Thunderbolt, External HDDs and an iMac connectivity

Hi,
So I have the aluminum unibody 13inch macbook. (Snowleopard) I also have a mid 2011 iMac 27 inch. (Lion)
I am looking into buying a RAID arranged external HDD, such as the LaCie 2Big 6tb or WD 6tb units and would like to utiliise the associated sped for video editing. However both see to only have thunderbolt connections.
I frequently shoot video in the field and load for preview on my Macbook. So how would I go about getting the media from the macbook to the RAID media store once I'm back at home?
Can I:
Connect the macbook as a tethered disk to the iMac and then use the iMac to transfer from the Macbook to the RAID? I appreciate the transfer limitation will be the USB connection to the macbook in ths case, but would it work?
As an additional question, since the Macbook has wifi and ethernet connectivity, which would be the fastest data transfer rate that I could use?
Thanks in advance, any other solutoin would be appreciated...

BDAqua, 480Mbit/s vs 100Mbps. Is the former in MBITS and the latter in MBYTES, meaning wifi is much faster?
Secondly, just to confirm my understanding, the situation above I would effectively be using the iMac as 'pass through' device, transfering data direct to the HDD without efecting the iMac storage. I appreciate this sounds very like pretty novice questions, but then its because I am. Much appreciated.
Thanks

Similar Messages

HT1349 very slow external HDD and usb drive connected to Apple Extreme Router

Hello
So I got a western digital USB drive (500gig) and western digital Live 2TB.
I bought a new Apple Extreme router and connected them both.
USB drive and external hdd (WD Live 2TB) very slow when connected to Apple Extreme Router, using Lion 10.7 and updated both firmware for router, western digital and Airport Utility.
Slow means, it takes half an hour to copy 200 Mb of file to the WD Live 2TB, and its connected to my router with a gigabit ethernet cable!
Is someone else having the same problem, I thought even over usb I should get around 2-5mb range.
I am using Macbook Pro and 802.11n with Lion 10.7.2
Please Help

The USB WD 500 gig is connected to the Airport Extreme using a non-powered USB 2.0 hub, only two things a HP printer and the 500 gig is connected through it. I already formatted it to MAC OS Extended Journalled. ANd I think the speed didnt change.
For the WD 2TB Live I didnt format it to anything, started using it out of the box. I just updated its firmware. I was having the same speed even when I directly connected it to my Mac Book Pro using ethernet gigabit cable.
This WD 2TB Live doesnt have any USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 connectors, just the ethernet cable. I wasnt planning to carry it around. Just wanted to use it as a good ol NAS. So then I saw the fix somewhere and connected to this drive via AFP, afp://MyBookLive._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Public and it become suddenly very fast. Just like how it should be, I easily copied 20 gigs in around 20-25 minutes. (This was dirctly connected to my computer)
So then I thought my problem is solved and disconnected my WD Live and connected it back to the Apple Router again, and the speed became very slow again. Now both the USB 500 gig and this 2TB Live are slow.
Time machine is also very slow.
Thing is I also have a linux and windows machine(in repair, but should be up soon), Since apple is the newest computer I have, I want to make it work on this first. I dont want to use the MACosx journaled on the 2TB right now. Besides formatting the USB 500 gig to this format didnt help with my speed. So the problem can be elsewhere.
- I will try to get a powered USB hub as woodmeister50 suggested.
- I dont know how to connect via iCloud as cigame suggested
Please let me know if you guys have any suggestions. I have tested and returned enough routers in past few weeks. I really want it to work on this combination LionOSX + Airport Extreme + WD Live.
Thanks

Connecting a Thunderbolt external HDD to FW800 port

Can I read/write from my late 2009 iMac to a Thunderbolt external HDD by connecting from the FW800 port on the iMac through a Thunderbolt to FW800 adaptor on the external HDD? I have a new MacBook Pro and want to be able to swap an external HDD between them with maximum tranfer speeds on each.

It's for video files for editing depending on which computer I want to work on at the time (and location). It's not a drama, just trying to make it easier for myself and not keep too many big files on the internal drives. I can also put one of my FW800 drives on the MacBook and transfer between the two external drives (or MacBook and FW800) and plug it back on the iMac.
Or I could buy a new iMac when I win the lottery!
Thanks for you help and suggestions anyway. Much appreciated.

Twin unpowered USB hub for connecting external HDD and iphone

I have a MBA and a powered Kensington 7 port USB hub which works great when I am either at home/in the office.
Is there an unpowered twin port USB hub that would allow me to connect both my WD myv passport 320gb external HDD and 3g iphone to my MBA when i am truly on the move?
thanks in advance
Message was edited by: NRG1970

Because those are both drawing power from the macbook air, it might be questionable, but any should do, but I haven't seen any 2 port hubs, only four port ones, and I tend to like Logiix, as their support is good and their products are good also, and they are fairly low profile.

I have a Lacie External hdd and on usb 3. Now If I plug in the device it shows a message to connect to windows or mac (Parallels installed) so If I click on mac it works fine well and good but when I select connect to windows it shows a error.

I have a Lacie External hdd and on usb 3. Now If I plug in the device it shows a message to connect to windows or mac (Parallels installed) so If I click on mac it works fine well and good but when I select connect to windows it shows a error.
The error that pops up is:
The device "Lacie Rugged USB3-FW" was unable to connect to its ideal host controller.
Please anyone could suggest what the solution could be?
Thanks.

But my 1 tb hdd is already formatted via ex fat which can work on both mac and Windows no limitation of file size also like if we use ntfs or fat it has a restriction of 4gb file size.

Is it possible to plug in an external HDD to the USB connection on my Airport Express for backups?

Is it possible to plug in an external HDD to the USB connection on my Airport Express for backups? As a kind of cheapo Time Capsule?

Unfortunately no, because the USB port on the AirPort Express will only work with a printer and a Keyapan remote control. Hard drives are not supported.
You would need an AirPort Extreme for that type of functionality.

Can you buy any type of external HDD and it'll work with any mac or do you have to buy specific ones that cost like €999?

can you buy any type of external HDD and it'll work with any mac or do you have to buy specific ones that cost like €999?

You can buy any disk with FireWire, Thunderbolt or USB. If you've got a 2010 or early MacBook Pro, buy a FireWire disk, or if you've a newer computer, a Thunderbolt disk. They'll be faster than the USB, but you can buy an USB hard disk

Can I cut/paste my backups to an external hdd and then back to my mac?

Ok, here's my issue and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I have an iPhone6 and my wife has one as well, and we both have iPads.
I have to backup all of these somewhere, and my current device is a Macbook Pro with 250gb SSD.
As you understand, backing up so many things in so little space it almost renders my Macbook useless.
I have read some advice about using sudo commands to make iTunes store the backups in an external hdd.
However, I am not an experienced mac user, and I do not trust myself doing something like that.
What came to my mind, and that's what I want your opinion upon, is the following.
Something that I used to do when I was using a windows pc to keep many different backups, rename them etc.
As far as I understand, when I plug in my iPhone to my Mac, iTunes recognize the device and the last backup of that device.
Then, by pressing "Backup to my pc etc" it only updates that backup and rewrites on it.
My questions:
I backup my iPhone then quit iTunes.
I remove (cut) the backup folder (the one with the huge weird name from the directory library/application support/mobile sync/backup/0604f04blabhblahblah) and paste it on an external hdd where I have tons of space.
When I want to backup my iPhone again, instead of creating a whole new backup that would take a lot of time, if I take the backup folder that I had stored to that external hdd and paste it back to its original place (the directory I mentioned above), will iTunes recognize it and update and rewrite on that backup?
And then again move it back and forth from my mac to my external hdd.
And something even more important.
In case something happens to my iPhone (it falls from the 10nth floor) and I buy a new one, will I be able to "restore from backup" using the same method I mentioned before? Will iTunes recognize the folder?
Sorry for the long text and any mistakes but english is not my mother tongue and I wanted to make sure I would be clear about my questions.
My current backups use more than half of my 250gb internal SSD and along with some apps and other stuff I cannot get rid off I am left with only 50gigs of space which is terrible.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

edwardpeck wrote:
If I have iMatch can I move the music files to an external drive and then play the music off the cloud? This way freeing up space on my hard drive? If so how?
You can move the iTunes library to the external and use it there.
Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folde rto the external.
Hold Option, launch iTunes, select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
iTunes will use the external for everything.You can delete /Music/iTunes/ folder.
FYI: The iTunes media folder is not the (entire) iTunes library.

Want to move LR5 catalog to an external HDD and incorporate my Aperture3 files already stored on another external HDD.

With the demise of Aperture, and lack of space on my mac, I would like to consolidate all my LR5 and Aperture images onto ONE external HDD.
My Aperture originals are already on one external HDD, and my LR5 images currently occupy (too much) of my hard drive on my MB air.
Is there an uncomplicated way to join the two sets on another new external HDD?
Thanks

what I meant is that I would like to access my Aperture images via LR5, so have just the one LR5 catalog for all my images.
This is a goal that I would recommend!
However, I can't really state if that's what you need to do with your photos in Aperture, as I have never used Aperture. I'm sure someone else who does use Aperture will be along soon to comment, or you can try your favorite search engine.

HT1391 downloaded itunes and when it synched it took all my music off of an external hdd and I would like it back?

downloaded itunes and when it searched for music it took music off of a external hdd and that folder is now blank but not all the music is in itunes, I would like to have the music back on the hdd is that possible?

In iTunes 11 uncheck the preferences setting in in the iTunes Preferences panel "Advanced > Copy Files to iTunes Media folder when adding to Library"

TS4531 Thunderbolt external HDD on Windows 8

Windows 8 doesn't recognise the thunderbolt external HDD if plugged in while the OS is running.
If I reboot the system , its working good.
The plug n play is not working.
I have tried turning off the 'Turn on fast startup' option but no success. The thunderbolt device is recognised only when plugged in before system boot.

it's because of the thunderbolt implementation in windows
same issue with the few motherboards which support thunderbolt
out for build self windows computers
maybe microsoft will change the windows implementation if thunderbolt becomes a success on normal windows computers
though since intel require a higher copyright for licensing thunderbolt then they do usb3 then thunderbolts success on windows is unknown

Why is Lion installed on external HDD and iMac says that Lion is already installed when it is not?

I went into the Apps store then logged in to confirm that I wish to pay for the Lion upgrade from Mac OSX v10.6.8.
The downloaded 3Gb installation file went into my Applications folder after a few hours:
This installation application is still in the Application folder of the iMac.
During the upgrade / installation, I got the following message, saying that the installation can't go in the HDD of the computer I was working on (ie. the iMac's Macintosh HD). I had no choice but to select the external HDD (WD-1T) as the installation destination, which proceeded very quickly.
When the installation was complete, the iMac rebooted into a fresh Lion installation, running off the WD-1T! I can see all my old files on the Macintosh HD, as if that HDD was the external HDD!
If I disconnect the WD-1T upon rebooting, I am back to Snow Leopard, running from the iMac's Macintosh HD. If I go the App store, it tells me I have already installed Lion on the iMac (when it is not the case)!
When I go to my MacBook Pro (currently on Snow Leopard and not part of from the above installation), I see that Lion is purchased but not installed. If I click INSTALL, it starts to download what the iMac had earlier downloaded (the Install Mac OS X Lion.app is still sitting in the Application folder of the iMac).
Question:
Can anyone shed some light why this happening and how to get Lion onto the iMac?
How to install Lion on the MacBook Pro without re-downloading the software?

I would say it is related to the purchase date. FaceTime is included in 10.6.6~8 OEM discs.

ITunes on an external HDD and Airport Extreme BS

Ok, sorry to be boring, but I can't get this to work as I think it should.
I want to have a central iTunes library based on the USB-connected 1TB HDD, so that I can train all my Macs to reach for the files from the same place. So that I can access the same tunes and movies from my "MBP", "Intelimac" and "Intelimac2". I have copied the iTunes library from Intelimac 2 over onto the HDD, and in iTunes preferences told it to look for the files on my Airport-connected HDD - and it does. Mostly. I have 600 movie files on that HDD, but when I start up iTunes on the Intelimac and the MBP, there are only the 56 or so original movie files showing up in the Movies list. When I click on a random movie in that list, and ctrl click it, then "Show In Finder", it does indeed point to the correct folder way over there on the External HDD. So why doesn't the list in iTunes show ALL 600 movies available in that same folder?
Similarly, there are discrepancies between what shows up in iTunes lists, and what it SHOULD be showing, baring in mind there are hundreds of other media files available to be displayed and therefore played. It's as though iTunes is ignoring many of the tracks/playlists/movies in the same folder that it is indeed recognising and offering up to play...
What am I doing wrong?
Cheers for any help.
Chris
Message was edited by: ChrisRR

Just had the same problem. I found the answer in other message threads. A solution would be to click on the option button immediately when you launch iTunes. A message box will pop up instructing you to select a library. This should allow you to choose the music library from the external drive. See the url below.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
It worked for me. Good luck!

External hdd and wifi problem

I ve got a macbook pro 13' with retina (256 ssd and 8gb ram ) and when i connect an external hdd ( through usb ) wifi lost signal ( all the time )
When i disconnect it everything is fine ! The external hdd is usb 3 !!
Is that a known problem ?

Hello, isnoulis.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
Here are a couple troubleshooting steps that I would recommend.
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
About NVRAM and PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
Cheers,
Jason H..

Need help with pictures on an external HDD and windows labtop to Ipad3

Hallo everybody!
This week (I finally) bought an Ipad 3 and an Apple TV!
For the time being I still have a windows labtop and an external HDD full with photo's.
The ICloud software for windows has been installed because I would like to stream the pictures from this external HDD to my Ipad and then ofcourse on my flatscreen TV (via Apple TV). And ofcourse back, when I have taken a photo or a movie on the Ipad 3.
I would appreciate some help with the following questions:
do I have add all pictures from the HDD into a new map on the windows labtop. So that via Icloud the contain could become 'in the cloud'.
or do I have to add all the pictures from the HDD into the Itunes map on the windows labtop.
I have connected the Ipad to the windows labtop and via Itunes I have synchroniced a lot of pictures to the Ipad. I asume these are copies? And is it possible to remove them from the Ipad, because it will take a lot of memory (currently already 35 GB from the 64 GB).
Well I hope somebody could help me.
Many thanks in advance!
Ronald from the Netherland

I just found out that ICloud isen't really a storage place for photo's. Just a passing throw station to your other devices.

Thunderbolt, External HDDs and an iMac connectivity

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for