SSD enclosure iMac Late 2013

[kagharaht]

Hi guys I tried searching but cannot seem to find the answer myself. Can the iMac Late 2013 boot from an external SSD drive if I use an enclosure that connects to the Thunderbolt port? Or is that port only a display port? Lastly is that port the same as a Thunderbolt 2 since I can't find any reference for Thunderbolt 1 external enclosures on amazon? I want to buy this "SanDisk SSD PLUS 1TB Solid State Drive" and put it in a Thunderbolt Enclosure rather than a USB 3 enclosure. Or is that even possible?

 

[Fishrrman]

You can boot from an external drive (of course).
Easiest and cheapest way is to go with an external USB3 SSD.

Thunderbolt will be no faster than USB3 - in fact, it might be SLOWER.

Again -- best way is to "let thunderbolt be", and use USB3.

MAKE SURE that the USB drive or enclosure you buy supports "UASP" (USB attached SCSI protocol". Otherwise, you won't get the speeds that USB3 is capable of achieving...

 

[EugW]

USB 3 will be fine but Thunderbolt is better (albeit at much higher cost) because TRIM will be natively supported.

USB can support TRIM but it seems to be an issue for macOS that it doesn’t.

 

[kagharaht]

I tried and searched Amazon. There is no reasonably priced Thinderbolt 1,2 enclosure. Just TB3 USB C which my iMac only has USB c or Thunderbolt 1 ports.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Again, I advise you to use USB3 instead.
Cheaper, just as fast, and things will run fine.

 

[kagharaht]

OP:

Again, I advise you to use USB3 instead.
Cheaper, just as fast, and things will run fine.

Yes I'm going go that route. Found a nice Aluminum Enclosure and Sandisk 1TB SSD SATA to pop in there. I'll use Time Machine to Restore my stuff and make it the boot drive. Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

 

[EugW]

Yes I'm going go that route. Found a nice Aluminum Enclosure and Sandisk 1TB SSD SATA to pop in there. I'll use Time Machine to Restore my stuff and make it the boot drive. Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

If it's a third party empty enclosure, only buy it if has AC adapter power support.

There are a lot of bus-powered third party enclosures that are flaky for long term OS usage if only running on bus power, esp. if the SSD is one of the medium to higher power ones. Having the ability to augment with a STABLE external power source is much safer. Having the ability to use a second USB port on the computer for power is not good enough. (However, if it is one of those that uses a second USB cable for power, you can use an iPad charger or something like that to power it, and that's good enough.)

When you buy name brand bus-powered pre-built drives, they usually are reliable, but once you start using third party enclosures with separately purchased third party SSDs, all bets are off. Bus power is minefield for unreliability in this context.

if you're determined to use only bus power, then you might want to try something like a Samsung T5 USB 3 SSD.

https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/portable/t5/

It comes with both USB-C and USB-A cables.

 

[kagharaht]

If it's a third party empty enclosure, only buy it if has AC adapter power support.

There are a lot of bus-powered third party enclosures that are flaky for long term OS usage if only running on bus power, esp. if the SSD is one of the medium to higher power ones. Having the ability to augment with a STABLE external power source is much safer. Having the ability to use a second USB port on the computer for power is not good enough. (However, if it is one of those that uses a second USB cable for power, you can use an iPad charger or something like that to power it, and that's good enough.)

When you buy name brand bus-powered pre-built drives, they usually are reliable, but once you start using third party enclosures with separately purchased third party SSDs, all bets are off. Bus power is minefield for unreliability in this context.

if you're determined to use only bus power, then you might want to try something like a Samsung T5 USB 3 SSD.

https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/portable/t5/

It comes with both USB-C and USB-A cables.

I found this it can have a power supply and supports Trim so it says.

4.4 out of 5 stars 50Reviews
MiniPro 2.5" SATA to USB 3.1 (USB-C) External Aluminum Hard Drive

HDD/Solid State SSD Enclosure

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N0EDY4N/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

[EugW]

I found this it can have a power supply and supports Trim so it says.

4.4 out of 5 stars 50Reviews
MiniPro 2.5" SATA to USB 3.1 (USB-C) External Aluminum Hard Drive

HDD/Solid State SSD Enclosure

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N0EDY4N/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Never used it, but as I understand it the chipset it uses is probably a common one.

Judging by the reviews, people have had success with bus power alone on that one, although I still might recommend spending the $10 for external power just in case, if convenient.

I just know that when I've used bus power alone on multiple third part enclosures, (including both USB or Firewire), sometimes very occasional unexplained glitches might happen but not consistently. With external power, those glitches completely disappeared.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

I use two external Kingston SSD's, one via TB and the second via USB3. They do a SuperDuper Smart Backup within one second of each other so do as the fisho says, save money and go with a USB3 caddy externally.

 

[kagharaht]

Never used it, but as I understand it the chipset it uses is probably a common one.

Judging by the reviews, people have had success with bus power alone on that one, although I still might recommend spending the $10 for external power just in case, if convenient.

I just know that when I've used bus power alone on multiple third part enclosures, (including both USB or Firewire), sometimes very occasional unexplained glitches might happen but not consistently. With external power, those glitches completely disappeared.

This one can be power d so I’ll buy that power adapter once I find a compatible one for it. I’ll have to contact the manufacturer to find a model to buy on amazon.

 

[kagharaht]

Hi guys if I use CCC to make my external SSD a boot drive does it automatically connect to my Time Machine Capsule backup? Will it recognize it and continue as is or will I end up starting new backup?

 

[Fishrrman]

Will the external USB SSD "hold everything that you have"?

If so, I'd suggest this:
1. Get the external boot drive set up as needed.
2. Use CCC to backup the external SSD to the internal drive. In other words, let the internal drive "become your cloned backup".

Now you have TWO ways to boot the Mac:
1. Normal usage -- external SSD
2. Emergency -- boot from the internal drive.

Do it this way, and you won't need TM any more...

 

[EugW]

Will the external USB SSD "hold everything that you have"?

If so, I'd suggest this:
1. Get the external boot drive set up as needed.
2. Use CCC to backup the external SSD to the internal drive. In other words, let the internal drive "become your cloned backup".

Now you have TWO ways to boot the Mac:
1. Normal usage -- external SSD
2. Emergency -- boot from the internal drive.

Do it this way, and you won't need TM any more...

Problem with this is if the Mac dies, you can't access your backup.

 

[Fishrrman]

"Problem with this is if the Mac dies, you can't access your backup."

This makes no sense when one is booting/running from an external drive "as the primary drive".
Here's why:
If the Mac dies, the user just disconnects "the boot drive" (with everything on it) and takes it to the new Mac, and plugs it in.

After doing that, the user has two options:
1. Boot and run "externally", as before
or
2. Begin the setup on the new Mac, and migrate from the bootable external drive.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to keep a second (external) or third backup as well...

Personal experience:
I practice what I preach.
I've been running just this way since January 2013 with my 2012 Mac Mini.

 

[EugW]

"Problem with this is if the Mac dies, you can't access your backup."

This makes no sense when one is booting/running from an external drive "as the primary drive".
Here's why:
If the Mac dies, the user just disconnects "the boot drive" (with everything on it) and takes it to the new Mac, and plugs it in.

After doing that, the user has two options:
1. Boot and run "externally", as before
or
2. Begin the setup on the new Mac, and migrate from the bootable external drive.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to keep a second (external) or third backup as well...

Personal experience:
I practice what I preach.
I've been running just this way since January 2013 with my 2012 Mac Mini.

That doesn't help you if the external drive is missing the file or if the file is corrupted.

Granted, this won't happen very often but still, it is a consideration.

eg. You're working on a file on the external drive, and the iMac crashes, thereby corrupting that file. However, you find out the iMac is actually dead, so you can't access your backup either.

I personally keep my main files on a NAS, but that NAS is backed up every day to two different locations, one on a local external drive, and one on the network on the other side of the house. Plus, I keep periodic backups on external drives elsewhere.

Having only one backup is not good enough, and having that one backup on the inaccessible internal drive of your main machine is even worse.