Mid 2011 iMac First time time machine setup: external drive options

[Lunarlander]

Good Day,
First post here. I have an older mid 2011 iMac with a Thunderbolt-1 port. I would like to set up an external drive as a Time Machine backup drive. Problem is, in 2020 Thunderbolt-3/USB-C seems to be the standard that drive come in. I would like to get a drive that I can plug into my current Mac as a backup drive and then reuse on the next replacement Mac which will have TB-3 ports or beyond. Can I buy a TB3 or USB-C drive (Such as the Samsung T5) and use it with my 2011 iMac ? (With an adapter or something?) If so How do I do that?

Thanks

 

[chabig]

You don't need speed for Time Machine. Any USB drive will do (and the Samsung T5 is an excellent SSD). If the drive has a USB-C port, you'll just need a USB-A to USB-C cable to make the connection, like this one, though most USB-C drives probably ship with a compatible cable (the T5 does).

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[Lunarlander]

Thanks for your response,
But I don't want USB-A, I want a fast connection So I can use the drive for other things. How can I attach the drive to a Thunderbolt port? Anyone know?
Thanks

 

[chabig]

Don’t confuse the shape of the port (USB-A, USB-C) with the speed of data transfer (USB 2, USB 3, etc.) Your iMac’s USB ports are capable of USB 2 speeds up to 480Mbps, which is plenty fast for Time Machine. I would not recommend using the drive for other data. Let Time Machine have its own dedicated drive. Thunderbolt SSDs like the X5 are expensive. It’s not worth it to use them for Time Machine.

If you want other data stored externally, get a Samsung X5 Thunderbolt SSD. You will need Apple’s Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter (https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter) and a Thunderbolt 2 cable to connect it to your Thunderbolt port.

 

[Clix Pix]

Chabig, the OP says his Thunderbolt port is Thunderbolt 1, so I don't think what you suggest would work. If it were a Thunderbolt 2 port, yes, rigging up a setup with adapters would work. That said, actually, I have both Samsung T5 and X5 and can tell you that the T5 is plenty fast enough and plugs into the USB-A (USB-3) port. It won't work as quickly with a USB-2 port, but still should be functional. It comes with both USB-C and USB-A cables. IMHO it really would be a big waste of money to try and use the X5, which is significantly more expensive than a T5, although, yes, it is a speed demon. If you want speed, in any event it's not going to happen with a 2011 iMac.

I agree that it is not necessary to have a lot of speed when using an external drive for a Time Machine drive, and yes, that drive should be dedicated to that purpose only. An ordinary inexpensive 5400 portable spinner drive would do just fine for that purpose.

The T5 was very convenient for me when I was still using a 2015 MBP with USB-3 ports, and then the transition to the 2018 MBP was very simple, as I loaded files and folders on from the older machine, then swapped cables and plugged the T5 into the new machine and put all the data into the appropriate places. Worked a treat!

 

[Lunarlander]

Thanks.
Yeah this is where I get confused. My understanding is that Thunderbolt 1 and 2 are completely compatible except for their speed And it's Thunderbolt 3 that is not compatible with 1 and 2 but is compatible with USB-C (But not all the features). Is this true?

To try and elaborate on what I am asking for let me define the problem this way:
I have a mid 2011 iMac with a free thunderbolt-1 port. (All my USB ports are being used and would rather not also have a dock sitting on my desk.) I am probably going to buy a new iMac within the next 2 years or so but I also want to set up a backup time capsule drive now. My current Mac has a 1 TB HDD which is filling up. (My next mac will prob. have 3TB+) but for now I just want to back up what I have. So I want to get a 1 TB external SSD to use as a time machine drive now. AND THEN, LATER when I buy a new mac with a larger drive I will get a larger capacity external SSD for backups that will natively plug into the new computer via USB C or Thunderbolt 3 (or 4). At that time the backup drive I will buy now can be repurposed as a general high-speed external drive to use between home and work etc.

So although I only need it for Time Machine backups now I will repurpose it within the next couple of years.
That being said, Can I attach a drive like the Samsung T5 to my current iMac through the Thunderbolt port via some kind of adapter and can it function as a Time Machine backup drive in this configuration?

Thanks again

 

[chabig]

Can I attach a drive like the Samsung T5 to my current iMac through the Thunderbolt port via some kind of adapter and can it function as a Time Machine backup drive in this configuration?

Not natively, because the T5 is a USB drive and your Thunderbolt port is just Thunderbolt. You would be better off with a cheap USB hub. Though with what you stated as your longer term goal, you could just get the X5 now and use it for Time Machine. It will require an adapter though and a Thunderbolt 2 cable:

About the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter – Apple Support (UK)

Connect a Mac that has a Thunderbolt 3 port to a device that uses a Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 cable.

support.apple.com

 

[Clix Pix]

I just took a look at that article, and noticed this:

You can also use the Thunderbolt port of this adapter to connect an external hard drive, dock, Mac or other device that uses a Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 cable for data transfer. This adapter supports data-transfer speeds up to 10Gbps with Thunderbolt devices, and up to 20Gbps with Thunderbolt 2 devices.

"This adapter is bidirectional, which means you can use it to connect Thunderbolt 3 devices to a Mac that has a Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 port. In that case, the Mac must be using macOS Sierra or later, and the device using Thunderbolt 3 () must provide its own power."

If I am interpreting this correctly, that suggests that the device would need to have a power adapter attached to it, rather than being bus-driven. Both the T5 and the X5 are bus-driven devices, meaning that when connected, they are using the power of the machine to which they are attached.

Aside from that, there's another consideration: the price difference between a 1 TB X5, which is currently $400 USD at Amazon and a 1 TB T5, which is currently $180.00 USD at Amazon. The X5 comes with just one Thunderbolt 3 cable; the T5 comes with both a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-A cable. Prices are coming down on external SSD and it might make more sense to wait to buy an X5 when you actually have a computer which can benefit from it, and by that time the X5 should be significantly less expensive or have been replaced by an even faster, higher-capacity and still reasonably priced version.

It is possible, yes, to buy additional/other cables for use with a device which does not come with a Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C cable, and that is what I have done with some older external drives that I have, which use Micro-B. Originally these came with the Micro-B on one end to fit into the device and the other end USB-A to fit into computer ports. I've purchased a few Micro-B -to- USB-C (NOT Thunderbolt 3) cables for use with these external drives, and they work very nicely. Two of the external drives are desktop models and also have power adapters plugged into a surge protector, but the others are portable bus-driven ones. Over time I am phasing these out as I switch to USB-C and/or Thunderbolt 3 for everything, and right now they are primarily used as archival drives or backups to my backup drives.

I should also clarify that I do not use Time Machine; I do all my backups manually. I also have a system whereby anything that I do not need to use on a regular basis is shifted from the computer's 1 TB SSD to my T5 drives: documents that are important but which don't need to live on the computer all the time, music, movies, photos, etc. I use the X5 primarily with photos, ingesting from the card reader right to the drive and then culling and editing the images in my editing software, and when finished only put the edited images on my computer's drive if planning to do something additional with them such as sharing them, etc. The x5, then, serves as an active drive for photography and retains my RAW files as well. Periodically I shift them to an archival drive when space starts to become an issue, as it is important to leave plenty of "breathing" space on both the computer's internal SSD and on any external SSD or HDD.

 

[Lunarlander]

Oh well, There goes Plan A.

Ill have to rethink my options. I guess Ill wait until my next computer purchase to get the high speed drive and just get a basic drive as a back up option now.
Thanks all.

 

[Aesthetica]

Oh well, There goes Plan A.

Ill have to rethink my options. I guess Ill wait until my next computer purchase to get the high speed drive and just get a basic drive as a back up option now.
Thanks all.

I'm having the same issue as you - that thunderbolt 1 port is feeling really under utilised considering its so much faster than the USB 2 ports, have you considered just a plain Thunderbolt 1 drive? They're pretty rare but there are some on eBay.

I was going to go the USB C Drive > Thunderbolt Adapter route too but then I read this thread, lol

 

[Imac Sam]

I have a 2011 Imac 27" with Thunderbolt 1 and I use this adapter for my usb 3 drives. I added a good ol' usb3 hub to it as well. Been working a few years for me with no problem.

Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA plus USB 3.0 Adapter

Easily connect your Thunderbolt-equipped Mac or PC to an eSATA device with the Kane Thunderbolt to eSATA + USB 3.0 Adapter. Small and compact, it connects to the Thunderbolt port on your Mac or PC. Compatible with MacBook with MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011), MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011), MacB...

smile.amazon.com

 

[Bertrude]

I boot my 2011 iMac from an external Thunderbolt drive - I got a Crucial SATA SSD and put it inside a Thunderbolt 1/USB3-equipped Buffalo Ministation that originally came with a 1TB spinning drive in it. Works well enough. LaCie also have their rugged orange drives with thunderbolt 1 - some with SSDs some with spinners but one of those might also be suitable?

 

[theluggage]

Ill have to rethink my options. I guess Ill wait until my next computer purchase to get the high speed drive and just get a basic drive as a back up option now.
Thanks all.

Time Machine is a waste of a high-speed drive or SSD - and you'll probably still want a TM drive when you upgrade the Mac.

Also, your TM drive needs to be something like 2x the size of the drive you are backing up - it doesn't just store a copy of the hard drive, it stores a history of old versions of files. Although the price of large SSDs is coming down, old-fangled mechanical HDs are still vastly cheaper for the sort of 1-2TB capacity you want for a TM drive.

In fact - when you get your new machine, best plan is to stick the old TM drive in a cupboard as a long(er) term backup. Personally, I wouldn't dream of using something premium-priced like a Samsung T5 for Time Machine.

The other thing to note is that, unless you are doing something that involves continually slinging huge media files around, the big gain from a SSD in general use comes from having it as the system drive, where all the zillions of libraries, temporary files, virtual memory etc. that are continually being accessed as you work live, and while the reviews love touting the "peak sustained transfer" (a.k.a. "this never happens in real life unless you're editing 4k") rates the BIG difference comes from the vastly reduced "seek" time of any SSD compared to a mechanical drive.

So, really, several terabytes of slow old spinning rust is still the sweet spot for backups, archiving files, media libraries (finished mp3/mp4/etc. doesn't need high transfer rates). So, my advice would be to get a mechanical hard drive with a USB 3 interface - which will work at USB2 speed on your iMac. You could get a TB-to-USB3 interface, but frankly I wouldn't throw any money at TB1/2 technology right now.

The time to look at TB3/USB3.1g2 drives like the Samsung T5 is if (a) you're doing AV production and actually need the bandwidth or (b) you're stiffed with an Mac with a HD/Fusion internal drive and want to use it as an external system drive.

You could also look at network attached storage - again, more than adequate speed for Time Machine or archiving - although I'd go belt-and-braces and get a cheap USB hard drive and, periodically, make a bootable clone of your hard drive using SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner in case you were stuck with rescuing a computer that couldn't boot/access the network. Frankly - I'd do that anyway as a supplement to Time Machine.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

It's not worth paying for a thunderbolt1 drive (if you can find one) to serve as only a backup drive. It's just not worth it.

Get an external USB3 drive (2.5" form factor).
For backup purposes, it could be either a platter-based HDD or an SSD (your choice).
The Samsung t5 would be a good choice, as it will work well with "future Macs" as well.

I believe the t5 comes with BOTH a USBa-USBc cable and a USBc-USBc cable.
Use the cable with the "A connector" and things will work fine.

TIP:
ERASE the t5 completely before using it as a backup drive (or for any other purpose).
Choose Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format.

 

[nathansz]

I would suggesting getting a large cheap drive for time machine backups

you want it to big, you don't want anything else on the same drive, and it doesn't need to be fast

the 5tb seagate expansion drives seem to come on sale fairly often

recently bought one for $70 CDN at Best Buy

 

[4sallypat]

2013 iMac with the ultra SLOW spinning 5400RPM HDD - just found Transcend and LaCie made some nifty Thunderbolt drives that is now used to be my primary boot drive.

What a screaming machine now !

I replaced the LaCie spinning drive with an SSD and voila - the external TB drive now boots the OS, runs web browsing super quick and no longer the spinning beach balls...
Power is in the bus passed thru the TB port.

The LaCie was used on eBay for $50 and the SSD was $40. Total cost $90.
The more expensive route is the Transcend 256 or 512 GB SSD with built in Thunderbolt.

The plus side is that I didn't need to open up the iMac and replace the slow spinning drive - it now sits as my Time Machine, music repository, and photo archive.

Gotta say Thunderbolt is at least 2x faster than using an external USB drive!