunderbolt 3. You could skip the Samsung T7 and use one of those enclosures for NVMe. Something better priced like the HP EX 950 which is right up there with a 970 Evo Plus.

 

[zqbobs]

I am utterly confused by the proliferation of USB variants, made even worse with Thunderbolt thrown in! Manufacturers of devices are not helping either.

I can state for sure that the OyenDigital MiniPro Raid V3 with SSDs in RAID0 has twice the speed when attached to the iMac's Thunderbolt port versus one of the USB ports (see below). The same is true for the T7 (in fact, the speed numbers are similar). I believe the 2017 iMac's USB ports are limited to 5Gbps. The MiniPro RAID is spec'ed as USB3.1,Gen2 with 10Gbps max and the T7 is spec'ed as USB3.2,Gen2 with 10Gbps max. So, I think it's correct that neither device is Thunderbolt3 (40Gbps), but which port they are plugged into on the iMac makes a significant difference.

Thanks for the pointer to the Juiced HUB - it looks promising. The CalDigit is more than I'd like to spend.

MiniPro RAID V3:

Samsung T7:

MiniPro RAID0, TB3 port:

MiniPro RAID0, USB3 port:

 

[velocityg4]

Yea USB has become a clusterduck.

USB 3.0 = 3.1 Gen 1 = 3.2 Gen 1 = USB SuperSpeed 5
USB 3.1 Gen 2 = 3.2 Gen 2 = USB SuperSpeed 10
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 = USB SuperSpeed 20

USB 4 will have
USB 4 Gen 2x1 = 10 Gbps (Single Lane)
USB 4 Gen 3x1 = 20 Gbps (Single Lane)
USB 4 Gen 2x2 = 20 Gbps (Dual Lane)
USB 4 Gen 3x2 = 40 Gbps (Dual Lane)

To make matters worse Thunderbolt 4 won't be any faster than Thunderbolt 3. Probably because Intel doesn't support PCIe 4 yet. It adds 8K and 2x4K support minimum, up to four Thunderbolt splits on a hub/dock, fixes wake from dock issues and DMA attack flaws.

Anyways that Juiced hub should work for you. As it is USB 3.1 Gen 2. However, you can save some money with a USB 3.1 Gen 2 NVMe enclosure and pair it with an HP EX 950. Since it is just USB 3.1 Gen 2 you could likely get about the same performance from a budget NVMe like the Crucial P2. Due to the 10 Gbps limitation. If you want full performance from a high end NVMe. It needs to be Thunderbolt 3.