MP 1,1-5,1 File transfer from 5.1 Mac Pro to MBP M1 - best way for a lot of data?

[PeterMeier3435]

Hi,

I'm currently transferring my system from a Mac Pro to an M1 16 MBP (8TB disk). I have a loooot of stuff (6+TB) on different SSD and HDDs on the Mac Pro and I'm not using any external drives. What's the best way to access the Mac Pro drives from the M1 so I can pull, categorize and organize everything whilst also decluttering?

I don't have Airdrop on the 5.1. and no FireWire connection on the M1 for TargetDiskMode (would that work with an adapter/dock?).

Dropbox / online sync is too messy.

Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Soba]

I would enable file sharing (System Preferences > Sharing) on your Mac Pro and connect to it over a gigabit wired network from your new system. This would give you good performance while also allowing you to cull or copy the files however you want.

If you want your application and account settings transferred over seamlessly, look at Migration Assistant.

 

[joevt]

and I'm not using any external drives

but that's the fastest way to transfer data. There are some inexpensive external drive enclosures that you can connect with USB (5 Gbps usually - more expensive ones can do 10 Gbps with two SSDs)

to see if an external enclosure is worth the cost:
Use a benchmark utility such as AmorphousDiskMark to measure disk speed on the Mac Pro directly to a HDD in the Mac Pro. Then repeat the test for gigabit file sharing.
I think gigabit ethernet is between 85 and 120 MB/s.
An HDD is slightly faster than that (100 -140 MB/s but some newer models may be faster). An SSD can be between 265 and 288 MB/s in a SATA 3G drive bay.

 

[PeterMeier3435]

Thanks for the replies - I'll try via ethernet so I can pick in choose in place what to keep and what to trash!

 

[flaubert]

I'm a big fan of these NewerTech drive toasters:

Voyager by NewerTech - HD Dock for SATA Devices

Use and swap 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA drives with ease with Newertech Voyager. Both Mac and PC compatible.

eshop.macsales.com

Drop your disk in, data transfers more or less at native speed of the hard drive. You'll spend more than $35 just getting an Ethernet-to-Thunderbolt adapter. And if you're going cMP->ethernet->router->WiFi->MBP your weakest link is going to be the WiFi: unless you have a really good router with recent technology your WiFi is going to bottleneck the ethernet speeds.

 

[AfterglowMP]

I did consider getting a super fast 10gb/s Sonnet ethernet card to directly tranfer big video files from to a newer Mac from my Mac Pro 5,1 (and even use cMP as a hard drive enclosure). Haven't tried it yet but maybe someone else has?

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Once that is sorted, whatever you do, don't use Finder! arRsync works well.

 

[0488568]

scp -rp in the termnal is fastest i'v experienced.