02-11-2021, 01:51 AM
The good news: a new work assignment has netted me enough extra cash to finally retire my Mac Pro 5,1. I'm eyeing an M1 Mini, likely with 1TB SSD. The bad news: I'm in sticker shock regarding the cost of SSD external storage AND am not clear on the best configuration strategy.
I realize I could technically keep using my USB and Firewire externals. But my thinking is that if I'm going to leap from the Middle Ages to the future, I want to go all in and have that as my new normal. I can afford to do it properly, so there's no excuse not to.
Current storage set-up with the Mac Pro 5,1:
• Two 2TB internal drives solely for image storage and a backup of that storage.
• One 1TB internal drive for general storage.
• One 2TB external drive for general storage.
• One 1TB external drive that backs up my 1TB internal SSD boot drive. (Boot drive is the only SSD in the system.)
So that's 8TB total: a rather haphazard collection that could benefit from a good refresh.
I've poured over SSD specs am still woefully unclear on the best path for replacing my old drives, especially because mistakes will be costly. Do I just replace each of the current drives with SSDs of matching capacity? Or is there a different strategy I'm missing? Do I want to spend the extra money on Thunderbolt drives to take advantage of daisy chaining?
My goals are 1) generous [currently 2TB] image storage plus matching capacity backup drive, 2) backup drive for my boot drive [anticipated 1TB], and 3) general storage [currently 3TB across two drives] including very large folders for files associated with pro apps.
Any advice? TIA! You guys and gals have never let me down
I realize I could technically keep using my USB and Firewire externals. But my thinking is that if I'm going to leap from the Middle Ages to the future, I want to go all in and have that as my new normal. I can afford to do it properly, so there's no excuse not to.
Current storage set-up with the Mac Pro 5,1:
• Two 2TB internal drives solely for image storage and a backup of that storage.
• One 1TB internal drive for general storage.
• One 2TB external drive for general storage.
• One 1TB external drive that backs up my 1TB internal SSD boot drive. (Boot drive is the only SSD in the system.)
So that's 8TB total: a rather haphazard collection that could benefit from a good refresh.
I've poured over SSD specs am still woefully unclear on the best path for replacing my old drives, especially because mistakes will be costly. Do I just replace each of the current drives with SSDs of matching capacity? Or is there a different strategy I'm missing? Do I want to spend the extra money on Thunderbolt drives to take advantage of daisy chaining?
My goals are 1) generous [currently 2TB] image storage plus matching capacity backup drive, 2) backup drive for my boot drive [anticipated 1TB], and 3) general storage [currently 3TB across two drives] including very large folders for files associated with pro apps.
Any advice? TIA! You guys and gals have never let me down