How to Build Fast External Storage for M2 Mac Mini

Question

Some words can be quite positive today would be You may be able to assist during this phase since we have a chance of being called back in the future when ssd uh stor master to restore data and has more discs. The clarification is this, If such archives become necessary, what sort of the devices do such facilities would be acceptable to you? For instance some bigger or other such types which are more preferable? Let's Take It Point By Point. Will M2 ever be appropriate for that? What is the total number of ulxl slots for example? To be honest four is what I think this should be the basic requirement but I fail to see how expansion can be done without impacting performance.

Answer 1

To enhance the external storage on the M2 Mac Mini above the internal storage, a high-speed NVMe SSD in an enclosure is needed. In terms of enclosures, the Acasis TBU-405 model is recommended since it has a maximum transfer rate of 40 Gbps. The SSD being the Western Digital Black SN770 is quite cheap when considering its read and write speeds of 5150 mb/s. All in all, this setup has a possible speed of around 2750 mb/sec which is greater than the internal storage of the base model M2 Mac Mini.

Comments

SAME EXACT NUMBERS!!  Craig, I went ahead and upgraded my full set up:: I bought a mac mini M2 on eBay for $400, bought the same WD memory card and enclosure that you presented here and can't believe how fast things run.   Funny enough, for real basic things the 2014 mini actually does pretty good, but when it comes to editing and rendering content for my channel, the M2 blows it away.   For good measure I also built the USB3->SATA 512G data disk that you covered in another one of your presentations (total expense ~$35).  Oh, one extra comment: for those worried about the heat on the NVMe drive.  I placed a small DC fan by the module and powered it with a USB plug I had.   My module is cool to the touch!! (I made sure to properly install the thermal pads too.  Double layer on the controller chip to bring it up to the same height as the memory so everything is making equal contact with the case).   Once again, thanks for all of your great content and help!!!  -DT

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I followed all your tips and bought your recommendations. It's absolutely flying. Super happy with it and in total it cost me 150euros. Thank you so much for a great content.

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OK I bit. I picked up the smallest M2 Mini deliberately to control the price. But I wanted more storage and had intended to add external storage, with the plan of using NVMe.  I did a bit of searching around the options, got myself confused and set it aside for another day.  Then along comes your content and thank you very much, this solidified my thinking and I have been able to achieve similar savings in the UK to what you've discussed you achieved. 1TB is quite good enough for my purposes.

I couldn't get the Acasis 405 but here the TBU401E is available with the same spec. The only difference seems to be that the TBU401E case pops open, screwless. Not that I expect to have to open it too often. It comes with two strips of Tape, 1mm and 0.5mm, I used both to make contact with the removable lid.

Testing on my MacBook Pro M1 I got close to the same speeds as your content 2752.write/2738.read

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It would be interesting to see you actually build the drive and the steps you took to assure that the heat tape was touching the enclosure. Thanks for all of your content and suggestions.

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You are right! Plus need disk must be pci-e 4 (not pci-e 3 bus). I use WD Black SN770 (1 Tb), Mac mini m2 16/256, box - Acasis tb34 - W/R - ~ 2700±. It`s very cool!

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HI, I bought the exact suggestion from here but I have an issue, the enclosure gets extremely hot, I am afraid to run... I do not have a probe or a thermometer to precisely measure the temperature but is is HOT. I wish I knew this before.

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QUESTION - I am building this drive for a new Mac Mini M2 Pro.  The enclosure, when i look at Amazon description, there also is showing another model, the TBU405 Pro M1. This other one states it works with the M2  (and has a fan).  Should I go with this TBU405 Pro M1 or just the recommended TBU405?

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Thanks!!  I am buying this today especially since Prime Day prices are active. My concern is Time Machine Back Ups.  Adding all this fast storage increases the size of the back up. What is your back up setup?

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For 90 USD would you get the Acasis 405M1Pro (with Fan) or for 60 USD the 405M1 (without Fan)?

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Is there any external enclosure that can hold Nvme and SSD drive and fits nicely under the Mac Studio? The OWC stackable can only go up to 800MB on the Nvme(samsung 980 pro) and 400MB on SSD drive? If you are using lot of drives it becomes a mess around the Mac Studio and eats up all the ports, anything our there that can help with this scenario ? Thanks

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Question

About WD BLACK SN770 250-500gb does it support Android like Samsung S10e im just gonna used it as a Portable Xternal SSD to free up some space.

Thank

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Im Having trouble using three external SSD drives with my M2 Mac mini. Individually, all the drives work just fine but once I add a third drive, the.a stone I 0rleans in does not show . Have you heard of this before? So far Apple support does not have answer.. Thanks

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can I use this setup for macbook air m2 base model?

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I just discovered your content. Excellent content. Thank you. Would I use my macbook pro Thunderbolt 4 type c port?