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Mac Pro - Thunderbolt Drive question

M

MagicSteve83

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2013
2
0
Hey all, I'm looking to upgrade to a 6 Core Mac Pro and I had a quick question about storage (forgive me, I've been out of the loop on recent technology upgrades for a bit). It seems to me as if the latest version of Mac Pro (late 2013) is leaning towards external thunderbolt storage as the go-to solution for your files. I'll be editing quite a bit of video (raw files from a BlackMagic Cinema Camera) and was wondering if editing DIRECTLY from these drives is safe or not. In the past I know using an external device as your main work drive was a big no no but, as I'm not familiar with Thunderbolt, has this issue been alleviated?

Programs I'll be running are the Adobe suite (mainly Premiere, AfterEffects, Illustrator & InDesign), DaVinci Resolve, various RedGiant plugins and programs (mainly PluralEyes), Lightroom, Portrait Professional, etc.

Again, forgive my lack of knowledge on the subject. I'm trying to grow my home business (media production/graphic design) and at this point, with my current workflow and clientele, it's either spend the money to upgrade or start explaining to customers why I can't handle shooting/editing their event that lasts over an hour. Thanks so much!

Currently running a late 2009 iMac with 2.8Ghz i7 and 8GB ram. Shooting with Canon 5D and Canon 7D in 1080p.
 
One of the main issues from editing from external drives before was speed. With Thunderbolt (and USB 3 as well) you won't have the speed issue.
 
I have same dilemma and what I've done was invested in a promise 2 for TB storage along with working from. B&H has the lowest price for the 8TB I've found. Good luck n if you find any other solutions pls post.
 
raw911 said:
I have same dilemma and what I've done was invested in a promise 2 for TB storage along with working from.
Click to expand...

The online Apple store now has the Promise Thunderbolt 2 4 diskless system available for around $600 or $700, for you to add your own drives. Its on a few week back order but I just placed an order, along with the 33ft optical TB cable.

Then when OWC comes out with their 2 card Thunderbolt system I'll get that plus flash card and external eSATA ports. That way I'll have all my disk needs covered using Thunderbolt 2.0, and the equipment will stay back in my cabinet away from my ears.
 
Promise vs GTech

What is the difference between the Promise ThunderBolt drive and the G-Tech offered in the online apple store (other than price)? Basically, I'm wondering if its better to order my mac with a 1TB internal flash drive or keep it at the default 256GB and just use external Thunderbolt drives to work from.
 
MagicSteve83 said:
What is the difference between the Promise ThunderBolt drive and the G-Tech offered in the online apple store (other than price)? Basically, I'm wondering if its better to order my mac with a 1TB internal flash drive or keep it at the default 256GB and just use external Thunderbolt drives to work from.
Click to expand...
Or maybe a 512GB? You want the internal SSD to be able to hold all your software. 256GB might be enough or it might not.

Also, the 1TB SSD is faster than the 256GB SSD. I'm not sure if you would actually notice the difference under normal usage.
 
Bear said:
Or maybe a 512GB? You want the internal SSD to be able to hold all your software. 256GB might be enough or it might not.
Click to expand...

For what it's worth both of my current Macs have 512GB SSDs for the system/applications drive and that size has been the sweet spot for me. If I had 256 they'd be stuffed uncomfortably full, but 1TB would see a lot of wasted storage.
 
Cubemmal said:
The online Apple store now has the Promise Thunderbolt 2 4 diskless system available for around $600 or $700, for you to add your own drives. Its on a few week back order
Click to expand...

Yea funny cause when I spike to apples business agent on the 19-20th he stated the diskless was in stock then. So it's been a mad rush for the diskless $699 promise 2. I messed up cause I wasn't sure of what direction I was goin in at that time. Had I known I'd went to store and picked it up THEN. But I finally made choice and saw the 2-3 wks wait I went to B&H plus they was only $1432.99 free shipping and no tax..... Now I'm not circumventing our tax system just making use of it.
 
raw911 said:
Yea funny cause when I spike to apples business agent on the 19-20th he stated the diskless was in stock then. So it's been a mad rush for the diskless $699 promise 2. I messed up cause I wasn't sure of what direction I was goin in at that time. Had I known I'd went to store and picked it up THEN. But I finally made choice and saw the 2-3 wks wait I went to B&H plus they was only $1432.99 free shipping and no tax..... Now I'm not circumventing our tax system just making use of it.
Click to expand...

I'm fine with waiting, I have to wait for the nMP anyhow.
 
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