i have an Azio enlosure hiousing an apple 1 TB hard drive, which offers a usb and esata connection.
I also have a mid 2011 iMac.
What cable product would get me the fastest throughput for this combination?
Joe in STL
iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), system pref, keyboard, text
In order of decreasing throughput: Thunderbolt, FireWire, USB.
If your enclosure only has USB that's what you use.
John G, it also has a eSata port.
Great! The iMac has none.
If you want the fastest throughput for your iMac, purchase an enclosure with a Thunderbolt port.
Or buy a hub: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H8875ZM/A/lacie-esata-hub-thunderbolt-series
The most cost-effective solution is to purchase an enclosure with a Thunderbolt port. eSATA can't be used directly.
thanks john,
but based on what i already have, what is the best solution, usb is working but if i could get a cable that would increase throughput.....
Joe in STL
He answered the question, the fastest method is USB because that is the ONLY connection your EHD has in common with the iMac.
If you are reluctant to use anything other than your existing enclosure, you will need to adapt its eSATA port to the iMac's Thunderbolt port using the LaCie hub or similar device. It just strikes me as wasteful to do that vs. simply purchasing a Thunderbolt enclosure to begin with.
The enclosure you are using for that drive is the wrong enclosure type to use with an iMac.
iMac's don't have eSata that can be used.
Your iMac has a Thunderbolt and FireWire 800 port.
You need to purchase a hard drive enclosure that has either one of these or both of these connection types.
There is no simple magic cable that will work with the drive enclosure you have, now.
usb2 is a huge botteneck though it will likely max out as under 40MBytes /sec
where the hd itself can likely provide double or tripple that with usb3, thunderbolt and fire800 and eSAta
Fastest to connect this External Hard drive to mid 2011 iMac
