- Ssd External Thunderbolt Backup Drives
- Ssd External Hard Drive For Mac
- Best Thunderbolt Ssd External Hard Drive
This small and compact external hard drive offers very decent speeds, as well as a rugged body that keeps it safe from water - as well as drops and knocks. Amazon's Choicefor thunderbolt ssd external hard drive SAMSUNG T5 Portable SSD 1TB - Up to 540MB/s - USB 3.1 External Solid State Drive, Black (MU-PA1T0B/AM) 4.8 out of 5 stars5,439 7% offBlack Friday Deal. Facetime latest version.
Jul 24, 2020 If you want to make use of your Mac's Thunderbolt port, then this is the best external hard drive for Macs. Room modeling program. It provides twice the speeds of standard USB 3.0 drives. Mac mini (M1, 2020). LaCie 1TB Rugged SSD Pro External Drive with Thunderbolt 3 - Previous Gallery Image. LaCie 48TB 6big RAID Thunderbolt 3 Hard Drive Storage. Clothes and jewelleryoutlander lists & timelines.
External SSD Thunderbolt Backup Drives
Shopping for a ultra-fast PC or Mac compatible Thunderbolt SSD storage solution? Never before has a personal computer interface offered the insanely fast data transfer speeds of the original 10Gbps Thunderbolt, 2nd-generation 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2 drives, and 3rd-generation 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 storage.Minimally TWENTY times faster than the popular USB 2.0 spec, and double that of the competing 5Gbps USB 3.0 SuperSpeed standard, Thunderbolt outstrips the bandwidth requirements of nearly any single personal computer peripheral available today. Conventional hard drives can't fill a fraction of Thunderbolt's data pipeline. So, solid-state flash memory disk drives are the most logical pairing of the two technologies. A PC or Mac compatible Thunderbolt SSD external backup drive can really leverage the potential bandwidth available for the fastest data backups and file transfers you'll ever experience.
FYI: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Akitio Thunderbolt Drive | Monster Thunderbolt Drive |
---|---|
Akitio SSD Neutrino Drive 120GB Thunderbolt SSD | Monster Digital SSD 256GB-512GB-1TB |
G-Technology Thunderbolt Drive | Oyen Digital Thunderbolt Drive |
---|---|
GTech TBolt SSD 1TB SSD Combo Interface | Oyen SSD Mini Pro 256GB Solid-State Portable |
Transcend Solid-State Drive | Silicon Solid-State Drive |
---|---|
Transcend Combo SSD Thunderbolt + USB 3.0 | Smallest Thunderbolt SSD Ever Silicon Power Mini Drive |
Shopping For TunderBolt External SSD Drives
In the 2020's we now have 3 generations of Thunderbolt: The original 10Gbps TBolt and 2nd generation 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2 using the mini DisplayPort interface. The new 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 spec has adopted the smaller and more widely used Type-C USB 3.1 connector. In fact, Thunderbolt 3 incorporates SuperSpeed+ USB 3.1 10Gbps protocols so that either Thunderbolt or USB-C peripherals can be used on a modern Windows or Mac computer's Thunderbolt 3 port.Who Manufactures Thunderbolt Backup Peripherals?
Major brands include Akitio, G-Technology, SiliconPower, Monster Digital, OWC and LaCie external Thunderbolt SSD backup drive offerings shown above. These laptop-size affordable consumer drives have a single Thunderbolt port for use directly connected to your computer - or at the END of the device chain. To get dual, pass-through ports, you generally have to move up to the multi-drive RAID array type of Thunderbolt data storage products.![Ssd Ssd](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wN87ql7NL0A/maxresdefault.jpg)
Best External Hard Drive For Mac
One of the notably rising entrants into the external SSD drive market is Akitio who was recently acquired by OWC. They've long been a maker of USB, eSata, and FireWire drive enclosures for assembling DIY backup drives. Introducing a single-port Thunderbolt portable SSD drive like the Neutrino shown here (using an Intel OEM SSD) is the first step in recouping their investment, a 256Gb is available as well (using a SanDisk OEM SSD). Akitio has delivered a nice range of standalone Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 and 3 drive enclosures for homebuilt storage solutions using the SSD or HDD drives of your choice.DIY Thunderbolt SSD Storage
Alot of folks want to cobble their own Thunderbolt data backup drive together with the HDD or SSD drive of their choosing. Unfortunately, at least for single drives, there aren't many choices of standlalone Thunderbolt drive enclosures available. For multi-drive RAID arrays using 2 or more drives, the selection of Thunderbolt enclosures is better, but costlier.G-Technology Thunderbolt Enclosure | Seagate Thunderbolt Drive Sled |
---|---|
2.5' Thunderbolt SATA Case Ruggedized Thunderbolt Enclosure | Backup Plus Thunderbolt Drive Adapter For Laptop Size SSD or HDD |
Seagate's Thunderbolt drive sled has sadly been discontinued. It let anyone cobble thier own affordable Thunderbolt SSD solution by simply plugging a bare 2.5' laptop SATA SSD drive directly into the portable adapter's SATA connector. It should be noted the Thunderbolt drive converter only has a SINGLE Thunderbolt port like many of the more affordable Thunderbolt storage products for home consumers. It's not capable of daisy-chained with other Thunderbolt devices.
Best SSD For Thunderbolt?
Several factors determine which SSD is the best match for Thunderbolt drives. A Solid-State drive in general relies on several components that determine a SSD's performance: Whether it's a SATA I/II or III 6G drive interface chipset, and which controller chip: Marvell, Indilinx, SandForce, etc. are the brains of the operation. Other factors in the solid-state drive market involve how fast the onboard NAND Flash Memory is, and the clock speed controlling it. Look to Samsung, WD, Crucial and Sandisk for the fastest off-the shelf SSD's shipping this year.It's important to note that LARGER capacity SSD's 480GB and up offer BETTER performance than the smaller models: More banks of chips inside a higher-capacity SSD drive allow more simultaneous reads and writes across the banks of flash memory. As such you'll often see spec sheets quoting different maximum data transfer rates depending on the size of the drive. With solid-state storage, bigger is better - and faster.
Thunderbolt RAID SSD - Power Pair
Want to fill as much of Thunderbolt's pipeline as possible? Think Striped RAID 0 SSD drive setups for peak performance. By striping Reads and Writes across multiple solid-state drives or modules, the highest level of drive transfer speeds become possible. Some may opt for premium top-performance PCIe NVMe SSD's, others may wish to leverage more economical drives paired to get the Thunderbolt drive capacity they need and still fit their budget.![Hard Hard](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yVHoQpeAfJVwzmMtPE4s5A.jpg)
A Thunderbolt SSD flash memory drive is the best technological match for the insanely high bandwidth that a Thunderbolt inferface provides. With no moving parts, high reliability, zero latency and near-zero access times, they're a perfect match for this cutting-edge computer peripheral interface from Apple and Intel.
Currently, a few of the best choices in solid-state backup are LaCie 512GB Thunderbolt SSD dual-drive array which also now offers a 1 Terabyte version for demanding, Pro users. These LaCie high-end models combine dual 256GB/512GB SATA III Solid-State drives for mirrored or striped RAID 0 performance that delivers mind-blowing transfer speeds - at a price. Their Little Big Disk SSD drives also have TWO TBolt ports on the back for daisy-chaining with other devices.
For more affordable consumer options, the single-drive LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt SSD has high-speed combo interfaces for both USB 3.0/2.0 or Thunderbolt connectivity. The Thunderbolt Rugged series uses a single SSD drive for respectable performance - and the added value of flexibility to use it with older and non-TBolt equipped USB port Macs or PCs. The latest revision of the solid-state Rugged portable drive now includes a short, integrated Thunderbolt cable for quick connectivity, and still allows optional connection to a USB port if needed.
The Elgato Thunderbolt SSD Drive has been shipping for quite some time. ElGato also uses a single SSD drive module for more modest but still very snappy performance in either 120GB or 240GB capacities - but it's pricing hasn't dropped to be truly competitive with LaCie or other new arrivals in the marketplace. A new 512GB and 1TB SSD drive with combo Thunderbolt + USB 3.0 interface recently shipped, but the price is high.
Please visit the other pages of this site to explore the diverse market of PC and Mac compatible external SSD Thunderbolt drive options for budgets large and small.
Thunderbolt Mac Backup Drives
Shopping for the fastest Apple ThunderBolt backup drive? The emergence of ThunderBolt 3 is radically shifting the Macintosh compatible data storage peripheral market as the interface of 10Gbps and 20Gbps ThunderBolt changes from the Mini DisplayPort style to a smaller, reversible Type-C connector that's also used by modern USB-C devices.Multiple generations of Apple ThunderBolt backup drive solutions are on the market. We're seeing far more affordable ThunderBolt Hard Drives with prices starting around $150 and up.
We've also seen the emergence of combo interface hard drives for Mac that incorporate BOTH USB 3.0 and ThunderBolt ports on the drive. Combo interfaces give alot of flexibility for transferring data among Macs or PC's, old or new. Additionaly, ThunderBolt and USB 3.1 SSD drive solutions are getting much cheaper as solid-state SSD drive prices have steadily plummeted over time.
ThunderBolt Backup Drives For Mac
Thunderbolt 3 External Hard Drive For Mac And Pc
Combo USB3 + ThunderBolt Drive | LaCie ThunderBolt 2 Drive |
---|---|
Cheap COMBO Drive USB3.0 + ThunderBolt | ThunderBolt2 HDD Combo USB 3 + TBolt 2 |
It isn't just Pro Video Editors, Music Studios or DVD and Photo Archive Companies that benefit from Mac backups and auxillary storage over ThunderBolt. Anyone who has large sets of data to move from point A to B will appreciate the lighting speed ThunderBolt ports can provide.
If there's one 'gotcha' to reading from - or backing up to - a ThunderBolt harddrive, it's limitations in the current speed of conventional mechanical hard drives. Even Solid-State SSD backup drives for Mac and Windows need 2 or more drives for truly impressive ThunderBolt performance. (Remember, ThunderBolt is a cross-platform technology that will benefit both Apple and PC users.) While 2 to 4 times faster than mechanical hard drives, even the fastest single SATA SSD made can't fill even half of ThunderBolt's amazing data pipeline.
ThunderBolt SSD Drives For Mac
LaCie Combo USB3 + ThunderBolt | Solid-State TBolt Drives |
---|---|
LaCie Rugged SSD Drive Combo USB 3.0 and TBolt Interfaces | Akitio Portable SSD 120GB/240GB SSD Storage |
Ssd External Thunderbolt Backup Drives
Ssd External Hard Drive For Mac
Thunderbolt 3 External Hard Drive For Mac
The only technology that can truly leverage 10GBps TBolt and provide best Mac backup speeds is in multi-drive platter arrays or pairs of flash-memory based SSD drive ThunderBolt hardware. The most demanding, data-intensive commercial users will want multiple-drive ThunderBolt RAID HDD storage systems - or those using 2 or more SSD's for peak throughput. However, benchmarks have shown that conventional drives in RAID units of 4 or more are highly efficient spanning reads and writes across mechanical drives and deliver suprisingly fast reads and writes at a musch lower cost per Gigabyte than SSD solutions.Thunderbolt 3 External Hard Drive For Macbook Pro
SSD ThunderBolt 2 Drives
With the arrival of the Macintosh Pro Cylinder and the high-end Retina MacBook Pro, Apple began shipping the first computer systems with ThunderBolt 2 ports. With additional revisions to the Macintosh desktops and MacBook Air and Pro, we saw the adoption of ThunderBolt 2 progress across their entire computer lineup. A fair number of 20Gbps ThunderBolt 2 SSD storage products became available - although the vast majority are hard disk HDD and not SSD based.Supports 2.5 & 3.5' SATA Drives + USB 3.0 Too
Best Thunderbolt Ssd External Hard Drive
External ThunderBolt 2 Solid-State Drives
For those looking for a true, off the shelf 20G ThunderBolt 2 SSD, LaCie briefly shipped it's next generation of dual-drive ThunderBolt 2 SSD RAID. Its easily recognized by it's dark charcoal aluminum enclosure case to visually distinguish it from it's 1st Generation silver aluminum 10G ThunderBolt Little Big Disk SSD predecessor. LaCie's benchmarks of this PCIe based SSD RAID peaked around 1400-1200 MB/sec Read and Write speeds.Dual 512GB PCIe Interface SSD Cards
Click above to see technical specs and availability of the blazingly fast and state of the art solid-state 20G ThunderBolt 2 external RAID drive from LaCie.
Of Note: The ThunderBolt 2 LaCie SSD was first to switch from 2.5' SATA III solid-state drives used in earlier models to a pair of 512GB PCIe SSD modules for even faster performance in the 2nd-generation of it's external ThunderBolt RAID storage solution.
Hybrid SSD / HDD ThunderBolt 2 Drive
Optional PCIe SSD Backplane
LaCie's hybrid D2 ThunderBolt 2 external drive is an interesting innovation. The base drive ships with a high-speed 7200RPM hard disk for reasonable USB3.0 and TBolt performance in the 200+Mbps range. However you can OPTIONALLY replace the drive's backplane with a slide-in 128GB solid-state PCIe SSD module and controller board to get Read/Write speeds well over 1000+Mpbs. This sort of Fusion / Hybrid drive comes at a stiff price, and replacing the Combo inferface card for an SSD also removes the USB 3.0 port and makes it a daisy-chainable dual-ThunderBolt 2 drive only. That said, it offers the prospect of both high-speed AND high-capacity storage.
NON-SSD ThunderBolt 2 Hard Drive
The first ThunderBolt 2 hard drive with conventional spinning platter mechanisms came from Promise. The next-generation Promise Technologies Pegasus2 line was announced and shipped the day the cylindrical Mac Pro was released. Although based on HDD mechanisms, when 4-6-8 hard drives are configured in a striped RAID 0 array, they rival SSD technology for mind-blowing Read/Write performance - at a much lower cost per GB.If you remember historically at the dawn of the TBolt era, Promise delivered the first ever ThunderBolt-ANYTHING with it's 4, 6, and 8 hard drive RAID arrays. For nearly a year it was the ONLY SHIPPING ThunderBolt storage product and with starting prices well over $1400 USD it was geared only for pro video and audio editing or enterprise markets.
The second external ThunderBolt SSD drive to reach the market was a compact, solid-state dual-drive RAID SSD array from LaCie priced well under $1000. Initially it used 2-128GB Intel SSD's on a 3GBps SATA II controller. In the years since, LaCie has upped the capacity, brought prices down and revised it to support much faster 6GBps SATA III 2.5' drive modules.
So it seems history had repeated itself. Promise once again was first out of the gate with a ThunderBolt 2 hard disk RAID solution shipping along with the new Mac Pro - and LaCie close on it's heels and poised to deliver a more affordable ThunderBolt 2 SSD RAID solution.