Mid 2011 27 inch iMac question

[Bast65]

Hi, seems like my external backup drive is failing in my imac. was thinking I could buy a thunderbolt drive of 1tb (which equals my internal storage) or greater and backup my music, photo's etc... and THEN format the internal hard drive and start with a fresh os.
my thinking is that ultimately the imac will be a little snappier....true????
when I was pc this often seemed to lead to better performance on the same rig...

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Very.

When I had that model I used a Silicon Power Thunderbolt drive externally, cloned everything over and then made the internal my backup drive with a partition for beta testing new operating systems from Apple. Twelve South Dock make a great little 'bench' that attaches to the leg of the iMac to seat the TB drive on.

Go into System Preferences > Startup Disk and select the TB as the boot disk. Only vagary is when a Software Update comes along from Apple, it always updates the internal, and on reboot starts on the TB drive.

 

[Bast65]

Very.

When I had that model I used a Silicon Power Thunderbolt drive externally, cloned everything over and then made the internal my backup drive with a partition for beta testing new operating systems from Apple. Twelve South Dock make a great little 'bench' that attaches to the leg of the iMac to seat the TB drive on.

Go into System Preferences > Startup Disk and select the TB as the boot disk. Only vagary is when a Software Update comes along from Apple, it always updates the internal, and on reboot starts on the TB drive.

Thanks for your quick response. would something like this help?
Transcend 2TB Thunderbolt USB 3.0 External Hard Drive for MAC (TS2TSJM300)

or a ssd? mid 2011 has firewire, thunderbolt (1.0) and usb 2.0

what's my best bet for, ultimately, a time capsule like device? or will running from the thunderbolt be MUCH faster, and put os on there?

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Never USB 2 too slow which is why I recommended a TB SSD.

Yes an SSD isvery much faster with read up in the 500's and write about 250. Problem is you will not get them in 2TB sizes.

I used a Silicon Power 256GB model as I am not into photos, music etc., and it was ample.

Here is a page from Amazon on several types of Thunderbolt external SSD, but take a deep breath before checking prices. Cheaper than a new Mac:-


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...=apple-thunderbolt-20&linkId=IFZOYV6ADXXRPCNJ

 

[cobracnvt]

A thunderbolt drive is a pretty big investment for an older computer. You didn't say how much actual data you have, but a USB 2 or firewire drive on your will be much cheaper than a thunderbolt connected drive and will work. It will just take longer but the money you save could go towards getting a newer Mac in the future.

If you definitely want to go Thunderbolt, another option that may have other uses for you would be a Thunderbolt dock. I personally haven't used one, but I have been thinking about getting one. A dock would give you multiple USB 3 ports which would give you good speed using less expensive USB 3 external drives.

I did a quick search and ran across a few articles that talk about the current docks http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-thunderbolt-dock/ and this is an older article reviewing older Thunderbolt 1 docks: http://www.macworld.com/article/209...nnect-your-macbook-to-your-other-devices.html