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+--- Thread: Advice on external HD enclosure (/showthread.php?tid=93169)
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Advice on external HD enclosure - smanoli - 02-21-2010
I just got a new mac mini and would like to set it up to use Time Machine. I have an existing SATA drive I would like to use so I'm looking for an enclosure and would like some advice.
This will be for Time Machine only I'm not worried about the interface (a long initial backup or restore is ok). I would like an decent quality enclosure and more importantly one that will power down or sleep when my mini sleeps. I currently leave my mini running 24/7 but it automatically sleeps when not in use. Noise is also a concern; I'd like something that's not going to be loud when not in use.
If the ministack 2.5 will power off/sleep when the computer sleeps and not just when the computer powers down the ministack looks like it would fit the bill, and the extra usb and fw ports would be nice. I'm hoping the intelligent fan means that it will be quiet enough for me.
However $60 seems like a fair amount for an enclosure since I don't care about FW. Or do all the less expensive USB only enclosures run 24/7 and not allow the drive to sleep w/ the computer.
Thanks for the advice.
Re: Advice on external HD enclosure - mattkime - 02-21-2010
ministack looks nice but these are some very good deals -
http://thermaltakeusa.com/newsletter2/Tt3DaySale.htm
from http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,891659
Re: Advice on external HD enclosure - smanoli - 02-21-2010
Any idea how I go about finding out if an enclosure will power down/sleep w/ the computer though? I see no mention of that on the site.
Or can any decent enclosure do that these days? I got the mini because it is so power efficient so I'd rather not add an external enclosure that runs all the time, plus I'd rather not wear out the drive running it 24/7.
Re: Advice on external HD enclosure - mattkime - 02-21-2010
i'm fairly certain that proper spin down isn't a property of a particular enclosure but i'm certain that if i'm wrong, someone on the forum will correct me.
Re: Advice on external HD enclosure - smanoli - 02-21-2010
Hmm... my quick test w/ one of my existing enclosures seems to indicate it does depend. The mac went to sleep but I could still hear the HD. Even more annoying unmounting the drive didn't cause it to spin down either.
Re: Advice on external HD enclosure - deckeda - 02-22-2010
I would expect an external FireWire drive to spin down when unmounted. A USB probably not. But as for spinning down when the Mac is sleeping, I can't say for sure. Doubtful.
Get a fanless enclosure if noise is a concern. The miniStack is noisy when the fan kicks in; mine will kick in most of the time. My old Maxtor One Touch III is pretty quiet even though it has a fan.
You can limit the time a drive spins (and maybe its fan, too, if triggered by heat) by only mounting the drive when doing a backup. This is only really practical when doing a backup say, once a day.
I had mine automated by having an iCal alarm run each morning. It would wake the Mac and run a shell script that would mount my backup drive. TimeMachineEditor had Time Machine configured to run about a minute later than the alarm. After about 10 minutes another iCal alarm would run another shell script that unmounted the drive. This permitted the drive to remain connected but never spin or mount when not needed.
Re: Advice on external HD enclosure - olnacl - 02-22-2010
I have a couple VANTEC NST-360SU-BL Aluminum 3.5" eSATA& USB 2.0 External Enclosures and they spin down when the computer sleeps. I don't know whether the USB only or FW/USB combos do the same, but I suspect they might.
Re: Advice on external HD enclosure - smanoli - 02-22-2010
deckeda wrote:
Get a fanless enclosure if noise is a concern. The miniStack is noisy when the fan kicks in; mine will kick in most of the time. My old Maxtor One Touch III is pretty quiet even though it has a fan.
I don't mind if the fan kicks in when the drive is being used. I just don't want the fan going when I'm not using the drive. The computer is in the bedroom so my main concern is the noise it makes when the mini is asleep.
deckeda wrote:
You can limit the time a drive spins (and maybe its fan, too, if triggered by heat) by only mounting the drive when doing a backup. This is only really practical when doing a backup say, once a day.
I had mine automated by having an iCal alarm run each morning. It would wake the Mac and run a shell script that would mount my backup drive. TimeMachineEditor had Time Machine configured to run about a minute later than the alarm. After about 10 minutes another iCal alarm would run another shell script that unmounted the drive. This permitted the drive to remain connected but never spin or mount when not needed.
Yeah, I'd rather let time machine do it's thing and do the hourly backups, instead of having one more step that can fail mounting/unmounting the drive.
olnacl wrote:
I have a couple VANTEC NST-360SU-BL Aluminum 3.5" eSATA& USB 2.0 External Enclosures and they spin down when the computer sleeps. I don't know whether the USB only or FW/USB combos do the same, but I suspect they might.
Thanks for the info, at that price if the miniStack spin down when the mini sleeps it might be worth the extra money for the integrated hub.
Re: Advice on external HD enclosure - jdc - 02-22-2010
You could always just call OWC and ask them.
My OWC cases -- not mini-stacks -- spin down just fine.
Re: Advice on external HD enclosure - Black - 02-22-2010
It's a function of the drive and energy saver settings, not the enclosure.