iMac Pro Using external SSD for backup purposes

[JBB4]

Hello. I know there is a similar thread on this but didn't want to hijack it with my question! I'm in the process of buying an iMac Pro and was planning on using a Samsung T5 external SSD connected into one of the Thunderbolt 3 connections (USB type-C to type-C connection) as one of my backup options, using Time Machine (will have a separate drive and cloud backup to complement). So I was planning on keeping the Samsung permanently connected.

I've read in the "Two Serious Problems With New 10-core iMac Pro" thread that when the iMac Pro goes to sleep it disconnects the external drive. So if this is correct, my plan of using the Samsung for permanent connection/backup is no good. Is that correct or have I misunderstood?

Many thanks!

 

[tomscott1988]

Why use an SSD as a backup drive when speed isnt a factor... It will just cost more.

 

[JBB4]

Why use an SSD as a backup drive when speed isnt a factor... It will just cost more.

Good challenge but I was wanting to 'hedge my bets' and use different technologies as a fail safe...

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Way to go and of course it will be formatted APFS.

The day of old platter hard drives are behind us.

 

[EugW]

Why use an SSD as a backup drive when speed isnt a factor... It will just cost more.

Cuz sometimes speed is a factor, and it's way, way faster.

 

[JBB4]

Way to go and of course it will be formatted APFS.

The day of old platter hard drives are behind us.

Thanks. Any thoughts on my original query about keeping it plugged in continuously and any issues with the iMac pro dropping the connection if it goes to sleep?

 

[danielwsmithee]

Thanks. Any thoughts on my original query about keeping it plugged in continuously and any issues with the iMac pro dropping the connection if it goes to sleep?

I've only seen a few reports of that happening with USB3 drives not thunderbolt. I would guess that you will be fine.

That being said, using an SSD as Time Machine backup volume is a colossal waste of money in my opinion. For backups HD are a superior technology than SSDs anyways as they can restored from and SSDs cannot. Also for what TimeMachine does, constantly writing new data to drive, purging old backups etc. You are going to get a lot of writes on your SSDs and wear it down much quicker. TimeMachine volumes also generally operate at a nearly completely full capacity which HDs handle a little better than SSDs. After 2-3 years your expensive SSD may not perform any better than the cheaper HD.

TimeMachine is well optimized to just execute well in the background, so just let it do its thing. Just get a two drive enclosure, and set it up as RAID1.

If you do go with an SSD I would suggest formatting for 70-80% of the capacity of the drive.

 

[EugW]

I've only seen a few reports of that happening with USB3 drives not thunderbolt. I would guess that you will be fine.

That being said, using an SSD as Time Machine backup volume is a colossal waste of money in my opinion. For backups HD are a superior technology than SSDs anyways as they can restored from and SSDs cannot. TimeMachine is well optimized to just execute well in the background, so just let it do its thing. Just get a two drive enclosure, and set it up as RAID1.

Why would you say you can't restore from an SSD? Sure you can.

The money argument is a different argument though.

 

[danielwsmithee]

Why would you say you can't restore from an SSD? Sure you can.

The money argument is a different argument though.

Sorry I used restore, a more clear word would be "recover". For HDs if the volume gets corrupted you can run drive recovery software on it to retrieve data off it. This doesn't work as well or easily on an SSD as the firmware controller moves chunks of data to random locations on the drive for wear leveling. On SSDs the addressing is "virtual", if you loose the addressing map, it is nearly impossible to recover the data.

Doing a TimeMachine restore from a working SSD or HD is the same.

 

[bplein]

Thanks. Any thoughts on my original query about keeping it plugged in continuously and any issues with the iMac pro dropping the connection if it goes to sleep?

I have a 2TB Samsung T5 as an additional data drive, and there is NO problem with it ejecting during sleep. I think the problems people are having are with HDDs that sleep internally (possibly) or maybe with USB-3.0. The Samsung T5 has been flawless, it is USB 3.1.

 

[bxs]

Hello. I know there is a similar thread on this but didn't want to hijack it with my question! I'm in the process of buying an iMac Pro and was planning on using a Samsung T5 external SSD connected into one of the Thunderbolt 3 connections (USB type-C to type-C connection) as one of my backup options, using Time Machine (will have a separate drive and cloud backup to complement). So I was planning on keeping the Samsung permanently connected.

I've read in the "Two Serious Problems With New 10-core iMac Pro" thread that when the iMac Pro goes to sleep it disconnects the external drive. So if this is correct, my plan of using the Samsung for permanent connection/backup is no good. Is that correct or have I misunderstood?

Many thanks!

I use a Samsung T3 and T5 with my 15" MBP13,3 (has 4x USB-C ports) and both have behaved without issues. They are very small dimensionally so are easily transported when necessary and draw little power which is good for a laptop running on its battery.

I will be using the T5 with my iMac Pro when it arrives.

 

[komatsu]

I would just like to add that the "ejecting problem" also effects the SD card slot on MacBook Air.

 

[SaSaSushi]

That being said, using an SSD as Time Machine backup volume is a colossal waste of money in my opinion.

Agreed. Just because the days of internal HDD in Macs as boot devices are ending doesn't mean that HDD are not still the medium of choice for backup nor that it is a dead technology.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Also agree.

Use cloning software. Faster and no 'snapshots' taking up drive space.

 

[OBirder]

I have a 2TB Samsung T5 as an additional data drive, and there is NO problem with it ejecting during sleep. I think the problems people are having are with HDDs that sleep internally (possibly) or maybe with USB-3.0. The Samsung T5 has been flawless, it is USB 3.1.

Yes exactly my experience. I have both. The Samsung T5 with no problems (but I use it for data I need fast access e.g. Lightroom Catalog and preview cache.
The external HDD's connected via USB 3 disconnect at sleep. But those I use for low speed priority data (non current projects) and backup. For now I am not putting the iMac Pro to sleep, just dim the display.

 

[JBB4]

Great, thanks guys, really helpful. Following on from OBirder's comments, what are your views on keeping the iMac Pro on all the time, rather than letting it go to sleep?

 

[kingjames1970]

My tuppence worth - I Time Machine to my Drobo and create a bootable clone (using Get Backup Pro 3) to a partition on my SanDisk Extreme 1.92TB at the end of a heavy day's work or every few days otherwise. I just leave the SanDisk plugged in the whole time without an issue so far. Also means I can grab the SanDisk on the way out the door to use with my MBP or in case of emergencies. Yes, it's more expensive using SSD but it's so quick it helps makes everything as 'frictionless' as possible i.e. the less hassle something is, the more likely you are to do it. Nothing seems expensive anymore after getting an iMP!

 

[OBirder]

Great, thanks guys, really helpful. Following on from OBirder's comments, what are your views on keeping the iMac Pro on all the time, rather than letting it go to sleep?

I am new to the Mac family (came from Win 7 PC) and don't know the history of the Mac going to sleep vs. always on. However over the last years my PC was always on as well. Actually I am in computers since quite a while and at one time we said keeping it on all the time is better then frequently turning in on and off.

Bottomline I am not concerned and it fits that I have several scheduled tasks during the night which back up and mirror certain drives and folders.
[doublepost=1515819803][/doublepost]

Yes, it's more expensive using SSD but it's so quick it helps makes everything as 'frictionless' as possible i.e. the less hassle something is, the more likely you are to do it. Nothing seems expensive anymore after getting an iMP!

That might be relative. Besides external SSD I have approx. 50 TB of HDD connected. If I would convert all of them to SSD that still would seem expensive compared to an iMP

 

[kingjames1970]

I am new to the Mac family (came from Win 7 PC) and don't know the history of the Mac going to sleep vs. always on. However over the last years my PC was always on as well. Actually I am in computers since quite a while and at one time we said keeping it on all the time is better then frequently turning in on and off.

Bottomline I am not concerned and it fits that I have several scheduled tasks during the night which back up and mirror certain drives and folders.
[doublepost=1515819803][/doublepost]

That might be relative. Besides external SSD I have approx. 50 TB of HDD connected. If I would convert all of them to SSD that still would seem expensive compared to an iMP

Kerching! To be clear, I wasn't really talking about archive stuff, really the stuff you're working on/use all the time/current cloneable system/must live on your main machine. I do have a bunch to stuff that only lives on HD.

 

[Fishrrman]

I use a few SSD's for backup purposes.

But the drives I use aren't large (240gb) because the volumes I'm backing up aren't large, either.

Needless to say that the incremental backups (I use CarbonCopyCloner to create clones of my source drives) go VERY fast. A few seconds and... done!

I wanted SSD's because these are intended to be "offsite" backups that I store in the car, and felt that platter-based drives wouldn't last under the temperature extremes here of summer heat and winter cold. So far, so good.

 

[OBirder]

Kerching! To be clear, I wasn't really talking about archive stuff, really the stuff you're working on/use all the time/current cloneable system/must live on your main machine. I do have a bunch to stuff that only lives on HD.

I know what you mean. I just thought for a moment that "King James" would flat out buy 50 TB in SSD

On the other side considering that I paid 395 for my first RAM upgrade module of 8 KB at a time I didn't even know that TB exist, who knows what 50 TB SSD will be down the road ...

 

[kingjames1970]

I know what you mean. I just thought for a moment that "King James" would flat out buy 50 TB in SSD

On the other side considering that I paid 395 for my first RAM upgrade module of 8 KB at a time I didn't even know that TB exist, who knows what 50 TB SSD will be down the road ...

On behalf of my employer, I once paid £7,000 for a 9GB external HD!