Where to put hd with sdd in imac 7? Is esata problematic?

[Mother'sDay]

If I get the refurb 27" imac with ssd, it will have ONLY a 256GB ssd, not a regular hard drive. They incorrectly told me during the online chat that they couldn't do both. The refurb model can't have both, but indeed a NEW model can have an ssd and hd. So now what I'm confused about is where in the world did they intend my files to go??? Are they assuming I'm going to store all my photos and things externally and use FW? Won't that totally negate the speed savings of the ssd? I'm just not seeing the logic here.

So I'm back to thinking I need to order the 27" refurb with the 1T hd and send it to OWC. If I do that, what is the most logical set-up for me? Is esata problematic? It seems logical to get because it would be so fast for back-ups. But to do that I have to make compromises. They won't sub out the optical drive (which I don't want to give up anyway) for the ssd. Instead they remove the card reader and give you a little USB version. Well that irks me, because I HATE how slow uploads are that way. (I take a lot of pictures with the family and all!)

So if I want a 1-2T hd inside *and* the ssd, I have to give up either the card reader or the esata. Is the esata so problematic I'll be glad I didn't get it? Is there some other solution to my needs here that I'm not seeing? I'm still learning a ton on all this, being entirely new to macs. What I think I want is the ssd for speed, some space to store my everyday stuff, and some space externally (or somewhere else) to use as back-up. All I ask is that my connections for everyday stuff be screaming fast. Doesn't seem like it should be too much to ask, lol.

Any advice? I just don't get what they were thinking and why they would sell a small ssd computer and not give a smokin' fast connection to add an external drive.

 

[talmy]

I would guess that Apple doesn't have ESATA because the drives aren't hot swappable -- they have to be connected and disconnected while the computer is off.

SSDs lose much of their advantage in a desktop system since these can be left on and sleep when not in use (thus boot time is irrelevant) and and you only really need to launch a program once, just closing the windows when you aren't using them.

SSDs are much smaller and more expensive than hard drives, so it doesn't make much sense to store large quantities of data (such as photo or video libraries) on them. And for users whose applications either tend to be processor bound or network bound, the SSD offers no performance advantage.

An iMac with just an SSD would be fine for someone who just wants the fastest possible system but either doesn't have large video/photo collections or keeps these files on a NAS or server. I've got a server with 5TB of drives, and there's no way I could have all the files on an iMac, even one that is maxed out. I have about 280 GB on my iMac, and I only have photos and video I'm currently working on local to the iMac. I don't have the latest model, but if I were to have an SSD I'd only consider it for a MacBook or MacBook Pro at this time.

 

[Mother'sDay]

The no hot swapping sounds like a minor inconvenience, considering I would generally leave the things in place. Any other problems with e-sata?

It finally occurred to me that a firewire card reader would take care of my problem. Then I could have a faster card reader and have everything internally too (esata, 2T hd, and sdd). So while that adds another $100 onto my ever-growing wishlist, at list I'm finally seeing how this could work. The lack of ability to upgrade later concerns me. I'm afraid I'll compromise now and get locked in with something I regret later. The slowness of things is what irks me now on my computer right now, so I'm trying very hard to swing the other way.

What is an NAS? It's like reading greek around here. I gather it's some type of external storage? Gotta go search and see if I can figure out. That's my next step, to see if that back-up ought to be via Cloud, ethernet, daisy-chained units on e-sata, or what.

 

[talmy]

NAS - Network Attached Storage. It allows having a central disk store for multiple computers. No advantage over an external drive if you have a single computer.

For backups, what ever you do, make sure that at least one copy is store "off site" for protection against theft, fire, or natural disaster.