Need External Boot Drive Help

[DookSucks]

I have a Late 2014 27" (3.5 i5). The fusion drive is having issues. I use this machine in my law office, and it's mission critical for my workflow. I don't want to buy a new intel iMac, and I'm far from being comfortable with buying a M1 iMac or Mac Mini. So, I need to squeeze 2-3 more years out of this bad boy. I don't want to open it up, and since I don't do heavy photo or 4k video editing (the little bit of editing I do for presentations is far simpler and far less intense), I am more than happy to run the machine on an external SSD. I don't want to use USB3 SSD because having 2018 mini at the house has spoiled me in terms of speed.

With that said, which TB3 Dock and NVMe SSD should I use? I am running 11.2, and I want to get a TB3 dock so that I can use it in the future whenever I do upgrade.

I know that CalDigit TS3+ is the one folks love and adore. However, it seems as if the machines can be finicky with the docks. So, I want to ensure I find one that works with the Thunderbolt 2 iMac and TB3->TB2 cable (I know to get the apple adapter) without having issues.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Fishrrman]

"I don't want to use USB3 SSD because having 2018 mini at the house has spoiled me in terms of speed."

USB3 -IS- the drive you want.
It will be as fast as thunderbolt, or faster (doesn't your iMac have only tbolt2?).

Granted, a 2018 Mini (which I'm using right now) will boot up faster on the internal drive than it will using the USB3 SSD that I maintain as a bootable backup.

But once up-and-running, the differences between them are less noticeable.
I predict that you won't notice them much at all for "law office work".

I predict that fooling with thunderbolt will prove to be more time and trouble than it's worth.

My recommendations:
#1:
- Get a 2.5" SATA SSD (the size should be equal to or larger than the size of your fusion drive)
- Get a USB3 enclosure. If you want something bulletproof, I'd recommend this one:

MiniPro 2.5" SATA to USB 3.1 (USB-C) External Aluminum Hard Drive HDD/Solid State SSD Enclosure

The MiniPro USB-C offers the latest USB-C connectivity while providing the fastest data transfer rate available. The design features an aluminum body engineered to provide maximum protection and effective heat dissipation. The MiniPro USB-C is universally compatible with all USB & Thunderbolt 3. ...

www.amazon.com

- Put the drive in the enclosure and erase/initialize it with disk utility
- Use CarbonCopyCloner to clone the contents of the fusion drive to the SSD.
CCC is FREE to download and use for 30 days, "doing it my way" costs you nothing.

#2:
- Get an nvme "blade" SSD
- Get a USB3.1 gen2 enclosure
- Again, use CCC to clone your fusion drive to the SSD.

The USB3.1 gen2 drive will give you the option of higher speeds in the future, yet should be "backward compatible" with what you have now.

 

[DookSucks]

I have tried the USB3 route, hence my request here. So, thanks for the offer, but that doesn't provide the type of speed I want/need. I may only deal with "law office work," but I deal with opening, editing and transferring multi-gig video and audio files constantly as part of the discovery process. I want the speed. Time is money. If I wait 5 minutes longer per 10-12 hour work day (normal day for me), that's nearly 21 hours per year of lost productivity (50 weeks with 5 work days for 250 work days...which is too conservative but simple enough for this purpose) and two entire work days I could have spent working on something else or more importantly have spent with my family instead of being in the office.

 

[Fishrrman]

"...doesn't provide the type of speed I want/need (I may only deal with "law office work" but I deal with opening, editing and transferring multi-gig video and audio files constantly as part of the discovery process. I want the speed. Time is money."

In that case, you need a NEW MAC.

Either a new Mini, or perhaps wait for the upcoming large-screen iMacs which should be out around June (NOT the entry-level iMac that was introduced yesterday).

If time is money, and you want the speed, then you're going to have to SPEND more $$$, to GET the speed....