# External SSD or M.2?



## ptram (Jul 7, 2021)

Hi,

I'm again short of SSD space for samples, and have to purchase another external unit.

To avoid multiplying single-unit boxes, I think I will get another HDD docking station, like the one from Orico I'm using, to be used as a second 4-unit external host.

But should I continue with SSD drives, or should I go for M.2 sticks? Is there a solution to host multiple M3 drives in an external box or docking station?

Paolo


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## Soundbed (Jul 7, 2021)

M3? What happened to M.2? 🤣

I was planning on getting this soon: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3EX4M2SL/


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## ptram (Jul 7, 2021)

Soundbed said:


> M3? What happened to M.2? 🤣
> 
> I was planning on getting this soon: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3EX4M2SL/


Ops, sorry! Fixing it immediately.

Paolo


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## dylanmixer (Jul 7, 2021)

I host my samples on a Samsung 970 Evo m.2 and it's lightning fast. Everything else goes on regular SSDs.


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## colony nofi (Jul 7, 2021)

Don't rule out the very large single m.2 drives too... the rocket pcie3 nvme m.2 drives are excellent for samples and come in capacities up to 8TB. These can go internally or externally as required. 

I do agree its much nicer to have all your samples in one place, either in a multi-drive enclosure or a single larger drive.

With 15TB U.2 drives around now, I'm hoping to maybe see some around that size for us mere composers in more prosumer based gear in the next year or two.


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## Soundbed (Jul 8, 2021)

colony nofi said:


> Don't rule out the very large single m.2 drives too... the rocket pcie3 nvme m.2 drives are excellent for samples and come in capacities up to 8TB. These can go internally or externally as required.
> 
> I do agree its much nicer to have all your samples in one place, either in a multi-drive enclosure or a single larger drive.
> 
> With 15TB U.2 drives around now, I'm hoping to maybe see some around that size for us mere composers in more prosumer based gear in the next year or two.


That’s great although I budget these purchases a little at a time usually. So my current M.2 is the affordable Inland 2TB at only $209 USD currently. (So cheap! So fast!)

8TB is $1029 but I try to keep things around $100 per TB before purchasing. 

By the way I also do video editing. These NVMe speeds are higher than many people need for standard audio. afaik

Inland Platinum 2TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0x4 M.2 2280 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive, R/W up to 3,400/3,000 MB/s, PCIe Express 3.1 and NVMe 1.3 Compatible, Utimate Gaming Solutions (2TB) 

If for no other reason than they are small and light I also enjoy M.2 form factor in my mobile rig. I use this enclosure with a faster cable. Sabrent USB 3.2 Type-C Tool-Free Enclosure for M.2 PCIe NVMe and SATA SSDs (EC-SNVE)


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## cet34f (Jul 8, 2021)

You can buy a NVMe QLC 8tb SSD. They are insanely overpriced, but if you don't like multiple enclosures, there's no way out.


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## gsilbers (Jul 8, 2021)

I got the micron 5210 8tb ssd.
I don’t playback that many tracks at once but I do have sooooo many samples. 
so standard ssd 8tb for about $800 worked great.


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## jblongz (Jan 1, 2022)

have you stress tested high track count yet


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## Soundbed (Jan 1, 2022)

jblongz said:


> have you stress tested high track count yet


high "voice" count, too


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