SSD Optibay HDD, where to put your data

Question

Level 1

5 points

SSD Optibay HDD, where to put your data

Hi all,

I have finally got around to getting a SSD in my Macbook Pro, i got a 240GB OWC and its working well (a few sleep issues) but my question comes from date storage.

When i installed OSX i migrated just my settings and applications over with the idea of saving space on my SSD so i kept my music, documents and movies on my SSD.

Once i had installed OS i changed the location of my User link.

The only downside i have seen is a hit to my battery life and it will be down to having 2 Drives running all the time.

Has anyone installed a SSD and HDD in a different way that would help, i thought i could have the HDD only mounted when using it but im not too sure this would save any power.

Any help would be great.

a shinny one, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Apr 4, 2011 11:02 AM

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Answer 1

cjvdhx

Level 1

55 points

Apr 4, 2011 2:21 PM in response to boontech

From what I have read those are the sacrifices you make by having two HDD's especially (1) of those being SSD. Someone can correct me if I am wrong but thats always the impression I was under. What kind of battery life are you getting currently? Less than 4 hours?

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Answer 2

boontech Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 4, 2011 2:34 PM in response to cjvdhx

i would say it was about 4 hours.

The point to my question is having a SSD than is on the larger size, having data on the HDD that made it able for me to un-mount the drive in theory cutting power to the drive boosting my battery life.

At the moment with my User files being based in the HDD im not to sure if this, how ever easy and convenient it is the best way to have a set up like this. looking at what have that i use dat to day it would be about 70/80GB, i have 160GB free on my SSD, moving this data to the SSD would mean i would only need to power up the HDD when needed, but is this how mount/unmount works?

I have spotted some nice scripts for mounting drives, say music is on the HDD im sure there would be someway of mounting the HDD when itunes opens or photos with aperture.

For the amazing speed im seeing from the SSD the battery drop is worth it, does not mean i cant try and get it back.

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Answer 3

MacRS4

Level 2

330 points

Apr 4, 2011 2:58 PM in response to boontech

I've not really seen a big hit on battery life - on my 17" 2011 with two drives I've regularly seen 6+ hours?

Ref how to partition/organise your data, a couple of my blogs here may help:

http://www.markc.me.uk/MarkC/Blog/Entries/2011/3/24OSX%2C_OptiBay_%26_DrivePartitioning.html

Also, I turn off Safe Sleep - seems to avoid the hangs a lot of people are seeing on trying to wake. You can see how to do that here:

http://www.markc.me.uk/MarkC/Blog/Entries/2009/12/15Changing_the_sleep_mode_on_AppleOSX.html

Hope that helps.

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Answer 4

Apr 4, 2011 3:56 PM in response to MacRS4

on your article about partitioning, I'm noticing a line that reads;

"Also, I have a 1Tb drive too however that’s a 12.5mm form factor as opposed to 9mm of the 750Gb - 12.5mm drives will not fit in the OptiBay."

I was under the impression that 12.5mm drives do not fit in the Macbook Pro's in either bay?

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Answer 5

MacRS4

Level 2

330 points

Apr 4, 2011 3:59 PM in response to telefonique

Nope, 12.5mm fits fine in the normal hard drive bay - 2011, 2010s - not sure about 2009s.

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Answer 6

Apr 4, 2011 4:53 PM in response to MacRS4

Interesting. Would this be the same even in the 13" ?

From what I could tell, OWC's only offering 9/9.5mm solutions, and this seemed consistent with the Apple build-to options capping out at 750gb capacities which happened to be the largest I could find in that size... but this new information if confirmed, could change my purchase intentions entirely..

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Answer 7

MacRS4

Level 2

330 points

Apr 4, 2011 4:56 PM in response to telefonique

As far as I know 12.5mm drives will fit any Unibody Macbook Pro, however I've only personal experience of the 2009 & 2010 15s and a 2011 17.

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Answer 8

MacRS4

Level 2

330 points

Apr 4, 2011 4:57 PM in response to MacRS4

...and: http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=macbookpro+13+12.5mm&aq=0b&aqi=g-b1&aql=&oq=13%22+macbook12.5mm

Pretty much everyone says it's possible.

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Answer 9

Apr 4, 2011 5:02 PM in response to MacRS4

Thank you for the info, definitely didn't mean to make you google for me lol. I actually already had a search going =)

Your blogs I must say are also very informative and beneficial, so thanks for that as well!

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Answer 10

MacRS4

Level 2

330 points

Apr 4, 2011 5:06 PM in response to telefonique

Ha, no worries 🙂 Your question made me wonder that's all.

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Answer 11

Apr 4, 2011 5:10 PM in response to MacRS4

and here come the breaks..... Seems nobody makes a a 2 1/2" 7200 RPM (my main reason for upgrade) drive larger than 750GB anyway, whether 9.5 or 12.5mm.

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Answer 12

boontech Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 5, 2011 3:28 AM in response to MacRS4

MacRS4 wrote:
I've not really seen a big hit on battery life - on my 17" 2011 with two drives I've regularly seen 6+ hours?

Ref how to partition/organise your data, a couple of my blogs here may help:

http://www.markc.me.uk/MarkC/Blog/Entries/2011/3/24OSX%2C_OptiBay_%26_DrivePartitioning.html

Also, I turn off Safe Sleep - seems to avoid the hangs a lot of people are seeing on trying to wake. You can see how to do that here:

http://www.markc.me.uk/MarkC/Blog/Entries/2009/12/15Changing_the_sleep_mode_on_AppleOSX.html

Hope that helps.

Great help, thats exactly what i was looking for.

Had a few questions.

• i just cant work out is deleting the "Music, movies and pictures" folders in the SSD user folder or redirecting them to the HDD.

• Also how do your redirected folders work if you unmount the HDD drive?

I have also read about having itunes and aperture cache and info on the SSD but the content on the HDD, speeds up the application but keep the big data off the SSD.

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Answer 13

MacRS4

Level 2

330 points

Apr 5, 2011 3:35 AM in response to boontech

I don't unmount the second drive - I don't see the need to. Like I say, hasn't hit my battery usage massively anyways.

In general I try and keep performance orientated stuff on the SSD, but more general storage to the cheaper media.

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Answer 14

boontech Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 6, 2011 11:27 AM in response to MacRS4

MacRS4 wrote:
I don't unmount the second drive - I don't see the need to. Like I say, hasn't hit my battery usage massively anyways.

In general I try and keep performance orientated stuff on the SSD, but more general storage to the cheaper media.

I have just gone with the way you describe in your blog, i am seeing a boost in power now after only a few hours of use. Great idea and works very well, Thx

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