# Deciding on a dock for external SSD



## Ryan Fultz (Sep 7, 2020)

I’ve hit the point where I need to look at a dock for ssd’s since my current 2TB ssd is getting to the point of capacity.

Currently, I’m looking at the Blackmagic multi dock and getting either two 2TB ssds or one 4TB ssd:





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Blackmagic MultiDock – Tech Specs | Blackmagic Design






www.blackmagicdesign.com





What I’m wondering is what people might recommend given my budget for storage and dock is roughly $1,200 and I need the dock to be usb since my thunderbolt ports are full and I’m looking for something without a fan.

I’m not really aware of what else is out there for docks, but I think I’m looking for something that will get me through the next 4 or so years, so either I could add ssds to the multidock if needed or upgrade to larger drives if there is a cheaper, but just as fast two slot dock.


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## JonS (Sep 7, 2020)

Ryan Fultz said:


> I’ve hit the point where I need to look at a dock for ssd’s since my current 2TB ssd is getting to the point of capacity.
> 
> Currently, I’m looking at the Blackmagic multi dock and getting either two 2TB ssds or one 4TB ssd:
> 
> ...





Or


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## Ryan Fultz (Sep 7, 2020)

JonS said:


> Or




The first one looks like it would suit my needs amazingly well for the near future and allow me to continue using my full template with my laptop if I were using that, any experience with it or downsides to lookout for?


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## JonS (Sep 7, 2020)

Ryan Fultz said:


> The first one looks like it would suit my needs amazingly well for the near future and allow me to continue using my full template with my laptop if I were using that, any experience with it or downsides to lookout for?


I own 5 cable matters SSD enclosures and I’m happy with them.


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## mjsalam (Sep 7, 2020)

I recently grabbed this to make use of my 2 SSD's and have been very happy with it. I assume there is a single drive version as well.





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OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini


With fast USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds up to 738MB/s, Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini is the best portable RAID solution for creative professionals.




eshop.macsales.com


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## berto (Dec 31, 2020)

Ryan Fultz said:


> I’ve hit the point where I need to look at a dock for ssd’s since my current 2TB ssd is getting to the point of capacity.
> 
> Currently, I’m looking at the Blackmagic multi dock and getting either two 2TB ssds or one 4TB ssd:
> 
> ...


sorry, i'm really ignorant about SSD stuff. What max TB size SSD could i plug to this rack? 
And regarding connection, is it SATA for SSD?

thank you


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## BassClef (Dec 31, 2020)

mjsalam said:


> I recently grabbed this to make use of my 2 SSD's and have been very happy with it. I assume there is a single drive version as well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes... that's my solution... will hold 2 SSDs, each 2TB for 4TB total storage capacity. NO FAN. Less than $500 total!


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## synthnut1 (Jan 2, 2021)

mjsalam said:


> I recently grabbed this to make use of my 2 SSD's and have been very happy with it. I assume there is a single drive version as well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This enclosure is working very well for me too !


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## colony nofi (Jan 2, 2021)

I have two of the earlier version of those enclosures (which happened to have eSATA connectors) and they worked really well. But the flexibility of Blackmagic Docks has meant I haven't touched them in many years. (I started with 2 x spinning drives in one, then got another with 2x1TB SSD's... back when 1TB SSD's were over $1k each. They did their jobs nicely... my old 17" MBP had a express card that gave me esata ports. Damn that seems just like yesterday, but I don't think I've used it since 2014! Time flies...)


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## Nate Johnson (Jan 3, 2021)

colony nofi said:


> I have two of the earlier version of those enclosures (which happened to have eSATA connectors) and they worked really well. But the flexibility of Blackmagic Docks has meant I haven't touched them in many years. (I started with 2 x spinning drives in one, then got another with 2x1TB SSD's... back when 1TB SSD's were over $1k each. They did their jobs nicely... my old 17" MBP had a express card that gave me esata ports. Damn that seems just like yesterday, but I don't think I've used it since 2014! Time flies...)


Do you have these mounted in a rack? if so, what sort of space are you leaving for heat dissipation (if any?)


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## Justin L. Franks (Jan 3, 2021)

What Thunderbolt devices do you already have, and does your computer have multiple TB3 busses? Because you can daisy-chain Thunderbolt devices, up to 6 devices per TB3 bus. You'll of course lose some bandwidth, but if there are some devices that don't use the full bandwidth available, you can just daisy-chain those together, and then connect a TB3 SSD multi-bay enclosure to its own bus.


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## colony nofi (Jan 4, 2021)

Nate Johnson said:


> Do you have these mounted in a rack? if so, what sort of space are you leaving for heat dissipation (if any?)


Do you mean the black magic racks? We just have them in the open air.
They're running bog standard Samsung QVO 4TB SSD's - and don't put out much heat at all. I'd have zero issues throwing them into any rack - even right on top of a hot server. You just need to be sensible.

(As opposed to the temps that the drives have to withstand inside an all SSD server - which on ours comes to around 70degreesC ambient at the drive cage - and that is all within spec.)


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